Almost Dead, A Novel

279 Pages·2016·1.28 MB·English

by  Gavron Assaf

Almost Dead
A Novel
Assaf Gavron
For Mum and Dad
‘Lost ground can be
regained–lost time never.’
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt
Contents
Epigraph
Map
1
I climbed aboard the Little No. 5 as I did…
2
‘Good morning, Fahmi.’
3
My name is Eitan Enoch but everyone calls me Croc. Because:…
4
Amr Diab is singing ‘Amarein’. It’s about two moons. He means…
5
Jimmy Rafael in the meeting room. Five foot four of solid…
6
Grandfather Fahmi got angry whenever people talked about the war…
7
In 1935, two weeks after British police had violently broken…
8
‘Fahmi…’
9
A soldier was standing by the slip road on to…
10
Three minutes.
11
People always wonder what the last thing going through a…
12
‘Is the ice ready, Svetlana?’
13
I immediately knew who she was. She was on her…
14
The last time I saw Halil Abu-Zeid was when he came…
15
Despite breakfast and the omelette in pita, I headed straight…
16
‘Good morning, Svetlana, how is he? Keeping clean? Reactions?’
17
After I dropped Shuli off at the King David my…
18
‘We’re human beings, not angels,’ Bilahl said brusquely. Surprisingly, he…
19
After four days of rain and fog it dawned so…
20
‘The last thing in the world I need is those…
21
I don’t know where I’d be today, or who, if…
22
‘How did he behave? Very naturally, Tommy. More than you’d…
23
I woke to moans of pain–whose, I didn’t know because…
24
Why no music, Svet? Play me one of my tapes…
25
I visited the support group every Wednesday for the next…
26
‘You know something, Fahmi? I think you may be the…
27
I tried to return to my previous life, and to…
28
Al-Amari was becoming unbearable. The curfew was lifted and then…
29
Time’s Arrow–Every Second Counts. But when I returned to work…
30
Omar Sharif came from the village of Beita al-Fauka near Nablus.
31
Shuli died on a Wednesday, thirteen weeks after the attack.
32
I met Dayek after about an hour of fast walking.
33
In the nights, memories and theories and Guetta and Shuli…
34
I’d been anxious about coming to Kafr Qasim but within a…
35
‘Are you completely crazy, Croc?’ She looked a little crazy…
36
The doctor told me that if I didn’t want to…
37
‘What day does Elvis come?’
38
I fixed his PalmPilot in half an hour. The contacts…
39
Friday was the beginning of the end of the summer.
40
During the whole long day I spent with the Croc,…
41
‘Nailed it!’ said Bar.
42
‘Hello, sweetheart. Let’s see how you’re doing…oh, hardly anything.
43
Warshawski looked even older than he had the first time…
About the Author
Other Books by Assaf Gavron
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher