TWELVE
There was a steady flow of errands that required you to leave the base, and you always had plenty of time to spare, during which you thought only of Thuraya. She was the centre of your life, and your heart beat with yearning and desire for her. You wondered what pretext you could use to visit her and check on her welfare. Going without a good reason would be an intrusion and arouse suspicions, and you wanted her and her family’s opinion of you to remain spotless.
As for news of your family in Awlad Al Sheikh, you could always talk to Abdel Mowlah the beggar, but you felt no desire to visit the tin hut he lived in, for the sight of it only upset and exhausted you, and it would have been unwise to waste valuable moments looking for a wretched man like Abdel Mowlah.
Instead, you str
