Rich Breakfast

By: Fouad Merei
The old man sat in front of his house. He seemed relaxed while he was making a cigarette by rapping the tobacco in its designed thin white paper. His brazen face indicated that he was not someone who lived luxuriously and comfortably. However, his moustache that covered his sunken mouth with his hawk-like eyes drew the features of an old eagle with a kaffieh and a headband that covered his bold head. He began smoking and sipping his morning coffee that was brought by a woman who donned a customary dress that revealed a tender soft face despite the sings of old age, yet her walk showed a woman with a maintained physical strength. The neighborhood remained silent for a few minutes to be suddenly broken by the voices of men who were coming from the main square of the village. The voices became louder and louder as the group advanced further in the narrow street. They were a few armed men followed by a military jeep.
At the front, a young armed man marched while holding the reigns of an aggressive dog, which lolled out its tongue with saliva dripping out of its open mouth. The patrol stopped in front of the house that was adjacent to the old man's. One of them said firmly:
Open!
A number of armed men entered the house with the dog advancing them. Screams came out from inside the house. The old man understood that they were swearing. After a few minutes, which seemed longer than usual, the armed men exited and their procession advanced towards the next house.
The old man remained in his sitting position smoking his cigarette. His overlooks, which did not mean anything, made the armed man and his dog stop for a minute, hesitant. Another armed man advanced carrying a gun on his side with a thin bamboo stick in his hand. He started gently batting his open palm.
He said in a careful tone:
- We want to search the house. Lead us.
The man did not answer. He stared in the eyes of the man who held the bamboo stick, and puffed out the last smoke of his cigarette that he extinguished by the soil of the small garden. The man rose and marched towards the main door of his home. The armed men followed him.
Voices were heard inside, and confusion took place. The voices moved from one room to another. Later, they were heard in the back courtyard of the house and the surrounding garden. The jeep remained parking in front of the house. Inside, there were Israeli soldiers. Other armed men spread under the balconies and at the corners of the street.
After a while, they began exiting the house swearing. They appeared to be in a state of disgust and fury. Some of them place their hands over their noses. Their leader said in a rush:
- Let us leave this place immediately.
The patrol marched towards the other houses of the neighborhood. The same event took place repeatedly until the voices completely disappeared.
The old man observed the street until it became vacant of pedestrians. Suddenly, he entered his home and went out to the back garden where he had a cow's pen with a wooden and mudded ceil. He covered his nose and mouth with a handkerchief that he tied behind his head, after which he entered the pen. He removed a wooden feeding trough, grabbed a shovel from behind the door, and began shoveling some stinking remains and dung. Suddenly, a wooden board appeared, that was opened from beneath after the old man tapped it three times. And he briefly said:
- They are gone. You can come out.
- I cannot stand up. I think my leg was broken.
- Never mind, I will help you.
- (…)
- Lean on me, I am still strong enough.
Later, the wounded man rested on a wooden bed inside an inner room, whereas the woman was making food inside the kitchen.
The old man switched on the radio. The speaker said: the resistance men executed a military mission against the occupation army, which was inflicted with ten casualties, dead and injured. The man switched off his radio and searched for the tobacco box. His eyes glowed in a way that the woman has never seen. He said to her as held with his fingers the tobacco thin white paper:
- O Hajji, make the breakfast rich.