Enter.
I hailed a taxi in a
part of Cairo
called Mohandessin. It isn’t far from Zamalek, where I was headed. A few
minutes after getting into the vehicle, and explaining poorly where in Zamalek
I would like to go, the driver stated something, in Arabic, opening his hand to
show me five small white chalky tablets, much like aspirin, sitting there,
chalky. My first guess was that these were some type of drug, and he was asking
if I would like to purchase them. The interesting thing is that he already had
them in his hand. I said no, thank you, but no. He stared at me and said
something else, I do not believe he was asking me anything, hence, perhaps
telling me something. He pointed to his side, and I distinctly heard the word “aswan” which makes no
sense at all. Were these drugs from Aswan?
Did I mishear? He let it go, I let it go, we drove on. Once on the bridge
connecting Dokki to Zamalek, heavy in the afternoon with traffic, slowly
dragging along, the taxi hailed a younger driver in another taxi to his immediate
left. The man was on the phone, and again my driver told him something, and
opened his hand to show him the pills. The younger driver stared at my taxi
driver, looking not surprised or non-plussed, or anything at all really. He
simply stared. Not talking on his phone, just keeping it to his ear. With no
response, my taxi drove ahead. Seconds later he said something to himself, and
dropped the chalky pills out his window, opening his hand and looking at it for
a moment; to make sure, I imagine. Then he took me to my destination.
What were these
magical white pills and what were they doing in the driver’s hand? What did he
want from me, or the other taxi, and for that matter, what did he want at all?
End.
