Page 71 - And the Mountains Echoed (novel)

soothe her back to sleep. His patience with her was boundless. He carried her

around the village, showing her off as though she were the world’s most coveted
trophy.
When he carried a still-groggy Pari into the room, Nila asked to hold her.
Abdullah handed her over with a cutting look of suspicion, as though some
instinctive alarm inside him had been set off.
“Oh, she is darling,” Nila exclaimed, her awkward bounces betraying her
inexperience with small children. Pari gazed with confusion at Nila, looked
toward Abdullah, and began to cry. Quickly, he retrieved her from Nila’s hands.
“Look at those eyes!” Nila said. “Oh, and these cheeks! Isn’t she darling,

Nabi?”
“That she is, Bibi Sahib,” I said.
“And she’s been given the perfect name: Pari. She is indeed as beautiful as a
fairy.”
Abdullah watched Nila, rocking Pari in his arms, his face growing cloudy.

On the way back to Kabul, Nila slumped in the backseat with her head resting
on the glass. For a long while, she didn’t say a word. And then, suddenly, she
started to cry.
I pulled the car over to the side of the road.
She didn’t speak for a long time. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed into her
hands. Finally, she blew her nose into a handkerchief. “Thank you, Nabi,” she
said.

“For what, Bibi Sahib?”
“For taking me there. It was a privilege to meet your family.”
“The privilege was all theirs. And mine. We were honored.”

“Your sister’s children are beautiful.” She removed her sunglasses and
dabbed at her eyes.
I considered for a moment what to do, at first opting to remain quiet. But she
had wept in my presence, and the intimacy of the moment called for kind words.
Softly I said, “You will have your own soon, Bibi Sahib. Inshallah, God will see
to it. You wait.”
“I don’t think He will. Even He can’t see to this.”
“Of course He can, Bibi Sahib. You’re so very young. If He wishes it, it will

happen.”
“You don’t understand,” she said tiredly. I had never seen her look so
exhausted, so drained. “It’s gone. They scooped it all out of me in India. I’m
hollow inside.”