It was striking five on a wintry, chilly morning whilst Laila was still lying wide awake on the straw in the barn. This was her first night there. Her father, Mhamed, forced her to sleep there as a punishment for having courted a fifty-year-old teacher next to the school the day before yesterday. Laila’s family lived on a farm, and she spent most of her time working hard in the fields except when Kamal, the teacher, gave her a ring as a sign to leave the work and join him.
A couple of days ago, Mhamed bought them a TV set and a mobile phone for Laila for her success at school. She and the teacher had been courting each other for nearly two years, and it was only on the evening of yesterday did her father know about their love-affair. In the village Laila’s family lived in at the time, the villagers were never used to courtship and trysting.
‘You have got only one choice, ‘marriage’, ’ warned her father brandishing a baton at her.
‘ Ok, ok, Dad ! ‘ replied Laila in fear.
Laila had been amongst the most respectful, charming girls of the village, but as soon as she turned fifteen and became addicted to romance films and serials, she began to dream about a romantic world of her own. All the men she had seen and met before no longer appealed to her the minute she saw Kamal. The position of teacher made her fall passionately in love with Kamal. Since she knew him, she had thought that he would become the ideal husband she had always dreamt of during her adolescence.
Six o’clock struck, and everybody on the farm was up. Naima, Laila’s mother, went downstairs only to find her daughter still crying.
‘ What are you crying for ?’ asked the mother.
Laila felt too shy to reply.
‘ Ah, I see now ; it is the teacher again, ’ said the mother.
Naima was then aware of all that had been going on between her daughter and the teacher, but never dared to tell her husband. For her, she appreciated that only if the teacher had intended to marry her dearest daughter. She would never allow for anything beyond that. Despite having been punished and detained by her father, Laila did not give up getting in touch more with her beloved Kamal. She doted a lot on him believing that he would live up to all her expectations ranging from a good romance to a dignified life.
From time to time, Kamal, though much older than her, would bring Laila some childish gifts like chocolate bars, etc which she shared only with her mother. As for her father, he still thought that his daughter had stopped meeting with the teacher since the night on which she was detained.
‘ I believe that Kamal would make a good husband,’ Said Naima happily.
‘So do I, Mum !’ said Laila moving to and fro.
Aside from the position of teacher, Kamal was also a poet and novelist of English. He was rarely free, and most of his free time was spent on reading and writing. As soon as he befriended and loved Laila, he no longer read and wrote as assiduously as he used to do. But he was hoping to the soonest possible after getting married to his beloved Laila. At age fifty, Kamal began to think about marriage, the thing he neglected during his adolescence and even towards the end of his adulthood.
His spending his university days in studying alone made him unable to court a girl perfectly well. Though not well-versed in romance, he was trying to be pretentious all the time so as to gain the love of Laila. The latter very soon became romantic and too idealistic about love because of the countless films and serials she had watched. At first sight, she thought that with Kamal, a handsome man, she might be able to lead a nice, romantic life full of felicity and eternal mutual love.
Laila, who had been the most studious student at school and who had won several prizes, began to lose interest in her studies and even to miss some of her classes. She did so in order not to lose her lover and also the change to be the first girl in the village to get married. Every time she was with her friends, she started to brag to them about her lover and the things he frequently brought her.
Whenever Kamal went on holiday for some time, Laila would burst into tears untill he came back. She would wait impatiently for him and when she saw him coming, she would run the fastest possible to welcome him with outstretched arms. She was quite used to that, and she never paid attention to whoever saw her doing so. All that mattered to her was Kamal. The latter was at last so glad that there was a girl who loved him so much.
Since Laila was the only girl who loved him, he always did his best not to berate her. He tried hard to do whatever she wanted him to. For example, he used to shave his hair, especially in the summer. She did not like it when he went bald and she asked him to keep his hair. She also asked him to dress well, to put on some perfume, and to change his eye-glasses and his walking way. Poor Kamal obeyed all her orders and never took them personally. On the contrary, he thought that Laila was simply caring about him.
In fact, she wanted her lover to be the best husband ever in the village. That is why she occasionally kept telling him how and what to dress. He, a naive teacher who only cared about his books and his latest poems, spent large amounts of money on clothes. They saw each other from time to time, especially when she told him to dress up. She quite well knew that he felt glad when she flattered him.
‘ Wow, nice clothes! I’m really proud of you, ‘ said Laila
‘ The pleasure is mine, ‘ replied Kamal blushed.
On the mornings of every Sunday, she told her parents that she and her friends would go on a picnic. She was only lying to them in order to gain their permission to go to the nearby hills where Kamal chose to read and write. Usually he spent the whole day there, and Laila found it a good opportunity to sit with her beloved Kamal.
Of course, Kamal liked the idea, and they always chose to sit under a tree where no one could see them. Actually, there was no one to see them in that deserted area. As Kamal was reading the poems he had written about her and her charm, she instead began fuddling her fingers showing no care. Unintelligent, he thought that she was enjoying listening to them. Only after some time did he understand her motives. One of the latter was to discuss marriage with him.
Laila was so much affected by the romance films she had been watching that she only wished she would marry him the soonest possible. She did not care about anything else. As for him, he accepted her proposal indifferntly despite his remarkable love for her. Expressing himself through poetry appealed more to him. He also hoped he would marry but not as enthusiastically as Laila did.
Nearly two years of courtship and trysting had dragged by, and the time to get married at last came. Being too shy and introverted, Kamal did not know what to do on this occasion. It was only Laila who encouraged him to go to her family as a suitor. Had it not been for her and his passion for her, he would not have done so. As was common in such villages, no father turned down any good suitor’s proposal as long as he really meant it. As a teacher, Kamal was one of these suitors. Thus, he managed to marry Laila at last. She was turning seventeen at the time and the wedding was finally announced.
On the day of her wedding, Laila could not express the immense felicity she felt inside. She had been waiting for that day with bated breath. Everyone who attended the wedding was either green with envy or so glad because they thought that Kamal and Laila would be the best well-matched couple in the village. No one doubted that. For the villagers, having their daughter got married to a teacher was an invaluabe honour. On the morning of that day, Kamal and Laila woke up feeling as though they had been dreaming the whole night. They were in the mood for lots of things including tidying their house that morning.
Kamal’s house, situated next to the school, was only a few meters away from that of Laila. From that moment on, she paid her parents a visit on occasions except when the summer of that year came. They decided to spend their honeymoon somewhere else. Laila suggested they go to Essaouira, whereas Kamal suggested they stay in his family’s house after only a few days in Essaouira. This was the first time they had ever disagreed about something. Because of his passion for her, he had to submit to her suggestion. And that was exactly what they did in the end.
For Laila, this would be her first trip out of the village. She had spent her seventeen years in the village, and knew nothing about big cities. But she heard about them, especially Essaouira. She had hoped to visit them for long, and the latter was, among others, a motive behind getting married to Kamal.
For Laila, this would be her first trip out of the village. She had spent her seventeen years in the village, and knew nothing about big cities. But she heard about them, especially Essaouira. She had hoped to visit them for long, and the latter was, among others, a motive behind getting married to Kamal.
She dreamed too much of visiting other places and she always forced Kamal to do so many things for her that he himself had never done. One day, as they were walking along the beach, she suddenly kissed him on the cheeks ; she thought that this was something normal. For him, he did not like it when people were around. He thought her act out of place. Knowing that Kamal was angry about that, she concluded that Kamal would never become as romantic as those husbands she used to be watching on TV. His unexpected reaction made Laila dissatisfied and began to deem him crude and uncivilised soon after some other romantic approaches on the part of her.
Kamal accepted everything from her except her strange comportment every time they had a walk outside. He always had to remind her of the acceptable and the unacceptable. But unfortunately, no change was remarked. Quite the contrary, Laila began to behave more romantically every time she was outside, and she excused Kamal’s unexpected reactions for his crudeness and even for his old age. But she never dared to tell him about her new views she had recently discovered about his personality.
Despite being enraged by her, he very often did his utmost not to evince this feeling. During the three months they had been spending in Essaouira, including other cities, made them discover certain attributes about each one’s personality. One was too romantic than usual ; the other one, simple. Kamal soon forgot about these missteps in their married life, but Laila took them seriously and began to deliberate about them frequently. She even went on to discuss them to some of the girls she had befriended there.
Towards the end of the summer holiday, Kamal was so glad that he had enjoyed the trip very much, while Laila did not enjoy it that much. All she had hoped for did not live up to her expectations. She had hoped to spend some romantic moments with her new husband at the beach, in hotels, and at de luxe restaurants and cafes. Kamal’s income did not entitle him to have access to all these facilities. But as usual, Laila did not have enough common sense to consider her husband’s social class. She was always whimpering to him about things he could not afford.
As he loved her so much, he tried hard to put up with the complaints she usually uttered. The holidays came to an end, and now they were ready to head for her hometown. No sooner had they adopted themselves again to the village atmosphere than Laila was informed that she was expecting a baby. They hugged each other feeling great happiness about the good news. Laila’s family too were happy for her and about her coming baby. Their married life soon began to flourish as the coming baby was expected.
‘ I wish it would be a girl ‘ Laila hoped.
Though he wished she would give birth to a baby boy, he refrained from expressing his own wishes at her presence. Laila no longer thought about her previous problems. She began to care about the coming baby, and she believed that giving birth to a baby safely would console her at last. Two months later, Laila was taken to hospital where she gave birth to her baby. It was a girl.
In the house, no one ever took notice of the previous problems. All they started to care about was to bring up the little baby perfectly. Since the latter was given birth, they had never argued except one day when they decided to give the baby a name. Laila decided that it should be named after a romantic heroine called Maria. Kamal disagreed by saying that it should be named Aicha, an Islamic name. As Kamal carried on disagreeing, Laila suddenly burst into tears. Seeing that scene, Kamal had only to submit to her order for the umpteen times now.
From now onwards, so many rows befell their married life. Laila had always been triggering them because she still believed that the way the others on TV and those belonging to the rich class was leading their life was the epitome for her. And she wanted to be one of them by exerting poor Kamal and asking him to provide her with furniture of high quality. Carefree and irresponsible, She wasted lots of money.
No matter what had gone on between him and her, Kamal loved her still. However, Kamal felt that her love for him was decreasing dramatically. As he was just coming from work one day, Laila was standing at the door and instead of asking him about his work, she suggested that he change the way he dressed.
‘ Hi Laila. I hope you are alright, darling, ’ said Kamal.
‘Hi! I guess you had better wear fashionable clothes, ’ said Laila tersely.
After that day, Laila never stopped complaining about his clothes ; he tried hard to dress well, but being unscrupulous about his attire made him fail to satisfy her, and in the end, he even gave up the idea. Strangely enough, Kamal could not overreact to her, for he could not resist loving her.
Maria was growing faster and faster, and now at age four, she began to speak. Her parents were very happy for her. The coming of Maria had made Laila forget about her inner predicament, and no sooner had this period of four years elapsed than boredom set in and a hankering for more romance began again. Old and senile, Kamal could no longer afford to do as she wished. All he could provide were the neccessities of their life like food, clothes, etc. The latter, Laila thought, was only typical of the poor. She was dissatisfied with everything. Sometimes she went on to dress exceptionally well to attract him sexually, but no apporach he ever made. Rarely did he sleep with her.
Poor Laila asked him to do the impossible for her. Kamal had only time for reading and writing. He thought that providing everything apart from romance in the house was enough for Laila. The latter never cared about that ; she even started to lose interest in her daughter as she remarked Kamal writing most of the time. At the time, she had probably expected nothing from him. She very well knew that he would never change.
Every time they sat together around a table with their daughter for either dinner or lunch, she rarely ate with ease. At first, Kamal asked her many times to eat as she was growing slimmer. But, with time, he stopped doing so. One day, he was shocked to find her eating in the kitchen always after dinner or lunch. She had not been having lunch and dinner because the sound Kamal made while eating so frequently made her vomit. For instance, he munched bread and butter hungrily for breakfast. For soup, he drank it noisily. For Tajine, he ate it touching the meat in it all the time. Laila started to abhor him and even to regret marrying him.
Appearances, she once said to herself, are really misleading. At the start of her courtship, she thought that Kamal, since he was a teacher, would be the best husband ever for a romantic girl like her. However, she was stunned to find out the opposite. From time to time, the idea of divorce came to her. But she chose to turn a blind eye to it believing that it would only cause harm to her life in general and to her daughter in particular. Had it not been for her daughter, she would have demanded divorce immediately, she once made up her mind.
Six years later, Maria was now a student. Her parents’ married life turned out to be sluggish and came to no fruition as soon as Kamal turned sixty one. Laila was 28. A remarkable age difference, Laila was aware of it at last.
‘ Why don’t we go on holiday this summer, Kamal ?’ suggested Laila.
‘ I’m sorry I can’t. I’m afraid we might get into more trouble, ’ said Kamal.
Several summers came and went, and Kamal still refused to let Laila go on holiday together. He turned down all her efforts to convince him, but no use. Fortunately for her, Kamal had done his utmost to provide her with whatever she needed including good treatment, much care and passion for both her and their daughter.
Laila then set to find pretexts and phoney excuses just to let Kamal fight with her. She had been waiting for him to take the initiative in order to find a reason for demanding divorce. Notwithstanding, Kamal treated her very kindly and generously as usual. Laila detested his overobedience and naivety. She contemplated divorce many a time. Sometimes, she thought of meeting another man who would satisfy her insaiable desires. Bored with her married life, she was no longer in the mood for her little baby ; she asked her husband for a servant. Immediately, Kamal brought one.
Now that she felt disappointed in Kamal, she began to dream too idealistically about another suitor. But no one was at her disposal. There was only one shop keeper beside the school, but for her she called him a good-for-nothing boy. He had no emotions, no charm and no appeal. He was only money-consicous. Alone, one day, she gave a long, melancholy cry and fainted. The servant came hurriedly to rescue her and to see what was wrong. She came to at last, said the servant happily.
Since Kamal prefered to stay in the village now that he had started a family, his own parents, brothers and sisters had not heard from his for a long time. They understood that he was only overwhelmed with the burdens of everyday life. Kamal gave them calls every week though. All his family members liked him because of his kindness, generosity and selflessness. Unfortunately for him, he was a victim of getting married to a very romantic girl who always demanded the impossible from him.
Despite everything, he could never bear the thought of leaving her one day. He loved her so much. He rarely answered her back. He gave her everything she needed except the things he could not afford like the romance she was used to watching on TV. Not mature enough, she believed that it was Kamal’s fault. She attributed the failure of her married life to Kamal’s naivity. Every time she met her friends, she told them that Kamal cared only for his studying and trivial poems. She thought that literature was only for the poor and the foolish.
Laila dropped out of school at an early age, and she found the smell of Kamal’s library too disgusting. She forced him many times to get rid of old books. Kamal was not able to convince her of their value any more. Most of the time, he asked Allah to guide her to the right path. She was peevish and dissatisfied with everything.
One day, while they were fighting with each other as usual late at night, they heard a sudden knock at the door. Their row came to an end on the spur of the moment. They immediately started at each other in astonishment.
‘ Who could be knocking at this late hour ?’ wondered Kamal.
‘ I really have no idea,’ replied Laila scared.
‘ Oh, it is your brother, Brahim. Open please ; I’ve just arrived here,’ said the guest to Kamal.
As Laila heard that it was only Kamal’s brother, she directly went to bed. She was still angry at Kamal, but the coming of his brother prevented her from carring on the row. Kamal was extremely happy that there was at last a visitor, and he ran hurriedly to open the door for his dear brother, Brahim.
When they got into the house, Kamal found that Laila was sleeping soundly. He breathed a deep sigh of relief at last now that his brother was with him. Exhausted, Brahim slept untill twelve o’clock in the morning, and he would have slept longer had not Laila come to his room to wake him up in order to have breakfast. Before going to work, Kamal had told Laila to prepare everything for his brother, Brahim.
Brahim got up, had a shower, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, got dressed and then went into the living-room where Laila was already waiting for him to lead him to the breakfast on the table. The moment she saw him coming into the room, she could not believe her eyes. She was totally dumbfounded to find that Brahim was the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. She was staring at him in admiration, but as he was about to sit down, he unawares turned around to find out that she was still looking at him.
So kind of u for everything, sister !’ thanked Brahim.
‘ My pleasure ! Enjoy your stay with us ; you deserve the best,’ replied Laila keenly.
From the day on which Brahim arrived onwards, Laila did not know why she was enjoying herself every time she was with him. She always felt like conversing with him when Kamal was not around. Sometimes, she talked to him at Kamal’s presence.
Brahim, a thirty-year-old engineer, had come to notify his brother of his new business in Casa. Bored with the suburban, monotonous life, he came to spend his holiday with Kamal. The latter had already told him about the amazing scenery, the landscapes, and the endless mountain ranges. Brahim was curious to explore everything in the village during his three-week holiday.
Being enthralled by Brahim’s way of talking and his charm, she frequently began to make some romantic advances towards him. She did not care about the implications of her actions. All that mattered to her was to enjoy herself. She felt that she was in dire need of affection, passion, reciprocal love and most importantly the romance she was used to before.
Now Brahim was the only one at hand, and she did not yet know how to communicate her distress to him and her disatisfaction with her husband. She was afraid that Brahim might inform his brother. But, as some time passed, she ventured to tell him about everything. But before that, she had made some romantic advances which Brahim unexpectedly accepted from her.
She was amazed to find that Brahim too was thinking about her. He had simply been waiting for her to take the initiative.
‘ I have felt so miserable lately, dear Brahim, ’ complained Laila.
‘ What is wrong ?’ asked Brahim curiously.
‘ Well, I can’t tell you everything ; I’m afraid for my life and my daughter’s, ’ responded Laila.
‘ Please, don’t worry ! I promise to keep everything secret,’ Brahim placated her.
Immediately Laila began to recount him all her experiences and her unsteady married life for the time being. Strange enough, Brahim was touched by them. Still he knew that the way she treated her husband was not good whatsoever. But he never told him.
Unlike his his brother, Brahim was experienced enough about romance and the marriage issue. Every time Kamal was out and the servant took care of Maria, Laila rang Brahim to join her in the living-room. She had prepared him his lunch and and stayed with him for hours. She would excuse herself by preparing lunch for Brahim in case someone asked her what she was doing with him. Two weeks had elapsed, and as usual they still conversed with each other more frequently to the extent that they were both afraid that someone might be watching them or discover what had been going on.
Finding countless attributes of an ideal husband in Brahim, Laila wished if she had only known and got married to him before. So many times did she try to confess her deep love to him, but thinking that he would be shocked by the news, she refrained from doing so.
Kamal lacking enough common sense and experience to judge others, he never doubted that there was something going on between his brother and his wife. He had always given them the benefit of the doubt. He left them alone because of his undue trust and fidelity in both his wife and Brahim.
As soon as the time for Brahim to leave came, Laila felt distressed and sad. She could hardly bore the though of him leaving her. She at last made her mind to admit her deep love to him. She hesitated twice, but she plucked up courage in the end.
‘ Why are you feeling sad again, dear Laila, ’ asked Brahim.
‘ I heard that it is time for you to leave us, ’ replied Laila bursting into tears.
‘ Actually, yes ; but don’t worry ; we will soon be in touch on the phone, ‘ said Brahim.
‘ Please, I count on you ; I truly need you,’ said Laila.
No one in the home knew about their conversation. They only talked when no one was around. They had already discussed marriage. It was Laila who first raised the topic. Brahim promised to get married to her only if his brother divorced her. She no longer expected something from her current husband. She did not complain to him either. She trusted Brahim and waited for him with bated breath.
At last, Brahim bade them all goodbye. His brother saw him off at the bus station and came back home. As he got into the house, he heard Laila crying sadly and noisily.
‘ Why are you crying for, darling ?’ asked Kamal.
‘ Nothing at all,’ replied Laila.
‘ Brahim is a knowledeagble man ; he is also very generous. He cares about eveyone ; I do like him a lot, ’ added Kamal.
‘ Sure, he really is !’ confirlmed Laila.
From that day onwards, Laila never did her household chores. All she cared about was her mobile phone. She used it to send messages to her new beloved Brahim. She could not help it. Sometimes Kamal saw her writing something in her mobile phone, but never dared to ask her about it. He was afraid that they might get into trouble again. Kamal was so submissive, and Laila abhored him for that. She even started to detested him now that she knew Brahim.
Poor Kamal had only been doing his best to give her happiness, but in vain. He had done the best he could ; but Laila was not interested in his overobedience and trivialities. She was interested in romance which he completely lacked. She at last found what she had been looking for in Brahim. But she suffered a lot when he was away from her ; she frequently resorted to her mobile phone, the last resort to cease her pain.
Five years had gone by when one day Kamal came home tired ; he got into the house and found Laila snoring out of deep drowsiness. She slept too late at night yesterday. She had been texting her new beloved, her husband’s brother. Her mobile phone was lying on the mattress and it rang three times successively. He was curious to see what was that, but at first he hesitated. Suddenly it rang for the fourth time. In the end, Kamal made up his mind this time to check her mobile.
‘ Ah, they are merely messages,’ he said calmly.
As he was about to put it away, an idea struck his mind :
‘ Why not see these messages,’ he said to himself.
Kamal had never thought of checking her mobile phone one day. But coming home and finding her snoring at this time of the day made him want to check it for the first time. He read the first message and found out that it was from his brother, Brahim.
‘How come !!’ he wondered.
Filled with suspense, he then set to read one message after another. There were nearly one hundred messages and it took him some time to read them all. Most of them were about love, sexual desire, orgasm, feelings, coldness, satisfaction, sex, etc. They were all vulgar issues.
Spellbound and utterly at a loss for words, he unawares let go of the mobile phone. It fell down and made a sound which woke Laila up. Finding him beside her, she felt terribly mortified that he at last knew what had been going on between her and Brahim.
‘ Please, forgive me ; I swear I didn’t mean it, ’ implored Laila.
‘ Ah,…..’ stammered Kamal.
Kamal, still shocked, remained silent for four hours. He neither moved nor uttered a sound. He was stunned to learn that the woman he had ever loved in his life was cheating on him without his slightest knowledge about it. He did not know what to do. He laughed hysterically. At first, she thought that he was merely touched by her betrayal. But later on as he did not stop laughing, she concluded that he went mad.
The news spread incredibly fast in the village, and everyone said that Laila was to blame. Yes, she was really to blame, said the servant. Then, Laila very well knew it had been her fault alone. But it was too late. She let down the most failthful, generous, respectable, trustworthy and honest man ever in the village. Now that he went mad, she didn’t know what to do to make up for her treason. Laila felt too mortified to face her parents.
Instead she chose to go somewhere else where no one would blame her. One day, she phoned Brahim to ask for help, but the latter insulted her for all that she had been to his brother. Fearing her father and in retaliation for her bad actions, she woke up the following day earlier than usual and made for the nearby hills where many Argan trees grew. She ran as hurriedly as possible so that no one would see her. She was aslo holding a rope. As she reached the first Argan tree, she stopped to breathe deeply ; she was panting heavily.
She closely contemplated her village and her parent’s house where she was raised. She was wearing a light pyjamas. She did not change her sleeping clothes. After some minutes, she quickly climbed the Argan tree and sat on a strong bough. He heart was throbbing hard and abnormally. Suddenly her eyes began to shed tears and then turned totally bleary. She sobbed uncontrollably.
Immediately, she took the rope she had brought and tied it to the branch she was sitting on. Then, she tightly tied the other end of the rope around her neck. Out of fear, she waiting for some time. All her limbs were shaking. Making up her mind at last, she let go of her body down. She hanged herself and was moving convulsively for nearly two minutes, and then she stopped moving. Instantly, everything in her was still. Her body was too cold. She was dead.
At the time, no one was present. Only a light breeze was making the branches of that Argan tree swing to and fro. It was after two weeks did the villagers discover her body. She was buried in the nearby cemetery. Her parents and daughter were too much affected by the calamity. From that moment, they had been mourning their dead Laila. It was when Maria turned seventeen did she begin to forget about her mother and to start to contemplate her own future.
As for her father, no one mentioned him any more. Though too old now, Maria’s grandparents were still alive. One day, as she was coming from school, she ran hurriedly into her bedroom. She was in a hurry to watch some films. Her grandfather came home soon after her and called her, but she did not hear him. Then, he opened her bedroom’s door only to find her watching some romance films that her mother left there.
He shouted at her, and she switched the TV off. Of his own accord, he broke all the CDs at Maria’s presence. She fainted, dead.
THE END
By Omar BIHMIDINE
On 25/06/2010
