EIGHT
You had reached a crossroads. You would either go to the war in Abyssinia to begin a new stage in your life, or you would get the exemption you wanted, at which point you would be able to think about settling down and starting your own family, like everyone else your age who had a steady income.
There was no problem about finding a girl you could marry because, as far as you were concerned, after having lost Thuraya, all women were alike. You had intended to visit her immediately, to bask in the sight of her eyes and bid her father farewell. But you were tense and grieved by what Nuriya had done, and you hoped that her madness would go no further. So you decided to visit Thuraya another time, perhaps the following day or the day after that, so that it would be at an unspoiled junct
