Collecting my wits, I decide that, come what may, nothing worse can happen to us. To think that when this woman and I came together for the first time it was with feverish passion, beautiful dreams! What’s happened to us? I’ll have to make this trip. Some afternoon. That’ll be the best time.

I don’t know anything about the place where my son is supposed to be living. After his marriage we lost contact and we’ve had nothing to do with each other since. He despised us and rejected our way of life, and I despised and disowned him. When he moved to Tahiya’s apartment I was glad not to see his scornful looks anymore. But now I’m running to him. It’s the only hope left. When we came out of prison he treated us with understanding, as a dutiful son should. How can he be the one who threw us into it?

—

I go up to the porter at Tahiya’s address a few days later to inquire about Abbas, only to be told that he left a couple of hours earlier, carrying a suitcase.

“Is he traveling somewhere?”

“He told me he’d be away for some time.”

“Didn’t he leave an address?”

“No.”

This unexpected obstacle upsets me. Why didn’t he tell us? Have Tariq’s accusations reached him? I decide to look up Sirhan al-Hilaly at the theater in Sharia Imad al-Din. I ask to see him and he lets me in immediately, standing up to welcome me, full of sympathy over my safe homecoming: “If it weren’t for my circumstances, I’d have come to see you and offer congratulations.”

“Sirhan Bey,” I say coolly, “that excuse is unacceptable.”

He laughs. Nothing fazes him. “You’re right.”

“Our association has been a long one. A lifetime. My lifetime as prompter of your company. And you had the use of my house. Until I was arrested.”

“I haven’t treated you right,” he mumbles. “How about a cup of coffee?”

“No coffee, no tea. I’ve come to see you about Abbas, my son.”

“You mean the controversial playwright? His work is going to be an unprecedented success. And you, Karam, above all people, should understand how I feel.”

“Good. But I didn’t find him at home. The doorman told me he’d left carrying a suitcase.”

“And why are you so upset about that? He’s started on a new play. Who knows? Perhaps he’s found a quiet place…”

“I’ve heard things about the plot of the play and I’m afraid it’s got something to do with his leaving.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Karam.”

“Tariq is malicious, and he…”

“Don’t talk to me about Tariq,” he interrupts. “I know him better than you. There’s no need whatever to worry about your son.”

“I’m afraid he may have…” I leave the sentence unfinished.