and the day the sun and I became one.
The day did not begin as the one before it had. This time I was the weight on Youssef’s chest, although I decided to forego the honey experiment. I shook him awake and he was dressed in seconds.
“Do you think it’s okay leaving him here?” I asked, motioning to the still form of Benjamin on the floor. “He’ll probably wake up, right? He’s been out for hours.”
“If he comes to, he’ll find his way home,” Youssef said. “He’s got everything he needs here if he wants to wait it out. We can’t miss Tahrir today. Today’s speech day!”
He was not wrong. We stood amidst our brethren and listened to a buffoon of a president make speech after speech, alternately promising us the world or denouncing us as traitors to the state. He welcomed us all as his children then sicced his followers on us on air. Both Youssef and I had our Flails around our waists in case of trouble but I had not heard from Omar since the previous day. Ismail was absent as well, though this was markedly less surprising. It didn’t matter. Youssef and I, we were protected by a human tidal wave.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to face the sun. She flashed a shy smile and I did the math, wondering how she’d found me in a crowd of millions. The numbers fled my head as we embraced. There was no welt on her face, and she seemed to act like the previous night had not happened. I took the hint and joined the cover-up, anything to see her keep smiling. I glanced around as I hugged her, worried he was nearby. He was not. Her skin was hot to the touch and I noted with more than a little satisfaction that he hug she gave Youssef did not last nearly as long. She introduced us to the friends she was with and they were each imprinted onto my mind because one does not forget who one was with then Morsi was felled like an oak tree.