beaver

Author's name: Muhammad Hassan Alwan

"... Ever since we moved to Al-Fakhriya, my father has treated people as if he were a victorious conqueror, not a new resident. He built a mosque, changed street names, and even interfered with the moods of passersby and the signs of shops. The owner of the laundromat next door had to incur an additional expense to replace a drainpipe that was dripping into the street after he reprimanded him several times and threatened to close the shop. The Yemeni shop owner didn't know my father, so he imagined he really had the power, so he gave in to his demands, even though he rarely passed that side of the sidewalk. When he did one day, the Indian salesman in the neighboring grocery store would jump up from his seat to offer him pieces of candy and fruit, which my father would take contemptuously and throw into the lap of the beggar who had inhabited a precious corner of the neighborhood for years..."