"You know Neda, you can count on me for anything and everything. Any time you need something..."Sohrab said while frowning slightly and mourning deeply.
"I hope that would not be necessary." Mansour began with an injured pride. "Now she has me..." He finished his little nonsense of the speech.
Sohrab suddenly stopped the car in the middle of the road. Anger flashed from his eyes. He put his arm on the passenger seat, faced Mansour with his blazing eyes. Neda assumed that he was going to strike her husband.
"Listen, her marriage to you wasn't my idea. No one consulted me. I know that everyone thinks that it was her own choice, but I believe and I know it was a scam and manipulation between you and my father, yes, my father. Yes, my father, I said it. Because he had degraded himself, because he doesn't care anymore, and because he wanted to get rid of Neda since he knew she was the only one that reminded him of his bad conduct. So you better treat her right or you must face me." Sohrab's voice trembled with his high emotions.
Neda had no idea that how much her brother loved her and cared for her. She had been suspicious of Mansour's sudden visits to their home after her father's second marriage. Her mother had told her the same thing, too; but now she understood that she, her mother, Maryam were not alone in the mistrust of her father. However it felt good to see that her brother and her cousin, Maryam, at least understood her.
After Sohrab's long ultimatum, Mansour down cast his eyes. He was in rage but he knew that it was not the right time to say anything. In a minute or two, they would reach the apartment and everything would be under his control, the way it should be. However, a feeling of aversion filled his heart and he twisted in pain. This sensation of repulsion was so apparent that he did not know he could escape it. But for now, he had to swallow his pride, disgust, and dislike for another minute or two. He needed just not to say anything; and he did precisely that.
Sohrab began driving again. Soon they were in front of the apartment which Jalal, Neda's father, had gotten for the bride and groom with six months rent paid ahead of time. They all got out of the car. Neda was home, but was she?
"Do you want to come in, Sohrab?" She asked her brother.
Sohrab nodded his head for no. He carried his sister's bag inside and left it in the hallway. Mansour was already inside. Sohrab hugged Neda. She almost cried. Mansour called her.
"Come in inside!" But she stayed outside to see her brother drive away. As his car disappeared, Ned felt that the world had fallen upon her. She was afraid to walk inside, even though she had been inside the apartment many times before. She had arranged the furniture with Maryam's help only a week before.
She looked like a ghost, a lost soul, heedless of everything, unconscious of her surroundings. Bits and pieces of thoughts rushed in, but her heart could not put those pieces together and make them understandable. She just could not contemplate on a single idea or mental state although she was trying very hard. All she could get hold of was that she had thrown away everything, had abjured entirety. She called herself at that moment a woman without root.
Neda wished she was normal in the sense that everyone told her that she did not act like other girls her age. She wished that her superior mind suddenly would become inferior. But since none was possible, she just decided to go along and wait, wait... until a day that she should be able to do something; when she would have the power to change not only herself but people around her.
To Be Continued
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