Childhood friends
My childhood friends, alas. The vast majority of them passed away at various stages of my life. I no longer see any of them.
Between the ages of seven and 10 I used to meet my friends on a daily basis in Al-Hussein, where we lived. No sooner would we return from school in the afternoon than we would meet in the empty lot that lay before our house -- we all lived in the vicinity of that empty lot. We would play on and on until dark, when our parents called us home.
I can remember the surnames of most of these friends, but when it comes to first names, I can only recollect one, Hammam. I remember going with my mother to visit him at his parents' house, close to the police station. And while my mother socialised with his in the house, the two of us went out to the neighbouring square and played until the visit was over.
This square doubled as our playground for several years, for at the time no cars passed through it, the highlight of its traffic being the arrival of the hydraulic truck drawn by two mules. We would trail it, running, until it exited the square.
I subsequently lost touch with Hammam and I no longer saw him. I found out from mutual friends that he grew up to become a judge. But I have no idea if he is still alive. * Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 2 - 8 October 2003 (Issue No. 658)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/658/op6.htm