The happiest times in the jurn were when relief arrived in the form of a lump of opium. Its magic would only reveal itself after it was sucked with sips of bitter coffee. When the dose had its effect - and its effect was swift - the world would sparkle and nothing could stand in the way of the serenity it induced. This clear-headedness was a state Shabana called ‘my peace and relaxation’. In that state, it made no difference to him whether the boys sat down beside him (when the latest gossip would be recounted and he would listen to them prattle on about futile matters) or not, since, once the dose had arrived, he would be happy enough to sit alone and drift through the ‘kingdom’. His favourite time after the harvest season was the Coptic month of Amshir, at the tail end of winter. The day
