Taking Cover by Nioucha Homayoonfar

Author:Nioucha Homayoonfar [Homayoonfar, Nioucha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781426333668
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2019-01-08T00:00:00+00:00

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Baba and I had come to my grandparents’ house to check on Agha Jan because Maman Bozorg was making a two-day pilgrimage trip to Mashhad. After ringing the doorbell but getting no response, Baba had turned the key to let us in.

“Agha Jan?” Baba called out.

No answer.

“Agha Jan?”

We heard glass breaking. Baba ran toward the noise. It came from the small alcove to the side of the kitchen. Agha Jan liked to take naps on a small cot in there because it was cozy. I stood near the entrance, too frightened to go closer, but I could hear Baba saying over and over, “Agha Jan, are you all right? What’s wrong? Are you okay? What happened?”

Finally, Baba came out of the alcove, supporting Agha Jan and walking very slowly toward me. Agha Jan looked ashen. His white shirt collar was covered in blood, and he held wads of tissue in his hand.

“I’m taking you to the clinic right now,” Baba said.

“Yes,” Agha Jan said in a whisper.

I couldn’t get any words out. I had never seen my grandfather in anything other than a three-piece suit. I ached to see him looking so haggard and old.

The clinic was mere steps away from their home. Still, it took an eternity to get there because Agha Jan had such difficulty moving his legs.

As soon as we walked in, a nurse came to us and asked, “What happened?”

“My father cut his ear on a broken piece of glass,” Baba said.

“How did he do that?” she said.

“His cane slipped out of his hands when he was trying to get up from his nap and it broke the window near his bed. A shard of glass must have fallen by his head.”

“I’m terribly sorry. Let’s move your father to the examining room so a doctor can have a look at him.”

Baba turned to me and said, “Wait right here for me.”

Baba helped the nurse move Agha Jan somewhere behind a curtain, and I waited in the reception area. Not long after, Agha Jan came out with a bandage on his ear. He seemed steadier on his feet. Agha Jan winked at me and motioned for me to come closer.

“How do you like my new ear?”

I walked up to him, relieved to see his joking self again, and I put my hand under his arm.

“It looks like a snowball.”

He chuckled. Agha Jan’s ear had been patched up, but I could see that he was still in pain.

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