Instead he fed his rabbits and quails to the pack of stray dogs that hurried to welcome him near the village, wary not to get too close to the houses and the children who threw stones at them.
Nosser followed the war news on the radio as if God had so commanded in his Holy Book. Not many people in the village were interested in the war or felt threatened by the blaze that was eating Europe or the fact that their northern neighbors, the Soviets, brought the war too close to their homes. Salman’s father Mash Akbar, one of the two village butchers, was the only person who would discuss the war. Nosser spent many an evening with him going over the newspapers that came from Tehran every other day in the truck that brought provisions under a burlap cover.
It was in this situation that Pooran had to deal with Maryam’s suitor. Three weeks after Nosser returned from the army, the Ford V8 chauffeur paid a visit to ask for their daughter’s hand. He had seen Maryam on the day of Nosser’s departure and he had fallen for the way a lock of hair hung over her forehead from underneath her chador. When the young man heard that the girl’s father was back, he formally sought her hand in marriage. He was a chauffeur for one of Tehran’s big merchants, a friend of Khan’s. It was thanks to a mixture of politics and sincere affection for an old friend that the merchant had lent Khan his V8 and chauffeur for Nosser’s special day. Pooran did not find her husband as interested in the matter as she expected. Given the suitor’s good social status as a chauffeur, Nosser declared his approval with a nod of the head while listening to the radio and cleaning his rifle. Khan was the bigger supporter. He hosted the premarriage talks in his house in the Orchard with the boy’s mother, father, uncles, and aunts. He liked that the suitor was named after the crown prince, Mohammad Reza, although, being lanky and carefree, he was not comparable to the son of the Shah in any other way.
On the day of the proposal, Khan was unnerved that Mohammad Reza talked too much, and Pooran found his ambitions to get into the import/export business or open a shop overly optimistic, as both enterprises would require a lump of money that Mohammad Reza did not have. Pooran had dreamed of a better groom for her daughter, perhaps a doctor who was also charming and handsome. Mohammad Reza was not even much taller than Maryam. But he seemed like a good boy and had a respectable job, and she liked the way his neat suit and tie looked on him. She would not be ashamed to show him to others and tell them he was her son-in-law. On top of that, Pooran was not brave enough to endure the fear of not finding Maryam a husband before she turned fifteen. After the groom’s family had made a few trips to the Orchard, the wedding was announced.
In the following months Nosser began to think twice about the fact that his daughter was going to leave Tajrish to live in Tehran. The flames of the war that was devouring the world blazed too close. If anything happened, the capital would be the first to catch fire. Nested at the foot of mountains, in the shelter of rocks and boulders, Tajrish was safer. But, as they say, “A daughter belongs to others.” He did not voice his concerns.
* * *
—
MULLA ALI PLACED HIS HANDS on Ahmad’s shoulders and pushed him gently forward. “Nosser,” he shouted into the white above, “can you see Ahmad? He’s here, right here with me! Don’t bring God’s wrath upon the people. Don’t do this to the House of God. For the sake of your son.” A heavy silence fell upon the crowd who looked up into the fog listening for a reply. Crows cawed somewhere deep in the white murk from their perches atop plane trees. Sparrows chirped their morning songs. “Nosser Khan!” shouted Mash Akbar, Salman’s father. “Nosser Khan, can you hear us?” Ahmad slowly removed his hands from his ears. “Nosser Khan!” The crows stopped their baleful shrieks and now it was only the song of the sparrows piercing the shroud of the fog that had enveloped Tajrish and its people. Ahmad turned at the sound of footsteps to see his mother rushing toward them. He