The Haj - Leon Uris [24]
The Jew had him trapped. He had no choice. He gained control of his rage, for he knew the next moments could be crucial. He also knew Gideon was not of a stripe to be bullied and when one does not give way to intimidation another course must be followed. With a flick of the hand and a few words he ordered his men to leave.
‘Please,’ Gideon said pointing to a pair of large flat rocks suitable for sitting. ‘I come here often, just as you go up to your knoll. We have a great deal to talk about. Do you indulge in a little wine?’
Ibrahim looked about as though he were being spied upon. As a Moslem, he was forbidden to drink. ‘First we talk,’ he said.
Gideon sat on one of the rocks. ‘He who is one day older than you is one day more clever. The Effendi Kabir dealt to you with a crooked hand,’ the Jew said.
Ibrahim stifled the urge to admonish Gideon, for one does not permit a Jew to speak ill of a brother Moslem. In his stomach he knew that Fawzi Kabir had betrayed him by selling the water rights to the Jews. He had done it to force Tabah to fight against the Mufti of Jerusalem. How to get around it? Would the Jews show mercy? Before I eat him for dinner, Ibrahim thought, he may eat me for lunch.
‘I want Hani,’ Gideon said.
‘He was in his fields when he was attacked by a dozen of your men,’ Ibrahim spouted automatically.
Gideon shot back a disarming smile, the same smile of disdain he had shown three years earlier. ‘If that is the case, then let justice take its course. He will get a fair trial.’
‘No. The whole story is an invention for you to have an excuse to cut off our water.’
‘You have two choices,’ Gideon said, ignoring Ibrahim’s litany. ‘I know that Hani is hiding among the Wahhabis. I have eyes and ears in your own village. I also have eyes and ears among the Wahhabis. I have eaten forty days and nights of meals in the tent of Sheik Azziz. We are brothers. Either Hani is returned and faces trial, or my friends among the Wahhabis will see to it he is fed to the desert.’
Ibrahim was fast being maneuvered by the Jew into a position of weakness. He knew that Gideon knew he could never agree to return Hani to be put on trial. Ibrahim would lose face among his people. It would be far better to let Gideon’s Bedouin friends take care of him. That would make him share a secret with Gideon. He would owe the Jew a favor. With the Jews owning his water he would be in double debt to them. You can pass in front of an enemy when you are hungry but not when you are naked. ...
‘Hani can go piss up a rope,’ Ibrahim said. ‘Let the vultures pick at his bones.’
‘The Wahhabis will get the message by tonight,’ Gideon said.
‘No one must know,’ Ibrahim said.
‘The desert hides everything,’ Gideon answered.
‘You cannot take advantage of us because Kabir cheated us,’ Ibrahim pleaded. ‘We have been in Tabah over a thousand years.’ He exaggerated by several centuries.
‘For your water you must pay a price,’ Gideon said firmly.
‘But we are very, very poor.’
‘I understand you have become quite wealthy personally.’
‘I will not pay blackmail,’ Ibrahim said, with his valor slowly seeping out of his pores.
‘Unless you have figured a way to strike water from the rocks, then start packing.’
‘What is your price?’ Ibrahim whispered, with fear crawling all over him.
‘Peace.’
‘Peace?’
‘Peace.’
‘That is all?’
‘That is all. The valve that sends water into Tabah shall remain open so long as you stay out of our fields, stop shooting at us, and never again lay a hand on any of my people.’
Ibrahim quickly regained his valor. ‘What will you give me if I meet your demands?’
‘Just water.’
‘I must have a paper to show everyone. Give me a paper and I will agree.’
‘We have already legalized your rights. They are on file at the land office. Your water depends on you keeping the agreement. Is there anything we don’t understand?’
‘I understand,’ Ibrahim capitulated. He was so relieved he shook Gideon’s hands in a manner that consummates a bargain. ‘How do we know there will be enough