Before Our Dawn| ongoing

two

chapitre deux
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Tarek Mansouri was a skilled and accomplished physician, well-known by most residents in their neighbourhood and praised for his ability to work alongside other European doctors and nurses in clinics in the Casbah and the European quarter, the latter of which they called "Ville Nouvelle", home to settlers and grand public buildings as well as private villas. It was a stark contrast to the older, more densely-populated Casbah region where the traditional architecture and way of life of the indigenous population could be found.

To be considered on par with French physicians was an honour to Tarek, and his precise skill and knowledge as a general surgeon had granted him the opportunity to relocate to France to assist a friend of his, Jean Dubois, who sought to open a clinic for the residents of the 18th, 19th, and 20th arrondissements of Paris. He needed somebody to manage it whilst he travelled to other remote towns and villages to treat the poorer folk who couldn't afford good healthcare and medicine, and he had developed a close relationship with Tarek and couldn't think of a better man for the job.

Tarek hadn't much of a reason to decline. His compensation would be extraordinary, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that would never again arise if he let it slip through his fingers. As a physician, an Algerian physician, this was the only way to do well by his family.

For as long as he could remember, Algeria was under the control of the French government, but his own father and grandfather had told him tales of life before colonization, which they heard from their own fathers and grandfathers. It had been home to the Arabs, Berbers, and Jews, a vibrant society with a rich cultural heritage that the French had trampled upon amid their occupation in 1830. The French presence in the region had begun earlier in the century with the establishment of trading posts and settlements, and in a matter of decades, they exerted full control of the country. During the Great War, it was used as a base of operations against the Germans in Europe and Africa, and Tarek had even been conscripted to fight in their army, which he survived but only with an inch of his life-the others he fought alongside hadn't been as lucky. He'd been put through a fair amount of suffering and oppression, and now he could escape it; his wife and daughter didn't have to experience the hardships he endured as a boy and a man. Isra could pursue her passions in Paris, regardless of what they were, and do better for herself. Perhaps meet and marry a Frenchman and integrate into their society.

He was well aware of the relationship between her and Haadi, and although his wife and the boy's family were in approval of their courtship, Tarek didn't want her to marry an Algerian boy whom he saw as a shackle around her neck. Haadi's intentions were noble and it was, in fact, undeniable that the love they had for one another was raw in its entirety, but he wouldn't be able to get her out of Algiers. They'd live, raise children, grow old, and die in Algeria, in the iron grip of the French government. What Tarek wanted was bigger. For her to carve out a career, to marry into wealth or create her own wealth, to live outside of the colony and flourish as the brilliant woman he knew she was.

Yet she suppressed that brilliance because she was convinced that her love and devotion to Haadi needed to trump all else. Haadi wouldn't let her spread her wings. He and his family were rooted in the old ways of tradition; they were patriots willing to be martyred for their country and would never dare step outside of the comfort of Algeria, where everything was predictable and familiar and they were expected to marry, have children, and do nothing else. Tarek didn't want predictability for his daughter, he refused to watch her give up her dreams and settle for a life of domesticity when he knew that she had the potential to be more than Haadi Brahimi's wife. It was the reason why he refused to let her stay behind with him whilst he and his wife sailed to France. He wouldn't resign her to such a pathetic fate. Beyond the Mediterranean Sea lay a trove of opportunities for her to seize, and she couldn't see it now, but one day, she would come to realize that he only had her best interest in mind.