Baghdadi Bath

Author(s): Jawad Al Assadi, Robert Myers and Nada Saab

Source: PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, Vol. 30, No. 2 (May, 2008), pp. 112-123
Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of Performing Arts Journal, Inc.
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 BAGHDADI BATH

Jawad Al Assadi
Translated by Robert Myers and Nada Saab

CHARACTERS

MAJIID
HAMIID

A public bath in Baghdadwith small windowsand largeand small bathing tubs.A large
massagetable and another smaller table. Upstagecentera shower.A misty atmosphere,
discardedorangepeels, wet rags,articles left by the customersthrown here and there.

HAMIID: (Violently.) Filthy son of a bitch!

MAJIID: Who are you cursing?
HAMIID: Come, see for yourself the filth in the bottom of this tub!
MAJIID:Did you forget that the customers of this bath are the lowest of the low?
HAMIID:How do you explain the presence of this knife here, hunh?
MAJIID: That's normal.
HAMIID:The tub reeks of putrid blood. You think that's normal?
MAJIID: Clean the tub and shut up.
HAMIID:What about this gold tooth in the bottom of the tub?
MAJIID: Oh?
HAMIID:It looks like real gold! (Sarcastically.)Would it fit on one of your teeth?
MAJIID: (Hitting HAMIIDwith a rag.) Animal . .. stupid moron.
HAMIID: (Joking with his brother.) Put it in your mouth.
MAJIID: Let me check it if it's really gold.
HAMIID:I'll give it to the owner of the bath.
MAJIID:Give it to me.
HAMIID: What are you going to do with it?
MAJIID:I'll sell it, of course.
HAMIID:What if it turns out to be fake?
MAJIID:I'll give it to my wife or my mistress. (He tries the gold tooth in his
mouth.)

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HAMIID:(Looksin the tub.) Bits of wood... tin foil... I found it here... in piss.
(MAJHD spits out the gold tooth.)
MAJIID: How this bath reminds me of my childhood! When my father used to drag
me like a puppy to this very bath and this very tub ... He'd scrub my body with
pumice. He'd massage me on this table.., and lather my head and body...
Look ... I brought the same loofah and stone which father used. Here, sniff your
father'ssmell, you moron! Sniff!.Come . .. I'll scrape your body as father scraped
mine until all your filth goes down the drain. (Joyfullyscrubbinghis brother'sbody.)
Whenever you need, I'll peel an orange for you with these two hands of mine!
Here, smell the loofah.
HAMIID: Why is the bath empty?
MAJIID:Fear ... People are afraid of surprises.That'swhy they return to their homes
before sunset.
HAMIID: And why shouldn't we return to our homes as well?
MAJIID: Because we're not afraid. (He continuesto scrubHAMIIDand pours water onto
his body.)
HAMIID: No, I am afraid.
MAJIID:You shouldn't be afraid as long as I'm with you. It'syour turn now ... Pour
hot water on my back.
HAMIID: As you wish. (He scrubs MAJIIDhard and pours water on him. MAJIID is
overwhelmedwith joy.)
MAJIID: Lather my head.
HAMIID: I am your faithful servant. (He lathers MAJIID'shead.)
MAJIID: (Comfortablyand peacefully.) Hamiid... Sing to me... I love to listen
to your voice. . . especially in the baths.. . (HAMHIID
begins to sing "The Flying
Birds,"a popular contemporaryIraqi song. MAJIID sings with him.) When I was in
elementary school my music teacher predicted I'd be a singer.
HAMIID: Your voice is excellent . . superb.
MAJIID: If I'd followed my teacher's advice I'd have become a famous singer by
now, just like Sa'di al-Hilli and Sa'doun al-Jabirand Nazim al-Ghazali. (HAMIID
continuesto sing.) But my misfortune led me to drive buses... Oh, how I hate
that filthy profession. All I gained from it was cursing, drinking, and hashish.
When I look at myself in the mirror I don't recognize my own strange features.
I always scream, "Good morning, Majiid ... Fuck your fate . . . your filthy mis-
fortune." My attitude has changed... I've turned rougher with those who ride
in my bus... I smoke hashish... in the open... I go hunting for prostitutes.
I have them sit next to me on long rides outside of Baghdad ... I keep kissing
them no matter how disgusting their mouths smell... I've gotten used to not
staying with any of them. I discard them as I discard my shoes at the door of
a room ... I have sex with them as an animal does, without any pleasure . ..
I can't tell one from the other. (HAMIIDlaughs.) Their names get jumbled up in
my head during sex... When I'm coming I call out, "Amina Fahima... Fadila
Salima." (HAMHID laughssome more.) God punished me by making me marry the
two women I did. One lost her femininity... she's developed a deep voice and
grown a moustache.
HAMIID: And the other?

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MAJIID:With God's help she turned into a cow... As I'm leaving the house she
appears from behind the door. (He imitates a cow.) But what's worse is God gave
me three hunchback daughters. The most I can hope for is they'll marry the local
gravediggerand I'll be done with them. (HAMIID laughs hysterically.)That'swhy I
started running away from the house. At night I'd sneak out to the nearest bar
and keep drinking and smoking hashish until I turned into a worn-out rag...
then I'd succumb to the first luscious woman I'd see and I'd dance with her,
babbling in English, of which I know only WOW ... NO ... YES. (Theydance
and go downstairs.)Where is your inhaler? Did you lose it, Hammoud? (Pause.)
What does "thank you" mean?
HAMIID: It means ... "fuck you." When are the elections?
MAJIID: What?
HAMIID: The elections?
MAJIID:What made you think about the elections?
HAMIID: I was wondering if you were going to vote.
MAJIID:Walk! (Theywalk.) I'm going to stick my finger in the election ink and vote
for the first time! It'll be a chance for me to hug my allies, the Americans.
HAMIID: Hug Americans? (He groans.)
MAJIID: You don't see the good they've brought to this country.
HAMIID:When I look at one of them in the street I want to puke.
MAJIID: There'splenty that's positive about them.
HAMIID:I know why you're defending them. Because they keep your buses and
trucks in business. You fill your pockets with their dollars.
MAJIID: I swear by God Almighty, if they asked for my life I'd give it to them as a
token of my love and gratitude. My body trembles when I see their president on
television. I get goose bumps and have an urge to pee when I look at his beautiful
smile, the dance of his eyebrows, the way he moves his mouth. It stirs my blood.
To me, he's the most charismatic President. Look! My body is trembling ... (He
shivers.) ... at the mere mention of his name. (HAMIID stuffsan orange in MAJIIDS
mouth. As MAJIIDchews, hisfeatures change to resemblean animal. HAMIID ridicules
him.)
HAMIID:Look at your face. You look like an ox. My brother has turned into an
OX.
MAJIID (He screams in HAMHID'
face; HAMIIDis petrified.) Enough, son of a bitch!
Have you no shame?
HAMIID: (He screams,then breakshisfear with severalscared,stupid laughs.)You scared
me, Majiid. I was joking. Do you remember when you used to yell in my face
when we were in school? You'dscare me as you're doing now. Do you remember
when you frightened me and made me piss in my pants? Speaking of school days,
you didn't ask about my children. They need school supplies. They're starving,
and my financial situation is "sub-zero,"while you live in another world. You
can't even tell them apart. You don't know which one's Majiid and which one's
Kaazim, who's Majiida and who's Sajiida.
MAJIID: I know them and I love them.

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A powerful explosion.MAJIIDgoes out to the receptionarea of the bath. HAMIID
is scared
and covershis head. After a moment, MAHIID returns.He isfrightened.

MAJIID:We have to get back home right away. The owner says the police found
four headless bodies in front of the women's bath next door.
HAMIID:I'm not leaving. They'll cut our throats. Let's wait.
MAJIID: Ssshhhh. Don't raise your voice.

Another explosion,nearer.A long silence.

HAMIID: What's the matter with you?

MAJIID: The dream came true.
HAMIID: What dream?
MAJIID: I saw our father'shead cut off and thrown into the tub.
HAMIID: You dreamt of him because you're overwhelmed with guilt.
MAJIID: Why would I feel guilty?
HAMIID:Because you haven't visited his grave since he died. You didn't ask for his
soul to be blessed. Do something for him. Slaughter a sheep and distribute it to
the poor. Sprinkle water on his grave and read the FatiHa.
MAJIID: (Distressedby his brother'swords.) What makes me sad is that Father lived
poor and died without friends. No one walked in his funeral procession.
HAMIID: Why are you dismayed with others when you didn't walk in it yourself.
Do you know how many people did? Me and my children.
MAJIID: Where was I then?
HAMIID: Ask yourself. Probably drunk in the house of one of your whores.
MAJIID: Son of a bitch.
HAMIID:No, I'm not a son of a bitch!
MAJIID:If you say one more word I'll cut your tongue out with this shoe.
Understand?
HAMIID: Why did I ever come with you to this bath? Who knows if some thief
or criminal will attack us or kill us, or the occupying soldiers will barge in here
to wash their police dogs in these tubs, and then afterwardswe'll have to wash
ourselves with their piss.
MAJIID:I'm happy with them, happy with their dogs and happy with their dogs'
piss.
HAMIID:When you talk that way you disgust me.
MAJIID:Don't insult me, you son of a bitch!
HAMIID: You really disgust me.
Look at me! (HAMHDtakesa good look at him. MAJIIDspits in his face.)
MAJIID:
HAMIID: I accept your insult.
MAJIID: Of course you do. You'rean insult addict.
HAMIID:I'm not going to say anything because you're my older brother.
MAJIID:Go ahead, speak. You want to insult me because I said I loved them. It's
due to them I walk the streets with my head held high. I can talk about anything
without fear.
HAMIID: Where is your conscience?

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MAJIID:I threw my conscience in the toilet, okay?
HAMIID: I know.
MAJIID: You're too low to know.
HAMIID: After sixteen years of working with you, I know you like you were
naked.
MAJIID: How dare you talk to me about nakedness, you son of a bitch. I'll bust
your head with this shoe. Where are you going? (HAMIID runs away. MAJIID
fol-
lows him.)
HAMIID:Who used to smuggle merchandise?Who smuggled passports?You were a
thief under the old regime, and you're a thief under this one.
MAJIID: Don't run away, come back.
HAMIID: You talk for a minute and then you hit me with that shoe. Can I ask you
a question . . . ?
MAJIID: Go ahead, ask.
HAMIID: ... about your mother?
MAJIID: What about her?
HAMIID: She carried you in her womb for nine months and another fifty years on
her head. Did you ever help to carry her? (MAJIID mumbles curses.)When your
mother got sick and fell down, did you ask her what was the matter?When you
came back from Amman or Damascus with tons of flour and provisions, did you
ever feed her?To your children and your wives, you give everything, while your
mother, who was lying on her deathbed, had to go to sleep hungry. You spend
everything on your children without thinking and cheat the brother you've been
working with for sixteen years out of the fruits of his labor. The need to feed my
children turned me into your meek servant, but I didn't object for fear of losing
my livelihood. Admit it, you're the cruelest, most brutal of brothers. You'rea lov-
able thief who steals my strength away with brotherly affection. Don't you ever
ask yourself why I'm disturbed? The sudden crying, the fits of hysteria?Forgive
me, but I'm going to let everything inside of me out. It will help me if I tell you
that you're a person devoid of any conscience, any mercy. You'veused me in a vile
way for sixteen years. Especially when you used to fill up the bus with smuggled
goods and ask me to deliver them to that merchant in Damascus, and I had no
idea what they were. How would you have felt if I'd been caught on the Syrian-
Iraqi border and thrown in prison? Would it have broken your heart if I'd been
put to death for smuggling? Who would've protected my children who already
live in a tiny house, with no school, no security, and barely enough to eat? Is this
justice? Is this brotherly love? You fell in love with the soldiers. You put all your
buses at their service, and you fired me. You hired another driver without giving
me one dinar in compensation. You threw me out.
MAJIID: Because you refused to work with them.
HAMIID: I was ashamed to work for them.
MAJIID:I, on the other hand, would deal with the devil to earn my livelihood.
HAMIID:But you have become their pet dog.
MAJIID: My master is my profession.
HAMIID:They occupy your country and you consider them the noblest of God's
creatures.

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MAJIID: With their help I buried my poverty.
HAMIID:While poverty has buried me and my children.
MAJIID:That's because you're irresponsible.
HAMIID: Why did you steal what was mine?
MAJIID:What about what's mine? All right, you tell me, what happened to your
conscience, your sense of justice and brotherliness in 1998 when I put you in
charge of the bus and I told you, "Keep accurate accounts"?
HAMIID: You'll find no one more upright than me.
MAJIID: You weren't upright with me. You manipulated the accounts.
HAMIID:Are you accusing me of stealing?
MAJIID: Yes, I am.
HAMIID:(Yellsfuriously.) I would steal from my brother, the son of my mother? (He
turns into a wild beast.)
MAJIID: (Violently.) Then where did the proceeds of a full year go?
HAMIID:Is this what all my toil and devotion comes to?
MAJIID:Okay, then tell me the truth.
HAMIID: You used to beat me and scream at me. You didn't believe a word I said.
MAJIID:Are you scared to confess that you're a thief?
HAMIID: Apologize. Right now.
MAJIID:You'rea professional thief and a low life.
HAMIID: Say you're sorry or I'll hang myself.
MAJIID:Hang yourself. Even if you do you'll still have to tell me the truth.
(HAMIIDrushestoward the showerand tries to hang himself MAJIID rushesafter him and
preventshim from doing so.)
HAMIID: I confess. Remember January of '98?
MAJIID: I remember.
HAMIID: When I came to your house and asked you to give me the bus.
MAJIID: I remember.
HAMIID: You gave me the bus.
MAJIID: I remember.
HAMIID: I told you about the deal I had with someone high up in the police to
operate the bus. The stipulation was that we transport convicted soldiers from
one prison to another. We agreed he would pay me two million dinars after the
end of the "shift,"as he called it. At the same time he made me sign another
piece of paper in my own writing that I would keep everything I saw or heard
to myself. Otherwise, I'd be killed.
MAJIID: And you accepted?
HAMIID:Of course I did. But after I signed I got frightened. I felt I'd made a big
mistake. He told me what time the soldiers were to be moved. Sunrise. I arrived
the next day, in front of the Radwaniyya Prison. At exactly 5:30 the police began
to drag out convicted felons between twenty and thirty years old to humiliate
them. They threw them into the bus blindfolded and nearly naked. They gave
the signal for me to move. There was one military vehicle in front of the bus and
another behind it. After driving for an hour on streets and alleys I didn't know, I
saw a huge group of soldiers. They made the prisoners get out, stand in random
order, and then suddenly they started shooting. The prisoners fell without saying a

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 word. The air was engulfed in a horrible silence. I was overwhelmed with fear ...
with filth. It felt like I was their partner in crime. The world turned dark. They
didn't even bother to bury these men where they'd murdered them. They wanted
to desecrate them even further, so they carried them with blood dripping from
their bodies into the bus. They ordered me to drive to somewhere else I didn't
recognize. I wanted to puke. The bus reeked of blood. They ceremoniously and
joyfully carriedthe corpses out of the bus and threw them in a ditch . .. With no
mercy or compassion ... More than a dozen gravediggersstood around that ditch
and ten minutes later the corpses all disappeared.The officer in charge came to me
and ordered me to clean the bus and wipe away all traces of blood. They sat a few
feet away from me. One of the soldiers pulled a bottle of arak out of his jacket
and gulped at it. Others smoked and told jokes and laughed out loud. It was the
worst moment of my life. They returned to the bus as if they hadn't committed a
crime. On the contrary, they seemed even happier. They played cards and sang.
The officer in charge told me I shouldn't find what had happened strange at all.
They were in a struggle against traitors to the nation. He insisted that I stay close
to them and help them in their mission. He said they were going to keep me in
prison for a few days. . . until the operation was over, which meant they were
putting me in solitary confinement. The next day, at dawn, they repeated the same
operation. They filled the bus with forty young men, all sentenced to death. On
the third day there were more, seventy condemned men. They even asked me to
put the corpses in bags, to carry the bodies up to the bus on my shoulders, to
smoke with them, and play cards, to tell them dirty jokes. They forced me to get
drunk. They wanted to humiliate me. They put a machine gun in my hand and
screamed, "Shoot, you son of a ... Shoot hard! Shoot up in the air!"They turned
me into a mop they used to clean up their crimes. I got sick. I puked blood. I
lost my appetite. I turned pale and thin. I beat my head against the prison walls.
I fell to the floor. I cried. They took me to a military hospital for treatment. After
a month the same officer came to see me. He threatened to cut my tongue out if
I said a word about what I'd seen. "We'vedecided to accept your service with us
as a gift," he said. "A most valuable contribution to the nation. We're not going
to give you one dinar."(Heputs his head in thepail and pukes.He screams.He
rushestowardtheshowerto washhimselfMAJIID rushesafterhim.)
MAJIID:Forget the past. We must take advantage of the present situation to make
up for our losses. We'll turn over a new leaf for the sake of our families. Do not
despair.I will provide you with an excellent opportunity that will make you forget
all my past mistakes. Come on, give me a chance. Don't refuse to work with me
this time. If you do we'll both lose big because the catch is precious. We have to
leave Baghdad tomorrow at dawn. The man we're going to bring from Amman to
Baghdad is rich. He has more money than all the Arab governments combined.
He's one of the most important candidates up for election in the next round.
HAMIID:(He looksat MAJIIDsuspiciously.)All right. I'll do it.
MAJIID: I knew I could count on you.
HAMIID:But I'll be the driver this time. And I'll drive in my own crazy way.
MAJIID:I'll be your right hand.

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HAMIID:I'll fly. I'll go so fast I'll leave all the other cars and trucks behind me. But
Majiid, you won't deceive me this time.
MAJIID: I swear by God, if the plan works this time I'll take you to the nearest
brothel and introduce you to many luscious women, black ones, white ones. We'll
dance with them and babble in English.

HAMIIDsings "TheFlying Birds."Strong winds, explosions.Dogs howling and the sound

of car horns, and, even louder, the sound of people'svoices. Lights change. MAJIDand
HAMIDenter wearing heavy clothesbecausethey are now at the border,where it is very
cold. In front of them is a coffin.

MAJIID:Where were you? Why did you disappear?Are you crazy?Don't take another
step without telling me.
HAMIID:I went to look for the toilet, but I found a dead woman dumped on the
pavement. I tried to find you where the passports are stamped but you weren't
there. Did you get the passports stamped?
MAJIID:(Shivering.) Come, sit next to me.

Thesoundsof strongwinds and explosionscontinue. MAJIID

drinksarak and HAMHIID
eats
tomatoesand cucumbers.

HAMIID:The soldiers have blocked the road and aren'tallowing the buses and trucks
to pass. Majiid, I'm cold, I'm scared.
MAJIID:You have to hang on until they let us cross.
HAMIID:I can't hang on. I'm sick of you and this disgusting occupation.
MAJIID:I prayed to God that He would get us to Baghdad safely, but unfortunately
my plan failed.
HAMIID: Why did you lie to me?
MAJIID:I didn't lie to you. Fate turned against us.
HAMIID: You made rosy promises to me that you didn't keep.
MAJIID:Yes, I made promises, but I didn't expect the candidate to die on the way.
HAMIID:He was just fine at the Jordanian border. He put a cigar in his mouth, gel
in his hair and cologne on his neck. He was dreaming of winning the election.
He kissed his mistress, put his arm around her, and suddenly she screamed. His
head exploded.
MAJIID:Why, oh God, why!
HAMIID:He fell in front of her like a handful of dust. It would've been better if
he'd died on the Jordanian side. But as soon as we crossed the border his head
exploded.
MAJIID: If only he'd died at the Jordanian border.
HAMIID:Look! The soldiers are coming towards us. Talk to them. I'm afraid. Say
something.
MAJIID:Hello! Hello! Please help us. Let us pass. We've been entrusted with this
man's body, and we're obliged to return him to his family fast. Viva! Viva!
HAMIID:You say "Viva!"?They're blocking the road.

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MAJIID: They're blocking the road to catch those who are causing explosions and
setting off booby traps.
HAMIID:They themselves are the ones setting them off.
MAJIID:Talk to the female soldier standing there. Lie to her. Tell her we love them
and we pray they will stay here.
HAMIID: No! You go and talk to her! You'remy big brother, aren'tyou?
MAJIID:You moron, you speak better English than I do. Go!
HAMIID: I'm scared. I have to pee.
MAJIID: You have to pee every half hour.
HAMIID:I shouldn't go pee? I should pee in my pants?
MAJIID: Then watch out for stray bullets!
HAMIID:You think stray bullets only come when I want to pee? (He goes offto pee. As
hepees, he sings.A loud explosion.Frightened,he screamsand returnsto his brother.)
Majiid, the coffin's moving.
MAJIID: Your brain is moving. Come, don't be afraid.
HAMIID:What if the dogs smell the candidate's corpse? Dogs here at the border
can't tell the difference between a candidate and a regular civilian. And what
about my money?
MAJIID:You will get what we had agreed on. (His cellphone rings.He answers.)Huh,
Ghizlaan! My darling, Ghizlaan. I miss you. I bought you a wonderful gift. Black
genuine kohl for your eyes and a fiery red dress. On the border.Listen, preparethe
Jaajiik, the yogurt with cucumbers and garlic. Smash that garlic well. I love you
madly. Bye! (He kissesthe phone, then to his brother.)The female soldier's back.
HAMIID: You go. I've decided to go back to Amman.
MAJIID: Why?
HAMIID:Because you deceived me. You get money from here and there, and then
you claim you never got paid.
MAJIID: Why don't you trust me?
HAMIID:I know about the deals you've done with the brokers and middlemen.
MAJIID:I work with anyone who makes my life better.
HAMIID: Even if it's the devil?
MAJIID:In my opinion, most men have turned into devils.
HAMIID: Even me?
MAJIID:No, you're a crazy angel, which is why you're stuck in the mud.
HAMIID:It's better than working with you. I'm going back to Amman. Give me
my passport.
MAJIID:I won't give you your passport unless you convince that soldier to help
me. Lie to her. Tell her the corpse we have is one of a kind. A "classy"corpse of
someone nominated for a high position. Hold her responsible for any delay. And
you carry the corpse on your back. (He throwsHAMIID on the coffin. HAMIID
drags
the coffin toward the unseen soldier and kneels beside it and prays.)
HAMIID: (A prayer.) Good morning, explosions. Good morning, booby traps.
Good morning, murderers and ambulances. Good morning, corpses lying on
the pavement. (To the unseenfemale soldier.) Please, miss, let us cross the border
to Baghdad. It's very important. Today is my daughter Fatima'sbirthday, and I
bought her a doll. Please let us pass. Yes... What... ? Search the corpse . . . ?

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 No. That'shorrible ... But he's dead. How could you desecrate a dead man ... ?
No, I won't be part of a crime like that. No! Don't let them search him!
MAJIID: What did you say?
HAMIID: Hide the body. Don't give it to them.
MAJIID: Are you crazy? Let her search it.
HAMIID:I quit. I'm going back to Amman.
MAJIID:You're going to leave me in the cold with these cruel soldiers and these
howling dogs.
HAMIID: Yes.
MAJIID: You'regoing to leave me alone with this corpse?
HAMIID: Give me my passport.
MAJIID: (Grabbing his brotherby the neck.) I swear to God, if you don't go over to
that soldier and convince her to let us pass I'm going to pull your eyes out with
my own hands.
HAMIID:Why are you making me carry this corpse on my back and smell its stench?
You haven't paid me one dinar.
MAJIID: I wasn't paid myself.
HAMIID: I know where you hid the money.
MAJIID: Are you spying on me, you son of a bitch?
HAMIID: You dirty, lowlife son of a bitch. Give me my passport.
MAJIID: I'll only give you your passport if they let me pass. I'm not taking you with
me to Baghdad.
HAMIID:I don't want to go back with you. I'm leaving you this time with no regrets.
You destroyed my life and the lives of my children. You lied to me. When you
say, "Good morning," you lie, when you say, "Good evening," you lie. You lie ...
lie. .... lie. (He snatchesthe passportfrom his brother'shand and leaves.)
MAJIID:I will not give up this corpse even if the ground explodes under my feet
and thunder roars above my head. The most important thing is to get this coffin
to Baghdad. I'm going over to that soldier and convince her to let me cross the
border. I'm not going to object to anything. Even if she wants to strip the dead
man naked and desecrate his body. Yes, she can strip search him and do whatever
she wants. All I care about is getting to Baghdad, delivering the dead man to his
family and getting the money I was promised. (He movesbesidethe coffin, in front
of the unseensoldier.He speaksto her.) The weather's so brutally cold it could kill
a beast. (Sarcastically.)I congratulate you on your perseverance in defending the
security of my country. I too am defending my country in my own way. That's
why I'm carrying the corpse of one of our most successful nominees. It must be
painful for you to be away from your family, your country, and your children. I
have no doubt you want to go back home. I know that here you're deprived of
intimacy and intercourse. You want to return to a warm home, to the theatre and
the movies and play the piano for hours, to walk your dog on the streets of New
York and travel by train to Texas. I too went to Amman dreaming of a strong
nominee for our elections. But instead I reached this border with a frightening
corpse. Please let me pass with this corpse to Baghdad. I kiss your hand, your
boot, the barrel of your gun. If you want to search the body, go ahead. Search it
any way you wish. Strip him naked, strip him of his dignity.

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A veryloud explosion.Thelight changesto one similar to thefirst scene,but dingier now.
MAJIID and HAMIDare now back in the bath again.

MAJIID:Hamiid, Hammoud, where are you? Give me your hand. (He holds out his
hand in the steam. HAMIID does not take his hand.)
HAMIID: If we had taken up the profession of grave digging instead of driving we
would've made millions of dinars. It's an ideal profession. No losses. People die
in explosions, they kill each other in the streets and they are taken to graves.
Gravediggers deal with corpses they don't own. They bury them in earth they
don't own. It's a golden profession.
MAJIID:And if I were a gravediggerI'd wish I were a worm. And if that worm could
speak, it would say, (panting:) "I'm coming... I'm coming. . ."
HAMIID:But you'd be a repressed worm. Did you get the corpse to the cemetery?
(MAjIID is silent.)
Why don't you answer?
MAJIID: I didn't get paid.
HAMIID:I'm sure you were paid and hid the money from me.
MAJIID:Believe me, can'tyou? I swear on my dead mother and my children'seyesight
that all I was paid was the howling of dogs.
HAMIID: Liar.
MAJIID: I'm lying? Why are you talking to me this way? Did you forget I'm your
older brother?
HAMIID: Admit it.
MAJIID: Admit what?
HAMIID:Where's the corpse? Did you get it to the family? How much money did
you make? Come on.
MAJIID:There was an explosion... I gathered up the pieces.., of the corpse. I
returned the head, the feet, and the hands to the coffin. I drove the bus as fast
as I could, hoping to get the body to the cemetery in Baghdad where the family
was waiting. Suddenly a chopper descended near my bus, and I was ordered to
get out. The soldiers asked for my passport. They searched the bus and opened
the coffin. They looked at the corpse, disgusted, but they didn't ask me anything.
They told me to drive the bus and follow them. And I did, for four hours, into
the desert. I was frightened to death of them. I didn't know what they wanted
or why they'd led me to this strange place. His family was waiting there in the
cemetery, and the body was with me in the bus. I prayed to God to save me.
Suddenly the soldiers all stopped, so I did, too. They took off, carrying their
weapons towards some orchards off in the distance, deep in the desert, looking
for armed men, and they forgot about me. I stayed in the bus with the rising
stench of the corpse. I asked myself what I should do if they didn't come back. I
thought, if I leave or go towards them they're going to shoot me. I didn't know
where I was or which way to go. It was getting dark. The stench made me vomit.
I could hear the howling of the dogs coming closer. I was alone with my agony,
and at that moment I needed you. There was nothing else for me to do except
to stay in the bus with the coffin, praying to all the saints in the desert. Would
the dogs devour me and the corpse? The only thing I could think of was to bury

122 PAJ 89

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 the corpse right there. I dug with my hands and fingernails. I dug and dug and
dug. The rabid dogs came closer to the bus. I carried the pieces of the corpse
out of the bus and threw them in the hole and covered them . . . covered them
with dust. It was so vile and horrible. I wished for a moment I was dead. I hated
myself. I cried so hard. It was midnight. I sat by the grave and realized I was all
alone. I couldn't think of anyone but mother. I thought, would she forgive me
if I asked her to? I wanted to erase all my mistakes and wash my sins away in
front of her. The sun came up. For three days and three nights the tanks passed
in front of me and circled around me. . . the helicopters were above my head.
Soldiers passed in front of me without speaking... they wouldn't let me move.
The dogs roamed all around the bus, in the bus, on top of the bus. Then the
soldiers came running back... with their machine guns. They went inside the
bus again and yelled, "Where's the dead man? What's his name? Where's his
passport?"I didn't know what to do, Hamoud. I told them the truth. They told
me to dig him up. I dug and dug with my hands . .. with my fingernails. I held
up his feet. . . his head. . . his hands. They started to laugh. They aimed their
guns at me... then they pushed me into the grave and covered me with dust.
And then . . . they disappeared.

carriesMAJIIHD
HAMHD to the shower.He bathesMAJIID.

ROBERT MYERS is a playwrightwhose plays include Atwater:Fixin' to Die,

TheLynchingof Leo Frank and Mesopotamia.He is an Associate Professorof
English and Creative Writing at the American University of Beirut.

NADA SAAB is an Assistant Professor of Arabic Literature and Studies at

the Lebanese American University in Beirut. Her principal area of research
is Sufi literature.

ALASSADI / BaghdadiBath 123

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