The Haj - Leon Uris [264]
A WEEK AFTER THE WAR I returned to Mount Nebo. Although universal grief and bewilderment overcame the refugees, a strange and different thing happened to Father and me. Instead of despair, Haj Ibrahim seemed to have come through a long, dark tunnel. He had snapped back to realism. He would follow Colonel Nasser no further. Indeed, he gave off a hint or two that life might have more in store for us than Aqbat Jabar. He did not speak directly of returning to Tabah or of making a deal with the Jews. He did, however, call on Dr. Mudhil a number of times. I felt he was fishing about to find an honourable way to end our exile.
Being out there in the desert, perhaps I had lulled myself with the stars and the stillness, but a surge of hope ran through my veins. Father listened to me. Given time and very careful planning, I might convince him it would not be the end if I went off to study. Surely, within a few years we could all be reunited and resettled in a decent place. Maybe even away from Palestine or the Arab countries.
Or was I crazy? What of Nada? Father must never know of her loss of virtue. That would be fatal to any plan. My first order of business was to try to make peace between them. At times they seemed to care for each other, but always their visits ended with acid.
Something was under their skins close to the surface and ready to flare. Nada had decried her life, but she never really spoke out directly against Ibrahim. Sometimes I felt she hated him. True, he would never come to terms with an independent woman, but they were both so great there had to be a way for them to find mutual respect.
Why did he always seem to pick an argument?
Yes, my first task would be to bring them into a friendly relationship. Then we could dream about a move.
I studied the sky. It didn’t look good. Nada was coming home tomorrow for three days, but I still had a section of corrugated roof to finish ahead of the weather.
I called Dr. Mudhil on the radio.
‘Yes, Ishmael.’
‘I think I’d better stay tomorrow and finish the roof,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to leave this section open for three days.’
‘Good man.’
‘Would you get a message home to Nada that I will be late?’
‘Yes, of course, I’ll take care of it. Everything else all right out there?’
‘Fine, just wonderful. I am happy here.’
Ibrahim had to admit to himself that he was actually looking forward to Nada’s visit the next day. Why not admit it? He had missed her. When Dr. Mudhil came with a message that Ishmael would be late in returning, a lovely new thought passed through his mind. Maybe, during this visit, with Ishmael late in returning, he would take Nada on a stroll and speak to her, person to person. He had never done that. She seemed to be learning much in Amman.
He had judged his children. Of the eleven who had been born, died, survived, married, he had to admit to himself that Nada was his favorite after Ishmael. On this visit he was determined that he would bite his tongue before he spoke harsh words to her. If he cared for her so, why did he always have to try to hurt and offend her? he wondered.
The women cackled over Nada as though they were in a chicken yard. How beautiful she looked! She had become even more so in just the few months since her last visit. There was something wonderful about Nada’s ways. She carried an air of surety that few women had.
Nada rekindled her auntship to Fatima’s children. She brought gifts, little nothings that the Othman children had discarded. In a place where toys did not exist, these were like jewels.
‘Come, Nada, your father is waiting for you,’ Hagar said. She felt her mother’s hands nervously edge her out of the kitchen. ‘Please try not to fight this time. I believe Ibrahim has really wanted to see you.’ Nada entered the gathering room. The women followed her in and went quickly to their stools.
Ibrahim postured in his new deep seat as his daughter stepped before him and bowed. She smiled, but it was not a smile of sweetness. There was bitter brew beneath it. Ibrahim drank her in for a long time but squelched any ideas