And Zack remembered Elena’s stories: the brother was an important man
in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Many Muslims do not shake hands with infi-
dels. The head scarves took on a new meaning.
“This is Daniel Wexler,” said Abbas in a low, gruff, manly voice. “My col-
league at school. And his friend, Dr. Knowles.”
Hassan increased his smile. “Ah, the male couple, yes. I’ve heard good
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C h r i s t o p h e r B r a m
things about you. You’ve been very kind to my brother and his family.” He com-
pensated for his inability to shake hands with the sweetest smile imaginable.
“You’re here in the U.S.?” said Daniel, sounding faintly alarmed. “For
how long?” Zack wondered what Daniel knew about the brother that he
didn’t.
“Not long, sorry to say. Only two weeks. But I wanted to visit my brother
and his family while there was still time.”
Hassan’s accent was different from Abbas’s, less French, more neutral,
even American, with occasional Middle Eastern notes.
“We were taking a morning hike to your Capitol,” he said. “Would you
like to join us?”
Zack wanted to accept, hoping to learn more about the brother, but this
was Daniel’s call, not his.
“Sure,” said Daniel, with surprising ease. “That’s where we were going.”
Maybe the elephant really was gone.
Abbas looked neither pleased nor annoyed but benignly poker-faced,
blandly aloof.
They began to walk toward the fat brick building in the distance, Zack
falling in alongside Elena, Daniel strolling with “the men”—he passed Jocko’s
leash to Mina.
“Who is your new friend, my dear?” Hassan asked Mina.
“Jocko!” she said proudly. Both kids looked happy to be with this uncle,
who clearly adored them.
The kids plunged ahead with the dog over the powdery drifts. The adults
walked more carefully, keeping to the center of the street, where there was less
snow. Elena slowed her steps; Zack did likewise; they fell behind the others.
Her dark red scarf was wrapped around her neck as well as her head, con-
centrating her face to a pair of elegant glasses and a pretty blade of nose. Her
cheeks were bright pink in the cold.
“You’ve been out of town?” said Zack.
She tugged the scarf back from her jaw: she was not used to wearing it.
“Oh yes. We drove up to Toronto. To see what it’s like in winter. Since we will
be moving there. And to pick up Hassan. He sometimes has trouble at air-
ports. The Canadian border is easier.”
E x i l e s i n A m e r i c a
2 3 3
“What kind of trouble?”
Elena shrugged as if the answer were obvious. “He is from Iran. He trav-
els on a special visa, and they sometimes let him through, but they sometimes
hold and question him. Which can mean as much as twelve hours. They hold
him most often at airports. He asked that we come pick him up in Toronto.”
“That’s a long drive just to save him a possible inconvenience.”
She shrugged again and smiled. “Abbas loves his brother very much. And
Hassan handles the family finances. So it is well worth any inconvenience.”
Zack watched the three men walking ahead, Hassan in the middle, point-
ing at buildings and asking Daniel about them. He was a tourist, not a terror-
ist, and Zack wasn’t really suspicious. His real concern was Abbas. Yet there
were many unanswered questions.
“What did he mean when he said he wanted to visit you while there was
still time?”
“Oh, different things. He thinks there might be a war. But there always
might be a war. More important, next month he is being brought into the gov-
ernment. They are making him their minister for economics. The position is
important, and he’ll be very busy. Also, they will not let him leave the country,
for fear he could be seized. They are very protective of their best people. So
this is his last chance to visit. And he loves Mina and Osh very much. He has
no children of his own.”
“He’s a bachelor?”
“Oh no. He is married. Extremely married. Two years ago he took a sec-
ond wife. But still no children.” She lowered her voice. “We cannot discuss it,
but we think he is sterile.”
Hassan looked about ten years older than his brother, maybe around Zack’s
age. He was smoking a cigarette in an old-fashioned, European manner, cup-
ping his hand around it. He appeared to be talking intimately and forcefully
with Abbas, who was also smoking. White clouds of breath and smoke drifted
overhead. Daniel gestured goodbye to the two men and stopped walking. He let
the brothers move on while he waited for Zack and Elena.