Story Darling!! Darling! Darling

The people of El- Rahmaneya village woke up to an unusual hustle and bustle at the house of Sheikh Abdel-Maguid Radwan. The servants were cleaning the house, sprinkling water on the front-yard, dusting floor, doors and windows, taking chairs and sofas out of rooms to clean then returning them back in, washing cups and glasses and placing them on a large table.
The village people came to know the reason of this early commotion at Sheikh Abdel-Maguid's; his son Ahmad returns today from London after seven years of absence. The peasants were so happy, for Sheikh Abdel-Maguid was a popular man among them. He was charitable and worked for the good of all people; he built them a mosque, a school, as well as a model countryside estate.

At 4 o'clock, Sheikh Abdel-Maguid's car headed for the train station. At 5:30 the peasants saw the car waddling along the bridge leaving behind a cloud of dust. The car took a turn and went into the yard to stop in front of the house. Dr. Ahmad stepped out. Yet he wasn't alone as the people expected; he had a blond lady with him, and she was not wearing stockings.

In the evening, the house was filled with greeters and Sheikh Abdel-Maguid received them in welcome. Ahmad did not come out to receive them. People thought he was tired because of his trip, so they did not pursue the matter and they left.

In the morning, the people sat at the house front-yard under the sun. When Ahmad came out of the house, they hurried towards him to welcome him back, but he stepped back and away, only raising his hand in greeting and went quickly passing them without extending his hand to shake any of theirs. In a short while, the blond lady now wearing trousers followed him. He took her arm and led her out the village.

Sheikh Abdel-Maguid was sitting in front of his house. He saw his son passing by the people of his village and neither greeting nor embracing them. He watched his daughter-in-law wearing trousers in this small Egyptian village; he was stunned and was about to burst with anger. Yet he held back and kept silent.

The ladies of the family received Ahmad's wife with warm welcome; first thinking she was a tourist. Then when they learnt that she was Ahmad's wife, and that she was English - oh yes - they were even happier with her.

Being the only one who spoke English, Ahmad's sister Zeinab was the one who took care of Ahmad's wife as if she were her lady-in-waiting. She prepared her clothes for her, organized her things, carried the tea tray herself and made everything in her capacity for the sake of her comfort and to honour her as a guest.

Yet the "Mrs." looked lightly and coldly upon all that. She treated everyone as if they were made of stuff different than her own, as if they were people different from those of whom she descended. She looked down upon them; the more they were kind and hospitable, the prouder she became. Finally, Zeinab decided to pay back her coldness and even surpass her despise, and she let her be without care.

Dr. Ahmad would sit in the parlour on a long seat, cross-legged, smoking pipe - as he does every hour of the day. His father would come into the room and Dr. Ahmad would not even shift in his seat. Sheikh Abdel-Maguid would sit and listen attentively to the conservation between his son and his English wife, watching pipe smoke rising upward to form a cloud over the parlour...

From the very first minute, the household came to learn the meaning of the word "darling" (in English). They heard it a hundred times an hour by Dr. Ahmad and wife "May". Having heard it so often by "May" they came to call him: "Dr. Ahmad Darling"!

One morning Sheikh Abdel-Maguid was drinking his coffee after breakfast - as usual. "May" was in her room and Dr. Ahmad was sitting opposite his father; cross legged with his right shoe practically positioned at his father's face, and smoking his pipe. He moved to pick something up and his shoe rubbed against his father's clothes, so he said, (in English):

- Sorry .. Dad..
- Not at all darling ..
Sheikh Abdel-Maguid replied in English, slowly and quietly, not knowing one single letter of the language. Zeinab was present seeing and hearing everything. She almost passed out of laughter. All the wild actions of Ahmad and wife were tolerable to both the household and village, had it not been for Sheikh Abdel-Maguid seeing his daughter-in-law one morning coming out of the house wearing hot pants, as if on Florida beach.

He was confounded by this scandalous act. At once he sent for his son Hassan and told him:

-Take this money to your brother for him to open a private clinic in Cairo, and prepare the car to give him a ride to catch the 5 o'clock train.
When Dr. Ahmad and wife went on their way to the train station, none in the family, nor the village was bidding them goodbye.