Who is protector for our alley? People began to wonder this as soon as Saadallah was resting in his grave. Every side began to promote its man. The Al Gabal said that Yusuf was the strongest gangster in the alley and the most closely related to Gabalawi. The Al Rifaa said that they had produced the noblest man the history of the alley had ever know, the man Gabalawi had buried in his own mansion, with his own hands. The Al Qassem said it was they who had not used their own victory for their own good, but for the good of all; in their man’s day, the alley had enjoyed undivided unity, and justice and brotherhood had prevailed. As usual, the disagreements began with whispers in the drug dens, then moved out into the air; the dust flew, and people prepared their hearts for the worst dangers. No gangster went out by himself, and if he spent the evening in a coffeehouse or den he was surrounded by followers armed with clubs. Every poet propagandized for his gangster. The shop owners and peddlers looked grim, their faces dark with pessimism. The people were so worried and fearful that they forgot the death of Gabalawi and the murder of Saadallah. Umm Nabawiya, the vegetable seller, was moved to observe, at the top of her lungs, “Life is hell! The dead people are the lucky ones!”
One night a loud voice was heard from a rooftop in Gabal. “Children of the alley, listen, and let’s reason together. Gabal is the oldest neighborhood in the alley, and Gabal was its first great man. There is no shame in your taking Yusuf as the protector of your alley.”
Loud, mocking responses came from the Al Rifaa and Al Qassem neighborhoods, along with curses and insults, and in no time children were crowding in front of the buildings and began to chant.
Yusuf, Yusuf, you little louse
Who told you to do what you did?
People’s hearts grew blacker and angrier. The only thing that delayed the catastrophe was the fact that the bloodletting would involve three sides; either two neighborhoods would have to unite or a particular side would have to pull out. Things began to happen far from the alley itself. Two peddlers met at Bait al-Qadi, one from Gabal and the other from Qassem, and they got into a violent fistfight in which the Qassem man lost his teeth and the Gabal man lost an eye. At the Sultan Baths, another battle broke out between women from Gabal, Rifaa and Qassem while they were naked in the plunge bath. They sank their nails into each other’s cheeks and their teeth into thighs and bellies; they pulled hair and hurled mugs, pumice stones, massage loofahs and cakes of soap. The battle left two women unconscious, a third having a miscarriage and countless bodies covered with blood. Early the same afternoon, after the combatants had gone home to the alley, the battle broke out again on the rooftops, only this time they used stones and the vilest obscenities. In no time the sky over the alley was filled with flying objects and screeches that echoed to the clouds. Then a messenger from the overseer secretly visited Yusuf, the gangster of Gabal, and invited him to have a meeting with the overseer. The gangster was careful to tell no one of his meeting. The overseer received him kindly, and asked him to do what he could to quiet people’s fears in his neighborhood, especially as this neighborhood was next to his residence. When he saw Yusuf off, he said he hoped that when they next met he would be the gangster of the whole alley! Yusuf left the overseer’s house intoxicated by this clear show of support, firmly believing that the top position was within his reach. It did not take him long to bring his territory into line. His people whispered about the status and prestige that tomorrow held for them. The news spread out of their neighborhood to the rest of the alley, and people’s imaginations ran away with them. Only a few days later, Agag and Santuri met secretly and agreed between themselves to stop Yusuf now, and to draw lots to see which of them would be top gangster after their victory. At dawn the next day the men of Al Qassem and Al Rifaa attacked the Al Gabal. The battle was fierce, but Yusuf and most of his men were killed, and the survivors fled. Desperate, the Al Gabal gave in to the superior force. They set an afternoon for the lottery they had planned, and on that afternoon the men and women of Qassem and Rifaa hurried to the mansion at the head of the alley. Their throngs stretched as far south as the overseer’s house and as far north as the gang headquarters that would belong to the lottery victor. Santuri and his band showed up, as did Agag and his band, and they all exchanged loyal and peaceful greetings.
Agag and Santuri embraced in front of everybody, and Agag spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. “You and I are brothers, and we will always be brothers, no matter what.”
“Forever—the toughest man anywhere!” Santuri agreed fervently.
The people of the two alleys stood opposite one another, separated by the open space in front of the mansion gate. Two men—one from Qassem and the other from Rifaa—came up with a basket filled with little cornets of folded paper. They placed it in the middle of the open space, then each man withdrew to his own side. It was announced to all that the hammer was Agag’s symbol and the cleaver was Santuri’s; miniatures of each filled the folded paper cornets, half and half. A boy was brought up and blindfolded; he would select one. The boy put his hand out in the tense silence, and drew it back with one cornet in his hand. He opened it, still blindfolded, took out what was inside and held it up.
“The cleaver! The cleaver!” shouted the Al Qassem.
Santuri offered Agag his hand, and Agag clasped it and smiled.
“Long live Santuri, protector of our alley!” everyone roared.
A man detached himself from the Al Rifaa crowd and approached Santuri with open arms. Santuri opened his arms to embrace the man, but in a flash of speed and strength the man produced a knife and drove it into Santuri’s heart. Santuri fell over on his face, dead. For a moment there was only shock, but then screams, threats and rage exploded in a cruel and bloody battle between the two neighborhoods. None of the Al Qassem, however, could withstand Agag, and before long defeat crept into their hearts; some of them fell, others retreated, and before evening came the whole alley belonged to Agag. The Al Qassem neighborhood was loud with wailing, but Rifaa rang with delighted trilling and people danced in the street behind their protector—the protector of the whole alley—Agag.
A voice rose over all of the trilling. “Shhhh! Listen! Listen, you sheep!”
They looked in surprise at the source of the sound, and saw Yunis, the overseer’s gatekeeper, walking in front of the overseer himself, who was surrounded by a halo of supporters. Agag moved toward this procession and said, “Your servant Agag, protector of the alley, and your servant!”
The overseer stared coolly at him. A terrible hush fell over the whole crowd.
“Agag,” he said contemptuously, “I don’t want gangsters or gang rule in this alley!”
Rifaa’s people were stunned. Their smiles of victory and joy died on their lips.
“What does his excellency mean?” asked Agag, sounding very surprised.
The overseer spoke clearly and forcefully. “We do not want gang rule, or even one gangster. Let the alley live in peace.”
“Peace!” sneered Agag.
The overseer threw him a cruel look, but Agag asked him menacingly, “Who will protect you?”
A hail of bottles, pitched by the servants, landed on Agag and his followers, and the explosions shook the walls. Sand and glass splinters wounded faces and bodies, and blood began to spout. Terror assaulted the people as a vulture attacks a chicken; they lost their minds, and their legs gave out under them. Agag and his men fell, and the servants finished them off. The shrieks from Rifaa grew louder, while Gabal and Qassem were loud with gloating cheers.
Yunis went down the middle of the alley, calling for quiet, until everyone fell silent, and then he addressed them in a shout. “People of the alley! Happiness and peace are now yours, thanks to his excellency the overseer, may God lengthen his life! From now on no gang will oppress you or take your money!”
The sounds of their cheers reached the heavens.