"I'm on my way home. I'll teach you and the kids a lesson that you'll never forget. That is a promise. I don't like to be rejected. You're turning my kids against me, you son of b.... If I can't have you, we all are going to die."
Hana feels a sudden heat on her face while her hand that holding the phone is shaking; but she somehow manage to say calmly to Hamid: "Sure!" She does not want her inquisitive boss to find out anything about her personal problem.
"I kill you all. I burn you. I bury you myself."
"Sure, okay, bye."
While she is frightened to lose her job if Hamid keeps calling back, she goes back to her work.
That night her sons suggest that she sleeps since she must work the next day; and they stay awake for watch since they don't have schools in Summer. How can she sleep when a movement of a tree outside the window shivers her, a passing car in the street paralyzes her, and any visible or invisible sound trembles her? She joins her sons in the living room and watches them playing video games. She remembers the days that her sons liked her mother more than her and cried when she wanted to be close to them. How much they have changed? How adorable and good looking they are! How strong and loving they have turned out! She looks at them thirstily as though something will separated them soon. She can not possibly measure her love for these two young men. In a state of feeling so lonely, so vulnerable, and so far apart, she asks her sons to hug her. The three of them hug each other for awhile; while she thinks in her exhausted mind that her sons are the only people she has left; and her sons think in their fresh, young minds that they will protect her no matter what. They bound together without speaking, and a sudden radiant energy electrifies them, as though they are struck by lightening; and in that state of shock, they become one.
Striving to read the book she has started a month ago, she remembers the day that she was frightened as she is now; nevertheless, she faced that horrified situation with pride and dignity.
Tehran-
The assistant district manager was a young man, who was dressed like the revolutionaries, and had a long beard, as it was becoming a custom for men to be recognized as believers of the new regime. Hana, who had a long, loose coat on which covered her whole body and a big kerchief on her head, as Mrs. T. had recommended, stood in front of his desk without being asked to sit. She watched the flakes of snow through the window behind his desk, as they were flying in white sky covered with bloody clouds. Her heart was pounding while the man was busy with his papers and phone calls as if she was not there. She understood right away that he was an opportunist since he called people who were calling him on the phone brothers and sisters. That was another new custom which was becoming popular among the believers of the new regime. She was convinced by everything she discerned in that room the deep trouble she was in. While the man was still on the phone, Hana thought of leaving the room and forgetting about defending herself. But how could she?
When finally the man looked at Hana, his small, hateful eyes shivered her and an uncontrollable anxiety ran into her body.
"I believe Dr. K. the Shah's Minster of Education has given you this job!" There was a derisive arrogance in his voice.
"Yes, sir, brother..." Her voice was trembling.
"Isn't he your cousin?"
A long silence ensued.
"A distant cousin, and he is dead now." There was a mist before her eyes.
"Ha, now he's a distant cousin!" He fired at her.
She took control of herself while knowing where the conversation was leading to.
"He's always been a distant cousin." She could no longer make out his face.
"Stop the nonsense woman. There are many out there without jobs and you have one because of the corruption of the Shah's regime."He growled like an angry animal, growing more animated.
Hana lapsed into an eloquent silence for a moment and then said:
"I am as much against the Shah as you are. The Savak killed my brother. Besides what is the difference how I got the job? That was fourteen years ago." She said in half whisper while a chilly blast of air struck her.
He retaliated by a look which almost crushed her.
"I also know that you're one of the aristocrat's descendants and your family own a lot of properties."
"That is true sir. But I don't own anything myself. I live from paycheck to paycheck. I have to take care of my family." Blood rushed to her head.
"And your activities against Emam Khomeini! What can you say about those you narrow minded woman?"
Words died on Hana's lips while she felt insulted and injured. Then he raised his voice:
"We didn't throw the Shah out to keep you dirty monsters. We must clean up the system thoroughly." His voice passed its prime.
Then he picked the phone and dialed a number while Hana was about to collapse.
"I have the subject here to be taken." He said to whomever was on the other side of the line.
She at once thought that the subject was her. He rose from his seat, gnashing his teeth and was about to leave the room.
"Stay here, I'll be right back."
Hana did not have much time to think. She knew that she was in a deep trouble. She remembered her sister's story about her husband's coworker. She had to do something quick before the man would return to perhaps arrest her. She slowly walked to the door. She opened it, being surprised of not being locked, and looked outside the long hallway. There were many people there. Should she stay calm, she could just walk out of that room and leave. Burning inside, she composedly walked all the way to the east end of the hallway, where the stairs were. She continued her quiet escape all the way to the street without causing any suspicion. When she felt the cold blast of air on her face and the chilling flakes of snow around her, she breathed deeply and began running through the narrow alleys while remembering her first and only date with Saeid , at the same places, when she was only seventeen years old.
To Be Continued
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