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A strange thing

Why did he take his family with him? Then he remembered that Shawkat had children, not just one. Why didn't the other one come with them? He tried to find a reason, an explanation, and an explanation for all this, but he did not find it. He stood up and went upstairs, where Yasmine and her fiancé, Nader, were sitting together on the terrace overlooking the garden. Raafat joined them and followed the steps of Shawkat and Shweikar, who did not stop looking back at the palace building while they were They do not notice the presence of Yasmine, Raafat, and Nader on the terrace. They see them, the only one who did not look back while they are on their way to the large umbrella that lies in the eastern corner of the palace garden, where they left their car under it, and his steps were steady and indicated great happiness. He collects horses and assumes some scenarios. Raafat's conclusion to him was almost correct. Nabil's confusion when he offered his help. His happiness when he learned about Jasmine's engagement as if she was an old friend of his or like a friend of Nader. Raafat was surprised at first, but now he understands what Shawkat wanted him to visit. But how did Shawkat think in such a different way?! A question Raafat asked himself made him smile while he was repeating inside himself as he watched gossip with two names and Nader about their plans for their upcoming wedding party: "Someone like Shawkat, if he thinks this way, has come to me now, and we haven't seen each other come for ten years. .
Yasmine noticed the sarcastic smile on her father's face. She looked at him and said:
- What are you laughing at, Si Baba?!
Raafat noticed and said to her:
- I laugh at the world.. Forget about me now.. When will the dress be delivered?
Jasmine pointed towards Nader and said with a smile:
- I ask the captain.. Why do you ask me?
Nader laughed a short laugh as he looked towards her with love.
(27)
In response to Yasmine's sarcastic question, Nader said, while shifting his gaze between Yasmine and Raafat:
- I have a trip tomorrow morning to Rome.. and I will return to Cairo after three days.. and the time to receive the dress from the fashion house is supposed to be after two days, so I will be there.. but I don't know what to do!
Raafat asked him seriously:
- What do you do?
- I will measure the dress, I mean?!
They all laughed. Raafat stood up, kissed his daughter's head, bid farewell to Nader, and went to bed.
Shawkat's car, driven by Nabil, exited the palace gate and veered into a side street, and from there to the road leading to the ring road, heading towards their apartment in Garden City. Shweikar, who was sitting in the back, exploded and exclaimed:
- Can you tell me what happened between you and your friend inside the office?
Shawkat looked at Shweikar, unable to bear what he went through that night. His wife cursed him and he gave her everything he had of money, love and loyalty. She rebelled against life with him just because she visited a friend of his who had what he did not own. The one whom they had left now was reproached for his poverty from her point of view. Shawkat felt that everything he had done for Shweikar and sacrificed because he loved her was in vain. If he had married his aunt's daughter whom his father had nominated for him and had done with her a quarter of what he had done for Shweikar, she would have now carried his shoe over her head. But this is how women are, if you honor them, they rebel. This was not the only thing that saddened Shawkat; But there is Raafat, who thought that there would become a marriage between them, but everything was a division and a share, but Raafat's reactions when Shawkat asked him to lend him some money, which does not represent anything in relation to Raafat's wealth, let him down and make him feel inferior in front of Raafat, in front of himself, and in front of Shweikar. Shawkat said to her:
- What will happen?! Neither approved nor rejected.
- What does it mean, I don't agree or reject this.. You want to make me crazy and that's it?!
- Why are you annoyed and angry?
- I also don't feel what will happen to me when the bank seizes the factory and exposes it in front of my friends in the club.
- my failure?! I am not a loser, .. I am awarded the Star of Honor Medal.. and the Long Service and Good Example Medal.. My promise to you remains.. The Military Courage Medal.. and the Military Training Medal.. One...
Shweikar interrupted him, her face red as a strawberry:
- But.. but.. how many countries?! If I sold them, how many would they bring?! Pay off the bank loan?
She said it sarcastically and turned her face away looking out of the car window. Nabil remained silent and wished he had asked his mother and father: "How much do you wish for the Olympic medal that Ramy won? Shweikar could not understand that, she was the youngest among her brothers, spoiled more than all of them, she did not bear any responsibility and all her requests are orders that must be executed, it was not disturbing to her family because they have almost everything, money, power and prestige, it makes no difference with them whatever her requests are they will be able to I met her, now things are no longer the way they were, all of this is lost and ended, but Shweikar remained as it was and found Shawkat fertile ground to satisfy her desires and whims even in bed. He does not object to anything whatsoever, which is what Shweikar is used to.
Nabil did not speak at all and did not participate in this quarrel, even if to calm down. Perhaps he feels double happiness now, his happiness to get out of the impasse of making advances to Jasmine, and his happiness that all this psychological pus came out of the dirty wounds of his parents. He knows very well that Shweikar and Shawkat will be different after their last visit to Raafat. The evidence is that Shweikar turned her head away from the car window and looked at Nabil and said to him:
- We would have wronged you, Nabil, my love, in this marriage.
Nabil did not believe himself. Shweikar told him Habibi and admitted that they were unjust when they asked him for this request. Then she blew hard while opening her handbag looking for her cigarette packet and said:
- But he is your father like that.. He is disappointed in everything, even in his nominations.. He does not ask the first and find out what the condition of the girl is before we go.. The sons of men are strange.
Shawkat turned to her and said sharply:
- My nomination?! Aren't you the one who kept going through the old books like Khawaja when he went bankrupt, and you settled on Raafat's daughter?! You are really weird.
Nabil found his opportunity to implement the advice of his aunt Shams to include them in order to orbit him. He said to them without looking at either of them:
- Calm down, Calm down, Mama.. Look, everything has a solution.. Of course, it is clear that the situation is difficult, but please do not add to the difficulty of the situation with the differences between you.
Shweikar remained silent, listening to her son as he planned what to do in such situations. His first suggestion was that Shawkat go to the bank tomorrow and try to schedule the loan again, and the day after tomorrow he goes to meet Raafat as he set the date with him. Raafat will follow the steps he said, and this It does not mean that Shawkat is forced to follow what will be recommended by the Raafat company committees, but at least he will know the main reason for his loss. Perhaps the supplier of raw materials was the cause, and perhaps the storekeeper and his negligence, or that there is fraud in the accounts, all of this will appear with the help of the reports of the Raafat company, if Shawkat succeeded in scheduling the bank's debts, then he was able to deal with those eyes that will appear, as the matter will go well, and if there is any financial problem, Shawkat can look for a partner with a specific percentage.
They were dazzled by the large garden with its huge trees and the roots hanging from its branches penetrating the ground beneath it. The inner lights of the palace and its huge doors were admired by his father Shawkat and his uncle. The family pictures hanging on the walls, men and women; The men with their long hooked mustaches and well-groomed beards, and the women with their bare shoulders and their hats that added to their beauty another beauty that amazed the father and his brother. The gilded salon with its large wide sofa, giant chairs, and soft velvet cloth was a story that the two men told in their village. The Cuban car, the like of which they had not seen before and perhaps after, A car without a roof was a strange thing for them.Edit Feedback