Under a Kabul Sky by Elaine Kennedy

Author:Elaine Kennedy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inanna Publications
Published: 2022-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

LADY KHAMIRI, THE CONFIDANT

Homeira Qaderi

Oh yes, where were we? I have the feeling that I wasn’t quite myself last night. You see, I’m almost blind now, even though I haven’t cried much in my life. I filled the basin with water last night and set it down by the bed. This morning, I knocked it and splashed the wall. You haven’t seen my cane have you, Lady Khamiri? I left it by the junk room wall, but it’s not there now. Ah, here it is. I feel safe when it’s close at hand. It’s been supporting my steps for a very long time. It’s with this cane that I walk up and down all those little alleyways. You don’t have the strength to walk, do you Lady Khamiri? You don’t have the legs. You only have those wide-open eyes I made for you. You’re like me: there’s not a story around that’ll help you get some shut-eye. When the pain in my legs won’t let me sleep, I look at you sitting there in the corner, propped against the wall, your eyes open. You’re patient, even more so than me. You’ve been with me for a long time. You see things and you listen, but you don’t complain, you don’t say a word.

My dear Lady Khamiri, I’m going downhill by the day. Everyone says I’ve become impatient and ill-tempered. They’re right, I’m disillusioned, and I don’t have all my wits about me anymore. Things changed here a long time ago. There’s nothing left now. There’s not much left of me either, just a bag of bones. And the pain in my arms and legs. When my cane’s close at hand, I feel safe. Yes, it’s true what you’re saying, Lady Khamiri. I don’t have the strength to walk anymore either, but if I stay home and do nothing, I get bored. How much longer do I have to sit here and stare at these four walls? I’m a little afraid these days, I’m afraid of the junk. I always feel like going out and disappearing among people. When I go to bed at night, I want to stick my head under the comforter and repeat my prayers until I fall asleep. What difference does it make if I go to sleep? All that I want is to be clearheaded.

Lady Khamiri, you’re used to staying home. All your pleasure comes from listening to my stories, and mine from telling you about the past. And there are many things to tell. Oh, I haven’t told you the rest of the story. Do you want to hear it? Are you eager to hear it? Now, where were we? Lady Khamiri, I’ll remember this till the day I die. Yes, it took us some time to get the last tandoor good and hot. There were ten or fifteen of us women who’d gathered at Sher Mohammad Khan’s place. We’d all brought what we could to build the fire: straw, wood, kindling, puncture vine, rags, paper, plastic, anything and everything.

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