The Lovers: Afghanistan's Romeo and Juliet, the True Story of How They Defied Their Families and Escaped an Honor Killing by Rod Nordland

Author:Rod Nordland
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780062378828
Publisher: Ecco
Published: 2016-01-26T05:00:00+00:00

When they resurfaced, we learned that the couple had gone back with Anwar to the family home in Surkh Dar late that June, when Zakia’s father and brothers were still away. Having given up their fields and moved to Kabul to hunt for the couple, it was too late for Zakia’s family to resume farming that season, and they continued to stay in Kabul as day laborers, street vendors, and the like. More distant relatives—cousins and in-laws—and some of Zakia’s younger siblings were living in Zaman’s house, but they had less of a personal stake in hunting the couple down. The fields were rich and green, on their way to a bumper potato crop, and the young lovers were happy to be in the midst of Ali’s family again, living an almost-normal life. At night Ali and his brothers took turns standing guard outside their house, but they were not very worried.

Ali and Zakia were, relatively speaking, flush with cash; the thousand dollars from Women for Afghan Women was more than they needed for necessities, so Ali and Anwar decided to spend much of it on gold jewelry, bracelets, and chains for Zakia. That is, in some ways, a method of storing money, by putting it into gold—although the gold dealers sell dear and buy cheap—and stashing it in the relative safety of adorning a woman’s untouchable person. It is also a way of showing how much they valued her. “We bought gold for her even though we were in debt and couldn’t afford it,” Anwar later said. “Because we are happy with her and wanted to show it to her, that we love her and we know she abandoned her family for our family, so we bought her gold and would be willing to buy her more if we could.”

Zakia had given up a lot to be married to Ali, and that point was driven home when he encountered her little brother, Razak, while walking toward the bazaar in the town. Razak blocked Ali’s way, brandishing a penknife. “I’m going to stab you, and then you’ll see whether it’s so easy to elope with girls,” he said. Ali laughed him off and brushed him aside, but it was a reminder of the way the anger had hung on and spread throughout her entire family.

Zakia was heartbroken about her little brother’s stubborn hatred. “I love him so much, more than anyone in my family,” she said. “He was so upset by this. He had more anger than my older brothers, even. It’s very sad. I really love him.” Mightn’t there one day be a chance of reconciliation with him, a chance to explain what had happened once he was old enough to understand? “He wouldn’t listen, he wouldn’t accept it, even if I explained it to him. Maybe when he grows up, he’ll change, he’ll understand. Maybe if he falls in love with someone, then he might understand. I hope so.”

Despite the bad tidings of the encounter with Razak, those first few days home were happy ones.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.