Umm Hamida prepares
Susu The effeminate dance instructor at Ibrahim Faraj’s “school”, Susu identifies himself as the dancers’ sister and declares dance is the art of arts, and a sure path to financial reward.
Umm Hamida A well-built, fit, and healthy woman in her mid-sixties, Umm Hamida has protruding eyes, pockmarked cheeks, and a rough, resonant voice, which she frequently uses to quarrel with neighbors. She works as a bath attendant and as a marriage broker, but her avocation is gossip. She is the adoptive mother of a beautiful orphan, Hamida (hence the kunya “Hamida’s Mother”, her birth name is never given). They rent a dingy middle flat in a house owned by the widow Saniya Afify, who seeks Umm Hamida’s professional help. The price Umm Hamida demands is free rent for life. Umm Hamida frequently fights with her foster daughter about her pickiness in men and doubts she will ever marry. She would like to match her to old Sheikh Darwish. Hamida surprisingly agrees to marry Abbas Hilu, the barber, after he decides to make his fortune working for the British Army. Umm Hamida and Uncle Kamil recite from the Qur’an to make it official. Shortly thereafter, however, rich merchant Salim Alwan seeks her hand and Umm Hamida prepares to recite with him, but finds he has been felled by a heart attack. Her visions of a life of ease on her daughter’s coattails vanish. Umm Hamid is distraught when her daughter vanishes one afternoon during her daily walk. Eventually Abbas finds her, working as a prostitute. He wounds her, and is beaten to death by her clients. While Hamida recovers, Umm Hamida restores relations and thinks of how to profit from the tragedy.
Zaita A filthy recluse, black-on-black, who rents a hole in the wall from the baker Husniya, Zaita earns his living by creating cripples who wish to improve their chances as beggars. Zaita regularly spies on the bakers, enjoys watching “full-bodied” Husniya beat Jaada, and later coyly seduce him. Zaita detests and envies Jaada, and imagines throwing hatchets at him. Scorned for his filthiness and stench, Zaita imagines torturing all his neighbors. When he cripples a customer, Zaita is cunning and vicious. His eyes light up at their screams of pain. Still, he considers beggars the best of people and wishes they would form the majority of humankind. He begins work at midnight, leaving quietly and walking deliberately to the Mosque of Hussain, where beggars recognize his sovereignty. He makes the rounds, rousing them to collect his due. Dr. Booshy solicits customers for Zaita and Zaita helps the squeamish Booshy retrieve gold teeth from recently deceased corpses. The pair is caught red-handed and imprisoned.
