We are talking when we talk about friendship

Basant asks each of us about the most characteristic trait we love in people. Saeed quickly replies: loyalty; loyalty allows you to walk in the world feeling protected, and unbreakable. Fadi says he doesn't know the exact word, but he loves people whose mood you can always understand without having to peel off their masks one by one, this clarity, or transparency, or ability to be exposed, is what allows you to trust someone. Basant says she personally loves those willing to sacrifice; not because they bestow their protection upon us, but because it makes no sense for someone to choose you with their only criterion being gain, readiness to lose is what makes any human relationship more than just calculations. Magdy says it’s tenderness; because we are wounded and need care. I say my whole bet is on generosity. Marwa says it’s freedom; she loves free-spirited people because without them we remain prisoners of our own circumstances. Hiba says it’s responsibility; you can never trust someone whose sense of responsibility cannot be relied upon. Yusra says she feels we have already made all the choices, and therefore she will return to basics: what she loves in anyone is simply their presence. Saeed claps and laughs. The narrator of this story escapes his crises to his friends’ houses and to his memory. Bilal Alaa contemplates through the narrator’s journey the presence and absence of friends, how friendships are built and continue or collapse, and explores how we can establish a relationship with another despite the maze of reality, language, and memory.