Transactions by Ali Alizadeh

Author:Ali Alizadeh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC029000;FIC000000;FIC051000
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Published: 2013-05-14T00:00:00+00:00

The Hanged Man

Stupid woman. What the hell are you smiling at? Untie my hands now. I have no idea how you got into my apartment. I was only asleep for fifteen minutes. What the fuck do you want from me?

Listen woman. I’m about to be given my refugee visa. I’m going to become a Dutch citizen. The Dutch police will be after you if you hurt me. What the hell do you want from me? How did you get in here? I know you. You’re that Iranian interpreter who came in with the counsellors one time. Are you one of the Islamic regime’s spies? Listen. I haven’t told these Westerners anything useful. They’ve been interrogating me about what I know about Iran’s nuclear weapons program. But, honestly, I don’t know anything about anything to do with nuclear weapons. So I’ve just been lying or repeating the things I’ve read on the internet so that they’ll give me my damn visa. That’s all. I’m not a traitor.

Listen. I used to be a guard at the Evin Prison. I haven’t told anyone that. But that’s true. I served the Islamic Republic for ten years, as a young paramilitary. Why are you smiling? Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you. How did you get in? Who the fuck are you? If you’re an agent of the Islamic Republic . . . how come you’re not wearing the veil? Aren’t you a Muslim? I am a Muslim. I love God. God knows I haven’t sold out my country to these venal Westerners. I just want a new life, the chance to live a normal honest life in a peaceful place. That’s not a sin. Why are you here?

I’ll yell. My neighbours will hear me. You know my neighbour Karina?! How the hell could you know that Russian whore? For God’s sake! Untie my hands. Just talk to me like a civilised person. OK? Now, let me go. You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not a danger to you or to anyone else. I’m just a poor asylum seeker. I have no one here. My wife and child are back in Iran. Why won’t you untie my hands?

What are you doing with the rope?

No, no. Let me explain everything to you, lady. What’s your name? Leila? OK, Leila. Listen to me. Just tell me why you’ve broken into my apartment. Why did you smash me over the head with the bedside lamp? To be honest, I hated that thing anyway. It was a gift from my devious neighbour, the Russian slut. OK, Ukrainian. The Ukrainian slut. It that better? Now, look here. Lady Leila. I just want to know who sent you here. Whoever sent you here is mistaken to be after me. I’m totally innocent. I’ve never harmed another person in my life. Why the hell are you laughing? What are you doing? Are you making that rope into a . . .

Please. I don’t know what you want. You’re an Iranian, aren’t you? Which part of Iran? I’m from Khoozastan.

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