“You did? They are my uncles’ wives.”
“Oh my! Then it was your cousins that I played with as a girl! Do you write to them often? My letters to my family take so very long to reach home. Do you have the same trouble?”
“I… I am not in contact with my family now that I am living in Kabul. It has been a long time,” Shekiba said vaguely.
“Really? I understand. I was just there two years ago, you know. For my brother’s wedding. The village hasn’t changed a bit. But did you… Shekiba-jan, do you know about your grandmother?” Mahnaz’s eyes softened and her voice quieted.
“My grandmother? What is it?”
Mahnaz bit her lip and looked down for a second. She shook her head and held both Shekiba’s hands in her own.
“She passed away just two days after the wedding. It was such a sad time. I did not know her personally but I heard that she was a very strong woman. The whole village marveled at how blessed she was to have lived such a long life!”
Shekiba was taken aback. Part of her had expected her grandmother to live on forever, pickled in her own bitter juices. She quickly realized that her guest was expecting some kind of reaction.
“Oh. I had no idea. May she rest peacefully in heaven,” she mumbled, lowering her head.
“I am so sorry that I should share such sad news with you, especially in our first meeting. How awful of me!”
“Please, please. My grandmother, as you said, lived many more years than anyone would have expected. Such is life and the same end awaits us all,” she said, struggling to sound polite.
“Yes, yes, God bless her. She must have had a good soul to have been blessed with such a long life.”
You did not know her, Shekiba thought.
“Mahnaz-jan,” Shekiba said hesitantly. She wondered how to ask what she really wanted to know. “Do you happen to know how the farms are doing? My father’s land… my father’s land used to produce such a yield of crops. I often wonder…”
“Which was your father’s land?”
“It was behind my grandmother’s house, separated by a row of tall trees…”
“Oh, of course! Well,” she said. The subject obviously made her uncomfortable. “From what I heard there were some… some disagreements about the land. When I was there, Freidun-jan and Zarmina-jan were living there but they were about to divide it up.”
Shekiba could decipher what Mahnaz was too polite to say. Her uncles must have quarreled over the land. She could imagine Kaka Freidun asserting his right as eldest and haughty Khala Zarmina pushing the others aside to get a home of her own. Greed had torn the family and the land apart.
“But they were not having a good yield when I visited. I saw their daughter, your cousin, at the wedding and she told me that they believed there was some kind of curse on the soil.”
Shekiba smiled. Mahnaz thought her odd. Shekiba realized but couldn’t help it. She could hear her grandmother’s cackling voice telling her sons that it was Shekiba who had cursed the earth and condemned their crops.
“How did things go at the wedding? Congratulations to your family,” Shekiba said. She had no interest in hearing anything else about her family.
Mahnaz relaxed and broke into a smile. “It was wonderful! Dancing and music and food! It was so lively and I had not seen my family in so long. I could not have had a better time!”
“How nice! I wish the bride and groom a happy life.”
“They nearly had to call off the wedding, truthfully.”
“Why?”
“Well, the bride’s family had asked for a huge sum of money as her bride price, but my father had said it was unreasonable, especially since King Amanullah had outlawed the practice of bride price. The bride’s father felt disrespected, so they settled on a lesser sum. I suppose I could understand though. No money at all? I mean, a bride is worth something, isn’t she? I know I was!” she laughed.
Shekiba smiled meekly and looked away. “You are right. Amanullah’s laws seem so foreign in a village like ours. Kabul is so different. Can you imagine if people in Qala-e-Bulbul knew about the English and German secondary schools here?”
“You are so right, Shekiba-jan! Only some of the girls went to school in our area. Do you know that Queen Soraya will be making a speech in two days?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Oh, it will be amazing. I can hardly wait to hear what she has to say. Though I worry about her. Many will not welcome so many changes so quickly. Why don’t you come with me? We can go and hear her speak!”
Shekiba was taken aback. Queen Soraya? Shekiba had wondered about her so much, she brightened at the thought of actually seeing this revolutionary woman. But Shekiba was not accustomed to attending public events.
“Oh, I couldn’t… I mean, I have to tend to—”
“Come, just for a day! It’ll be great to see!” she said with excitement, and then turned her attention to the men. They were so deeply engaged in conversation that they had not yet touched their tea. “Excuse me, dear Agha Baraan!”
Aasif turned around. He looked startled. “Yes, Khanum?”
“Could I steal your wife tomorrow?”
Steal your wife. I wonder how that sounds to him, Shekiba thought. The talk of Amanullah and Soraya reminded her of the palace. And Benafsha.
“Steal my…”
“Yes, I would love to go to the speech and have been looking for someone to join me! We won’t be gone long. We can take adorable Shah-jan with us too!”
“It will be an important speech. I have no doubt that the Afghan people will be impressed with Queen Soraya the more they get to know her,” Agha Khalil said.
“You will be there?” Aasif asked him. Shekiba watched as her afternoon was planned for her.
“Certainly.”
“Well, then…”
“Wonderful! Hope you don’t mind her escaping for a bit!” Mahnaz said contently. Aasif tried not to let his face show his displeasure.
CHAPTER 65. SHEKIBA
“They said around one o’clock. Shouldn’t be much longer. Just look at this crowd! All these people here to see our Queen Soraya!”
Shekiba held Shah’s hand tightly, her eyes scanning the stage for any sign of Amanullah. She wondered what he looked like now. It had been years since she last saw him.
Stupid, she told herself. Look at this crowd. How could you have thought you were suited for something like this, that you could be worthy of taking that stage, of appearing before all these people!
Shekiba adjusted her veil and leaned over to give Shah a handful of nuts to snack on. She’d been unable to stomach much food in the past few weeks and even the woody smell of roasted almonds turned her nose, a smell she’d never before even noticed.
Little Shah was happily entertained by the many faces, the man selling vegetables from his wooden cart, the children holding their mothers’ hands. He did not mind that they had been standing around for over an hour, nor did he notice the number of stares his mother’s face attracted. Shekiba kept her veil draped over the left half of her face and averted her gaze when she saw curious eyes. Shah was seven years old now and wise enough to detect stares and whispers. She did not want her son to feel embarrassed by her.
Gulnaz and Shabnam were at home. Gulnaz was not happy that Shekiba had been invited for an outing by Agha Khalil’s wife and she had only spoken a few words to Shekiba since finding out. But she contented herself with the knowledge that Aasif would be pleased she’d stayed home instead of shamelessly wandering around Kabul in a crowd of people.