Page 195 - And the Mountains Echoed (novel)

their hardship, someone to condemn, blame, be angry with. And perhaps Baba

jan was right when he said the proper response was to understand, to withhold
judgment. To answer with kindness, even. Watching little soapy bubbles come
up to the surface and pop, Adel thought of his father building schools and clinics
when he knew there were people in town who spread wicked gossip about him.
As he was drying himself off, his mother poked her head through the
bathroom door. “You’re coming down for dinner?”
“I’m not hungry,” he said.
“Oh.” She came inside and grabbed a towel off the rack. “Here. Sit. Let me
dry your hair.”

“I can do it myself,” Adel said.
She stood behind him, her eyes studying him in the mirror. “Are you all right,
Adel?”
He shrugged. She rested a hand on his shoulder and looked at him as if
expecting him to rub his cheek against it. He didn’t.

“Mother, have you ever seen Baba jan’s factory?”
He noticed the pause in his mother’s movements. “Of course,” she said. “So
have you.”
“I don’t mean pictures. Have you actually seen it? Been to it?”
“How could I?” his mother said, tilting her head in the mirror. “Helmand is

unsafe. Your father would never put me or you in harm’s way.”
Adel nodded.
Downstairs, cannons blasted and pirates hollered their war cries.
Three days later, Gholam showed up again. He walked briskly up to Adel and
stopped.

“I’m glad you came,” Adel said, “I have something for you.” From the top of
the tree stump he fetched the coat he had been bringing with him daily since
their spat. It was chocolate brown leather, with a soft sheepskin lining and a
hood that could be zippered on and off. He extended it to Gholam. “I’ve only
worn it a few times. It’s a little big for me. It should fit you.”
Gholam didn’t make a move. “We took a bus to Kabul and went to the
courthouse yesterday,” he said flatly. “Guess what the judge told us? He said he
had bad news. He said there was an accident. A small fire. My father’s
ownership documents burned in it. Gone. Destroyed.”

Adel slowly dropped the hand holding the jacket.
“And as he’s telling us that there’s nothing he can do now without the papers,
do you know what he has on his wrist? A brand-new gold watch he wasn’t