Page 9 of You Lied First
‘Not now,’ Margot says.
Guy turns to face us and winks. ‘Can’t you see someone’s got a bee in her bonnet? Muttrah’s been there hundreds of years but she’s worried it won’t wait another hour.’
He laughs at Margot and it makes me feel awkward. I don’t want to laugh along with him, as she does seem stressed. I’m aware that she’s doing this tour for me and Liv, and I don’t want to be the cause of any unpleasantness between her and Guy.
‘This is a beautiful road,’ I say. I’m surprised how green everything is – the rows of roadside flowers and trees – how clean it all is, and how exotic the architecture looks. ‘I love all these decorated domes. They’re so beautiful.’
I can’t stop looking at the mountains – the way they’ve been cut to allow the road to pass through, and the channels engraved into them presumably to let water run down when itrains. Then we’re through and I see a clutch of white buildings and the sparkling blue of the sea beyond.
‘That’s it: Muttrah,’ says Margot. ‘I’m going to park at one end of the corniche so we can walk along. It’s so interesting.’
‘Why don’t we drive along the corniche first?’ Guy says.
‘It’s easier to park, then walk,’ replies Margot getting into the left lane.
‘Turn right, turn right!’ says Guy, flinging his arm out, and Margot suddenly swerves the car right so we’re driving along with the sea on our left. The corniche curves around, fringed with shops, apartment blocks, restaurants and small hotels.
‘Is that a cruise ship?’ I ask, indicating the largest of two huge boats in the marina.
‘That’s the Sultan’ssecondship,’ Guy says. ‘Imagine. The other one you can see used to be his as well. Though I think he put it up for sale a couple of years ago, so I don’t know if he still owns it.’
‘Wow,’ I say.
‘And on the right you’ll see the entrance to the Muttrah Souk …’ says Guy.
My head flicks this way and that as I strain to see all the sights. The area near the souk is full of people – locals in their round caps, women in Indian and Pakistani dress, tourists. They throng across the road and stream around the vehicles, which move slowly forwards in the traffic. Then Margot slams the brakes and we’re all thrown forwards.
‘Shit!’ she says.
‘Did you hit her?’ Guy asks.
‘I don’t know. She fell over. She’s on the ground.’
They stare at each other, almost as if they’re having a silent conversation.
‘I’ll check if she’s okay,’ Margot says eventually. ‘Stay here.’
She opens the car door. I go to open mine, but Celine puts her hand on my shoulder.
‘Stay here, too. I know exactly what’s going on. I’ll sort it.’
8
MARGOT
Margot is so pissed off with Guy for making her drive along the corniche that she can barely breathe. But she knows why Guy is nervous: he’s keen not to draw police attention to himself after his brush with the law when they lived here. She grits her teeth and tries to establish how bad this is. There’s a woman in a brightshalwar kameezsitting on the side of the road, a bottle of water in her hand and a circle of people gathering around her. Margot can’t actually see anything wrong with her, and there’s no sense of urgency or any serious concern on the faces of those helping her. It really was nothing more than a soft bump. They weren’t going at any speed and they definitely didn’t run over her. At worst, Margot feels the woman got nudged by the car. Still, Margot’s legs are shaking.
‘I’m sorry,’ she says, squatting down to the woman’s level. ‘Ana asef.’She doesn’t even know if Arabic is the woman’s language. ‘Are you okay?’
The woman looks blankly at Margot. She’s not clutching any part of her body. She doesn’t look like she’s in any pain. But a man who’s with her turns on Margot, shouting angrily. She can’t understand his words, but she gets the sentiment.
‘Police!’ He barks and gets out his phone, but Margot puts her hand over it.
‘No,’ she says. ‘Please. She’s okay. Look. She’s fine.’ She smiles encouragingly at the woman.
Celine appears around the car. She’s holding out a fifty riyal note. The man reaches for it but she snatches it away.
‘She’s okay?’ Celine nods to the woman. ‘Are you okay?’
