On the other side, the grocer was puzzled by the boy's silence. He had ordered some things the day before and paid half the price in advance. He was known to be a simple soldier with limited means, and he needed the food, so why wasn't he replying, especially since he was always so attentive?
The grocer called his son and asked him to bring the items out in about two hours and collect the rest of the money.
His son, a high school student, looked at him. "Dad, I can't wait for him to come down."
The grocer glared at him angrily. "We owe you money, you son of a bitch! You think I'm doing this for his dark eyes?"
"Okay, I'll be right back." "Where are you going, you idiot? I swear to God, if you don't come back in two hours, you won't see any money until you pay it yourself!"
The boy's phone rang. "Where are you? I've been standing here for fifteen minutes!"
The boy looked at him, smiling. "I'm coming. Don't move. I've already arrived."
The boy hurried to get into a car.
"Son, get in. Don't stand outside like that. The officer He's driving me crazy!
He went inside and sat next to a woman who made room for him.
"I don't know why you're always in such a hurry," the woman said, laughing.
He went downstairs a few minutes later.
He hurried to a young woman waiting for him. "Why were you so late? I was about to leave!"
He looked at her, smiling. "You know my dad and his ways."
She looked at him. "Where's the notebook?"
He looked at his hand and kicked his head, disgusted by his own stupidity and forgetfulness.
"You're in such a hurry, I don't know why!"
She looked at him reproachfully. "You're joking around while I'm standing here? This isn't going to work, you know. I have to go back with some papers. My dad's hot-blooded, unlike yours!" The boy looked around, trying to salvage what he could.
"Let's go up to the library near here and photocopy it. My friend's house is above it; I can photocopy it from there."
He went with her to a library a street away.
After a few minutes,
"There's Uncle Mina."
"I'm telling you..."
He looked at him. The bookstore owner said, setting the food aside, "Come join us."
The boy replied, "No thanks, but I wanted to know if anyone gave you any papers last night before you closed."
Mina tried to remember.
"Oh, at the nightclub on the second floor."
The boy looked at him. "Okay, I need you to photocopy these papers for me."
A young woman stopped him a few seconds later, trying to give him some money.
He looked at her incredulously.
"What are you doing? Don't make me angry. It's just for a piece of paper."
She smiled and put her money back in her bag.
Suddenly, two boys came over, their voices loud. "Hey, you hothead! Wael, son, didn't you hear us?"
The boy looked at them. "What are you doing here?"
"Nothing, we just came to photocopy Mina's papers."
The bookstore owner interrupted them.
"Fifty pounds for the copy."
He looked at them and asked, "What do you want?"
One of the boys looked at him and said, "We want to make more copies of this." He grabbed Wael, who reached for the paper, and said, "What's this? Are you studying behind our backs or what?"
The boy laughed, and the young woman blushed. Then Wael became angry and grabbed the paper.
"Calm down, son. We'll settle this later."
The boy looked at him and said, "Okay, later, later. Let's take the pictures here, and you take yours. Don't worry."
Wael quickly took the paper and gestured for the girl to continue on her way with him. She walked away with him.
He continued, smiling, "I'd like to get something to drink at the café."
She glanced at her watch. "I don't know, the class is later today, and I haven't looked at the papers. The professor's exams are tough."
He looked at her in despair. "Well, at least let's have some sugarcane juice on the way back."
The girl smiled and nodded.
Wael ordered sugarcane juice, and they strolled slowly along the banks of the Nile.
The girl looked at the papers while he sat on one of the government-owned benches by the water. "By the way, if you don't study these notes, you won't pass this exam."
He looked at her indifferently. "Oh, come on, these are the ones I need." He added, laughing, "I actually want someone to take the exam for me."
The girl's phone rang, and her expression changed.
"I think I should go now." Wael nodded, realizing that trying to stop time wouldn't work anymore. He smiled and said, "Okay, let me walk you to the car."
She smiled, and he pointed to the minibus. She got in. He checked his phone and realized time had flown by; two hours were almost up. He rushed to a grocery store, apparently without enough money for a minibus, so he hurried even faster.
He got into the back of the minibus without the driver seeing him. His phone rang, but he couldn't answer. After a few minutes, he rushed back to the store amidst his father's shouts:
"You'll be wandering around everywhere, and in the end, you'll fail and come crying to me! Let's see what happens to you!"
He gestured for him to take the bags and deliver them to the soldier. "Tell him I couldn't get a kilo of meat because I didn't have enough money."
Wael looked at the bags, took them, and hurried off, wearing whatever he could find on his feet. He stood in front of the building, looking towards the second floor. Meanwhile, the soldier, Nasser, was in a pitiful state, waking up from his sleep. His bed was soaked with sweat, as if he had been in a nightmare, and he was exhausted. He rushed to the bathroom and vomited. He noticed some blood as he vomited, and... Then he heard the doorbell.
"Yes, Mr. Nasser, it's me, Wael."
Nasser looked at the door as if it had vanished into thin air, and he didn't know how he would reach it. But he gathered his strength and replied, "Just a second, I'll get the money. I'm coming."
He went into his room to grab the shirt he had taken off while sleeping. The reflection of his bare back was visible in the mirror, and the veins on his back were black, as if he had been beaten for days. But he didn't notice. He took the money, put on the shirt, and headed for the door, his legs refusing to move. Wael knocked again after sensing no one was coming. He was starting to get annoyed and tried to stop knocking after a few moments, but he was surprised when the door opened.
Nasser looked strangely pale to Wael. He even took a step back, then reached out with the bags, saying,
"Here are the things, but there's no meat in them because..." As Wael spoke, Nasser couldn't fight back to his feet and collapsed, unconscious.
At that moment, Wael cried out for help. By the way, I went to the building, and just then, his neighbor came out, startled.
"What happened?" he asked in surprise after finding Wael trying to carry Nasser, who seemed to have fainted.
The neighbor looked at him. "What happened?"
Wael replied,
"Come help me. I don't know. I was knocking, and as soon as he opened the door, he looked at me and collapsed."
His neighbor helped him, and they went into the house. Nasser was a bit heavy for a high school student, so Wael tried to carry him as best he could towards his neighbor, who seemed relatively healthy, as he was a bodybuilder. But while carrying him, Wael scratched Nasser's fingernails, and Nasser began to regain consciousness, gripping Wael's hand tightly. Wael tried to free himself and put him on the bed. The neighbor looked at him.
"You look like you're hurt. Go wash your hands in the bathroom over there."
Wael nodded and went silently, but he stepped back after finding traces of Nasser's vomit on both the sink and the toilet.
They simply went outside.
He looked at him The neighbor
Ray