The Temporary Bride by Jennifer Klinec

Author:Jennifer Klinec
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs, Biography & Autobiography / Culinary, Biography & Autobiography / Literary, Biography & Autobiography / Cultural Heritage, Biography & Autobiography / Women
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2017-02-13T16:00:00+00:00

Vahid knows a pharmacy on the way home. He parks opposite and leaves me in the car. Even at nine in the evening it is packed with customers and a long line trails out the door. From where I am sitting I can see people rolling up their sleeves to analyze each other’s skin ailments and rashes, discussing the nature and reason for their coughs. Vahid has disappeared into the swarm of figures crowding the counter where girls are dispensing everything from expensive bottles of L’Oréal shampoo to penicillin powder in paper envelopes. When he returns to the car he looks red-faced and embarrassed, and he sighs loudly in relief.

He removes an orange box from his bag. I lift it up to read the gold lettering printed on the front: Rocket Love Rubbers. Made in Malaysia. There is a drawing of a large penis-shaped balloon with jet flames underneath. I can’t help but laugh, which makes Vahid laugh too. The image is such a stark contrast to our chaste, sexless surroundings. Vahid blushes slightly, placing his hand on my shoulder, the garish-colored box a bizarre symbol of what we are planning to do.

He drives me home and we pass through the darkened streets in silence. The radio is switched off and the car hums loudly as the gear shift is moved from one position to the next. Vahid drums his fingers on the steering wheel as he drives, returning his hands to it each time he slots the lever into place.

“I had expected you to be skinnier, and your breasts to be larger,” he says suddenly. “I couldn’t stand to look at you the other day in my room. When I felt with my hand how hairy you were between your legs, I was shocked at how dirty you were.”

He says these things without ceremony, as if talking about the weather or football. For the first time a cheapness has crept into his voice. I stare at him, numb, and I feel myself stiffen. Without saying it to me directly, he is letting me know: I am something less to him and we are not equal in his mind either.

I am grateful to him for reminding me what this will and won’t be. For putting this distance between us and maintaining this wall. He has done it for me, made my decision, enabled me to take something crucial from him. Our final night together will be a mutually beneficial swap: he’ll feel like a man and I’ll get a dangerous thrill. Perhaps he may look back and remember me fondly, in the only future he is destined for. Ten years from now with a soft-spoken wife beside him and two or three children, our one single night will flicker back into his mind. Even the short time I’ve spent in this country has taught me a few things.

His words continue to ring in my ears as he drives me home, steadying and putting me on edge at the same time.

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.