Us & Them: A Novel by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani

Author:Bahiyyih Nakhjavani [Nakhjavani, Bahiyyih]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2017-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

GARDEN

IF YOU DID NOT COUNT THE PRIVATE ONES hidden behind high walls inside invisible courtyards, and the exclusive ones belonging to elegant buildings beyond barred gates, and the cultural ones that were only open for concerts at certain hours on special days, there were not that many gardens in this part of Paris. In fact, there was only one close enough to walk to from Lili’s apartment in the Marais. It was a public park filled with stunted trees and dog excrement, in spite of the recent regulations regarding ramasse-crottes, which as her granddaughter Delli had patiently tried to explain, should be referred to as “poop-scooping” in America, not “shit-picking.” Bibijan was unimpressed. Any society which amputated trees or required the harvesting of defecation in public parks could hardly be called civilized in her opinion. And yet this, as her Parisian daughter would say, was la belle France.

Bibijan was very anxious to be thought civilized in la belle France. She never came to the Place des Vosges when Fathi was visiting, because she did not want these people with their urinating dogs to think they were Turks. She did not want these brutal little children skipping dangerously around puddles and waving umbrellas in the air—for there had been a smattering of rain—to mistake Fathi in her headscarf for an Arab of some kind, or a Moroccan or Algerian or Tunisian. But as soon as Fathi had gone, and she was alone, Bibi made an appointment with the hairdresser and prepared herself for a visit to the park. It was her special outing of the day, when Lili was away on her artistic trips; it was her chance to meet people, make friends.

“Come away, mon cheri, come away,” called one of the grandmothers, doing nothing whatsoever to stop the child who was poking at a puddle with an umbrella.

Bibi was sad that Fathi’s presence in Paris had upset Lili so much. But at least it had brought her two daughters closer. They had been on the phone to each other almost every day during the week the girl was staying with them. It was unfortunate that Lili seemed to be talking about money all the time and the additional rent for the chambre de bonne and even more unfortunate, after Fathi returned to Iran, that the phone calls became fewer and more discordant. The night before, Lili had lost her temper with her sister and had called Goli an idiot, saying she was blinder than Bibi, and ought to know what kind of surfing Bahman was really up to.

“He’s no different than Mehdi,” she had snapped.

Afterwards, she had apologized to her mother, which was unusual. Bibi knew something serious was going on then, because Lili wasn’t the apologizing sort. She had excused herself saying she had too much work to do and had no time for this sort of nonsense. She did not tell Bibi what the nonsense was, just that she had to concentrate on her artwork, that she had several interviews lined up, and that someone was making a film about her.

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