The magazine

Humiliation

Mustafa shook his head affirmatively as he sat on the couch. The man sat next to him, and before opening his mouth, Mustafa asked him:
- Are you from the area here?
- Oh, but I live behind the police station.. I was born in El-Mataria.. Matraoui is very much a father..
- Yes.. Welcome.. Can I have your phone number, please?
The man was amazed at Mustafa's request, but he gave it to him. Mustafa saved it on his phone after he knew the name of Mona's aunt's husband - Haj Moneim Al-Dab – a sanitary ware dealer and knew the address of his shop. Haj Moneim suddenly stopped when some men entered in all. He headed towards the door of the room, knocked on it gently and opened it. The women looked at the men and the loader, crying loudly. Monem signaled to them to leave the room. He patted the back of the taller woman. Mustafa understood that she was his wife. He looked at her quickly, and she looked more luxurious than her sister.
The last Mona left the room, the men entered, and after a few minutes they took the body in the belly of the loader and took it down the stairs. Those in the house followed them. Mustafa was the last to leave the house. Equipped to honor man, Mustafa stood confused; Suddenly he heard Monem calling him:
- Go ahead, Professor Mustafa.. Go ahead.
He said it while pointing towards an old Fiat 128 car. Mustafa went to the car in which Moneim rode before him and opened the car door for him from the inside and said while smiling shyly:
- Sorry, Mr. Mustafa, not as much as the position means.
Mustafa smiled at him affectionately as he rode on and said:
- Your position is great Hajj Munim...
Mustafa's words were interrupted by a wailing sound that he heard coming from behind the car. Mustafa looked and saw my aunt Mona sitting in the back. Mustafa looked outside looking for Mona. Munim told him as he started the car engine:
- Don't worry, Mr. Mustafa.. Mona is with her aunt's husband in this white microblading..
He pointed toward a slowly moving minibus behind a car honoring the dead.
The small procession set off, led by a car honoring the dead, until it reached the cemetery. The cemetery guard and the person in charge of the burial ceremonies greeted it for minutes. Mona's grandmother was laying her final rest in the ground. Mustafa's gaze was attached to Mona as the man rolled a large stone to close the mouth of the burial. Her aunt and cousins embraced her after the man finished. As part of his mission, a blind sheikh suddenly appeared, crouching on the ground near the opening of the burial, raising his voice reciting Surah Ya-Seen. Munim stood quietly watching the situation, Mina and her tears that did not stop shedding tears, and Mustafa and his eyes that did not lift from Mina. The blind man finished and stood shaking The dust from his worn-out robe, Munim put some of the little money in the palm of the sheikh to thank him, the children gathered around Munim and the mourners begged as they prayed for mercy and forgiveness for the deceased.
Monem pulled Mustafa by the hand and opened the door of his old car for him. Mustafa got in, then Mona's two aunts, and Monem drove towards the grandmother's house. He arrived before the minibus that took Mona and the rest of the relatives.
Chairs were lined up in front of the house, arranged by Moneim from a butterfly shop by phone on the way back. One of the neighbors donated a large cassette player and a Quran tape with the voice of Sheikh Al-Minshawi. Moneim asked Mustafa to stand next to him in the line to receive the mourners. Mustafa was amazed at Moneim's request, as this can only be for the family of the deceased. But he agreed immediately. He received condolences for a woman he had only seen while she was wrapped in her shroud. After the end of the funeral ceremony, Mustafa sought permission from Moneim to leave, who refused and insisted on sharing the dinner with him. Mustafa tried to refuse politely, citing his mother, who should be next to her due to her illness, but Moneim refused. He pulled him by the hand until he got into the car next to him.
The car stopped in front of Kababji Restaurant near Al-Matrawi Square. Monem and Mustafa sat on a small table on the sidewalk after asking the waiter for half a kilo of kofta and another piece of feathers. Salads and pickles rolled on the table, but neither of them reached out. Moneim bowed and looked at Mustafa and said:
- Your tiredness is with me, Mr. Mustafa.
- Do not get tired or need, uncle Hajj Moneim.
- What's wrong with her mother?
- Sugar and its agents.
- There is no safety on it.
- God bless your life.
- By God, I do not know how Mona will live this coming period.. We cannot come and live with her for the sake of the children, their schools and their lessons, nor can she come to live with us.. You are no longer a stranger.. The apartment is small and we will be healthy, by God.. Except tell me, Mr. Mustafa. .
- Go ahead.
- Who is sitting with the woman who gave birth to you now? You don't have sisters?
- No, by God, why not.. She is now alone, may God protect us.
Monem was silent for a moment and said:
- Don't take me, Mr. Mustafa, you are like my son or my little brother, I mean.. Why didn't you think about marriage until now?
Mustafa Monem stared with a sharp look, but the man greeted her with a stupid smile on his lips. Mustafa said after sighing:
- The share.. there is no share.. may God send it.
Monem smiled more coldly and said:
- And God sent you.. so without being punished like this or upset.. and as they say, the living is better than the dead.. I noticed that means that you are very interested in our daughter Mona.. and it is also clear that she greatly cherishes you.. and we are people of peasant origin and we are not satisfied with defect or mistake And we don't have...
Mustafa interrupted him sharply:
- What is wrong and what is wrong, Hajj Moneim?
Munem cut a crumb of bread from a loaf, dipped it in tahini and put it in his mouth. He said while licking it slowly:
- Mona is our daughter.. and you are not a stranger now.. and your mother needs someone to take care of her and take care of her.. don't come to blame the Shami on the Moroccan, and it will be an opportunity for all of us to get out and get rid of the sadness that we are in.
From the beginning, Mustafa understood Munem's hints, but he did not imagine that he would speak to him, and he is the one who met him for the first time today, and in such circumstances, on a subject like this. Mustafa smiled a pale smile and said to him in a calm voice:
- Look, Hajj Monem.. I am honored to be associated with a woman like Mona, of course.. But the time is not appropriate at all for this talk.. I am not ready now, nor is she ready now.
- What are you ready for, but, Mustafa, my son.. We are going to buy a man.. Then the whole matter will be completed in two days.
Mustafa fell silent for a while, trying to understand why this sanitary ware dealer insists on ending the deal now and in such circumstances. After a few moments of silence, he said:
- Ok, let's postpone this talk, at least until the age of forty.. From which I approached my mother about the matter.. And I also introduced her to Mona.. Also, Mona calmed down her psyche and her fire on her grandmother cooled down.
Monem interrupted him quickly as he swallowed the morsel he kept chewing:
- Those who have been patient with all of this will give us patience until four.. I mean, your words are the eye of reason.
Mustafa's confusion about this man increased, but the humiliation of his tongue made it clear that Munim had a goal and desire to complete Mona's marriage quickly. The waiter brought two large plates, one with kofta fingers and the other with grilled feathers.
Mustafa returned to his apartment and found his mother waiting for him. He prepared a snack for her, gave her her medicine, and headed to his room. His mind was preoccupied with Mona. How would her future be with a greedy man like Monem? Where is her second aunt's husband? He never appeared and no one spoke about him. He took off his clothes and replaced them with comfortable clothes. He lay down on his bed with his mobile phone in his hand. He opened it and called Mona. He got a response after a few seconds.
Mona's voice seemed cracked from crying so much. He asked her about her condition and tried a lot to spread the spirit of hope within her, as we are all dead walking on the earth. After she regained her composure a little, he confessed to her an explicit confession of his love. Mona remained silent, but inside her she was dancing despite the overwhelming sadness in the atmosphere. He tells her about the conversation that took place between him and her aunt's husband, but he asked about her aunt's other husband.