To everyone surprise, an American film crew of a Cable Production came to Tehran to make a documentary about Neda's life. She had no idea that people in other countries, especially America, knew about her. She did not say no and invited them to her apartment. They were awed to see the most popular woman in an Islamic country lived such a simple life in a very small, two bedroom apartment. They followed her every where for a week. They recorded everything she did. The good thing about the whole deal was that Neda knew English. She had learned it on her own. She read books in English language. Her speaking was not perfect but was adequate. They interviewed Sohrab, Maryam, and Kasra. They asked her why she was not married! She did not like that question; however, she told them that marriage would block her artistic mind and therefore it was not for her. She never mentioned her short marriage and her daughter. Aria, her nephew was in all their shots from her. They noticed that as busy as she was, she was practically raising her nephew so his mother and father could work and they did not have to take their child to a stranger for baby sitting! By the time they finished with their interviews, filming, and having dinner at Neda's home every evening of their one week stay, they still could not understand her strange life. They wondered, especially the producer, a blond, tall woman with the same jeans and different shirts which she tied them in front instead of buttoning them all the way down, wearing her hair in a ponytail, that perhaps in a country like Iran, in order to be an artist, one had to have a strange life! They also were amazed by the hospitality of all the people they had seen, particularly Neda, herself, who did not let them to spent any money on food or hotel; even bought gifts for all of them before their departure. They left after one week and promised to send Neda a copy of the finished product, about an hour film after editing. This film was supposed to be shown in a cable network in America.
Her nephew, now three years old, was the reason for her living besides her poetry. There was nothing more important to her than that little chubby boy that looked so much like Maryam, except his eyes and forehead that looked like Sohrab. Aria had deep, penetrating eyes that Sohrab had. The first word that he ever said was, "na". Gradually he was able to improve in his speaking and Neda became, "aunti na".
Neda loved to give Aria his nightly bath. He loved to play with his toys in the water. She would sit next to the tub with her nightgown and did not care that she would get all wet by the excitement of the little boy playing with his toys and having his aunt there. She would watch him so he would not go under the water. Then when she would see that his eyes was getting heavy with sleep, she would wrap him in a warm, big, blue towel and held him close to her heart while carrying him to her bedroom. There, he was not sleepy any more. Playing in the water always made him hungry. Neda kept his favorite late night snake always handy. Maryam's backing was excellent. She made different shape and type cookies; some looked like animals, some like trees or toys which her son loved. She always brought plenty of them to Neda's apartment. So every night after bath, when Aria told his "aunti na" that he was hungry, she brought him one or two cookies with a cup of milk. Then she put his pajamas on him and put him on her own bed. He always fell asleep after this routine right away.
Sohrab and Maryam told Neda that she was spoiling him. Neda thought that she was not doing enough.
Neda finally changed her apartment. It was not because that her three companions kept putting pressure on her. It was only for Aria, her little nephew. She wanted him to have a yard so she could get a dog and a cat for Aria. It was not common thing to have a house pets in their culture; even though some modern families did. Neda's reason was first for Aria and then for herself, and for doing one more thing against the culture and everybody that rejected the pet and called them impure. After looking around for a while and when her three companions positively approved, she bought a house in Shemiran, the Northern part of Tehran. There were three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a living room, a separate dinning room, and a bright kitchen with window opened to east so all the morning sun poured in. The kitchen had a nook which was perfect for breakfast area. The yard was not too big, but big enough for Aria to play, big enough for a dog and cat, and big enough for Neda to make her hands dirty in earth and plant seasonal flowers and even a few trees. First she got a poppy, a Shih Tzu. She was black and white with big, black eyes, and long ears. She had heart shape marks on her back and sides. Then she got a kitten, a Siamese, flame color, with beautiful blue eyes. His nose and ears were dark pink, the rest of his fur almost milky color; that is why they called his color flame. She was lucky to find this cat. It just happened that an acquaintance of her had a female Siamese, who had many kitten, and Neda got one of them.
To Be Continued
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