Love And War

Chapter 02: "The Battler".

Dalila Gasem, who was 19 years of age, was the only female in her family to be fully educated, despite  being poor, she was allowed to attend school to build a bright future for herself, and she was marvellous! She was what every father dreamed of having, known for having a sharp brain and rare talent, she loved reading as much as she did for writing; it was one of her many passions; to speak fact; she was interested in languages and learnt how to be fluent in both French and English and she joined the "UGEA" in her first year in high school, then obtained her baccalaureate degree after proving her capability of continuing her education a year earlier.

She was about to set off for France to study law for two years but didn't want to lose contact with the new friend she made, so she asked Catherine to attend her younger cousin's wedding in the casbah where she lived, and Catherine couldn't help but accept her invitation, they parted their ways as it was about to get dark, but oh, boy! was she impressed by what she'd seen! a clever young girl who aspires to build more than what the man intends to! C'est formidable!"She must've been well-taught of what surrounds her in this world", She said to herself, she had thousand questions in her mind that were unanswered , one of which was this, "could she be brainwashed to accept the injustice that her people suffer? Or could she possibly have a mind of her own?", to have found her that she knew too much of french culture and literature, but oh well, all that will be figured out sooner or later.
When she went home, she told her sister everything that she'd witnessed in the military checkpoint, of how a man was dragged by a french soldier and had him beaten for not carrying his trade and identification card with him that almost caused him his death,Èlisabeth was at shock by what she'd heard, she couldn't believe that a man of duty who was supposed to protect was only there to harm the innocent.
"Why would he be so cruel? Could it be that cold heart of his to have resulted in him to be inhumane?!".
She cried.
"Only god knows, but whatever the cause is, it must be stopped, for good".
Replied Catherine with deep frustration and anger.
Her outrage almost caused her to lose her nerves but Elisabeth managed to calm her down and assured her that if she wanted to join the resistance, she'd be doing the right thing, Catherine was pleased with her sister's reassurance, but was hesitant towards the future, that night, she couldn't sleep, all what she could think of was her safety, she thought of leaving everything behind, but then reminded herself that she should never be at the mercy of anyone, never to surrender and always be strong and fierce, therefore, she decided to leave her fate at the caring hands of the all-mighty, as she'd always believed.

A few days passed by, and a new festivity approached, it was a celebration of a wedding of two young people whose marriage was arranged. The groom was a few years older than his bride, but never mind that, they were madly in love with each other. Oh! Don't think it odd, they were at war with France, which was their sworn enemy. They can't just let their daughters be the target of a brainless french soldier , this perspective may get on your nerves, but it was the only solution, as they were seen as precious but not equal to their brothers and spouses. It was the same wedding that Catherine was invited to attend, so she tried to dress modestly and not to show off any skin, she wore a dress that was simple but of delicate taste, as she had always called it "Favourite of all times", after getting ready, and on her way, she looked for directions, every time she asked a french soldier on how to get to the Casbah, their comments was this: "Beware of them ", or, "don't believe the lies they speak about us", but she didn't listen to any of this rubbish and continued her way there anyway but when she got to the casbah's entrance, she got struck by the fact that most people who lived there were of poor condition, and got lost because she found too many pathways, then, a little boy who was of ten-ish years of age slowly snuck to her and pulled her dress at the back and said with his broken french"as-tu de l'argent, mademoiselle ? Tout ce qui m'achète des bonbons", then all of a sudden, a young man appeared out of nowhere and struck the boy in the head.
"Machi dork a'atitek sarf?? Klithoumli ga'a!".
The young man shouted angrily
"Aya roh melah b3id! Roh!".
He ran away like a chicken with no head, which made Catherine laugh a bit, it was funny.
"Are you in need of help of some kind, mademoiselle?".
He posed the question in a hospitable manner.
"Well, I'm afraid I'm lost, I don't know which path to take to get to the house where mademoiselle Dalila Gasem lives".
She replied.
"Your destination is the same as mine, mademoiselle, follow me this way".
He guided her the whole way to the house, and he wasn't what she'd imagined. She was told myths or lies about how Algerians or "Les Indigènes'' were uncivilised and lived an beast-like life, but what she's just witnessed was the complete opposite, they held on to their faith more than anything else, tradition was often a sacred practice in their daily life and they enjoyed to share in it with people who were considerably outside their culture, which impressed Catherine.
They arrived there safely and she thanked him endlessly for offering her assistance and got interrupted by Dalila.
"Oh! Good! You're here! You don't how glad I am to see that you've come!".
Said Dalila joyfully.
" It is an honour for me to attend this wonderful occasion and take share in this rich culture, I'm not so sure why so many people forget to acknowledge this golden piece of civilization".
Replied Catherine.
"If that is how you see it, so it will be".
Said Dalila with a wide smile, grateful to see her friend on this joyous day.
"and Majido, could you bring some extra tea ? Yema said that it won't be sufficient to serve the guests in the evening".
She asked.
"I'll come back with it as fast as I can".
Said the young man.
His name was Abd-El-Majid, Dalila's cousin and close ally in the "Gasem" Family, he joined the "FLN" just recently to work as a militant under the high command in The Casbah, he didn't get to chance to attend school due to his father's drowning in debt and spent most of his life working in the port of Algiers with his father learning how to make bonds with foreigners in business and trade. He may be illiterate, but he's no fool, he knows exactly of what surrounds him in the world, and if you try to convince him to change his way from working for his country's independence for a better profit, you'd cross him and you'll probably get yourself buried alive.
Abd-El-Majid left to bring what he was asked and Catherine and Dalila got inside and went upstairs, so she could show her around before the ceremony begins. The two of them went to see the bride first, She was very pretty, but so young, Catherine thought that too! Her cousin, Dalila helped her with the hairdo and picking the right dress, after she finished, Catherine congratulated the bride and wished her a long life and a happy marriage.
"Je vous souhaite une longue vie et un bonheur dans ce mariage".
The Bride couldn't understand what Catherine said, but with Dalila's help, who translated the word for her, made the bride smile and thanked Catherine afterwards, which warmed her heart. She then was introduced to family and friends, some thought of her as "seemingly cruel and careless", others called her " prideful of her background", only two of Dalila's loved ones had no doubt in her kindness, and these two persons were her mother and one childhood friend, "Badriya Fadili", who was curious to know who "Catherine Aubert" really was and whose side she was on, so she went up to her and introduced herself as a young journalism student who comes from a middle-class but well-educated family, she told her that she read about her in the french newspapers, saying that she was nicknamed "La fille de la France"; or;" The Daughter of France", for serving in her father's military troops in WWII, Catherine confirmed that this piece of information was true but did not show any type of emotion when mentioning about it, this made Badriya even more curious and decided to start a conversation, they spoke about the two world wars, the cause of freedom and the honour of fighting for it, this is when Catherine opened about what caused her most pain, her mother's lack of affection and destructive control, familial conflicts on who to inherit her late father's grand fortune, a loss of a loving father who had been a comfort her whole life and the tragedies that she'd witnissed during her military work in WWII was everything that caused her to be at misery, Badriya was shocked and surprised to hear this.
" I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that".
Said Badriya, feeling awful for Catherine.
" I need no pity, and If I stand, then it is only with the will of God".
Catherine declared.
Badriya was amazed! She never thought that she'd meet a woman with such firmity and strength of character; in that moment, she was sure that Catherine's eyes will open to the truth sooner; rather than later. Catherine then went to see Dalila's mother for the first time, she was a bit nervous and anxious of what the mother would think of her but tried to stay as calm and confident as possible. As she approached the old woman, she greeted her and kissed her on the cheeks.
"Mashallah! Allah ybarek! 3amla ki l9mer l'dawi!".
Dalila told Catherine that her mother commented on her beauty; saying that she resembled the bright moon, Catherine's face started to redden after hearing the compliment and thanked Mr.s Dahbiya, Dalila then told Catherine that her mother liked her and that she was stunned by her beauty, this made Catherine blush even more, looking at her reddish face, Dalila and Badriya couldn't help but have a good giggle!.
"Rahoum Jaw! Rahoum jaw! Akhordjo ya nsa!".
The woman cried.
All of the guests got out to witness the arrival of the notary and the imam. It was time. Dalila went to help the bride with the last touches while Catherine observed the whole scene through the balcony outside Dalila's home with the other guests, the bride's father was speaking to the notary and the imam, and the groom was dressed in a simple man suite, putting his head down for being shy while his friends joked with him out of joy for his big day, it was likeable for Catherine, and when Dalila finished, she went to her friend and thanked her for her patience and began to explain to Catherine why her cousin was wedded young to a man who was almost twice her age, and how men of her blood cared for her, and she understands that.
"We may not be their equal but they care for us, and that is because they see us as precious and treasured".
Said Dalila.
"If you say so".
Replied Catherine, in doubt of Dalila's words.
"I do, and It's because I have an elder brother, too bad that he isn't here".
" You have an elder brother?!".
Asked Catherine, with a surprised look on her face.
"Yes".
Dalila answered.
"But I thought that one was your sibling".
" We're cousins but he is my milk sibling, we were fed from the same woman".
Said Dalila.
Catherine found it interesting and wanted to know more but didn't want to be nosey about it and distracted herself by listening to the Dalila's translation of the notary's speech instead, he spoke about the importance of the revolution and that taking an arm against France was the only solution to liberation and independence and his reminder to always to have courage and never surrendering to the enemy was what intrigued Catherine, which brought her closer to understanding the algerians and their cause. After finishing his speech, he called on for the weds-to-be to sign their marriage certificate, and the two of them were emotional, the bride tried not to weep in front her elder brother, but Abd-El-Majid couldn't stop tearing up either, as he saw his younger sister; whom he loved deeply, now happily married to the man she wanted, the groom couldn't stop blushing and kept his head down the whole time, the two of them felt butterflies in their stomach but they both managed to get it done without any awkwardness going on at the end.
"She did it splendidly well!".
Said Dalila cheerfully.
" How brave of her!".
Said Catherine .
They were happy for her, and glad that she kept it all it all together, then, it was time for the religious ceremony, the imam spoke about sanctity of marriage in islam and the blessings that come with it, and then, everyone raised their hands and said their prayers for the newly married couple, amazed by what she'd seen, Catherine fell in love, not just for their strong faith but for their courage as well, after that, she had an enjoyable afternoon, chatter with new friends, food, tea, you name it, but she couldn't stay for long because she had to go to a friend's house by 3 o'clock, Dalila tried to convince her guest and friend to stay for a bit longer but Catherine insisted on leaving, so she congratulated the bride for the last time, and bid Dalila and her friend goodbye and left, so she wouldn't be late.
Later that day, she arrived and was warmly welcomed by her friend as usual but couldn't wait to tell her best friend about the tea and started talking on the doorstep. Olivine, who noticed Catherine's impatience and unusual happiness on her face; asked her dear friend to calm down and catch a breath. They sat down on the dining table, and the marvelled Catherine began telling Olivine about everything that happened to her that day, of how she was received by a total stranger, the truth about the algerians and the similarities between the christian and the islamic faith and what caught her attention was the algerian cause for war, she told her in the boring details of how her time was well spent and never missed a bit, not even one! She told her that she was looking forward to go to the casbah for sometime, and Olivine was pleased but not suprised.
"It seems that you've chosen your side".