attention. A long while passed without his lighting on a military man to whom he might broach his desire. The soldiers were coming out of the theaters, cafés, and restaurants, getting into their cars, and driving off.
Abu Sayyah cruised about in his car between the Orient Hotel and the Parliament, and back again to the public square. The clock of the Hejaz Station was striking its twelve strokes while the weather grew ever colder and the rain poured down hard, as if to express the wrath of the gods. He stopped his car near the Victoria Bridge, lit his cigarette, and drifted into deep reflection. His reflection was cut short by a rapping on the window glass that startled Abu Sayyah; he raised his head to see on the sidewalk two tall soldiers, standing and looking at him with a threatening look, a lighted cigarette in each man's mouth. Then one of them addressed him, asking him to drive them to the Qadam station.
The soldier's appearance and voice showed that he was not drunk, and this led Abu Sayyah to recover his calm; he smiled and nodded his head.
The soldier said to him politely: "And how much do you want for that?"
"Five Syrian liras," answered Abu Sayyah, spreading his five fingers in the soldier's face and saying in his heart, "Right in the devil's eyes."
"That's a lot. We can give you no more than two liras."
"All right," answered Abu Sayyah, opening the door of his car and asking them to get in.
As his car was running along the corniche toward the Qadam
station, one of the two soldiers said: "Your car is an old plaything, man." Signs of sorrow appeared on Abu Sayyah's face, and he said regretfully: "I know it, but nowadays one of us needs a great deal of care just to keep his car in a state fit to run at all."
"True enough — getting hold of a loaf of bread these days has become harder than getting into hell." Abu Sayyah knew this was his best chance to speak of his tires. He cleared his throat, slowed his car, turned his head, and, gathering his courage, addressed them in a clear, plain voice: "Yes, sir, you are right; and the greatest difficulty facing us in these black days is finding tires — they have become very scarce indeed."
Suddenly the soldier burst out laughing and said:
"How I wish I could show you how many of them we have!"
"I don't believe it," answered Abu Sayyah.
And the soldier whispered in Abu Sayyah's ear, saying: "You fool — do you want to buy some?" "But I can't just now."
"We can bring them whenever you wish," said the soldier, bending his neck down toward Abu Sayyah's ear.
And Abu Sayyah asked him: "And how much for the pair?"
"Five hundred Syrian liras."
Joy flooded over Abu Sayyah, but he would not settle the bargain before trying to satisfy his appetite for haggling. "Five hundred liras is a large sum. Couldn't you bring the figure down?"
The soldier answered him: "You seem a good fellow, so I am ready to let you have them for four hundred liras. What do you say?"
Abu Sayyah sighed with relief and said: "I agree. But when can I get them?"
"Any time you like."
"Tonight?"
"Ah — no, that's impossible. Make it tomorrow evening, around eleven o'clock."
"And where?"
"That's up to you."
Abu Sayyah drove on to a small café on the outskirts of the city and said, pointing to the tumbledown mud building: "Here — I shall be waiting for you inside this café."
The two soldiers said with one voice: "Very good."
Abu Sayyah drove them on to the Qadam district, and there they tried to pay him the fare, but he politely refused, and went back to his wife to carry her the glad tidings.
The following night, shortly before eleven, Abu Sayyah stopped his car outside the café and went in, his clothes streaming with rainwater, and sat down after ordering a cup of coffee. The café was empty of customers at that late hour of the night; there was no one there but its aged owner with his tarboush and his drooping mustaches. Abu Sayyah spoke to him, asking him to withdraw into the back of the café when the two visitors came.
Not long after, Abu Sayyah saw the door open, and two soldiers came in, rolling before them two new tires, wet with water and smeared with mud. The soldiers left the tires between the tables, then shut the door
and came up to Abu Sayyah, who rose to receive them.
"Here is what you asked for, fellow — now give us the money. We have to get back to camp."