House of Many Tongues Read Online Free PDF Page B

precisely. He must do his job. End of chapter.
    Exit SHIMON.
    Alex: It’s a bit strange a former Israeli general has a Palestinian writing for him.
    Abu Dalo: Your father’s a strange man. He says he can’t read or write.
    Alex: Do you have any books published, Mr. Abu Dalo?
    Abu Dalo: A few. I wrote them many years ago. And they’re not in your libraries.
    Alex: So the books got you in trouble.
    Abu Dalo: You could say that.
    Alex: Hmmm. I admire that. Getting in trouble for writing something you believe in is, like, every writer’s dream.
    Abu Dalo: I suppose. If you consider prison romantic.
    Alex: My father’s book is totally boring.
    Abu Dalo: It’s full of lies.
    Alex: So why are you helping him write it? (a beat) Are you a liar too?
    Abu Dalo: (sarcastically) No. Everything I say and do is one hundred percent honest.
    Alex: I never lie.
    Abu Dalo: Then you’re one in a million, kid.
    Look, let me give you some advice: when and if you ever grow up, you’ll learn that everyone lies. It’s what being an adult is all about: pretending you’re something that you’re not. The successful ones are those who pull it off.
    Alex: Yeah, well I guess my father is a pretty rotten failure then.
    ALEX shows ABU DALO the ammunitions box. Opens it up to reveal its contents. ABU DALO reads the documents inside.
    Abu Dalo: Where’d you get this?
    Alex: I found it.
    ABU DALO reads some more.
    Abu Dalo: Do you realize what you have here?
    Alex: I think so.
    Abu Dalo: Does he know you found this?
    Alex: He doesn’t have a clue.
    Abu Dalo: Why are you showing this to me?
    Alex: Mr. Abu Dalo, you can have this on one condition: you do something with it.
    Abu Dalo: I’m going to do the only thing I can: take it to the press. I’ll humiliate him. That’s what you want, isn’t it?
    Exit ALEX.
    THE HOUSE enters.
    It’s the only choice I have. Publish or perish. You should be all mine. You have to be all mine. It’s the only weapon I have. It’s the only thing I can do to him. I talked to my daughter Suha. She said they’d be here today.
    I didn’t even recognize her voice. I thought it was Yuad I was talking to. She’s fifteen now.
    The House: Tell me your first morning.
    Abu Dalo: Yuad is in bed, sleeping. I get up early and sweep your floors. I make some coffee, then I clean the bathroom—
    The House: I like a clean bathroom.
    Abu Dalo: I wake up my daughter with a kiss on the forehead. We go to the corner store—I buy her cardamom cookies, and I buy myself a newspaper. I come home and read it—right here—cover to cover. She sits across from me, eating her cookies. And I don’t worry that someone’s going to knock on the door and arrest me. I don’t worry about bombs, bulldozers or police. Because you protect me. I don’t worry at all anymore. I’m a new person.
    The House: A renovation.
    Abu Dalo: What should I wear?
    The House: Something clean.
    Abu Dalo: I was thinking of buying Yuad a bed.
    The House: A bed is like the sail of a ship.
    Abu Dalo: We’ll have great dinners. We’ll sit on the bed together and read to each other.
    The House: This will be an Arab house. This will be your home.
    Abu Dalo: We’ll be a normal family.
    Enter SUHA singing “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” She knocks on the door. ABU DALO opens it. Enter SUHA carrying a Ziploc bag with fleshy red bits in one hand and a pigeon in a cage in the other.
    Suha as Groucho: Home delivery for Mr. Abu Dalo.
    Abu Dalo: What is it?
    Suha as Groucho: Your wife.
    Abu Dalo: Excuse me?
    Suha: She was watching The Simpsons and there was an accident.
    She loved The Simpsons . It was the only thing that made her laugh.
    Eight o’clock, every day, the TV’d come on. By 8:03, you’d be guaranteed she’d laugh. Like clockwork.
    Abu Dalo: What are you talking about?
    Suha as Groucho: Your wife.
    Abu Dalo: My wife is going to be here this afternoon.
    Suha as Groucho: This is your wife.
    Suha: You should be grateful. It’s a miracle I was able to