“So maybe it’s not worth all the trouble then!”
“Worth it? Yes, it’s worth it. This tractor’s been working for six months, now. In these six months, it’s done about ten to twenty thousand tomans of work. But Mirza Hassan says that the expenses come up to that much. That is, considering the pay for the driver, the gas, the oil, and the repair expenses. But he’s lying. The expenses are much less. It’s had two major repair jobs and a few tune-ups.”
“And it loses its value, doesn’t it?”
“What did you expect? For it to gain in value each day?”
“That’s all I’m saying; it loses its value. So how much did he pay for it?”
“The Gonbadi driver said it cost twenty-two thousand tomans. It’s secondhand, you know.”
“If it brings in twenty thousand tomans a year, and it costs some seventeen or eighteen thousand tomans to run, that leaves you with two or three thousand at the end. And every year, the tractor probably loses two or three thousand tomans in its value. The more it works, the more worn-out it becomes. The more worn-out it becomes, the more it costs to fix it. And on the other hand, it brings in less income because the older it becomes, the less you can use it for work. So day by day, its costs rise and its worth drops. And the older it is, the less valuable it is. What are you left with? Just the harvest that you gathered from the land with the tractor. So, what’s the harvest?”
The tractor had made a circle and the whistle of the autumn breeze was mixing with the tractor’s roar.
“Mirza Hassan and his partners have done the calculations better than you and I can. You don’t need to worry about them.”
“Now where are we going?”
“To God’s Land!”
“God’s Land?”
“You heard right!”
“What for?”
“We’re going to marry off your mama! What kind of question is that? What do you take a tractor out to a field for? It’s obvious! We’re going out to plough. I need to first smooth out the uneven land there.”
“What has Mirza Hassan been doing all this time, then?”
“He was holding your mama’s head! What’s he been doing? He’s been going crazy getting the water pump, registering the land and everything.”
“It’s taken this long?”
“What do you think? You think it’s a game? Anyway, if he hadn’t been so clever at this, it wouldn’t have been arranged by now.”
“They’re saying the water pump isn’t pumping very much water!”
“It’s still just at the beginning of things. Wait a bit and see. If God helps us, Zaminej will turn into a garden.”
“The elders are saying the pump is taking water from the canal system.”
“Let the old men say what they want to. And who cares if it does? The canals are drying out anyway, so it’s good if it takes the water from them. What difference does it make? The small landowners who use the canals are all partners in the water pump. And if they’re not, they can buy into it. If they don’t get fed from the trough, they can eat in the manger! And it’s not like you or I need more water than what we need to drink, do we?”
Morad changed the subject.
“Who are those people over there?”
“Let’s see!”
A group had gathered on God’s Land. Mirza Hassan was towering over everyone else, standing beside a short, stocky Zabihollah. Behind them, the Kadkhoda and Salar Abdullah were both standing, speaking to each other. The father of the Kadkhoda and Karbalai Doshanbeh were also both there; the two old men were sitting on a pile of dirt, chatting. Ali Genav was there, standing near Mirza Hassan. Both of them were smoking cigarettes. There was a stranger beside Mirza Hassan who looked like an official from the Land Registry Office. He was accompanied by policemen, representing the law.
The tractor stopped by the group. Morad first removed himself from the stuttering metal machine. Then Abrau leapt off in a single movement and walked over to Mirza Hassan. Abrau couldn’t understand what was happening.
Mirza Hassan said, “Once again, this foolish woman’s making a scene! She’s sitting over there and refuses to move. She’s dragged that poor, sick, old child over here as well. In any case, you know how to speak to your mother better than we do. Go and say something. Don’t let her cause a disgrace. I don’t understand what this woman wants! She didn’t listen to her own son-in-law. You go and try to get into her head that she doesn’t have a claim to this land any more!”
Abrau silently walked over to where Mergan was sitting. Only her headscarf was visible, as well as the white of the tufts of Abbas’ hair. Mother and son were both sitting in a freshly dug ditch. It was clear that Mergan had just dug the ditch in order to sit there with her son. Abrau stood beside the ditch. Mergan was hugging her knees. Neither she nor Abbas spoke.
Abrau suddenly screamed at his brother, “What the hell are you doing here, Shaggy?!”
That was the nickname that people had recently given him.
Abbas looked up at his brother, saying nothing.
Abrau shouted again.
“You’ve already gone and sold your part of this little scrap of dirt, didn’t you? Don’t you remember? Didn’t you go and take the money from Mirza Hassan and then gamble it all away in one night? Wasn’t that you! Wasn’t it you who lost the money in Sanam’s house? Here’s a witness, right here!”
Morad was standing by Abrau’s shoulder. Abbas looked at him as well. Abrau continued, “Up! Get up and get out of here! Get out, you son of a bitch!”
Abbas was about to scurry out of the ditch like a frightened dog with its tail between its legs when Mergan grabbed his ankle, pulling him back.
“Sit down. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Just sit down!”
Abrau stared at his mother and said, “What’s wrong with you, then, woman! Don’t you understand anything? What are you trying to prove? Why are you causing a scene like this? This isn’t your land that you’re sitting on, in any case! Is this just because you’re stubborn?”
Mergan didn’t reply to her son.
Abrau slid into the ditch and then grabbed his brother’s hollow wrist.
“You get yourself out of this disgrace! You’ll do what I tell you! Go!”
Abbas surrendered and let himself be dragged in any direction his brother pulled him. But Mergan intervened, grabbing Abbas’ waist and pulling him back.
Abrau said, “Don’t be so stubborn, woman! I’ll put you under the dirt, right here!”
Mergan looked away from her son, as if she didn’t want to see him. She quietly put her head on her knees.
Ali Genav approached them.
“Why are you rolling in the dirt like that, you foolish woman! What’s come over you? Why is it nothing seems to lead you back to the straight-and-narrow path? This was wild land. It’s not something you inherited from your mama! That man’s gone and registered it and has a government official with him. So why are you causing a scene …?”
“You come down here. Come here!”
Ali Genav went into the ditch. Perhaps Mergan wanted to have a private word with him? Instead, Mergan spit at his face and said, “Now go, you!”