Four hours perhaps.”
“The guide abandoned you, didn’t he? That’s always happening.”
The girl turned to him with a question:
“Why are you escaping from there?”
Her husband gave her the answer:
“It’s a long story. Tell me, do you drive well?”
“Yes.”
“You can take my place when you’ve had a little rest. I may be able to help you cross the Iraqi frontier. We will get there at two in the morning, and the officials will be asleep.”
He could not get his mind to focus on one subject. He was confused and did not know where to start asking the host of questions that needed an answer, so he tried to get to sleep, even if it was just for half an hour.
“Where are you from?”
“Palestine. Ramleh.”
“Oh. Ramleh is a very long way away. A couple of weeks ago I was in Zeita. Do you know Zeita? I stood in front of the barbed wire. A little child came up to me and said in English that his house was a few feet beyond the barbed wire.”
“Do you work in an office?”
“Work in an office? Ha! The devil himself is too innocent to be employed in an office. No, my friend, I’m a tourist.”
“Look! Look! There’s another fox. Didn’t you see how his eyes glitter?”
“He’s a rat, my dear, a rat. Why do you insist that he’s a fox? Have you heard what happened there recently, near Zeita?”
“No. What happened?”
“The devil himself doesn’t know what happened. Will you stay in Baghdad?”
“No.”
“Oh. This desert is full of rats. What on earth do they eat?”
He answered quietly:
“Rats smaller than them.”
“Really?” said the girl. “It’s frightening. Rats themselves are horrible, frightening animals.”
The fat man who owned the office said:
“Rats are horrible animals. How can you sleep in that hotel?”
“It’s cheap.”
The fat owner of the office stood up and came towards him, putting his heavy arms on his shoulders:
“You look tired, my boy. What’s happened? Are you ill?”
“Me? No.”
“If you are ill, tell me. I may be able to help you. I have many friends who are doctors. Don’t worry, you won’t pay anything.”
“You’re very kind. But I’m a little tired, that’s all there is to it. Will the preparations take long?”
“No. Thank heavens there are many of you. You’ll find yourself on the road in two days.”
He turned his back and went towards the door, but before he went through it he heard the fat man chuckling behind his back:
“But take care the rats don’t eat you before you set out.”

MARWAN