World War II he conned British officers into buying worthless items at horrendous prices. He tells these stories over and over in an attempt to prove that he is the equal of the "white" comrades of the battalion. I listen with half an ear, I have nothing better to do in any case. Here you can hear the most amazing stories from people you would never meet under normal circumstances. Farouk and I are worlds apart. But here, lying behind these rocks, the differences shrink into meaninglessness.
Hours pass. I remember that I have some photos in my pocket. I get them out and look at them. Photos I took of girls on my last leave. Meaningless acquaintanceships. But here they all look especially pretty and I fall in love with all of them at the same time. Lying on the warm ground I am suddenly overcome by desire.
"Show me!" demands Farouk. He examines the pictures and whis-ties quietly, purses his lips. "Wow! What a chassis!" - which is supposed to be a compliment.
Slowly the position turns into a photo market. The girls are passed from hand to hand. "Oh, she is good," groans Jamus. "Her?" answers Kebab contemptuously. " I wouldn’t touch her with a barge pole." Jamus doesn’t give in. "Not with a barge pole. But maybe with some-thing else." But Kebab acts bored. "I wouldn’t take her to bed for one hundred pounds."
"Quiet!" shouts the company commander. "Nobody is interested in your sexual exploits!"
War is a sandwich - a thin slice of danger between two thick slices ofboredom.
* * *
"Incoming message!"
The radio operator whispered to the commander, who called to the men that the lookouts had seen movement on the road.
At last. Hands load rifles. The men lower their heads behind the cover and point their weapons toward the curve where the enemy must appear. Thirty rifles are ready. Hands are shaking.
On the road a single man appears.
He is walking in the direction of Latrun as though unaware that fighting is going on here. He doesn’t see the unit. He has no idea that thirty rifles are aimed at him and that at least three pairs of binoculars are watching him - from various directions.