The words that came out of Neda's mouth were not normal; they sounded erratic. Sohrab took her again into his arms and they both cried. They drank more. Time was passing by and they were not even aware of it. Their talks now were more drunken chatter than anything else. They finished the wine. They talked, cried, and talked more.
They both felt hungry. Sohrab found a few eggs in the refrigerator. There was nothing else there. He boiled them; and made two sandwiches with some old, stale bread. Neda ate hers and did not vomit almost for the first time. They sat on the sofa, each on one side of it, unaware that morning had changed to noon, afternoon, evening and now night. They talked some more without putting the lights on, and finally they both fell asleep. The telephone rang a few times but they both were drunk and drawn. They needed that drunken sleep. Sohrab woke up in the middle of the night. It was three in the morning. He brought a blanket from the bedroom, raised her sister's legs and put them on the sofa and covered her with blanket. She said something inaudible. He did not pay attention. He went to the bedroom. He searched the bedroom for a suitcase, but there was none. The only suitcase they had was taken by Mansour. Sohrab went through his sister's clothes and picked up enough of everything and put them on the bed. Then he went to the kitchen and brought a few garbage bags and filled them up with Neda's things. She had come to this apartment with so much fan fair; she was leaving with a few garbage bags. Sohrab thought.
No one had ever taken care of her this way. When she woke up at six in the morning, she saw that her brother had made tea on the kettle for both of them. She saw four full garbage bags in the corner of the living room. For a moment the events of yesterday and last night were hazy, but slowly they all came to her focus.
"What is going on Sohrab?"
"I'm taking you home!"
"No, no, I don't want to..."
"Yes, Neda, you have no choice. I promise that I save all of us on time when the baby is born. But for now, you have no choice; I have no choice."
Neda shook her head which both was for agreement and disagreement. They had their tea. Sohrab loaded his car and they left. He stopped in front of a cafe that served breakfast. They went inside. Neda had toast and jam and some Persian cheese with Barbary bread. Sohrab had a little more than her. Again, for the second time in the row, she did not get sick after eating. Sohrab called his father at home from that cafe. He knew they were worried that he had left work yesterday morning and had not gone home even for the night. He briefly told his father the story; but he also told him that they were not ready to come home yet. No matter how much father insisted to know the reason, he repeated:
"I just want to spend some time alone with her before bringing her back home."
"Does it mean that you're not coming to work today?'
Sohrab's anger got to the point that he knew if his father was in front of him, he would perhaps hit him.
"You destroyed your daughter's life. She is sick and lonely. Her husband, your friend and choice for her, has left her, and you're asking me that I'm not going to work! What kind of father are you?"
He hanged up the phone with so much outrage that almost everyone in the cafe noticed it.
Neda did not ask him how the conversation with father was. She already could see it in his eyes. The first thing Sohrab did, drove to school, where Mansour worked. He wanted to see himself what his sister had seen for the last couple of weeks. That day Mansour and Mitra had decided to walk to school instead of driving. Sohrab and Neda could see them walking while holding hands. Neda had to stop her brother's rage and his intention of getting out of the car and confronting Mansour. They sat in the car without speaking until the lovers went inside the school.
The rest of the day, they took turn to calm the other. They had lunch in a restaurant. For the first time Neda had a real good appetite and ate Shish Kabob and rice. Again she did not throw out.
They laughed, reminisced, even cried, drove here and there until evening.
"It's time to go home, little sis!"
"I know. I had the best day of my life with you. I wish a day comes that we can live on our own, you and me, not with our parents." Neda spoke as she thought.
"I do, too, little sis."
They finally went home.
To Be Continued
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