Daughter of Sheena (28)

Behnaz Zarrabizadeh

Daughter of Sheena-28
Memories of Qadamkheyr Mohammadi Kanaan
Wife of Sardar Shaheed Haj Sattar Ebrahimi Hajir
Memory writer: Behnaz Zarrabizadeh
Tehran, Sooreh Mehr Publications Company, 2011 (Persian Version)
Translated by Zahra Hosseinian

Chapter Thirteen
Samad had asked a few of his friends to find a suitable house for us. He also followed up. He said: “I must rent a comfortable house for you that will be near the bakery and market. And its owner also should be a good person who helps you if I weren’t.”
I collected household goods again and put them in a corner.
A few days later, he came home happily and said: “I finally found a comfortable house with a faithful and affectionate landlord. Be an auspicious house for you.”
Surprisingly I said: “Just for me?!”
He was lost in thought. It seems he remembered something. “I’m going to go to border very soon. We go to war. Iraq has attacked to Iran.”
I didn’t take his words seriously. And happily we went to see the house. It was behind the Oil Depot, in the city fringe. It wasn’t in a good neighborhood, but it was a good house. Its walls had been painted freshly with a light green color. It had many windows. In the whole, it was a commodious house, opposite the former. Samad told the truth. The owner of house was a kind person who lived in downstairs. The same day we put a mirror and Quran on the shelf of new house , and the day after we moved.
First, I cleaned the glasses of windows and spread moquette singlehanded. We had just a six meters carpet that was a gift from my father. I spread it in the center of room and arranged cushions all around. Now we had a tidy and comfortable home. The first few days I would clean household goods with hanky, set them in their place and sweep. As soon as a hair fell on the moquette, I bent and took it. It was a beautiful house. It had two rooms; from the very first, I closed the door of one of them and it became the drawing room. It also had a kitchen and bathroom, just this. But it was the most beautiful house that we had rented in Hamedan.
Samad came home afternoon with two loops of black electrical tape. He put a stool beneath his foot, and before I can say or do something, I saw he made a black cross on all glasses with tape. His fingerprints were left on the glasses. I objected: “Why do you this? What a pity of all that efforts! It took a whole day to clean them.”
“We are at war.” He said, “Iraq has bombarded the border cities. In the time of bombarding and breaking the glasses, these scotch tapes make the glass fragments don’t fall on you.”
I had no choice. I accepted the windows will be like this, though, as if a black curtain had been pulled on my heart.
Samad would go and come and bring bad news. One night he went downstairs to meet our neighbor and asked them to take care of us. The next day he bought a lot of meat, rice, peas and chickpeas.
I said: “What's going on?”
He said: “I’m going to Khorramshahr tomorrow. Maybe I can’t come back for some time. Maybe I never come back.”
I had had a lump in my throat. He gave me some money, ate his lunch, and kissed babies. Then, he packed his hold-all, said goodbye and left.
The house which was so nice and roomy in my sight now suddenly became gloomy and soulless. I did not know what to do. After lunch the babies had slept. I had some dirty clothes. In excuse of washing them I went into bathroom and washed them while I was crying
Shortly after, I heard the sound of doorbell. I washed my hands and went to open the door. It was landlord's wife. She must have known that I’was sad and wanted to sympathize with me somehow. “The neighborhood cooperative sold glasses with coupon.” She said, “Let's go to buy some.”
I was in one of my moods. I excused that my babies are asleep. A few days before I loved to buy household goods and dishes; but now I disliked everything out of blue. “We are at war.” I said to myself, “My husband has gone to war. It is unclear what will happen to me and my life. How delighted then they are.” She said: “May I follow you whenever the babies awaken?”
I said: “No, you go. I do not bother.” I did not go that day. However I went alone the next week and enthusiastically bought glasses, set them in the buffet and enjoyed a lot.
The city had been in different atmosphere. It was blackout at nights. The radio would broadcast the alarm of amber alert, the all-clear and the state of red alert. They would instruct people each alarm’s meaning and what they must do in time of broadcasting them. Several times the sate of red alert was really happened. The electricity was switched off. But the state became all-clear and the electricity was switched on without anything happened.
Earlier people feared, but little by little, the state of red alert became normal for all like everything else.

To be continued…