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I asked once, and they refused my help. They only let that
Armenian.
You re hurting yourself, my brother, Sinan said, but the man
kept scratching and Sinan could see the skin break.
The man with the pills wouldn t put the book down. He had the
pills but he wouldn t put the book down. My son is at peace now, he s
in Paradise.
I m sorry, my brother, Sinan said. But please stop.
I ll see him soon. It s better this way. I know he s safe.
Sinan reached across the space between them and laid his hand
over the top of Malik s to stop him.
You re hurting yourself, he said.
Chapt er 40
Ù
The days following the funeral, ismail stayed close
to the tent. 0rem s mother was easier on her, but only because she was
too busy combing 0smail s hair, hugging him, making him dishes of
food he only barely touched. He had been quiet since the funeral,
and spent hours in the corner, drawing with colored crayons given to
him by the teacher at the school.
I m worried, her mother said, watching 0smail as he scraped the
crayons across the paper, his brow furrowed, his bare toes flexing and
unflexing beneath his raised knees. That boy was his friend.
When Nilüfer tried to see 0smail s drawings, he closed the pad and
pushed it beneath his sleeping bag or he told her he wasn t done yet.
Something s wrong with him, she said to 0rem, and then she be-
gan biting her nails, the slivers of which 0rem had to clean up before
her father got home.
The next day Nilüfer sent 0rem to do the laundry alone so she
could stay with 0smail. 0rem was glad for the freedom, glad for the
sunlight on her face, glad for the simple work of washing and the cool
water on her hands, but how quickly her mother s passion had passed
disturbed her. Suddenly, she wasn t worthy of concern. It was almost
as though she were invisible except when a chore needed to be done.
She thought briefly about leaving the laundry and finding Dylan
210 Al an Dr e w
her blood raced with the thought of it but three women stood
watching her while wringing out clothes and hanging them on the
line. She ignored the women, but she heard them whispering like a
pack of crickets.
A shame to her mother, she heard one woman say, while the oth-
ers clicked their tongues in agreement.
She wanted to slap the woman, wanted to rip her tongue out, but
instead she ground the shirt she was washing into the ribs of the rack
until her hand slipped and she ripped open the wounds on her wrist.
The blood swirled in the water, and she stood pressing a tissue against
the wound to stanch the bleeding as she watched. She would have to
pour the water out and wash the shirt again.
She can t even do a simple chore, she heard one woman say.
She changed her mind and hung the shirt on the line despite the
taint of blood, just three feet away from the women who said nothing
now, who closed their stupid mouths when she was so close. In three
quick steps, she grabbed her wash tub, spun around, and tossed the
dirty water at the women s feet. The mud splashed against their pan-
taloons, and when she turned to leave she was so satisfied that she
didn t even care when she caught one of them, out of the corner of
her eye, ripping 0rem s freshly cleaned clothes from the line.
there you are, ni lüfer said. I need to go to the W.C.
Go then, 0rem answered back, throwing her hand in the direc-
tion of the porta-potties.
Don t start with me, daughter. Your brother s not well. You better
not have seen that boy.
Ask the women at the laundry.
Nilüfer stared at her a moment and then rushed off to the rest-
room.
Inside the tent, 0smail sat working on another drawing. The rice
she had made earlier for him was untouched. Now she was getting
worried.
Gar de ns of Wat e r 211
You have to eat something, she said.
He glanced at her and then began drawing again.
From the first-aid kit Marcus Bey had brought for her father s foot,
she pulled out a length of gauze and some tape. She turned her back
on her brother and began to cover her wound.
Why is mother so mean to you? 0smail asked.
She knew exactly why. She was jealous, jealous 0rem might have
freedoms she did not. The tape got folded up and she had to cut an-
other length while holding the gauze in place with one hand.
Maybe you should stop doing the bad things that make her mad,
0smail said.
How can I do anything bad, 0smail! She turned toward him
more than she would have liked and she saw him look at her wrist.
She turned her back again. How can I? she said, calm this time.
I m locked in this tent.
I don t like it when she s mean to you.
She finished with the wrist and pulled down the blouse cuff.
I don t like it, either.
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