Short Story : Abul Afa

By El Gouna Resident : Ihab Kassem

Three months now had passed as he stood gazing through the torn gapped fence.   

From the crack of dawn till late at night, he stands in the open, almost deafened by the sound of take off and landings of planes carrying groups of foreigners back and forth. White, blondes with blue eyes, scantily dressed, whether men or women, and ready for love at any moment. He wishes he could ride with them and leave. Their chicks would mostly love him with his tall height, tanned skin and his rough features, a big mustache and dark Afro hair. He could marry a foreign woman, like the guys in Luxor. Perhaps bring her back to live with the mother of his children, and support them all, or he may go to her country and enjoy the blonde gals there, they certainly will cling on to him with all their power. A true man, not a wuss like their she-men. If only they could see his face instead of his back as they always do, he would have been snatched and would not find enough time for all the foreign chicks, but ‘the eyes desire what the hands can’t reach’. 
 
“What are you looking at, you son of a bitch”. The Sergeant Major yelled out while slapping him on the back of his neck …the slap resonating around the airport, masking the sound of planes. 

Had he been in his hometown he would have killed him, even if he would end up living the rest of his life in the mountains with the outlawed, but here, in Cairo, he was worth nothing, even his entire town wasn’t worth a penny. Ever since then, he learnt not to turn around, even for a second, to stand tall like a tower all morning. He avoided his colleagues who named him (Abol Afa*) in memory of that humiliating event.
 
If the passengers could just see him. Forget the foreign chicks, perhaps a nice guy from the Gulf, who is in need of labourers. He is strong like an ox and can move pyramids if need be. He can plant and sow all day long in the burning sun, he can water, he can harvest, he can work in construction, moving bricks, he can be a delivery guy, anything, as long as he can leave. Longing for a house built of red brick, a fan, a soft cover that he can wrap himself in with his woman and his kids in winter. 
 
Longing for a piece of land, hmmm,  no, maybe not……a shop, just like the one owned by Abokassem, what stupid land, a shop he can sit in front of like a Pasha. Whoever wants me should come to my doorstep. The store would profit and then he could get the land and become richer than the mayor, he may then go slap the chief of guards on his back-neck (Afa), if he can reach the Sergeant Major he would also slap his back-neck as well.

If the passengers could only see him. Could there be a kind labor sponsor to take him along to the Gulf. If only he could leave, he wished to have a satellite dish and a shower. He wishes to buy his children shoes so their feet won’t chaf and bleed like his do. He wishes to leave. If only the plane passengers would notice him.

“The shoe is tight, I’m not used to it”
“What are those cars filled with Cairene chicks”
“I’ve been standing under the sun for two days now”
“You will be extending your shifts these days Abul Afa “

These myriad thoughts buzzed in his brain. 

“What was that car that stopped in the middle of the night” 

Voices were coming from a car. Between him and the car was the fence and a sidewalk filled with boys and girls, seemingly rich, with pink soft skin. Girls dressed like foreign women. 

“How amazing those arms, breasts, bare-skin thighs are…I’ll be damned, the world is coming to an end. The kids are smoking and laughing together as if I dont even exist”
“What on earth is that? Beer!! I’ll be damned, even the gals from Cairo drink liquor in the streets!? Gog and Magog must be on their way to eat them alive now; perhaps they might crush me along with them” He thought to himself as he eyed the commotion outside. 
“Get out of here lads, get out of here boys” he yelled to disperse them in his rural accent. 
“Get out…” the group of boys and girls laughed in derision at his accent, as they approached him almost rolling on the floor from laughter. 

 
“Here is a flower for you…you drive me nuts with your magical look” said a girl sarcastically dressed in tight skinny pants with a T-shirt that showed her stomach and belly button as she approached him with a wild smile looking right through his eyes.
 “Why wouldn’t YOU go away private”
“How shameless are you”, he retorted. 
“Shameless? Where are you from private? From the far south?” Said the girl.  
“Walk away from here I tell you, its for your own good”
“For my own good…hahaha, just tell me where are you from?…said one of the boys. “Say it man, say it loud, the girls father is well connected, he can set you up”

“What do you mean ‘set me up’? I swear if the Sergeant Major saw you he…”
“What sergeant, son, are you out of your mind. If your sergeant or his officer show up here they will kiss our hands ….do you have any idea who I am or who my father is?”, said a young girl. 

 
“I’ll be damned” he thought, “who is her father? He might be one of those fat cats. That’s how they are, with no shame or respect, those nasty infidels, leaving their kids attacking people, sons of bitches, but hell to the ones who dares them”. 
 
“Get your act together kid”, Abol Afa shouted out. 
 
They seemed fearless, even the devil won’t scare them, besides why do I care? Let them stand or go to hell, along with their folks.  
“I’m only concerned about you, this isn’t a safe place, besides it is not allowed to be that close to the airport like that” , he suggested. 
 
“C’mon dude, would you like a cigarette” one of the guys pulled a box of Marlboro out of his pocket and reached out through the fence holes.
“Holy smoke, a full box of Marlboro, this would fix the mood of a full battalion”
 “Take it, don’t be shy, you seem like an honest man”
“Thanks”
“Here you go, smoke and enjoy…so, where are you from? Upper Egypt, right?”
“Right”
“Best people are those from the south………Aren’t you one of the best?”
“Best of the best indeed”
“Sassy”. Said one of the guys, while the rest were laughing in exhilarated happiness.
“Catch brother”. Said the guy as he threw an object over the fence.
“Bomb ! Bomb! Bomb ?!….you son of a bitch”, cried the guard. 
Abol Afa stumbled and fell, hitting his head on a rock as he attempted to run away from the object that cracked over his head. 
The boys and girls laughing as they watched him touch his bleeding head.
He lifted his head to find the beer can that they threw in front of him.
“Hold on guys, looks like he hurt himself” said one of the youths. 
“Are you ok?” added another. 
“You are making fun of me you bastards”, he murmured as he looked down to the ground.
“Enough guys, that’s enough, lets go” he heard them say. 
He kept looking at the beer can as he continued murmuring “making fun of me” 
He heard the sound of cars leave the place, and then silence prevailed.
 
He opened the cold can and drank as if he was soothing the whole days thirst. With each sip he felt he was burying his cares one after the other. He felt the warm blood dripping down his forehead, off his nose and onto his official uniform. He raised his hand to wipe the blood off his eye and forehead, closing his eyes and feeling calm as his body started to go numb. 
 
How far was he now from the field, the mud, the moonlight. Even the longing he always felt for the dogs of his village seemed far away compared to those dogs in the city. City dogs don’t bark, they only bite, you don’t feel them until their teeth are in your flesh and you bleed until rabid.

 “Who is there?”, he shouted at the sound of approaching footsteps. 

He removed his hand from his eyes as his pupils widened.

“Who is there? Why did your friends leave you?”
She extended her hand across the fence with a white handkerchief that sparkled in the darkness adding to a strong feminine fragrance invading his senses. 

“Answer me”
 
He stood up, walked toward her as she stood still, her face carrying a mysterious smile. The white in her black eyes shone in the dark, her hair dropping on her shoulders covering a part of her naked back, seeming as if it was braided with her long black dress.
 
“Aren’t you scared of this darkness?” he asked. 
 
He extended his hand to pick up the handkerchief, wiping his sweat and blood, the fragrance intoxicating him, stirring his manhood and lighting it up.
 
“Aren’t you scared?”
 
He held her outstretched hand, pulling her towards him, pressing her body through the fence to be with him on his side. He grabs her, squeezing her with all his power, sinking his fingers into her soft body. As the fence melts away, she puts her hands on his chest, he tears at her clothes, she takes off his.  He gently lowers her down to the ground. He feels her lips biting his, her body on top of his, owning it piece by piece, until all his senses turn towards her. He feels, sees and smells her body entering his pores, and drowns in the flow of their bodies.
 
Suddenly …….there are many voices. 

The sun rays hit his eyes and stings his face and back-neck.
 
“And you sleep naked? I’ll turn you in for military punishment and beat the hell out of you…” a voice commanded. 
 
He was totally naked as he barely opened his eyes in the sunlight, hearing the giggling voices of his colleagues in service and the cusses of the Sergeant Major. He begins to get up, slowly and heavily. The cusses and slaps continuing over his head. He looks to the Sergeant, keeping calm and cold as if he doesn’t hear or see or even feel anything. He looks in front and sees his clothes on the ground. Next to his clothes is the stone coloured with his blood. 

He calmly bends and picks it up.

Gasps and commotion are heard inside Flight 522 as it slows its taxiing and stops to observe a scene.
 
The Arabs and foreigners on the plane are taking dozens of photos from the plane windows. The Sergeant is screaming with a hoarse voice crying for help. Ambulance  sirens are heard in the distance. Abul Afa is seen kneeling over the Sergeant, who is drowning in his own blood as Abul Afa smashes his head with the stone. 

And a smile of satisfaction draws on Abul Afas’ face.    

 

* Afa : Back of the neck or nape. 

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