Page 197 - And the Mountains Echoed (novel)

turn and yell, ‘Get the hell up, you donkey’s ass!’ ”

Baba jan paused for dramatic effect. He pushed a fist to his lips to fight
laughter. “And then he pops up and starts running. And—would you believe it?
—the crazy son of a whore is carrying two armfuls of grapes! One mound in
each arm!”
Laughter erupted. Adel laughed too. His father rubbed his back and pulled
him close. Someone started to tell another story, and Baba jan reached for the
cigarette sitting next to his plate. But he never got the chance to light it because
suddenly glass shattered somewhere in the house.
From the dining room, women screamed. Something metallic, maybe a fork

or a butter knife, clanged loudly on the marble. The men bolted to their feet.
Azmaray and Kabir came running into the room, handguns already drawn.
“It came from the entrance,” Kabir said. And, just as he said this, glass broke
again.
“Wait here, Commander Sahib, we’ll have a look,” Azmaray said.

“Like hell I will,” Baba jan growled, already pushing forward. “I’m not
cowering under my own roof.”
He headed toward the foyer, trailed by Adel, Azmaray, Kabir, and all the
male guests. On their way, Adel saw Kabir pick up a metal rod they used in the
winter to stoke the fire in the stove. Adel saw his mother too as she ran to join
them, her face pale and drawn. When they reached the foyer, a rock came flying
through the window and shards of glass crashed to the floor. The woman with
red hair, the bride-to-be, screamed. Outside, someone was yelling.
“How the hell did they get past the guard?” someone said behind Adel.

“Commander Sahib, no!” Kabir barked. But Adel’s father had already opened
the front door.
The light was dimming, but it was summer, and the sky was still awash in
pale yellow. In the distance, Adel saw little clusters of light, people in Shadbagh-
e-Nau settling in for dinner with their families. The hills running along the
horizon had darkened and soon night would fill in all the hollows. But it wasn’t
dark enough, not yet, to shroud the old man Adel saw standing at the foot of the
front steps, a rock in each hand.

“Take him upstairs,” Baba jan said over his shoulder to Adel’s mother.
“Now!”
Adel’s mother led him up the staircase by the shoulders, down the hallway,
and into the master bedroom she shared with Baba jan. She closed the door,
locked it, pulled the curtains shut, and turned on the TV. She guided Adel to the
bed and together they sat. On the screen, two Arabs, dressed in long kurta shirts