"Who is calling?" Mehdi asked.
"I am a tenant. I must talk to him."
"You can talk to me. Is it for your rent? Are you behind paying your rent?"
"Yes, but it is for my son, too. He was helping my son..."
"I take care of all his business. You can talk to me." Mehdi said.
At this moment Nabi walked into his office and heard the last part of Mehdi's words.
"Who is it Mehdi?"
"I don't know. This woman wants to talk to you."
Hana could hear their conversation. Nabi thought it might be his mistress which Mehdi did not know anything about it.
"I talk to her." He took the receiver from Mehdi's hand.
"Yes, who is it?"
Hana breathed deeply.
"Uncle Nabi, it is me. Please don't say anything. I don't want Mehdi to know it is me."
Nabi knew of his niece's activities; and right away understood that something terribly was wrong.
"Yes, lady, I know." And then he turned to Mehdi, who inquisitively was listening:
"Go to my home and get the list from my wife. They need grocery."
Mehdi reluctantly left the office; and Nabi walked behind him to make sure he was gone.
"What is it Hana? Where are you?"
Hana breathlessly told him everything.
"I don't know where to go, what to do!" She said.
"Stay where you are. I'll be there in a minute."
In the cold, snowy day, they walked for over an hour and all Nabi heard from his niece was her concern for her family, especially her mother and children.
"What about you? Remember we tried to stop you!" Nabi said.
"I know, uncle Nabi; but this is not time to make me feel worse; and I am not sorry for what I did. I'll do it again if I have the chance."
"Oh, God, you're stubborn."
"Aren't we all? It's in our blood." Hana's humorous comment did not break Nabi's chain of thought.
"I have to hide you somewhere until things calm down."
"I have to go home. Mom is going to have another nervous breakdown!"
"Why didn't you think about it before?" Nabi, irritated, said.
"Oh, please don't make me feel worse than what I feel!"
Nabi finally stopped walking and then suddenly said:
"I'm going to tell you something nobody knows. Can I trust you?"
Hana looked through the mist of her crying eyes and nodded her head for yes.
"I have a property in Karaj (outskirt of Tehran), a big land. I've build a small house there for a lady friend. I'm going to take you there."
Hana knew right away what he meant.
"Can I call home before we go?" She said.
"Let me call and see what the situation is."
Gol, who had already gotten so many calls from the Ministry of Education, had no idea where Hana was. That call, like so many others, tortured her; and finally she answered, it was her brother, Nabi.
"Listen Gol, can you talk?' Nabi asked his sister.
"Do you know where Hana is? They keep calling for her." Gol said to her brother.
"Don't worry. She is with me. Don't tell anyone. Pack her some clothes. I'll come later and get them."
"Tell me, is she okay? What happened?"
"She is here. She wants to talk to you. I tell you later what happened."
Hana broke into a hysterical cry before beginning the conversation with her mother. How could she put her mom through this? How could she?
"Mom, I'm sorry." That is all she could say.
To Be Continued
No comments:
Post a Comment