1988
Her heart was beating fast with joy while she rushed down the stairs to receive her phone call in this wonderful day of Eid. She was longing to hear her mother’s warm voice.
“Adee my baby, Eid Mubarak!”
“Eid Mubarak Mom! I missed you so much. I thought you forgot about me. When are you coming back? Or taking me with you? I can’t stand it here without you.” A few small tears dropped down her rosey cheeks.
They talked for longer than usual that day. The first half of the conversation was only a pleasant warm-up to the serious things that were about to be brought up in the second half.
First it was about coming to the US. Adeela knew by the tone of her mother’s voice that she wasn’t going to come back to live in Bangladesh because her new life was with Adeela’s step-father now, so she asked how she could leave the country to come to move to the US and live with her new family. For the first time Adeela sensed some hesitation during this topic. “I am not a citizen yet dear, so it is a very difficult process,” said the denying mother.
“But your husband, I mean, father has been living there for many years. You said he is a citizen and you also told me I would easily be able to come in a few years. You told me that before you left. In the airport, remember? That I just need to send some papers.” She remembered her mother and step-father telling her something about lots of papers and money, and she knew it was possible for her to come. She just needed to know what kind of papers she was required to send. None of her relatives in Dhaka had any idea what she needed, not even her Bina khala. She knew that despite everyone else, Bina khala would want her to leave this place to live with her family, so she would do anything to help. The problem was, she was too young to understand the complicated immigration process. She just learned what the word immigration meant.
The second topic turned to money problem. Her mother told Adeela that the amount of money that was sent monthly for her educational and food expense was going to be lowered due to their increasing expense in America. Her stepdad was going to increase his hours. Her mom had to quit her first job which would lower their gross income. She had to quit her job because she was 4 months pregnant.
To her mother’s pleasant surprise, Adeela was fascinated to hear that she was finally going to be a big sister, something she always wanted to be. It made her more eager to come to the states to be with her new baby sibling. They couldn’t talk for long because apparently the phone card was going to cut off their conversation in a minute. Something was strange about this phone call. Her mother seemed more upset than usual. She couldn’t stop crying for some reason. “Here Adee, talk to your father.”
A scratchy voice answered, “Hello? Adeela? How are you?” She became nervous and wasn’t able to decide what to say, hello abbu? Hello dad? Or just hello? “Can you hear me Adeela? How are your studies? I heard you earned good marks in math class. Is that true? That’s—“ suddenly there was cross connection occurring from another country, and the line cut off. That was how the conversation ended.
She went back upstairs to her khala’s floor with so much going through her mind. Her deep “what if” thoughts took her to another world. What if I never get to see mom? The thought gave a cold rush to her blood. What if (she gulped) mom doesn’t want me to come. As soon as she walked past the door she heard a familiar but different voice. “Adee? Wow, look at you, why, you’re a grown up young woman now aren’t you!”
She blushed at her cousin, “Sahrab bhaia! Wow, your arms got bigger!” The entire family giggled. “Are you a doctor yet?”
“Just a few more years to go.” He assured to everyone.
“My baby! My prince. You haven’t been eating there have you? My poor son studies so hard! Just look at him!” Bina khala couldn’t stop crying and kissing him. It was very irritable to watch after a while. Out of the three kids she had, Sahrab was the oldest sibling, and the only son, which meant he was the family jewel. She loved him excessively, and Sahrab’s father would tell the entire city about his soon-to-be doctor son. Sahrab was admired by every relative and stranger, moreover, Adeela looked up to him a lot. She wanted to be just like him; A very mature and intelligent young man who was going to make all the poor sick people in Bangaldesh better.
When Adeela was younger, Sahrab would come with his parents to visit the village. He would always have these new tricks and games to share, and he never lost in Parcheesi and carom board. He was the coolest and oldest cousin she had from her mom’s side.
*******
Now that her big brother was free from med school, she and his 2 other sisters got to go places more often. One day, a week before her school started again, Sahrab and Adeela planned to go out with a few of his other university friends, leaving the 2 younger sisters home. They both knew how angry Bina khala and khalu would get for not taking them along, but it was impossible to enjoy anything with those 2 little brats around.
They sneaked out of the house and had ice cream, met up with the rest of the crowd and went to the movies. They were showing some black and white classic during the East Pakistan days. It starred Bangladesh’s famous actor, Razzak. Adeela’s favorite. When Adeela watched black and white films, she would get lost into the movie, into the characters, just like when she would read a book. She was so emotional when it came to classics.
She sensed fear while she was watching the movie that day though. It might have been because of the guilt and consequence that was coming up from sneaking out of the house, or maybe she felt that she was being watched in the dark cinema room. Something just wasn’t right that day. After the movie ended everybody was heading home, and she felt like she was going to be followed, but the weird part was, nobody around her had. Besides, she shouldn’t have had anything to worry about. Her Sahrab bhaia was with her. He was old enough to take her anywhere and get her home back safely, which they did, and to their luck, nobody was home.
“Your Bina khala and the girls went to visit her brother, I believe,” said the 4th floor neighbor.
The power went out the minute they entered.
****
September 1988
It is said by Bangladeshis that catastrophes happen when excessive sins are committed.
Since early June, the water level of floods had been elevating, until it came to a point where it was the cause of almost 2000 deaths. It was the worst flood in the history of Bangladesh, which led to thousands and thousands of people getting sick from the aftermath, causing even more deaths, as a result, making a quarter of the population homeless.
She rewinded back to a few months earlier when she was in good terms with her aunt. The day she snuck out of the house with her older cousin to meet up with his other friends for the movies. It was raining that day as well. The movie had just ended and Sahrab was trying to find a babytaxi or rikshaw to head back home. All of them were taken. The rain drops hardened and thunder clapped unexpectedly. A puddle was starting to form where she was standing as her cousin searched everywhere running around for a ride.
“Maam! Are you looking for a ride?” called out a weary old acquainted voice. She turned around to see the pair of black bata sandals on the old rikshawala’s feet. Adeela couldn’t be more surprised. Out of the thousands of different faces she would see every day in the same place, she had bumped into the rikshaw man. It was God’s will to return the favor, he said.
She remembers how much he was shaking while he peddled in the stormy weather through roads which were now rivers. While he was riding the cycle he showed her the alley to his small tin house on the way home.
“Nobody asked you what kind of rat hole you live in you idiot.” Adeela was shocked to see how Sahrab snapped. “Rikshawalas nowadays! They have some guts to talk,” he gave an evil laugh.
It was hard for her to imagine how tough life was. How disappointing and shocking some things were. Like the recent newspaper showing that familiar old place drowned under dirty water. The place where the rikshawala and his family lived. The people getting sick, losing a place called home, losing loved ones from diseases, losing crops, and slowly losing hope.
She wanted so desperately to get those words out of her mind. They kept pounding inside her head. She was sitting in the school cafeteria not touching a single thing to eat.
“You’re not like other girls. You’re more mature.”
Pounding.
“Get out of my house now!”
More pounding.
“You worthless cunt!”
Some things went over the boundaries, too disappointing and too shocking. Like the time when Sahrab tried to rape Adeela.
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