Whirling around her younger sister, concerned about her yet also exasperated by her, Gabrielle never missed a chance to contradict Claire. They were poles apart – in character, opinions and ways of dealing with people. So the subjects of disagreements between them abounded. Part of Gabrielle seemed bent on underscoring their differences, and part on hammering Claire into submission. Although a meek Claire would not have found favor with one who so valued strength of character, a quality she tended to equate with bossiness and saw therefore as sorely lacking in her sister.
Once, Gabrielle’s daughter Aida, who was quite fond of her aunt, had asked her, ‘But if Aunt Claire is as weak as you say she is, how do you explain Minya?’ Gabrielle had dodged the question. Possessive in general, and of her daughter in particular, Gabrielle viewed with displeasure Aida’s closeness to Claire. Aware of this, Claire and Aida avoided spending too much time together in her absence.
There were those in Claire’s and Gabrielle’s circle such as Iris and Bella who believed that at the root of Gabrielle’s difficult character was pure and simple jealousy, her envious admiration of her sister. Not only had she been saddled with a younger sister endowed with intelligence and exceptionally good looks, but that sister also happened to be a more courageous sort. Despite her assertiveness, Gabrielle had always been less daring than Claire. At school, Claire had been the one willing to challenge authority, voice non-conformist views and confront physical challenges. Gabrielle was actually quite timid in some respects. It had taken her years to surmount her fear of water and learn to swim. Dozens of lessons, from the age of eight to the age of twelve, had not done it. Nicolas would eventually teach her, never managing, however, to have her put her face entirely in the water. Horse riding, a sport she would have loved to master, had proven too demanding, so nervous was she at the possibility of falling off. When she was seven and Claire six, their father had taken them on a desert excursion, then suggested a camel ride. ‘Yes, yes,’ the two girls had cried enthusiastically, yet, faced with the camel, Gabrielle’s resolve would dissolve. Neither her father’s entreaties nor the camel owner promising that the camel would walk – not even trot – had persuaded her to mount. She had burst into frenetic sobs, at the sight of which, despite desperately wanting to go for a ride, Claire had said that she too was afraid.
Claire recognized that a feeling of inferiority, all the harder to live with for a firstborn, and of which she was the unwitting cause, may have been behind Gabrielle’s aggressive posture early on in life. Also, that the premature death of their father would have been particularly hard on Gabrielle, who was very close to him and saw herself as his favorite. His death had left her the odd one out in the triangle consisting of the mother and two daughters. What mystified Claire was why Gabrielle’s aggressiveness should have persisted and in fact, intensified when, all in all, Gabrielle had done rather better with her life than she had. Claire considered that she now had more reasons to envy her sister than Gabrielle had reasons to envy her, if only because of Gabrielle’s unrivaled good health. She was even coming to see some advantage in Gabrielle’s ability to turn a blind eye to what she did not care to see, including any personal frailty or deficiency so, for example, Gabrielle had yet to concede that she spoke Arabic poorly. This self-deception, though not endearing, made her remarkably resilient in the face of old age: she talked as if it could have no effect on her. As for the long-term picture, Gabrielle’s life had turned out rather better than one might have thought at the time of Nicolas’s death. Sure, there had been major disappointments – a law degree leading nowhere and her daughter’s divorce – as well as profound grief over the loss of Nicolas. But there had been a love story with a younger man that had brought her out of the austere and restless life into which she had sunk; then the loyal and enduring companionship of a devoted and long-suffering man who would have married her despite her harsh treatment of him; an unexpected boost to her financial affairs affording her a more than comfortable lifestyle; a post-retirement job that was ideal; and Egypt remaining, in her eyes, a desirable country in which to live.
‘But watch your step! Your cane is more of a hindrance than a help,’ Gabrielle shouted as she turned around and saw Claire about to stumble on a stone. ‘I don’t understand why you persist in using that cane. Get rid of it!’
‘Without it, I feel lost.’
‘It doesn’t require much for you to feel lost,’ Gabrielle said, then resumed walking. In recent weeks, she had been having problems with her eyesight, normally excellent, but was reluctant to tell Claire. She suspected that she might need a cataract operation and that frightened her, though she knew the intervention to be straightforward and painless.
In the tea garden, only a few tables were occupied. Their friends had not yet arrived. It was only 5:30 p.m. The garden would fill up later.
‘Have you brought your shawl?’ Gabrielle asked as they settled at a table. ‘It will probably get cooler once the sun sets. That’s how it typically is in September.’
‘That’s how it used to be. Now the summer heat seems to last forever.’
‘I don’t find it hot.’
‘The temperatures have been around 33 all week long. That’s hot to me.’
‘You always find it hot.’
‘Maybe so, but 33 degrees is not cool.’
‘I said the temperatures would drop in the evening. I didn’t say they were cool now, did I?’
To change the topic – it was potentially explosive as Gabrielle defended Cairo’s weather the way one defends one’s children – Claire observed that the recently married daughter of a friend of theirs did not seem quite as happy as one might expect. Mid-sentence, she realized that Gabrielle would likely see in her remark an indirect attack on marriage. She was right. Gabrielle immediately jumped to the defense of marriage, holding her responsible for their daughters’ divorces – all four girls had divorced. By broadcasting her negative views on marriage, she had warped the girls’ perspective, Gabrielle kept insisting. Claire defended herself, saying that she was not opposed to marriage, merely to staying in a bad one. Latching onto that statement, Gabrielle proceeded to dissect her sister’s character, the gist of her indictment being that there was a huge chasm between what Claire professed and what she did, for hadn’t she stayed in her marriage? So wasn’t there an element of bad faith to the views she so casually put forth? Not bothering to point out that she held the views she did precisely because she had stayed in her marriage, Claire kept quiet, sensitive to the fact that Aida’s divorce had been hugely upsetting to Gabrielle. But on the next subject they raised – how to treat maids – Claire would not keep quiet. Gabrielle’s hard line annoyed her so much that Claire stated forcibly that it was none of Gabrielle’s business whether she treated her household help with gloves so would Gabrielle stop interfering once and for all. Whenever Claire blew up at her sister, she regretted it afterwards. She was already regretting her little outburst when their friends arrived. The rest of the evening was peaceful. All focused on their friends, Gabrielle ignored Claire.
The next morning, Gabrielle let herself into Claire’s apartment shortly after eight. She sometimes showed up that early to encourage Claire, who had a tendency to skip breakfast, to eat something. The reason she came early that morning was however to tell Claire about the arrest of dozens of fundamentalists, and the BBC coverage to which she listened whenever she managed to tune in on her short-wave radio. The two sisters were interested in politics. The one subject on which they saw eye to eye was Palestine: they were both sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Their inability to read the Arabic papers made it hard for them to assess what was going on in the country, a subject on which they had, nevertheless, their opinions – differing opinions.
Claire was reading in bed. The shutters were closed. This would normally have invited some negative comment on Gabrielle’s part. But her mind was on the news.
‘Thank God for Mubarak,’ Gabrielle said after announcing news of the arres
ts. ‘One wouldn’t have thought the man had as much muscle as he turned out to have. Muscle is exactly what is needed in the country.’
‘With his security forces, he has the whole country under his thumb,’ Claire said.
‘Well, that’s a good thing.’
‘A good thing?’
‘Sure! An excellent thing!’ Gabrielle said. ‘Too bad the world did not take his warnings seriously. He has been saying for years that terrorism is a huge problem.’
‘Do we know for a fact that those arrested are terrorists? After all, he has been arresting Muslim Brothers, and others too. Are they all terrorists?’
Glaring at Claire, Gabrielle declared, ‘I’m not about to shed tears for the arrest of Islamists. I wouldn’t think you’re a great sympathizer either.’
‘Of course not,’ Claire said. ‘Still, I am not keen on seeing people go to jail, left and right.’
‘Where does that leave you then?’ Gabrielle asked loudly.
‘Nowhere, I suppose.’
‘You cannot deny that Egypt is infinitely more open under Mubarak than under Nasser, that people can breathe much more freely now! Would you rather live under a regime that is forced to resort to a certain amount of repression but still allows you to breathe, or under an Islamist-led regime?’
‘You’re spouting the government’s line. Must it be one or the other? As long as the government restricts political freedoms, these are bound to be the only choices. You believe in a strong man. I don’t.’
‘You’re your usual theoretical self. The reality is that Mubarak is containing elements you and I find undesirable. That’s the reality. Yet you oppose him. Where’s the logic? I am a realist and I find it extremely annoying to hear the sort of argument you’re making. In fact, I don’t see any real argument in what you’re saying.’
‘You asked me what I think. I told you what I think, but you don’t like it. I cannot help it if I happen to have a different opinion from yours.’ With a tone that seemed both dispirited and impatient, Claire went on, ‘What do I know anyway about the country’s political ins and outs? What do we know?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean we’re so out of touch that it’s difficult for us to have a meaningful opinion.’
‘Speak for yourself. I don’t see why we cannot have meaningful opinions. We’re from the country, were born here, have lived here all of our lives. I certainly feel entitled to my opinions on the country’s political situation. I’m perfectly capable of forming an opinion.’
‘It’s good you feel that way. I wish I did, but I don’t.’
‘Spare me that, please. Don’t start saying we don’t belong.’
‘Look, I’m speaking for myself. You cannot tell me what to feel, or what not to feel. I’m not questioning the way you feel, or telling you how you ought to feel! But how can we pretend we’re informed when we don’t read the Arabic papers and only read the pathetic French dailies intended for people like us?’
‘Your problem is that you complicate everything and end up making your life much more difficult than it could be. Both for you and also for those around you, need I point out.’
‘Shall we just talk about politics and not talk about me?’
Shrugging, Gabrielle said, ‘I can tell you that I certainly hope Mubarak’s son succeeds his father. He’s apparently unpretentious, sociable, and smart. My dentist’s granddaughter was at university with him. In the same faculty. She knows him.’
‘It’s no surprise that somebody from the American University in Cairo views him favorably but what about the rest of the country, the vast majority? Besides, will the army and the security forces back him?’
‘Charlotte was going to go to AUC, so what do you have against the AUC crowd?’
‘Nothing at all. But it is ultra-privileged, it does not reflect public opinion.’
‘You seem to think that the army would oppose Mubarak’s son. I don’t think so. They certainly don’t want the Islamists to take over.’
‘I would not be so sure of that. Hamid Hassanein was telling me the other day that many in the army sympathize with them.’
‘Anything Hamid Hassanein tells you, you believe.’
‘He’s well-informed and measured.’
‘Measured?’
‘Yes, measured!’
‘But he’s on the left!’
‘So what? Despite his political convictions, he has been part of a team of human rights lawyers defending Muslim Brothers.’
‘You had not told me that you’re in touch with him. What for?’
‘The same thing, the same thing,’ Claire muttered.
‘You mean the apartment?’
‘Yes, yes. I would like the girls to keep it after I die. At least, to have that option.’
‘You’re hard to fathom. One minute you’re all doom and gloom about Egypt, in which case why should the girls want to keep the apartment? The next minute you’re tormenting yourself about what will happen to the apartment in case you die.’
‘There’s no “in case,” Gabrielle, death is not a likelihood. It will come, sooner for me I hope than later. And I’m not being inconsistent. My preferences may not reflect the girls’ preferences. They may want to spend time in Egypt at some point.’
‘They show no sign of it.’
‘People change. Circumstances change too. After all, Charlotte toyed with the idea of coming back.’
‘That was years ago.’
‘Gabrielle, why are you finding it so hard to understand my desire to leave them the apartment? Why? It seems to me that it’s a normal desire. It seems to me that it would be strange if I didn’t try.’
‘And what did Hamid Hassanein have to say on the subject?’ Gabrielle asked belligerently. ‘I doubt very much there’s a chance they could inherit it. They don’t live here. The law clearly gives a building’s owner the right to take the apartment back.’
‘You’re right, unfortunately. Unless one fudges and pretends the girls live here, which is not an easy thing to do.’
‘You could have asked me, there was no need to see your lawyer for that.’
‘I don’t doubt your legal reasoning abilities, but the laws have changed a great deal and keep changing. So I keep hoping.’
‘For being as intelligent as you are, you sometimes lack common sense. The changes have all been in the landlords’ favor.’
‘But tell me, why are you so critical of my attempts at finding some way to leave the apartment to the girls?’
‘You’re worrying too much about it, and it’s a morbid subject. Quite morbid.’ Gabrielle got up and proceeded to open the shutters, saying, ‘I really don’t understand how you can live in this penumbra. Don’t you feel the need for light and fresh air? The first thing I do in the morning, even before I make my coffee, is to open the windows for some fresh air.’
‘Fresh air? Can’t you smell the pollution?’
‘Oh, just a tiny bit of a burning smell.’
‘Surely, more than a bit. Much more than a bit. They have been talking about it even in the papers.’
‘It’s one more thing the critics of the regime have jumped on to discredit it. It’s not the government’s fault if the farmers burn rice, and if people choose to burn their garbage.’
‘It would be better for the government to focus on that problem than on arresting people indiscriminately.’
‘I disagree. The fight against terrorism should be the priority. The Hatchepsut massacre just about wiped out tourism.’
‘Would you please close at least one of the windows? I find the honking and the noise unbearable.’
‘But it’s no different than on any other day.’
‘Well, today I cannot stand it. Perhaps because the ringing in my ears is worse than usual.’
‘Call your doctor!’ Gabrielle said as she half-closed one window. ‘Why isn’t Zeinab here? It’s past 8:30. When she used to work for me, I insisted she arrive before 8:15, and she did. I
can assure you.’
‘She was younger then. Besides, she told me she would be a bit late.’
‘As I said yesterday, you need to be firmer with her and also with Azza. You give them too much leeway.’
‘I need them.’
‘So?’
‘It’s no sinecure to be looking after me as you can attest to.’
‘They’re paid for it. And if you include all the tips the girls give them when they visit, they’re very well paid. More so than most. Do you know what the going market rate is?’
‘No, no, and I don’t want to know,’ Claire said. ‘The way prices have been going, whatever they get is peanuts. Judging by my own financial situation, I wonder how they’re managing. I put myself in their shoes. They’re getting on in age. It cannot be easy for them to keep working. They have their own health problems.’
‘Zeinab’s biggest problem is her useless husband. He’s twenty years younger than her and cannot stick to a job. She’s probably out and about trying to find him one. Now she’s an energetic woman. She won’t let herself be defeated. She confronts what needs to be confronted head on. I admire that in her. That’s why we got along.’
‘You quarreled, all the time,’ Claire was about to remind Gabrielle but merely said, ‘She’s energetic, but she’s in her late sixties, and so is Azza.’
‘I was very fit in my sixties. You were in pretty good shape too. And remember Constance, all the walking she used to do, up into her seventies? Azza is a big complainer.’
‘Azza may be a complainer, but have you seen her knees, how swollen they get?’
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