The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes by Hassan Blasim, Rashid Razaq Read Free Book Online Page B

back. COME BACK!
    LYDIA comforts CARLOS as he calls after SAHAR .
    CARLOS: Don’t go!
    LYDIA: I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.
    CARLOS looks at LYDIA . She soothes him .
    LYDIA: I’m here.
    Lights down .

INTERLUDE 3
    22 August 2008 .
    SAHAR enters with a mobile phone to her ear .
    SAHAR: (Phone.) She had no breakfast. Nothing. I told her I said you have to eat. Eat something. If you don’t eat I won’t let you go to school. (Beat.) They told me not to look. The doctor. Advised me. Strongly. We strongly advise you not to look. (Pause.) She was wearing the white vest. The white one with the blue flowers. You remember? The one that you sent her. It was her favourite. She was wearing that under her clothes. What was left…it was all I could… the blue flower. Blue and white. (Beat.) And red. Blood. So much. Her…face was…metal… glass. Her eyes. Arms. Fingers. The blue flower. Look at the blue flower. (Beat.) She had no breakfast. (Pause.) Who kills a child on her way to school? (Pause.) Did you hear what I said? (Pause.) Salim? (Beat.) Yes. (Beat.) Yes. (Beat.) Yes. (Pause.) The funeral was this afternoon. I didn’t think you would come. So we didn’t wait.
    Lights down slowly .

SIX
    April 2006 .
    Baghdad. Street market. KHALED , in overalls, is cleaning up the aftermath of an explosion. He sweeps slowly and cautiously with a broom, on the lookout for body parts and valuables. There are two bin bags centre stage. One is black, the other is yellow .
    CARLOS: (Off, in Arabic.) Where’s my broom?
    KHALED: (Arabic.) How should I know? Look in the van.
    CARLOS: (Off, Arabic.) I’m looking in the van.
    Pause .
    KHALED: (English.) Found it? (Beat.) Hey Camel-face!?
    CARLOS: (Off.) What?
    KHALED: Did you find your broom?
    CARLOS: (Off.) Yes.
    CARLOS , in overalls, enters with his broom .
    KHALED: By the way, the next valuable we find is mine.
    CARLOS: The next valuable I find is mine.
    KHALED: What about the wallet ?
    CARLOS: The empty wallet?
    KHALED: A wallet is a wallet.
    CARLOS: Not if there’s nothing in it.
    KHALED: It’s still a valuable.
    CARLOS: How the fuck is it a valuable when there’s nothing valuable in it?
    KHALED: That’s the rule.
    CARLOS: What rule? I didn’t see that rule.
    KHALED: It’s an unwritten rule.
    CARLOS: Fuck off. You’re making it up. They don’t have rules about what valuables you can steal when you’re cleaning up body parts after a bomb goes off. They don’t ‘write’ rules for that kind of thing.
    KHALED: That’s why it’s an unwritten rule.
    CARLOS: Unwrite my balls.
    KHALED: You’d love that wouldn’t you? You filthy bastard.
    CARLOS: OK. I tell you what. Why don’t we trade the empty wallet for the gold chain?
    KHALED: Trade?
    CARLOS: Yeah. Y’know? The gold chain I found this morning that you took. And I’ll give you back the empty wallet that you found.
    KHALED: Nah. I’m…there’s no trading here. It’s an unwritten rule.
    CARLOS: Where’s this book of rules?
    KHALED: It’s not written.
    CARLOS: Oh fucking surprise, surprise.
    KHALED: This isn’t the United Nations Salim! We work for the Baghdad Municipal Street Cleaning Department. We do things by the book. And if you don’t like it, I suggest you take it up with George Bush. The next time you’re blowing him on his cowboy ranch in Texas.
    CARLOS: That’s disgusting. Me. Blowing the President of the United States. Do you really think I’d suck off George Bush? (Beat.) Bill Clinton maybe.
    KHALED laughs. CARLOS smiles. They go back to sweeping .
    CARLOS walks over to the yellow bin bag to empty his dustpan .
    KHALED: Hey!
    CARLOS stops .
    KHALED: What are you doing? The black one. Yellow for body parts. Black for general waste. How many times do I have to tell you?
    CARLOS empties the dustpan in the black bag .
    KHALED: You need to listen. If you don’t listen, you don’t learn. And if you don’t learn, you don’t get ahead. Don’t you want to get ahead?
    CARLOS: As a road sweeper? Not