Hamida plots revenge and awakens
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shaped eyes that are cunning and bold, seems pleased with himself. He studies Hamida from slippers to hair and, as their eyes meet, her blood boils and she flees into the alley and her flat. Peering out through closed shutters, she sees him looking window to window, beseechingly. Hamida is glad he is confused and that she has attracted such an educated, middle-class man. When he notices a gap in her window, he lights up, but his smile is more arrogant than ever, and Hamida realizes her blunder. She fears he will enter her building, but he goes instead to Kirsha’s Café and occupies Abbas’s old spot. Hamida feels his gaze.
The stranger comes every evening to Midaq Alley to smoke a water pipe and sip tea. The regulars in Kirsha’s Café get used to him. Kirsha is annoyed that he pays with large notes, but the large tips please Sanker. Hamida watches from her window with excitement and anticipation, but refrains from taking her usual walks because her clothing is so shabby. From time to time, the stranger glances up at Hamida’s window and blows kisses as he releases smoke. She feels pleasure, outrage, and flattery. She knows he will follow her on her walk and decides to hurl insults at him that will shatter his smugness. If she had a nice cloak, she would insult him in the café. Hamida despairs of marriage, with Alwan being half-dead and Abbas scorned. She is sure God is punishing Umm Hamida’s covetousness. This arrogant new man both infuriates and fascinates her and she cannot sort out her feelings.
One afternoon she dresses carefully and sets off, out of the alley, and onto Sanadiqiya Street. She worries that because she has been skipping her walks, he may think she is trying to meet him, while in fact she is planning a skirmish. She dares not look back, for that would admit defeat. She wonders why he takes so long to overtake her. Alert and on edge, she listens and watches. She tells her girlfriends she has been ill. Leaving them, Hamida is crestfallen, and heading up the alley, she sees him smoking in his usual spot, which sends her into a rage. She sees no explanation for his behavior. She only knows she had wanted him to follow her, and now feels like throwing a water pitcher at his head. She does not know how to deal with his smile.
That night, Hamida plots revenge and awakens depressed and apprehensive about the afternoon. She doubts—and fears—he will come. She feels relief but is even more ready for a confrontation. Restlessly, she leaves the flat without checking her appearance and walks, muttering angrily at herself for letting him get to her. Meeting her friends, she learns one is about to marry. Another observes that Hamida will marry first, since she was betrothed first, but Hamida replies her fiancé is away, earning money. Recalling how God has struck down Alwan, she sees life as an enemy. Parting from her friends, Hamida runs into the stranger, who has obviously been planning things his own way, seeking to confuse her. She tries to work up a rage. The street is nearly deserted and he looks humble. They walk together silently and swiftly.
In a deep voice, he says he could not run after her yesterday because of what people would think, but he has been looking for any chance to meet her. Hamida is again a woman unsure of what to do, while he is clever, instinctive, and determined. He uses tenderness and humility as weapons. She listens carefully and modulates her harsh voice when asking why he follows her. He claims he is neglecting his business to stare
