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Exiles in America(132)

By:Christopher Bram


“You are right,” she agreed. “It changes nothing. Sorry. I say such things

only because of my state of mind. I am worried. I do not like being worried.

Especially when I do not know if my worry is appropriate. I mean, this isn’t

the Soviet union  . This is a land of some laws, some rights. And Abbas will not get raped. Although he might enjoy thinking he would. The idea, not the

deed. Do not take that expression with me.”

Zack couldn’t guess what his face was expressing.

“I know Abbas and I love him,” she explained. “And yes, I am angry with

him. I am often angry with him. But an arrest does not change love or anger.”

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When they got back, the house felt different, less like a waiting room, more

like a home. Daniel had built a fire—he loved a good fire—and he sat on the

floor in front of the hearth with Osh and Mina, playing a game on a dimpled

metal board. A few dimples held marbles. It was Chinese checkers, a game

Zack had forgotten existed.

“Nobody called,” Daniel said quietly. “We’ve just been sitting here, having

a good old time. Haven’t we, kids?”

He and the children looked quite content, perfectly peaceful. It was an im-

itation peace, of course, a charade of normalcy, yet when Daniel looked up at

Zack, he appeared quite pleased with himself, as if this white lie were a major

accomplishment.

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C h r i s t o p h e r B r a m

And Zack thought: Who am I kidding? He’s still in love with Abbas. He

cares about him enormously. That’s why he’s here today. That’s why he’s put-

ting himself through all this. And Zack couldn’t help admiring Daniel. A dif-

ferent kind of man would’ve shut down his emotions, would’ve fled from his

caring and said, “Let’s stay out of this. That man and his family are nothing to

us now. We’ll only get in the way.” But Daniel did care, despite the complica-

tions. Zack loved him for that.

“Stay for dinner,” said Elena. “There is plenty of food. We will have a

feast. Maybe later we roast marshmallows on Daniel’s fire?”

“Where’s Papa?” asked Osh.

“He is meeting with an art dealer. Who has come all the way from Wash-

ington to see his work. I called him at school while we were out and he told us

to go ahead and eat without him.”

Mina didn’t question her mother, but went along with the story. She

seemed to have as much experience in accepting these stories as Elena had in

making them up.

Elena started dinner: a stir-fry of lamb, vegetables, and rice for everyone

except Osh, who ate only Tater Tots and hot dogs.

Zack turned on the TV news, as if hoping for something to explain Abbas’s

absence. But the local news was only the snowstorm, two fires, and a car wreck.

The network news led off with a story on President Bush’s upcoming State of

the union   address, which was expected to include an official threat of war

against Iraq. A lengthy report on the new fad in low-carb diets followed.

They sat down to dinner, and Zack couldn’t help thinking, What if this be-

comes permanent? What if Abbas doesn’t return? What if he and Daniel be-

came responsible for this mother and her two children? Could they manage

that?

“Save some for Papa,” said Osh.

A phone rang, a landline in the kitchen. Elena jumped up to get it.

“Hello?” she said and promptly began to speak French. Two sentences later

she shifted to another language, a fierce crunch of consonants that Zack real-

ized was Russian.

He exchanged a look with Daniel who lifted his eyebrows, then smiled

blandly at the kids and continued to eat.

E x i l e s i n A m e r i c a

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Only half of Elena was visible in the doorway. Zack saw her hair but not

her face. She spoke for five minutes, then hung up.

“That was your uncle Hassan,” she told the children. “Calling from

Tehran to send his love.”

“Hassan speaks Russian?” said Zack.

“Yes. Badly. But the little cabbages speak none at all.”

Zack could wait until later to learn what had been said.

After dinner, Elena sent the children upstairs to take their baths. She put

Mina in charge. “After you bathe, you can watch TV. Powerpuffs or Pokémon

or whatever you both agree on. Just do not fight. Our guests are going to help

me clean.”

The adults crowded into the kitchen and actually began to wash the

dishes. “Hassan was calling on his cell phone from Tehran,” said Elena. “I

called him earlier, and he only now called back. He says he is safely home. He

was not arrested or stopped. He does not understand what the police want