Men in the Sun by Ghassan Kanafani

Marwan brought his companion Assad to the meeting with Abul Khaizuran. They arrived a little late and found Abul Khaizuran waiting for them, sitting with Abu Qais on a big concrete seat on the pavement of the street, which ran parallel to the Shatt.

"The whole group's here together now, isn't it! " Abul Khaizuran laughed loudly, striking Marwan on the shoulder with one hand and stretching out the other to shake hands with Assad.

"So this is your friend. What's his name?"

Marwan answered curtly:

"Assad. "

"Let me introduce you to my old friend, Abu Qais. Now the group's complete. It doesn't matter if one more comes too, but already we have enough, now."

Assad said:

"You seem to me to be a Palestinian. Are you the one who's undertaking to smuggle us? "

"Yes, I am."

"How?"

"That's my affair."

Assad laughed sarcastically and then said slowly, bringing out each word forcefully:

"No. It's our affair. You must explain all the details to us. We don't want to have problems from the start. "

Abul Khaizuran said in a decisive tone:

"I'll explain all the details to you when we've come to an agreement, not before. "

Assad replied:

"We can't agree before we know the details. What do the others think? "

Nobody answered, so Assad repeated the question.

"What does Abu Qais think?"

Abu Qais replied: