As Yusoff entered the cafe, he brought with him a blast of hot Sahara air. Karim could see immediately that his friend was in an excited state.
Karim folded the engineering sketch he’d been doodling. “I’ve been sitting here for over half an hour,” he said. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming, habibi. This is my second…”
Yusoff grabbed a chair and, interrupting Karim’s tirade, pulled himself close. “Listen… it’s all over social media. The border’s open, and thousands of people are gathering on the beach to swim over to Spain.”
“That doesn’t sound…”
“It’s true, habibi.” Yusoff snatched the phone from his back pocket and swiped through the screen before thrusting it into Karim’s face.
Karim scrolled through the images on Yusoff’s phone. It showed thousands of people on the beach. Some were already in the sea in small rubber dinghies… others with inflatables around their waists were wading into the water.
“What the…?” Karim shook his head in disbelief. “How come? The military and police control the beaches.”
Yusoff pursed his lips. “Word on the street is that Spain has pissed off Trump, Israel and the EU over its stance on Palestine. They’re saying the authorities are letting this happen as a message to Sanchez.”
“I don’t get it. The EU aren’t exactly in favor of immigrants breaching their borders.”
“Well maybe it’s not the EU, although there are countries within it that would be happy to see Spain suffer. The Italian Prime Minister has already called for Spain to face the consequences of this, alone. Countries within the Schengen system will leave them high and dry. This will present a massive problem for Spain.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Because I’ve been reading about it all morning. Besides, politics is what I studied at university.”
“You studied History and Middle Eastern Studies.”
“Exactly. That’s politics.”
Karim shrugged and nodded as he slid into agreement.
“Like many other Arab nations, Morocco has normalized relations with Israel. They have entered into all sorts of arrangements with them despite the genocide in Gaza. Spain, on the other hand, has taken a clear political stance on Gaza.”
“Yes. I get that.”
“You still think governments don’t play games with people like us? Migrants are pieces on a chessboard, habibi. Today they move us north. Tomorrow they’ll slam the door shut again.”
Karim sat back. Perhaps Yusoff was right. He could imagine a situation where the big powers had contrived to create chaos in Spain by exploiting the thousands of young men and women who would see this as an opportunity to find a life better than could be offered in Morocco. Given that he couldn’t think of another explanation for what was happening, Yusoff’s analysis wasn’t something easily dismissed.
“The big question is,” said Yusoff, “do we go?”
‘Do we go?’ Karim drew in his breath. It wasn’t something that he’d ever considered. Still, it was a thrilling idea even if somewhat reckless. Even though both he and Yusoff had university degrees, the prospects of getting good jobs in Tangier were pretty bleak. More than likely, Karim would end up working in his father’s souvenir shop. Yusoff’s prospects weren’t any better since his degree wasn’t in something where there were many jobs in his current environment. He’d never get into politics with his radical views. And, so far as teaching was concerned, teaching jobs were few and far between. Besides, his views wouldn’t help him in the teaching profession, either.
“What about family?” said Karim. “My sister’s getting married next month. If I wasn’t there, it would bring shame on the family.”
“I get it, but think how it would be if you could get a proper job as an engineer. Think what money you could make and how that could help enrich the lives of your family. You could buy your Dad a better shop where he could sell quality goods instead of that souvenir tat.”
What Yusoff had said about his father’s shop stung, but it was true. What his father sold wasn’t exactly quality.
“Are you seriously thinking of going, Yusoff?”
“It’s a scary prospect. And short-term my family wouldn’t be entirely happy either, but yes… think about it, when would an opportunity like this ever arise again?”
The prospect of leaving weighed heavily between them. As they sat in silence, each absorbed in his own thoughts, it became evident that they were not the only ones having this conversation. The cafe was abuzz with chatter about what was going on. People were rushing in and out. The fans could no longer cool the air as the cafe door swung open and closed, in perpetual motion.
Yusoff was the first to speak. “I’m going to go.”
“Are you really going?”
“Yes. I’ve made my mind up.”
Karim took a deep breath. “The distance isn’t far, but the water’s cold and the currents are really strong. You could be swept out through the Straits and end up lost in the Atlantic. People frequently drown trying to reach Ceuta.”
“I’d take a rubber inner tube with me and besides I’m a great swimmer,” said Yusoff. “I can handle currents.”
“If the currents are strong, no one can handle them, even with an inner tube.”
“There are people who’ve already made it to Ceuta today.”
Karim felt a mixture of sadness, fear and excitement. His emotions were too complex for him to easily separate. If Yusoff left alone, he’d have lost his best friend… his only really good friend. They had known each other since their first year of school. They were like brothers.
If he went with him, besides the inherent risks of such a journey, his family wouldn’t be happy. Karim took a sip of his coffee that had now become cold. His thoughts swung between hope and fear. Should he stay with the life he knew, or risk everything for the possibility of something better? If he remained in Morocco, there was little chance that he would find work as an engineer.
Yusoff sat on the edge of his chair, his eyes fixed on Karim as though willing him towards the answer he wanted.
When Karim eventually spoke, the pull of ‘what could be’ had firmly settled itself in his mind.
“What the hell… I’m coming with you. A chance like this is unlikely to ever come again.”
Yusoff’s face beamed. “I knew you would. We’ll face this together, habibi. We’ll wrap our phones in plastic, and when we get to Spain we can call our family. They’ll understand why we’ve chosen to do this.”
Out on the streets there were hordes of people heading towards the beach. Many were carrying flotation devices. The call to prayer sounded out above the rabble of their excited voices, causing several people to stop and pause. Hearing the familiar call, Karim wrestled with his own hesitation before shaking it off.
Yusoff’s interpretation of events struck a chord of truth as Karim observed that the police, instead of obstructing them, were guiding people and giving instructions as to where to go for the safest departures. The absurdity of it defied anything he had experienced before. Normally the behavior of the police would be heavy-handed, and someone attempting to swim across to the Spanish enclave would certainly face arrest.The Other Shore
As they neared the beach, Karim looked across at the glittering water scattered with flotillas, disappearing and reappearing as the waves lifted them. The Spanish shore had always seemed close enough to touch, but now the sea between them seemed suddenly vast.