FOURTEEN
When you arrived at the hotel, al-Kubran informed you that Nuriya had come twice in the past two days, and had waited for you that very evening, but when you hadn’t shown up, she had gone home promising to return the following day. Al-Kubran added, “She is very insistent on seeing you, and we were lucky that you weren’t here because that gave us an opportunity to hear her beautiful singing.”
“Who? Nuriya a singer? Are you joking?”
“Don’t say you didn’t know. You knew and didn’t want to tell us, just as you know that her repertoire is vast.”
“All I know is that she lives in a house of wedding singers.”
“Maybe after giving us the gramophone, which performs recorded songs, you wanted to monopolize this kind of live entertainment for yourself.”
“Well, I’ve failed, for you have r
