The night came rushing back. Saleem cocked his head back and put his hands over his eyes.
“It wasn’t me. I’m not hurt,” he said. Samira was wide awake, staring nervously. “They were shooting, Madar-jan. It was terrible.”
“Shooting guns? What in God’s name are you talking about?”
Madar-jan was not fully convinced that her son was whole and searched his body for hidden wounds.
Saleem pulled her hands away and stood up to shake the slumber from his eyes. He had tossed his bloodstained clothing by the floor cushion, a gruesome sight in the early morning hour. He told her everything, keeping his voice low in hopes that Samira wouldn’t be too frightened. He told his mother how he’d helped lift the bride’s brother into the car so he could be taken to the hospital.
If he’d had a bit more sleep, he might have had the sense to filter some of the gore. By the end, he was crying. He’d been unable to move for so long, he lamented. She listened intently, a hand over her mouth in disbelief. Samira had moved closer, sidling next to her mother, and listened with the intent of an adult. Madar-jan whispered words of gratitude to God for sparing her son.
Madar-jan pulled Saleem to her and rocked him as she did Aziz. He didn’t resist, cherishing the smell of his mother, the comfort of her arms, and her kisses on his forehead. She asked Samira to put the water to boil and get breakfast started for Hakan and Hayal. Samira rose obediently.
“And your friend, Kamal . . . he was not hurt either?”
“No, Madar-jan, he was outside with me. He is all right.”
“His mother and father?”
“They were not hurt.”
When Hakan and Hayal came down for breakfast, Saleem repeated the entire story once more. His Turkish had improved immensely since he had started hanging out with Kamal and the boys. He searched for a few words here and there but relayed the night’s events to them. Hakan and Hayal sat stone-faced. Hayal instinctively put a hand over Fereiba’s. To Saleem, the violence at the wedding was starting to feel more like a story than an actual event.
Madar-jan searched their faces for an explanation. How could something like this happen in Intikal? Hakan rose and said he was going to Kamal’s house to see his father. He was dressed and out the door within minutes.
“I’m late for work. I should already be at the farm, Madar-jan,” Saleem said, instinctively looking at his watch. “I’ll get hell for coming in at this time.”
“Saleem, bachem, you are not going to the farm today. After everything that happened last night, it’s out of the question. I want you with me.”
Saleem looked down at his hands and realized he was trembling slightly. He knew he must have looked like death and had the sudden urge to bathe, to scrub the night’s events from his skin with hot water.
Hayal made him a cup of tea with honey and brought him a plate of bread and cheese. Saleem ate silently. Samira stayed close by but quiet. She warmed a bottle of milk for Aziz and propped him up on her lap so that he could take his breakfast. For the first time in a long time, it looked like the Waziri baby with the broken heart was in better shape than the rest of the family.
Saleem went to the washroom and turned the water as hot as it would go. He let the water cascade over his head, his face, his shoulders. He closed his eyes and saw the bride’s face, blood streaked across her cheek. He heard her brother’s moans. Saleem opened his eyes to try to see something else, but the visions were burned into his retinas. He scrubbed at his skin until it was red and raw. His temples throbbed. He turned the water off, his skin stinging at the towel’s rough touch.
Madar-jan sat in the bedroom, on the edge of her bed. She looked mournful.
“Madar-jan?” Saleem said, hesitantly.
“I thought we were okay here,” she whispered. “This was not supposed to be like home.”
Saleem sat beside her.