Page 48 - And the Mountains Echoed (novel)

Kabul was Nabi’s escape. Parwana envies her brother, but she does not entirely

begrudge him even if he does—she knows that there is more than an element of
penance in the monthly cash that he brings her.
Masooma has brushed her hair and rimmed her eyes with a dash of kohl as
she always does when Nabi visits. Parwana knows that she does it only partially
for his benefit and more for the fact that he is her tie to Kabul. In Masooma’s
mind, he connects her to glamour and luxury, to a city of cars and lights and
fancy restaurants and royal palaces, regardless of how remote this link might be.
Parwana remembers how, long ago, Masooma used to say to her that she was a
city girl trapped in a village.
“What about you? Have you found yourself a wife yet?” Masooma asks
playfully.

Nabi waves a hand and laughs her off, as he used to when their parents asked
him the same question.
“So when are you going to show me around Kabul again, brother?” Masooma
says.
Nabi had taken them to Kabul once, the year before. He had picked them up

from Shadbagh and driven them to Kabul, up and down the streets of the city.
He had shown them all the mosques, the shopping districts, the cinemas, the
restaurants. He had pointed out to Masooma the domed Bagh-e-Bala Palace
sitting on a hill overlooking the city. At the gardens of Babur, he had lifted
Masooma from the front seat of the car and carried her in his arms to the site of
the Mughal emperor’s tomb. They had prayed there, the three of them, at the
Shah Jahan Mosque, and then, at the edge of a blue-tiled pool, they had eaten the
meal Nabi had packed for them. It had been perhaps the happiest day of
Masooma’s life since the accident, and for that Parwana was grateful to her older
brother.
“Soon, Inshallah,” Nabi says, tapping a finger against the cup.

“Would you mind adjusting this cushion under my knees, Nabi? Ah, that’s
much better. Thank you.” Masooma sighs. “I loved Kabul. If I could, I’d march
all the way there first thing tomorrow.”
“Maybe one day,” Nabi says.
“What, me walking?”

“No,” he stammers, “I meant …” and then he grins when Masooma bursts out
laughing.
Outside, Nabi passes Parwana the cash. He leans one shoulder against the
wall and lights a cigarette. Masooma is inside, taking her afternoon nap.
“I saw Saboor earlier,” he says, picking at his finger. “Terrible thing. He told