Dr. Munir's House

Dr. Munir's House

He climbed the hill fast. He felt the same despair that Rashid must have felt when he realized that he was recognized. When Neriman was watching Rashid’s despair she had said; ‘Rashid must have wanted to run as fast as he could to a faraway place.’ When he climbed the top of the hill, he felt completely weak and heartbroken. He was lonely and his pride was hurt.

He turned to the corner of the mansion and started to walk on the wide street. His feeling of loneliness was increasing every minute. He wiped his sweaty hands on his raincoat, stopped and looked for the cigarettes again; swearing through his teeth. He knew for sure that if only he had a cigarette he would have felt better. Then he could think straight and figure out where he was going and why he was going.

The Greek shopkeeper was looking for change in the cash register. Jamil didn’t think of opening the packet to smoke. As he was leaving the shop he realized that he didn’t have matches. He asked for some. Then he lit the match angrily. He smiled at the shop keeper, showing his teeth in an unfriendly, angry way.

His first cigarette was like a strong drink, it made him dizzy.

When he saw The War Academy, he noticed that he was walking in measured steps and he was whistling the Harbiye March, with his hands in his pockets.

He went to the bridge and checked the boat schedules without worrying about getting caught. He took the trolley to Beshiktash, where he rented a small boat to cross to the Asian side.

It was almost ten o’clock. He got on a carriage, and said to the coachman; “To Erenkoy.”At that moment all he wanted was to go to the old mansion and lie down on his bed. His whole body and soul were tired.

The Police Chief, Mustafa, was the older brother of the guy he had beaten that night. If Mustafa had been disrespectful to Neriman he was going to kill him. He didn’t know when he decided that. But he knew for sure he was going to kill him; even if he ran to the end of the world; even if one hundred years had passed. He was going to kill him. That was that!

Past Selamichesme there were no street lights.  There were no flickering lights shining on the coachman’s hunched back. The horses were trotting, the night was humid, and there was the wet leather smell from the carriage and the sound of the bells. He thought, “I will tell them that our house was raided and Munir will say, “Damn it Jehennem, you didn’t do well!” Pasha wouldn’t care. Patriot will be mad but he won’t show his anger. We will tell Neriman to come to the old mansion tomorrow with Enver. Yahya will help us. We will take Patriot with us and go to Salihli, to Kuschu- Bashi Ranch.”

He lit another cigarette. I will tell them that I was ambushed. The Doctor will say ‘Those Bastards!’ Pasha will be sad thinking how high we reached and how low we sank. He will be depressed and he too will try to hide his feelings. Patriot will laugh, and then he will say, ‘don’t worry brother, we will get it straight,’ and he will poke me in the stomach with his elbow.

“Sir, where in Erenkoy do you want to go?”

“I will get off at Saskin Bakkal!”

The horses were still trotting along. The carriage was shaking. The bells on the necks of the horses were ringing and disappearing into the night like rain drops falling on the stones.

He got off at Saskin Bakkal waited a while until the carriage went away; then started marching to Caddebostan. He wasn’t tired at all. There was a dog barking and a rooster crowing. He smiled. ‘The village is near’ When he came to the corner of Ethem Effendi Street, he saw two shadows by the road that he was going to take, the road that was going to the wharf. He immediately threw his cigarette down and stepped on it to extinguish it and backed into the bush. His warrior impulse kicked in.

There was no wind. The dog barking stopped. It was silent. He was trying to figure out what those two shadows were. Were they ox carriages fully loaded, or what? What did they load on the carriages? Then he heard some foreign words and wondered. Have they been ambushed?  He touched his gun and pulled his raincoat together to get ready to run. ‘Good for you Jamil, you came just in time’. He took his gun out of its case and cocked it, then put it back in his pocket. He moved to the shadow of the other tree quietly. His head and his nerves were back to the Warrior mode. He was his usual skilled warrior self. ‘If there is a fight I should wait until the correct moment to attack from behind and they will break the circle and get through.’ He held his breath and listened. ‘Did they have enough time to hide? Did they go to the neighbor’s yard from the backyard as Gulnihal was talking to the men at the front door?’ The plan was if they had ambushed and were able to run away they were going to go to Shukru’s house at Kazasker.

The silence was agonizing. He thought about going back to Ethem Efendi Street and through the back road entering the Mosque yard. From there he could go to the sea shore and try to approach the mansion. As he was planning, the dog barking and rooster crowing started again. He decided to take advantage of the noise and start walking. Then he saw flashlights turned on and off around the shadows. Following that there was a commotion on the street in front of the mansion.

Those shadows turned out to be military trucks and they turned on their powerful headlights. The corner of the street was illuminated as if it was day time. Jamil noticed Dr. Munir, Patriot and Pasha among the foreign uniforms. When he saw them he slapped his knees like the way the Kurdish Sergeant in his Battalion did. The three prisoners were circled by twenty armed British and five uniformed Turkish Police Officers. Jamil tried to think about what he could do. For the second time that night he felt hopeless. His hand that was holding the gun started to shake. The trucks that were carrying the prisoners and their captors started moving with a lot of noise. They went in the Kadikoy direction.

Jamil had never felt this hopeless and lonely in his life; even when he was an inmate at the Taskisla prison cell, at the age of seventeen. He didn’t have anywhere to go. He didn’t have anything to do. He was facing the sea and he was close to the train station but he felt he had nowhere to go. He felt like he was in a foreign country where noone spoke his language. He even felt abandoned by the enemy.

He stroked his moustache. The trucks went away and it was silent again. There were only dogs and roosters. He was about to light another cigarette when he saw a shadow by the wharf road. He thought, ‘Oh! It must be Gulnihal; I will talk to her and learn what had happened.’ He was just about to walk towards her when he heard the security guard’s stick hitting the stone pavement. He wondered what to do. He was scratching his chin with the matchbox. He decided it was best not to talk to the guard and go to the train station. He got mad at himself for not knowing the train schedule. He needed to know the last train’s departure time. He was backing off.

The security guard was approaching. Even though he previously decided to go to the train station; he changed his mind, lit a cigarette and went to the street, walking calmly. “Hey Guard! Good evening. Was the operation successfully completed?”

The Guard approached him and checked him from head to toe. “I don’t think I know you. Who are you? What do you want to know?”

“I am Political Bureau Chief Ibrahim. Did they find the fourth criminal?”

“No, not yet.” The security guard was looking at him suspiciously.

“Did you come in the truck?”

“Yes, I came in the truck.”

“Why didn’t you leave?”

“How long have you been a guard?”

“I...,” the guard hesitated, “not too long I started this job four months ago. I was performing military duties at the gunpowder factory. Then I came here. I inherited this post from my uncle.”

“I knew you were new to this job. Where do you think the forth guy might be hiding?”

“I don’t know, Chief. This is an upper-class area. There won’t be anyone here to shelter the likes of him.”

“Don’t be so sure. What about the Doctor? He is one of them.”Jamil said.

The guard was surprised; “Dr.Munir won’t let the Unionists come to his house to hide. No one will believe that.  That’s a complete lie. Doctor had been in a lot of trouble because of the Unionists. Ask Police Officer Murtaza! He sighed. It has been a couple of days since the Britt’s came here. They were investigating. I didn’t know what for. If only I knew.” He tried to compose himself. “There is nothing I can do now. Those Unionists came here to see the Doctor for medical reasons. Dr. Munir offered them some tea before they left. Those English don’t understand that. I tried to explain that to the Turkish Commissar that came with them. I told them it is not what it seems. He was cross with me and told me that I was not paying attention to what was happening in the neighborhood. He said, ‘They will hang you all. You are not paying attention.’ Well of course I know this neighborhood better than him. He asked me, repeatedly, ‘Where is the forth guy?’ I said I didn’t know.”

“Do you think I can find a carriage here?”Jamil asked.

“Good luck with that, at this hour it is difficult.”

“When is the last train from the Station?”

“Oh! The last train already left.”

Jamil offered the guard  a cigarette, and then went away....

French Soldiers in Uskudar

From the Book
The Reluctant Warrior by Kemal Tahir
Translated by Elif  Mat