The Republic of False Truths

by Alaa Al Aswany

  I love you and am waiting for you and know that you will come.

  Your beloved forever,

  Asmaa

  73

  From the time Captain Heisam El Meligi left the Central Security camp on the Alexandria highway till it brought him to his house in the Muqattam, he’d driven without concentrating because he knew the road by heart. When he’d married Hadya seven years before, his father, General Ezzat El Meligi, former Cairo Security chief, had made him a present of a duplex on Road 9, which Hadya had taken a fancy to because it was spacious and attractively laid out. The living room, reception room, and dining room were on the ground floor, while the three bedrooms were on the second. There were four bathrooms, two on each level, one of them en suite with the marital bedroom to allow greater privacy. The couple had had their son Islam first, followed by Nadine, and Hadya had put both of them into the American Kindergarten as she worked at the Arab-African Bank and didn’t get back to the house before five in the evening, not to mention Captain Heisam’s continually shifting work hours. Hadya would never forget how scared she’d been for her husband during the revolution, when he’d stayed on the streets for three whole days. He’d phoned her just once, to tell her that the country was fighting a conspiracy and he didn’t know when he’d be back. Following the fall of Mubarak, Hadya had lived through all the saddening details of her husband’s trial. True, he hadn’t spent a single day in prison—he hadn’t even stopped working, in fact—but the idea of his being put on trial for murder threw a gloomy shadow over the household. Hadya avoided talking about the matter as much as possible. Just once, she’d asked, “Is it true you killed that young student?”

  Heisam hadn’t been expecting the question, so without thinking he turned his face away and said, angrily, “A police officer defends the whole country. It’s perfectly possible he should kill someone, if the need arises.”

  Hadya hadn’t opened the subject again, but she did, of course, take time off from her work at the bank to attend the hearings, and when Heisam was found innocent, cried out in joy, “Thanks be to God! God is great!” and hugged the wives of the other accused officers in congratulation. The same week, she had a bullock slaughtered and its meat distributed to the poor of the El Zelzal neighbourhood of the Muqattam.

  The day after he was found innocent, Heisam was summoned by his commanding officer at Central Security. He entered and saluted, and the general smiled and said, “Congratulations on the verdict!”

  “Thank you, sir,” Heisam said, smiling back.

  A serious expression now appeared on the general’s face, and he removed his spectacles and ran his finger over his nose, then said, “The finding of innocence regarding you and your colleagues is a message to all of Egypt’s officers. No officer whosoever will come to harm so long as he carries out orders. And by the way, I’ve awarded you an exceptional pay rise.”

  “Thank you, sir. I’m very grateful.”

  The general dismissed him and Captain Heisam’s life returned to normal. Hadya would go to work at the bank and then pick up Islam and Nadine from the kindergarten, while Heisam’s hours were, as usual, variable. Sometimes he’d stay on duty the entire night and sometimes he’d work during the day and return and have dinner with them. On this particular day, it was past four in the morning when he drove his car onto the Muqattam highway. The road was completely empty, and Captain Heisam was tired, so he drove fast. He wanted a hot shower and dinner with Hadya, who always woke up and greeted him, no matter what the hour. He drove until he reached Midway Hill, and it was there that the unexpected occurred. He found a large rock in the middle of the road. Luckily, he noticed in time and was able to stop the car. The rock seemed to have fallen from the mountain, blocking the road. No sooner had Captain Heisam stopped than he noticed figures moving towards him. There were three of them. They came at him fast and he could see rapid-fire rifles in their hands. One came up to the window of the car and shouted, “Get out!”

  Heisam thought quickly of the revolver hanging at his left hip but, as though reading his mind, the man, whose face was covered, released a hail of bullets from his rifle that passed clear over the car, and he shouted, “Get out, if you want to live!”

  Heisam opened the door and got out slowly, and two more masked men came up and pointed their rifles at him. One of them said, “Put up your hands!”

  Heisam raised his hands and the man approached, put out his hand, and took the revolver off him, saying, “Where’s the phone?”

  “In the car,” replied Heisam, in a voice that sounded strange to him. The three men moved confidently, as though accustomed to what they were doing, or as if they had been trained in it. The man entered the car, took the phone and opened it. Then he took out the SIM and, advancing a few paces towards the mountain, flung the phone with the full force of his arm. It fell far away and the man returned to his companions. One of them took the driver’s seat, and they placed Heisam in the back, with one of the men, whose rifle was trained on his head, next to him. The third man got in next to the driver, his body turned to face Heisam and his rifle at the ready. The car turned and went back the way it had come, as though it was going to leave the Muqattam area. Heisam spoke once, his voice shaking: “If you want the car and my money, take whatever you like.”

  The driver laughed and said in a heavy tone, “Shame on you, Basha! Are you going to cry like a child? Pull yourself together!”

  Heisam knew from the man’s voice that he was under the influence of drugs, so he took refuge in silence. The car went down a slope, then drove fast for about ten minutes and came to a stop in front of a half-finished building. Heisam had decided to obey the kidnappers, mindful that a single pull on a trigger by any one of them would release a round of bullets that would kill him instantly. They led him to an unfinished flat on the second floor.

  The walls and the stairs were made of cement and the flat had neither door nor electricity, but they brought a large paraffin lamp that gave out a dim light, which cast their shadows in ghostly forms moving over the walls. Everything had been prepared. Two of the masked men took on the task of tying Heisam to a wooden chair with rope, while the third left. Heisam looked at them and said, “I agree to anything you ask.”

  One of them shouted “Shut up!” in a drugged voice. “Don’t give me a headache! Open your mouth again and I’ll kill you.”

  The two men remained silent, their rifles pointed at his head, while Heisam held himself rigid, afraid the kidnappers might misinterpret any sudden movement and open fire. After a little while, he heard footsteps on the stairs and soon the third masked man appeared and with him a man carrying a medium-sized suitcase. Heisam hadn’t been able to make out the face of the newcomer in the dim light, but when he approached and stood in front of him, Heisam recognised him. Uncle Madany seemed angry and his eyes were shining. “Hello there, Heisam Basha!” he shouted.

  As though suddenly grasping what was happening, Heisam said in a tone of supplication, “Hagg! Please don’t kill me!”

  Madany let out a strange-sounding laugh and said, “Who says I’m going to kill you? You’re a basha. Who can kill a basha?”

  Heisam stared at Madany, his face trembling. Madany’s voice rose again.

  “I must say, you’ve cost me a lot. These men who brought you here are from our neighbourhood, from Maasara. They’re known as ‘the killers.’ They kill to order. It’s their job. Did you know that, if they kill you now, they’re the ones who will take care of your body? It’s what they do. Tomorrow morning that car of yours will be broken up and sold as spare parts. No one will know what happened to you and not a trace of you will be left.”

  Heisam began to cry, his pleas for mercy overcome by his tears. “I beg you, Hagg, don’t kill me! I have a boy and a girl who need me. I’ve got lots of money. I can pay anything you ask, but don’t kill me!”

  Madany stared at him and said, “What
are you talking about, kill you? I came here specifically to talk to you. I have things I want to show you. May I?”

  Heisam was in no condition to reply. Madany bent down, opened the suitcase, and took items from it. He began talking, fast and with laboured breath:

  “So have a look, Basha. These are the first trainers I got Khaled, when he was in primary school. He was delighted with them because they light up. See—as soon as you press on them, they light up. Look at this. This is Khaled’s certificate that he got when he came out top of the whole district in the primary school leaving exam. We had his certificates hung up in the living room but I took them down and brought them to show you. And here, my dear sir, we have the notice from the university placement board saying that Khaled had been accepted by the Faculty of Medicine, and this is his first suit, which I bought him when he entered the faculty. You know, the first day, when I saw him wearing the suit and setting off for the faculty, I cried for joy. And his mother, God rest her soul, cried and kept praying for him. This, now, is a music recorder with headphones. To be honest, I don’t know how to pronounce its English name. I got it for Khaled so he could listen to music while he was studying.”

  Madany suddenly let the recorder fall to the ground, approached Heisam until he was face-to-face with him, and shouted, “Why did you kill my son?”

  Heisam began weeping and begging, saying, “Forgive me, Hagg! I kiss your feet! Please don’t kill me!”

  As though he couldn’t hear him, Madany shouted, “You shot my son. The bullet that you fired with this hand of yours right here pierced his head. I picked up a bit of his brain in my hand as I was washing him. I picked up his brain with this hand of mine.”

  Uncle Madany sighed and bent his head as though he’d suddenly thought of something. Then he averted his face, bent down, and began gathering the things up and putting them back in the suitcase. He started with the trainers, then the primary and secondary school certificates and the placement notice. Then he folded the suit and placed it carefully inside, followed by the recorder and the headphones. Finally, he closed the suitcase and, without speaking, picked it up and left. He began descending the cement steps with care. Before he had reached the doorway, the roar of a rapid salvo of bullets reached his ears. Then there was silence.

  Glossary

  Abd El Aziz Street A well-known commercial street in the older part of central Cairo.

  Abd El Men’em Reyad and Abd El Men’em Reyad Square An area of streets and overpasses that extends east from the Nile south of Maspero.

  Adly Habib Adly, Egypt’s minister of the interior from November 1997 to January 2011.

  Al-Ahram One of Egypt’s oldest daily newspapers (established 1875) and its newspaper of record, government-owned since 1952.

  the Alliance The Alliance of Egyptian Centrist Parties, a grouping of seventeen political parties created in 2012 to back the presidential candidacy of Mahmoud Husam.

  the American University The American University in Cairo, an English-language private university founded in 1919 whose historic campus stands on Tahrir Square.

  April 6 and the April 6 Movement An activist organisation created in the spring of 2008 to support a workers’ strike in Mahalla El Kubra in the Delta; banned in 2014.

  Ataba Square A large square in central Cairo, between the medieval city and its nineteenth century expansion westwards to the Nile.

  the Barrages Two low dams on the Nile just north of Cairo and a popular picnic spot.

  Basha (1) Formal title awarded, under the monarchy (1805–1954), to large landowners, high-ranking civil servants, and other prominent figures; (2) Courtesy title used today to ingratiate the speaker with police officers and other figures of authority.

  the Battle of the Camel An incident that occurred on 2 February 2011, when men mounted on horses and camels attacked demonstrators in Tahrir Square in coordination with other attackers using firebombs, reportedly resulting in the deaths of several demonstrators and the wounding of at least 600; the name evokes an important early Islamic battle (659).

  Bey A rank lower than Basha, in either usage.

  Bukhari Muhammad El Bukhari (810–70), a renowned compiler and evaluator of Traditions.

  Central Security The Central Security Forces, Egypt’s riot police.

  Copt A member of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, the majority of whom belong, like Ashraf Wissa, to the Coptic Orthodox church.

  the Corniche A large road running along the eastern bank of the Nile from Cairo’s northern to its southern suburbs.

  Dar El Salam A poor district of southern Cairo.

  Downtown Roughly the districts of Cairo between the medieval city on the east and the Nile on the west, which grew up between the second half of the nineteenth century and the Second World War.

  Ein El Sukhna A tourist development on the Gulf of Suez, about 140 km south-east of Cairo, started in the 1960s and greatly expanded since the 1990s.

  the Emergency Law The law (dating to 1958) under which a state of emergency was declared in 1981 and subsequently renewed every three years, and which gave extended powers to the police while suspending numerous constitutional rights.

  Enan Sami Enan, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces from 2005 until August 2012 and deputy head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

  Enough! Arabic Kefaya; informal name of the Egyptian Movement for Change, a broad-based political protest movement founded in 2004 that grew out of opposition to then president Hosni Mubarak’s attempts to assume a fifth term in office and to promote his son Gamal Mubarak as his successor.

  the Feast The annual Lesser Feast, or Lesser Bayram, with which Muslims celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and for which they traditionally buy new clothes.

  Feisal Street A major commercial thoroughfare (and the crowded middle- and lower-middle-class residential streets around it) in Giza; the street runs parallel to Pyramids Road and the district grew up in the 1970s.

  the Fifth Settlement A major new residential development to the north-east of Cairo.

  galabiya A long, closed gown.

  Ganzouri Kamal Ganzouri, an economist who held a number of ministerial posts under Hosni Mubarak, and served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999; he served again in that position from 7 December 2011 to 26 June 2012.

  Garden City An older, upscale residential area south-west of central Cairo, on the Nile.

  the Gezira Club A long-established and prestigious sporting and social club on the island of Gezira in the Nile opposite central Cairo.

  Giza Cairo’s sister city on the west bank of the Nile.

  Guidance Office A body consisting of some fifteen of the highest-ranking members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which functions as a sort of cabinet for the organisation.

  hagg (for a man), hagga (for a woman) Title of a person who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

  Hawamdiya A town south-west of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile.

  Heliopolis An upscale suburb to the north-east of central Cairo, established in the early years of the twentieth century.

  Ismailiya A city on the Suez Canal.