A miracle occurred that summer which took the insane amount of attention off me. My Aunt Shahin was getting married and her hurried wedding plans became the focus. Everyone was happy and kept talking about the marriage. Mother, Fataneh, Grandmother and Aunt Shahin would sit for hours discussing the wedding dress, the rehearsal supper and all sorts of other things. Fataneh was a good seamstress and Mother knew how to apply sequins. The two of them worked on the wedding dress and the room where they worked was filled with white satin and lace; soft delicate fabrics that Fataneh’s and Mother’s magic fingers turned into amazing dresses I’d only seen in cartoons and picture books. I loved the pristine whiteness and beauty of these fabrics, and I burned with envy when I realized they had made a small wedding dress for Shadi too.
Babi said, ‘Good for her. Everyone likes her because she can talk, but no one likes us.’
We went to my uncle’s house every day to work on the dress. It was two days before the wedding and I didn’t feel too well. Mother said, ‘He’s caught a cold.’ She placed her cool hand against my forehead. ‘He has a fever, I can’t leave him alone. He needs to rest.’
Father, irritable as always, replied, ‘Today of all days! It’s the henna ceremony and they need you over there! My mother said the dress wasn’t ready either. She’s worried it won’t be finished in just two days. If you don’t go over today they’ll give you a hard time for the rest of your life.’
‘I know. I’ll go. I just wish Arash would stay at home today so I could leave Shahaab and let him rest.’
‘That’s impossible! Arash can’t miss school for him. He’s not your child’s nanny. You said Fereshteh would take care of Shadi, so she won’t be a problem. Take him with you and let him sleep in a corner somewhere.’
He always called me ‘him’, as if I didn’t have a name. I hated it when he talked this way.
Mother laid me down on a sofa in the hall, set busily to work and forgot all about me. The hours dragged by slowly. I was bored. I sat in front of the TV for a while, fell asleep, woke up and it was finally time for lunch. After lunch they all gathered in the kitchen to wash the dishes. I wanted to stay next to Mother but she sent me out of the kitchen and said, ‘Go on, get out of the way, love. Go and lie down, and I’ll be right there.’
I felt tired. I knew she would go back to the room where they were making the dress. I opened the door. The dress was laid out on the floor. I sat down next to it and took hold of a corner of it. I pressed my face against the material. It felt soft and cool, just like my velvet blanket at home. The skirt of the dress was so big that my entire body fitted over it. I sat in the centre of the skirt and wrapped the rest of the fabric around my legs. A pleasant coolness spread over my body. My feverish eyes grew heavy. I lay my head down in the folds of the dress and fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up in terror to Aunt Shahin’s screams. All the women were standing over me, looking at me with hateful, angry eyes. I began to shiver. Any one of them might strangle me at that moment. After a few seconds their cold, bitter gaze turned to Mother, who was standing by the door. I could feel her shaking too.
Grandmother said in her harsh voice, ‘See what he’s done! The entire dress is stained and wrinkled. Look at his footprints!’
My aunt began to cry.
Fataneh said, ‘I knew he would do something like this.’
Mother just looked on in confusion. Her face had turned pale. She stepped forwards, picked up the dress and examined it. ‘I’ll repair it myself. It’ll be as good as new. I promise.’
‘There’s no need! I’m worried you’ll make it worse. We’ll fix it ourselves.’
‘You don’t have time. Didn’t you want to go to the hairdresser? And you have a lot of guests tonight. I’ll take it home, finish it and return it as good as new. Don’t worry. I’ll remove the stains with some foam and I’ll iron it. Don’t distress yourselves.’
Shadi was having a nap in Fereshteh’s room, so Mother and I went back home, carrying the dress in a large plastic bag. She washed the dress in silence and let it dry. I hated that dress, Aunt Shahin and her wedding.
Asi said, ‘Why are they so stupid? Why don’t they realize we didn’t want to ruin the dress, we just fell asleep on it?’
Mother hung the dress from the door. She sat down in front of it and finished the sequins. She looked upset. The phone rang. She got up to answer it and I could hear her voice saying, ‘Don’t worry, it looks fine. There is no sign of the stains. Please don’t say anything. He didn’t do it on purpose, believe me. He is ill and was sleepy. He just wanted to rest on it.’
The voices at the other end led to my mother’s soundless weeping. I felt a great hatred inside me. Why did they keep making her cry? She seemed to be getting more and more helpless every day, which made me even angrier. I looked around. I saw a pair of scissors on the floor. I picked them up. They were heavy and big for my small hands. I opened them with difficulty, placed the fabric of the dress between the blades, and pressed them together. After a few snips a large hole appeared in the dress.
Asi said, ‘Now, that’ll show them!’
Babi was worried and said, ‘What will Aunt Shahin wear now?’
Asi said, ‘They deserve it for making Mother cry.’