Dead Man...Part 2

At the time, my reactions were raw. They ripped right through me. Last night, at the sight of the dead man, all I felt was indifference. We were driving past on our way to a late dinner; there was an unusual amount of traffic on this particular road. At first sight of the police I thought it was one of those lagna’s. I gave the driver my cigarette, sat up properly in my seat and proceeded to look all sweet and innocent. As we edged closer I realised that there was a crowd in the middle of the road, and that cars on either side were being waved on, they were slowing down to look at something hidden from my view. I knew it was an accident. In between the tight spaces in the crowd, which for a dead person was surprisingly small, I saw an object. Egyptians like to gather at the tiniest sign of trouble; I guess a person once dead is no longer seen as trouble. The object was his body.

I told the person driving not to look, to just keep moving, whilst I stared and took in every detail. Instinctively I wanted to protect his eyes from seeing such a scene. Once we had got past and the road was freed up once again, we moved quickly as if running from something. “I’ve lost my appetite,” he said. “It was his time,” I responded. And we ate the meat.