“It doesn’t matter. They are like cats. They can always land on their feet.”
Where had she heard that phrase? It was like eavesdropping at the Rohani
dinner table. “But what do you think they would say if you did ask them?”
“The son can live anywhere. He’s too young to care. But the daughter
wants to stay here. Because she gets to wear dresses or jeans or anything she
pleases. And everybody in her school looks different, not just her. She has
friends here. People like her.”
“I thought you said you had two sons and no daughter?”
Mina stiffened for a moment, like a small bird trying to make itself invisi-
ble, and Zack realized that he’d fumbled it.
“This is a stupid game,” she declared. “I’m tired of playing.” She jumped
out of the chair and left the room in a brisk, proud, falsely nonchalant walk.
f 2
Daniel cooked dinner that night: a hot dog for Osh, fried chicken for every-
one else. Afterward he and the kids took Jocko for a walk while Zack washed
the dishes. When they returned, Daniel built a fire in the rec room and they
all watched Charlie Chaplin on DVD. The movies delighted Osh, especially
when someone got kicked in the butt. Zack brought down ice cream for
everybody.
Their parents still weren’t back by nine. Daniel went upstairs for a minute,
returned, and announced, “Your mom just phoned. She said they’re running
late but you should go to bed. They know you’re here and they’ll pick you up.
Want to do a campout?” He brought out two old sleeping bags and opened
them in front of the fire. Zack admired his way with kids. “Want to hear a
E x i l e s i n A m e r i c a
3 2 5
ghost story?” Daniel asked. Osh did but Mina didn’t, so Daniel turned off the
lights. The kids lay snug and warm inside the two plump, pillowy bags in a
dark room lit by crumbling red coals.
“Like Hansel and Gretel,” Daniel whispered. He and Zack crept up the
stairs. “I was lying about the phone call.”
“I figured.”
“You don’t think anything happened, do you?”
“No. It’s a three-hour drive. D.C. offices probably don’t close until six.
Even if the FBI followed them, I can’t imagine they’d be arrested. I mean,
they were going into the beast, not fleeing it.”
“But you’re worried too or you wouldn’t have thought it out.”
Zack paused. “Yes, I’m worried. A little.”
A half hour later they heard a slam of car doors outside, and two people
arguing. Soon there was a sharp knock at the front door.
Zack opened the door. Elena stood on the porch, hissing in French at her
husband. “Quelle merde! Tu es fou!” She hurried past Zack without looking at
him.
Abbas closed the door, glowering at Zack. Daniel hadn’t mentioned that
Abbas was growing a beard, a short, black, scruffy thing that climbed up to
his eyes. It was as though he’d decided that if people were going to treat him
as a Muslim terrorist, he would look like one. “Where are our children?”
“Downstairs, asleep. Why don’t you come in and tell us what happened
first? Would you like some wine?”
“Didn’t you know?” Elena called out from the living room. “He no longer
takes alcohol. He is preparing himself for paradise.”
“Shut up,” said Abbas. “Yes, I would like wine. One glass. But then we
must go. It has been a long and terrible day.”
The Rohanis sat at opposite ends of the sofa and lit up two cigarettes.
Daniel opened a bottle and filled four glasses. Abbas took a deep swallow and
immediately began to speak. His tone was dry and hurried.
“The French say they cannot protect us. We are not French-born, we are
only aliens, naturalized aliens. Their government will not stick its neck out.”
The Canadians, by contrast, wanted to help but advised them to wait until the
new job started in the fall, when Abbas would have his work visa. Once Abbas
3 2 6
C h r i s t o p h e r B r a m
was inside the country, there was a good likelihood he could stay permanently.
In the meantime, however, they could not offer political asylum since he was
not being persecuted. “Only if I am arrested do I count as persecuted. But if
I am arrested I cannot leave, can I?”
“That is not what they said!” snapped Elena. “You are hearing only what
you want to hear!”
“No! You are the one with selective ears.”
“No! What the Canadians said was we can go ahead and come in. But they
cannot promise anything until you begin your job.”
“And those things include protection from arrest, protection from being