Swimming on the Lawn by Yasmin Hamid

Author:Yasmin Hamid
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fremantle Press
Published: 2017-09-16T04:00:00+00:00

Tortoise

Looking out the carriage window, I see mud houses in the distance. A small crowd of people are waiting for the train to come to a stop. They are the only sign that marks this place as a train stop. I can’t see a water pump or a ticket seller’s kiosk.

I watch as passengers haul their luggage onto the train, and smiling babies are passed from relative to relative for one last kiss.

Trays of round, flat freshly baked loaves of bread are balanced on young girls’ heads as they call out the price. Older women sit in the sun, using torn pieces of cardboard to fan the charcoal in their makeshift tin can stoves. Large pots of beans are gently simmering, and I can smell onions and dill. Passengers are stepping down from the train and they each buy a loaf of bread, then the bean stew lady slits the loaf into two halves with her knife, and spoons warm beans into the pocket of each half. Some men are so hungry that they stand and eat without moving from in front of the stew lady and have to be pushed aside by the next customer.

I become aware that Sami must want something very badly, because the tone of his voice makes me turn around to see what is wrong. Sami is pulling Dad’s shirtsleeve. ‘Please, Dad. Just come and have a look. They are sooo lovely. They don’t cost much. Pleeease, I only want one. I’ll look after it, very carefully. I promise I will.’

Dad gets up and Sami leads him out of our compartment and into the corridor. I look out the doorway and see Sami, Dad and Selma all looking out of a window. There is a discussion going on, then Sami turns and comes running back. His lips are trembling and he is trying not to cry. He pushes past me and goes up to Mama who is reading her book.

‘Can I please have one? Dad says I have to ask you.’

‘What’s that?’ says Mama.

‘You’re not listening,’ he says. I can see he is very upset.

‘I am listening. What is it you want to say?’

I can see that Sami is about to point out that she can’t be listening otherwise she would know what he wants, but instead he says, ‘I want a tortoise. A baby one. They don’t cost much, and I’ll look after it. Dad said I have to ask you.’

‘A tortoise? How are you going to look after it? We are on a train and we are going to be away on holiday. Where are you going to keep it? And what are you going to feed it?’

‘I’ll hold it. And it can walk about in the carriage. I’ll keep an eye on it. And it can sleep in my schoolbag, but I’ll have to empty my things out of it.’

‘And what is it going to eat?’

‘I can give it some lettuce and tomatoes when we have dinner, and the boy who is selling them has got some parsley that he says he’ll give me.

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