Alaa al-Aswany - The Automobile Club of Egypt

The most beautiful thing about Odette was something that was almost masculine. She had an instinctive and visceral roughness about her. Her serious talk and her revolutionary ideas were also alluring, expressed in her distinctive way of speaking. She spat out her consonants and emphasized things with small nods of her beautiful head. Wright couldn’t help but smile whenever he thought about her. What a wonderous creature she was. She had been offering her body to him for a whole year now and had asked for nothing in return. No presents, no money, no privileges — although she did once intervene on behalf of a peon at the Lycée to help his son get a job at the Automobile Club.

For her birthday, Wright bought her a gold necklace. She leaned toward him, and they lost themselves in a kiss. Then she pulled away slightly but with her arms still around him, smiled and said, “I hope you don’t mind, but I won’t wear this necklace.”

“Why not?”

“Actually, I don’t wear gold.”

“You are probably the only woman in the world who has something against it!”

“I don’t base my opinions on their popularity.”

Her strange and surprising notions always produced a mixture of shock and admiration. He asked sharply, “May I know what you have against gold?”

“People run after gold because it represents wealth, but in itself it has no value. It’s valued only for its rarity and price, and, personally, I think it looks awful.”

Wright closed the box with the gold necklace in it, and in a tone of barely suppressed anger, he said, “I’m so sorry that I have upset you with this gift.”

“No. I’m the one who has upset you with my bizarre reaction.”

She smiled and looked at his face as if to make sure that he was not still upset, then grinned wider and said, “Even so, I reserve the right to be given a present.”

A few days later, she took him to a small shop in Soliman Pasha Street and picked out a silver chain with an ankh. It was not expensive, but she was thrilled. Wright gave the gold necklace to his wife, who naturally was delighted with it.

The day before, he had arrived at Odette’s apartment before her and let himself in. He poured himself a glass of whiskey and stretched out on the sofa, savoring it. When Odette turned up, he became a slave to his passion and for the first time showered her with kisses before they’d even spoken a word. After making love, they simply lay together on the bed. He loved it when she rested her head in the hollow between his arm and his chest. He could feel her hot breath and leaned to kiss her smooth hair.

After a short while, she roused herself, gave him a quick kiss and then looked at him and asked, “You seem a little distracted this evening…”

“Do I?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Problems at work…”

“Tell me about them.”

“It’s nothing specific. It’s just that from time to time I carry out surprise inspections of the staff at the Club, and I always find some gross violations of policy.”

“What a fine general manager you are!”

“Yes. I always think that the Egyptian’s capacity to work as well as his moral values are completely different from our own.”

Odette pulled away from him slightly and gave him a disapproving look.

“I can’t believe that is how you think.”

“Why?”

“It’s racist.”

“I’m not a racist. I’m just speaking the truth. Egyptians are lazy, dirty and liars too.”

“Well, if they’re so awful, why do you live among them? Why don’t you go back to clean and efficient England?”

“My work obliges me to live in Egypt.”

“Oh, really! How terrible that must be for you! How can you put up with the villa you live in with your family, your grand car and your fabulous salary?”

“Odette, don’t mock me. Obviously, my job does afford me some perquisites, but were it not for that I wouldn’t be able to bear life in this country for a single day.”

“I just don’t understand why Europeans come here to pillage the country and suck the blood out of the Egyptians, all the while despising them. You sound just like Winston Churchill, who considers the British occupation of Egypt to be a moral duty.”

As she ranted, he turned red with anger. He sat up against the headboard, looking rather odd as he, still completely naked, lit his pipe. With some anger in his voice, he retorted, “Well, if you insist on ruining our night, let me tell you that I am in complete agreement with Churchill. Britain, or any civilized European country, is making a huge sacrifice in sending its military to a backward land like Egypt or India. I don’t know how much longer Britain will consider it a duty to bring civilization to the barbarians.”

“It really infuriates me that a decent man like you can believe that. The British are simply robbing Egypt and stealing its resources. That’s the truth of the matter. The British are thieves.”

“Can you deny that the British occupation has helped to modernize Egypt?”

“The only modernization the British have carried out is that which helps them to fleece the country. The British built the railways to transport troops and to filch Egyptian cotton. Their administrative systems enable them to control all economic activity. Do you know how resolutely Lord Cromer opposed the establishment of the Egyptian University? British colonial policy will never change and can be summed up in two words: organized theft. And I can cite plenty of facts and figures.”

He gave her a look of irritation and then said sarcastically, “I don’t understand how you can defend Egyptians so enthusiastically. Do you consider yourself Egyptian?”

“I was born in Egypt, but I have French citizenship. It was my grandfather who moved from Lebanon to Egypt.”

“So you’re Lebanese?”

“Does everyone have to belong to a particular country?”

“I can’t imagine a person with no nationality.”

“Nationalities are a fascist way of thinking aimed at forcing people into a narrow and stupid sense of belonging. It makes some people feel superior to others and perpetuates hatred and war.”

“But at the end of the day people need to belong to one country or another.”

“That’s pure fantasy. I pay no heed to nationality or religion. I was born Jewish, but I am a total atheist. I am neither Egyptian nor Lebanese nor French. I am just a human being.”

“Well, I am a British citizen.”

“The Britain you belong to has committed terrible atrocities in Egypt, India and Africa. Britain’s victims number in the thousands.”

“Well, you can’t pin that on me personally.”

“You don’t even see the contradiction. When your government does something good, you are proud of it, but when it commits a crime, you wash your hands of it.”

“I have always been proud of being British.”

“Hitler was proud of being German too, and he had the Jews incinerated.”

Wright seemed on the verge of completely losing his temper and shouted, “I’m fed up with your lecturing. All right. Britain has committed some awful crimes against the people in her colonies, just as Hitler carried out the holocaust against the Jews, but what are the Jews doing to the Arabs in Palestine? What are the Haganah gangs doing to Arab women and children? Are they tossing flowers at them?”

“If you could only believe in humanity, it would help you to see things. As a human being, I condemn the holocaust just as much as I condemn the slaughter of Arabs by the Haganah gangs.”

They sat in silence for a long while, the only sound that of Wright puffing on his pipe. Finally, he put it down and took Odette’s hand, kissing it and whispering, “Can’t we end this argument?”