Page 52 - Leadership in the Indian Army

Mariam was no longer keeping track of who was saying what. She went

on staring at Jalil, waiting for him to speak up, to say that none of this

was true.

"You can't spend the rest of your life here."

"Don't you want a family of your own?"

"Yes. A home, children of your own?"

"You have to move on."

"True that it would be preferable that you marry a local, a Tajik, but

Rasheed is healthy, and interested in you. He has a home and a job.

That's all that really matters, isn't it? And Kabul is a beautiful and
exciting city. You may not get another opportunity this good."

Mariam turned her attention to the wives.

"I'll live with Mullah Faizullah," she said. "He'll take me in. I know he
will."

"That's no good," Khadija said. "He's old and so…" She searched for the

right word, and Mariam knew then that what she really wanted to say
f
was He s so close. She understood what they meant to do. You may not
get another opportunity this good And neither would they. They had been

disgraced by her birth, and this was their chance to erase, once and for
all, the last trace of their husband's scandalous mistake. She was being

sent away because she was the walking, breathing embodiment of their

shame.