CHAPTER 12

Cat walked over to Narges. Sat down next to her. Hugged her for the third time - and this time, Narges opened her arms and took her in.

"And I love you, too, Nana. Like, really really. I love that you want to protect me. But please, trust me on this. This is it. This is me. Nobody forced me to do anything."

Pictures of last night came back… hitting Cat… spanking her bare ass… raping her…

I took another breath, walked over to them, and sat down on the other end of the couch.

"May I have a glass of water, please?"

I had just sat down and got up again.

"Yes, of course. Ice?"

"Yes, please. Thank you, Dan!"

"You're most welcome, Narges."

"Please, call me Nana. All my friends do."

"But I'm your only…"

Narges looked at her. Cat stopped speaking. So you could have the last word with her.

I nodded at Narges. She nodded back. Cat was still hugging her and rested her head against Narges' shoulder.

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We were sitting on the couch. Cat had already downed two big glasses of water - and that made me a tiny bit nervous. Narges was sitting like a statue, still, in perfect posture, looking around the room while we tried to make small talk.

"Nana, your English is very good. You said you've been here for just a year?"

"I went to an American school in Kabul. My father and my brother were working with the Americans, with some… not a general, but an important soldier. The soldiers got me into that school. When my father got sick, they helped us to move to the US for surgery and… chemotherapy. But it was too late. Cancer was everywhere."

"I'm very sorry to hear this, Nana. So you're here with your mother and brother?"

"With my mother and my older sister. My brother died in Afghanistan. Bomb. Three months before we left for America."

She said this without any discernible emotion in her voice. But her face betrayed her. This girl had seen more than I or Cat could imagine. No wonder her pride was so important to her.

"Again, I'm so sorry. I would like to say something… better… but I really can only say: sorry."

"Dan, this is life. It is hard and Allah sends blessings and curses. And we have to learn to accept both."

"Do you… like it here?"

"Yes. And No. I like that I can go to a normal school. I can learn, have a job later, or maybe study. This is not normal for girls in Afghanistan. It wasn't even normal when the Americans were still there."

"I know… this whole mess with the…"

"But I do know that many of you do not want me here. Somebody like me. People like my family. I've been here for a year. Nobody has greeted me, except if they had to. Nobody has invited us to share a meal. Neighbors looked down and mumbled when my mother invited them to dinner."

Cat looked at her. Her face is full of love. She wiped something off Narges' face. A tear.

"Nana, would you and your family give Catherine and me the honor of joining us for dinner sometime?"

"Thank you, Sir. I will have to speak to my mother, but I can already say that we would feel blessed if you invited us to your home for dinner."

Cat: "Would you also bless us with telling us what you, like, eat?"

Great, I wasn't the only one who sometimes should just shut-the-fuck-up. Don't ruin this, Cat…

"It is really simple, Catherine. No pork. Almost a year and you still…"

"Nana, I've seen your lunchboxes. This doesn't look like just 'no pork'. This looks like some Japanese chef had a manic phase. And then sprinkled rose petals on it."

"Nobody expects a traditional Afghan meal. And it is nothing like Japanese food. No offense, Catherine: you couldn't make it anyway."

Cat wrinkled her nose: "None taken". And stuck her tongue out.

"We have never had a real American hamburger. People say McDonald's doesn't count. And they are not good."

"McDonald's does indeed not count. Burgers it is."

God or Allah has blessed me indeed: this is the one thing I knew how to cook.

—-----------------

"She grows on you, doesn't she?"

We were standing in the kitchen, preparing a plate with fruits and nuts. Fruits and nuts Cat had brought up from downstairs because the only fruit I had were smoothies and the only nuts were salted beer nuts.

"She is… unusual."

Cat raised her eyebrows.

"A different kind of unusual. But I can see that she likes you very much."

"No shit, Sherlock. Now go and be a good host while I finish up here. You're messing with my arrangement."

I came back to the couch and saw Narges smile. Not a big, broad smile like Cat… more like a twinkle in the corners of her mouth. Narges had full lips and even the slightest tremble in them somehow radiated over her whole face.

"Cat will be right here. Do you want some more water?"

"My glass is still full, Dan. But thank you for offering."

I really wanted Cat back here. This girl is, what? 13 or 14 years old and I'm genuinely nervous that I can't hold my own in a conversation with her.

"Life lessons."

"What?"

"Life lessons. Sometimes you need to observe real life to understand something. Back in Kabul, most girls learned from books. Or from old stories and songs. We didn't get out much to observe real life. But I found that the things I thought I knew about America are not in books. Most certainly not in Afghan stories or songs."

There was this hint of a smile again. Something about her made her not pretty or good-looking or attractive - but beautiful.

"And what is your life lesson for today?"

"Many Afghan men marry girls much younger than them. Most of those marriages are profoundly unhappy. My mother was given to my father when she was 12."

She looked at me. Left the obvious unspoken.

"They didn't love each other. But they did care for each other. My father traveled for days to get Turkish soap operas and pop music on the black market to bring to my mother because she liked them. My mother washed his feet every day and only cooked his favorite meals. When he got sick, she was by his side day and night. She was with him when he died and didn't leave him until they put him in the ground."

"Isn't this love?"

"No. I have seen love. This was not love."

"I understand."

"I see the way Cat looks at you. It is one day?"

"Yes, one day". I had to smile to myself. One day. Not even 24 hours yet.

"It could be a crush. I have seen her when she has a crush."

I sat up straight. But I didn't ask.

"But… my life lesson for today is: maybe there can be love even when two people are at… different seasons of their life." I cringed. "This isn't in any book."

Now, for the first time, a really big smile… one she tried to hide.

"It is in some stories, but those are not… literature. They are for… entertainment."

What was she talking about?

Narges regained her poise. Her face told me that she wished she hadn't said this last part out loud. Interesting.