What are you doing?
On my father's grave, if you ever come near me like this again,
I will tell them all what you did!
Nadia! Nadia!
This was the night before Nadia died.
She came back scared and crying.
Nadia! What's the matter? What's wrong?
I don't feel okay.
When we go back to Cairo, I'll tell you everything.
And we never got back.
What… What is it?
You told my daughter that I was cheating on my husband?
Are you out of your mind? How could you do that?
Did you forget what we just told you?
-Aren't you scared-- -No, I'm not scared!
You should be scared, not me.
And I won't just tell your daughter. I'll tell the whole country!
Are you insane?
Didn't you hear what Yassin said?
I did.
But let's think about it.
Who's facing the bigger scandal?
The businessman's wife who cheats on him, while her husband knows and plays dumb?
Or the story of a poor girl,
who their son is in love with, and he'll marry if she'll have an abortion?
Know what the newspapers and the TV will say?
Your children… How are they gonna see you?
And Mr. Yassin…
Will he still be a candidate for the cabinet?
Or will everything change?
You're the ones who should be scared, not me.
I knew all along that you weren't that innocent.
But I never would have guessed you'd be like this.
Well, now you get it.
I started working when I was 16.
When my father died.
And you are not the worst people I've had to deal with.
NADIA SUMMER 2007
ECHOES OF THE PAST
Dad was the one who killed Nadia.
Was it Mona who told you?
Or your mother?
It doesn't matter who.
Right. It doesn't matter who.
What matters is that you believed it.
What do you mean?
What if I told you it wasn't me?
Would you believe me?
Or have you already, uh…
decided that I'm the villain in this family,
and you need to get rid of me?
I haven't agreed with anyone.
I just want to know the truth.
The truth is that it wasn't me.
Then who?
And the Swiss Army knife, and what Mona said?
If not you, then who?
Sometimes, we do things because we are forced to,
even if we don't approve of them.
For the sake of the people we love.
To protect them. Whatever they've done.
And whatever the price.
I don't get it. What do you mean?
Your mom…
came to me with the Swiss Army knife.
Nadia's dead!
And she said, "Handle it, Yassin."
So, what I did then, and what was told to you,
was to protect her.
And all of you.
Go ask her, darling.
And look her in the eye.
And tell her what I told you just now.
Layla!
-Hi, Layla. -Hi, Mom.
-Where are you? -At home.
Okay, I'm coming now. I need to talk to you.
What's wrong?
You'll know when I get there.
Yeah, we're at my place. What's the matter?
I want you both to meet me at the villa now.
-Meet you at the villa? -Of course not.
I'm not going.
What do you mean you're not going? You have to come! We need to talk!
This one… is for my mother.
And this… is for my sister.
And this… is for the 15 years you took away from me.
I don't need to ask you if you remember this.
It shows on your face.
Who told you about it?
Your daughter.
Layla.
She took me to the villa.
And I found it there.
And Mona…
told me that you buried it there.
She was also the one who told me that you killed Nadia.
Why did you kill her?
It wasn't me who killed her.
If you want to kill me, kill me.
But you will never find out the truth.
Because I'm the only one who knows it.
It wasn't me who killed her.
Then who killed her?
Who?!
Dad told me that you killed Nadia, not him.
-How? -Mom?
He said if I look you in the eyes and ask, I'll know it was you.
If you had asked me this question only two days ago…
…I wouldn't have answered you.
But lucky for you, this is all happening today.
Everything I did was to protect my family.
But turns out I was wrong.
Yassin threatened to do this.
And that if he falls, he'll take us all down with him.
But why is he doing this now?
Today?
Because he knows this is his last move.
He wants you all to doubt me, and doubt everything we agreed on.
But you tell me…
Which one of us could commit murder?
Me? Or him?
Who actually hired a hitman to kill, Ali?
And then,
Mona… Didn't Mona see him burying the knife back then?
Who was burying it? Me, or him?!
Answer me. You saw him yourself!
Don't let your father have his way and turn us against each other again!
Your father was the one who killed her.
But how?
What do you mean, "how"?
Everything points to you.
I saw you.
I saw you fighting with Nadia on the shore.
All of you, just leave me alone! You're a slut.
Stop! Shut up!
And then you took Mona's Swiss army knife.
How is it not you? I don't understand!
Dad?
Y… You… What have you done?
When he told me that you'd been helping him, I didn't believe him.
-Uh… I… Dad, I-- -Helping him?
What have you done?!
I asked each of you about what happened, but none of you would tell me!
I…
We had a deal that he would not harm anyone in the family!
Wasn't that our deal?
-Didn't we want to find out the truth? -I'm here now to find out the truth.
I can see you're all here.
It's over.
There's nothing to hide.
Tell them.
Tell them what you told me.
Say it!
Nadia!
Nadia I have no one but you.
You won't leave me, I know you can't leave me.
Sir, I'm telling you, I'm absolutely sure that my son would never do this.
All I'm asking is just that it stay out of the news. You understand?
Thank you very much.
What's that?
How could you do this?
It just happened.
It just happened?
Dear God!
Your son… Do you understand--
I know! That's why I came to you!
What do you want me to do?
Just handle it. I have a solution, but you must help me.
Do you understand that you've put this whole family in danger?
Please, Yassin.
Let's not abandon each other now.
For our children.
-You want me to say I killed my sister? -It was an accident. Not a murder.
-No! Murder! -Manslaughter. What the law says.
What we thought to be manslaughter due to negligence,
turned out to be murder. He could face the death penalty.
Therefore the prosecution is charging the defendant,
Yehia Mohamed El-Sayed Mahran,
with the deliberate murder of his sister, Nadia Mohamed El-Sayed Mahran.
Yassin, please.
Let's put our problems aside, until we resolve this issue.
Liar! That's false!
The last thing in the world I would do
is to get you all in trouble.
I was protecting you.
By throwing an innocent kid in prison?
"A misdemeanor. Not a felony, three years max."
"The judge and DA will sympathize with you."
Remember your words?
That day, you killed two people.
My sister
and my mother who died grieving for her.
What are you?
No.
Mom would never do this.
If one of them is capable of murder, it's him. Him!
Enough!
You're the one who killed her!
I saw you burying the knife back then!
I saw you that night. You're the one who killed her!
Why are you crying?
Just leave me alone now, Layla, please.
Just tell me. Why are you sad?
You're the one I love the most, after Mama Sawsan.
You know what your mother is?
Your mother is a slut.
You know what "slut" means?
It means she cheats on your dad.
Don't say that about Mom!
Don't you love her? Then you should know who she really is!
Layla?
What happened to your leg?
Those pearls…
I'm the one who gave them to her.
I don't want any of my things to stay with her.
Because she said bad things about you.
Why did she say that about you?
I love her.
But she doesn't love us.
Nadia hates us all.
She says bad things about me because she wants to hurt us.
I want you to stay away from her, you understand?
But why doesn't she love us?
Because she is evil.
And she shouldn't even be with us at all.
Layla, I want you to stay away from her.
And don't you ever believe a word she says.
You understand?
Nadia hates us all.
She says bad things about me because she wants to hurt us.
And she shouldn't even be with us at all.
I killed Nadia.
Nadia!
Why did you leave!
Nadia!
Why did you kill her?
She threatened me.
She said she'll expose us.
She talked to my daughter about me.
Who did she talk to? Nadia didn't tell me anything until…
Your mom's cheating on your dad with another man.
And your dad knows and he's playing dumb.
Why aren't you ready? We're diving now.
You guys go ahead.
What's wrong?
Nothing. I don't want to.
You've been angry all morning, not speaking to me.
And now you're saying you're not coming with us.
You guys go ahead. I'm just tired.
And when we get back to Cairo, we have to talk.
Suit yourself.
I'm filming you guys for a documentary that's going to be a hit.
Come on, guys. Let's get the gear.
Okay, Mr. Director.
Why did you say that about Mom yesterday?
Answer me!
Stop it, Layla! I don't want to talk to anyone.
You're evil.
And you hate us, just like Mom said!
Ali!
I'll go change and come with you.
That's what I must do as a mother.
Shut up! You cheat on your husband!
And go and see another man behind his back.
She shouldn't even be with us at all.
Are you still crying?
Nadia's dead.
I know. I'm sorry.
What's this?
What's this, Layla?
I didn't mean it.
Nadia!
I just wanted to take off the butterflies.
I love Nadia. I'll keep painting for her.
I didn't mean for her to go up to Heaven.
Layla.
What you just told me now,
no one else can know it, you understand?
It's a secret. Don't you ever say it to anyone.
And you and I will never talk about it again.
Okay?
This is our secret, baby.
You understand that you've put this family in danger?
Please, Yassin! Let's not abandon each other now!
For our children.
Ever since what happened, I thought that
if I could just try to remember that time,
maybe I'll understand!
You want to remember that you were put in the hospital
from the trauma of seeing that girl after she drowned?
I know that her condition has improved because of the medication.
She's talking again, she started eating regularly,
and she stopped waking up in the middle of the night.
But I feel that there's a lot of things that she doesn't remember.
Not just the incident, doctor.
There are other things that have been wiped out of her memory.
That's why I was against giving her any medication, at this age.
This happens in many cases, with both children and adults.
When they go through a shock, or through some major incident,
it's hard for their mind to actually comprehend or even deal with it.
Especially at Layla's age.
What happens is something called post-traumatic stress disorder.
PTSD.
It has various symptoms, including what's happening to Layla.
The details of a certain incident
or a blurred unclear time period could be blocked from her memory.
That whole time was erased from my mind. And I don't understand anything.
Maybe this is a gift from God.
Going through trauma can never be a gift, Mrs. Sawsan.
I don't want her to remember any of what happened, doctor.
-I don't remember anything. -There's nothing to remember.
Only that this girl was Ali's girlfriend.
Please, stop asking. For my sake.
But if anything reminds her of the incident, even many years later,
it will trigger an intense conflict within her mind.
Part of her mind will try to remind her of the incident,
and another part will try to protect her from this memory.
I remember but I don't.
I can feel everything, but I can't grasp it.
She'll remember in a distorted way.
I thought that Mona and Nadia used to dress alike,
but obviously, I was the one who used to dress like her.
Or her mind could recast that memory for her.
Meaning that she could project what she felt…
Nadia's dead.
-…or said… -Shut up!
Don't say that about Mom!
…or did, as if she were seeing someone else do it.
That's because her mind won't be able to process the fact
that it was her who was in that situation.