When your sister is a detainee - قصة قصيرة
"Good morning
Kalosha." This is what my mother heard from my sister, as a greeting to
her friend jailed in the nearby ward, during her way to the weekly visit
cage.
At this moment, The shocked mother had recalled her holding her clothes in horror, when she saw a cricket in the house corner. How much Dareen have been changed!
Let me first tell you, who is Dareen, she is my sister, a student at Al Azhar University detained in al-Qanater prison, and she is court explosion, leading demonstrations in al-Azhar university, attacking a miserable police officer, in addition to joining a banned terroristic current…
"Dareen, who is Kalosha!?"..My mother asked, while trying to hide her surprise about my sister's new friends!
My sister replied automatically: "Kalosha is a girl accused of killing her father and disfiguring her sister's face...but she is very miserable girl."
"I will present her to you next time, she will be so happy to meet you, I always tell her about you."
"Are those your new friends, Dareen!?" My mother asked calmly trying to hide her objection.
Lastly, my sister realized that prison society is strange to my mother, so she will need some clarification.
"I'm accused of exploding a court, mother! Don't you think this is guiltier than what she did by killing only one person!"
"What explosion, Dareen !! Don't ever think that injustice you was treated with will last forever, I am sure you will be released, you are oppressed darling, and God will not let you down." My mother replied in a trembled voice.
"I didn't mean it, mother. But what I mean that you should never believe in what is written in the records; do you see this girl out there, the girl with glasses and the tray of tea?"
"Her name is "Rania", she is drug trafficking, and she was sentenced to 12 years in Jail. Do you know why? Her father was indebted to one of the VIP's and he wasn't able to pay off, so the man accused his daughter unfairly, Rania was a student in the Faculty of Engineering, mother!"
Neither did my mother comment nor did my sister wait for her to do so, as she continued eagerly: "Kalousha for example her real name is Eman, all people here know that she is innocent, even the jailer, can you imagine that when she began to pray with us, they moved her to another ward?"
My mother yielded in compliance as a child hearing to her wise Grandma, as for my sister she summed up her wisdom in one sentence, seriously.
"Listen mother, it's said that: So many in the jail while innocent, but I became convinced that this proverb should be changed to " all in jail while innocent", even the criminals are oppressed as they have thousands of reasons for what they have done, if you know them you will pardon them.. real criminals never put in jail, especially in Egypt."
"Come on Ms., time is up." The gatekeeper voice arose cutting any hope for my mother to reply.
"Let's continue next time, Dareen...take care of yourself, goodbye my child." My mother summed up her reply in one sentence.
"Goodbye, mother… I will be waiting for you."
At this moment, The shocked mother had recalled her holding her clothes in horror, when she saw a cricket in the house corner. How much Dareen have been changed!
Let me first tell you, who is Dareen, she is my sister, a student at Al Azhar University detained in al-Qanater prison, and she is court explosion, leading demonstrations in al-Azhar university, attacking a miserable police officer, in addition to joining a banned terroristic current…
"Dareen, who is Kalosha!?"..My mother asked, while trying to hide her surprise about my sister's new friends!
My sister replied automatically: "Kalosha is a girl accused of killing her father and disfiguring her sister's face...but she is very miserable girl."
"I will present her to you next time, she will be so happy to meet you, I always tell her about you."
"Are those your new friends, Dareen!?" My mother asked calmly trying to hide her objection.
Lastly, my sister realized that prison society is strange to my mother, so she will need some clarification.
"I'm accused of exploding a court, mother! Don't you think this is guiltier than what she did by killing only one person!"
"What explosion, Dareen !! Don't ever think that injustice you was treated with will last forever, I am sure you will be released, you are oppressed darling, and God will not let you down." My mother replied in a trembled voice.
"I didn't mean it, mother. But what I mean that you should never believe in what is written in the records; do you see this girl out there, the girl with glasses and the tray of tea?"
"Her name is "Rania", she is drug trafficking, and she was sentenced to 12 years in Jail. Do you know why? Her father was indebted to one of the VIP's and he wasn't able to pay off, so the man accused his daughter unfairly, Rania was a student in the Faculty of Engineering, mother!"
Neither did my mother comment nor did my sister wait for her to do so, as she continued eagerly: "Kalousha for example her real name is Eman, all people here know that she is innocent, even the jailer, can you imagine that when she began to pray with us, they moved her to another ward?"
My mother yielded in compliance as a child hearing to her wise Grandma, as for my sister she summed up her wisdom in one sentence, seriously.
"Listen mother, it's said that: So many in the jail while innocent, but I became convinced that this proverb should be changed to " all in jail while innocent", even the criminals are oppressed as they have thousands of reasons for what they have done, if you know them you will pardon them.. real criminals never put in jail, especially in Egypt."
"Come on Ms., time is up." The gatekeeper voice arose cutting any hope for my mother to reply.
"Let's continue next time, Dareen...take care of yourself, goodbye my child." My mother summed up her reply in one sentence.
"Goodbye, mother… I will be waiting for you."
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* نص الترجمة للأخت (Nour Wa Yaqeen) قدمتها في مشروع تخرجها حول النصوص الأدبية العربية الحديثة المترجمة.
** النص العربي الأصلي للمقال منشور هنا.
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