What more do you want?”
“How much do you want from me?”
“That’s not really important.”
“It is.”
Abul Khaizuran smiled broadly, and his lips parted to show two rows of large teeth, gleaming white. Then he said:
“I’ll be quite honest with you. I have got to go to Kuwait, and I said to myself: why not earn a little money and take someone with you who wants to go there? How much can you pay?”
“Five dinars.”
“Is that all?”
“I haven’t any more.”
“Very well. I accept.”
Abul Khaizuran put his hands in his pockets and strode forward, taking such big steps that Marwan almost lost him and had to hurry after him. But he stopped suddenly and shook his finger in front of his lips. “But … you mustn’t tell anyone that. I mean, if I ask someone else for ten dinars, don’t tell him I’m just getting five from you.”
“But how do you expect me to trust you?”
Abul Khaizuran thought for a moment, then he smiled the same broad smile again, saying: “You’re right. You’ll give me the money in Al-Safa Square in Kuwait—in the capital, in the middle of the capital. Satisfied?”
“All right.”
“But we’ll need some more people to make the journey. You must help me. That is a condition.”
“I know someone staying in the same hotel with me who wants to go.”
“That’s splendid. I know someone else. He comes from the town where I lived in Palestine, in the old days, and I came across him here. But I haven’t asked you: what do you want to do in Kuwait? Do you know anyone there?”
Marwan stopped again, but Abul Khaizuran pulled him by the arm and he trotted along by his side.
“My brother works there.”
Abul Khaizuran shook his head as he hurried along. Then he raised his shoulders so that his neck sank between them and he seemed shorter than before.
“If your brother is working there, why do you want to take a job? People of your age are still at school.”
“I was at school two months ago. But now I want to work to support my family.”
Abul Khaizuran stopped and took his hands out of his pockets, putting them on his hips. He began to stare laughingly at Marwan.
“Ah! Now I understand. Your brother has stopped sending you money, hasn’t he?”
Marwan nodded and tried to walk on, but Abul Khaizuran caught his arm and stopped him.
“Why? Has he got married?”
Amazed, Marwan looked at Abul Khaizuran, and whispered:
“How did you know?”
“Ah! One doesn’t have to be a genius to understand. Everyone stops sending money to their families when they get married or fall in love.”
Marwan felt a small disappointment growing in his heart, not because he had been surprised, but because he had discovered that it was something common and well known. He had thought that his heart held a great secret that no one else knew.