When the Moon Is Low: A Novel by Nadia Hashimi

Author:Nadia Hashimi
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Contemporary Women, Cultural Heritage, Family Life, Fiction
ISBN: 9780062369628
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-07-20T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 28

Saleem

“WE CANNOT GO ON THIS WAY, SALEEM-JAN,” MADAR-JAN WHISPERED to him. Samira and Aziz had fallen asleep.

“What do you mean?”

“In a matter of days, we will have no more money and we still have a long road ahead. We cannot wait for a miracle.”

“I know.”

“Thank goodness you have at least found a way to work for food.”

Saleem bit his lip, thankful for the darkness. He’d told his mother that he’d been hired by a café in town to sweep floors and unload boxes in exchange for food. It was a plausible explanation, especially to willing ears. In reality, no one would hire him. Saleem had returned several times to the market and snuck through other shops, taking what he needed to feed his family. It was a sin imposed upon him, he felt. To make himself feel better about it, he ate just enough food to keep his hunger at bay. It was not easy.

“This job may not last. We need to get to England before the money runs out,” Saleem agreed.

“Yes, we do. We’ll also soon need more medicine for your brother. I cannot take him to any doctors or get him medicines here. It will cost more than we have and someone might turn us in to the police.”

“You’re right, Madar-jan,” Saleem admitted.

Deciding when to embark on the next leg of their journey was a difficult decision. It was a gamble either way.

“We need to find a way to get to England. I think the train would be best, as Hakan had told us. Airports are full of checkpoints. Perhaps if we stay on the ground, our chances at slipping through will be better.”

“I’ll go tomorrow to find the train station and I’ll see if the Afghans know anything about the trains.”

“There’s something else, Saleem. We’ve got to make some hard choices now, and I’ve been thinking about this a lot. We cannot stay here in this room any longer. Even the price they have given us is more than we can afford. Our money is running out faster than I had imagined it would.”

This simple room with its exposed wires and badly cracked plaster, the decrepit sink from which water trickled—all this was a palace to Saleem. When he left Attiki and walked into this space, when he lay on the bed and felt the coils dig into his back, when he looked over at the second bed and saw his mother and sister sleeping two feet off the floor instead of outside, he was a king. This room let him rise in the morning without the hopelessness the boys in Attiki felt. It gave him reason to believe that fate had something more in store for his family than a rickety ship that would capsize in open waters. To give up this room was to give up so much. But to stay—to stay was to choose to bleed slowly and have no strength left to reach the tomorrow they hoped for.

“It will not be easy. We will need a safe place, especially for the nights.

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