Bambak`s Scorpions. Farhad Hasanzadeh

Transcription

1 Farhad Hasanzadeh Farhad Hasanzadeh born in Because of Iraq, Iran war and being born in the border city of Abadan he could not a end in university. But a er 25 years of successful, remarkable literary ac vi es he earned the ar s c emblem of literature in Iran. He has wri en 70 different types of books for young adults and is one of the founders of the young adults authors Assembly which is the most Pervasive writers community in the country. He has been wri ng for children in the most widely circulated newspaper in the country (hamshahri) and for his contribu ons in the Iranian press he has earned tree awards. He has been the judge for several literary, cinema c and theatrical fes vals in Iran and has been holding one of the most prominent crea ve wri ng for children workshop trough out the country. He has earned 30 different na onal prizes for his major works such as Has, Bambak s Scorpions, back yard and flying turtle so far. Several TV series and movies Based on his books are producing at the moment. Bambak`s Scorpions By: Farhad Hasanzadeh I want to tell you about that night. The night we were returning from the cemetery and we saw that strange and suspicious car. Mammadoo was not feeling ok. He was sniffling con nuously and nagging: You damned dead! Let s go home now! Hare lipped said: Why are you nagging? We are going. There was nobody at the cemetery. Naser the Giant, had locked the cemetery entrance door and had gone to his room, to his wife and children. We got out of there, passing through a big hole we had made in the middle of the wall. We were walking along the wall when we saw a foreign car, one of those which are broad like ships, those 8-cylander Americans which are so fast, being parked next to the cemetery wall with two people si ng in it. Mammadoo said: Guys! This car has been here since evening. The Dumb also said by gestures: he s right, I saw it, too. The hare lipped spit on the ground and said: That s none of our business. I took a quick look and said: It seems like there s a woman in it. The Hare lipped said: Gaas, it s not a woman. It s a man, one of those Beatles men. By Beatles he meant those long-haired guys who wore strange clothes and would dance to foreign music.

2 2 Bambak`s Scorpions I said: You miserable! It s a woman, your eyes are poor, do something about them. He threw a big spit on the ground and said: shut up! When I say it s a man, it s a man. Do you bet? He had killed us with repea ng this Gaas thing. I wanted to rub his nose p on the spit out of anger. I said: Ok, I bet. Let s go closer and have a look but alas for you if you have told a lie. He said: What will you give me for it? He was used to having bets. He would bet on li le or big thing that happened. He would open his big, hare lipped mouth and say: What will you give me for it? I said: I ll give you a cinema cket and snacks. He answered: Deal! and we shook hands. Mammadoo and the Dumb stayed there. The Hare lipped and I went closer, slowly. He hare lipped was s ll insis ng and saying: It s a man. And I was saying: It s a woman, spitefully. We were ge ng close to the car repea ng ourselves, It s a man, It s a woman when the car got started and moved forwards slowly. We also started to walk more quickly behind it. Mammadoo and the dumb were following us at the back. Mammadoo said: Fellows! Let s leave! Forget about it! I said: Shut up! We ve placed a bet on it! as I was sure the driver was a woman and that I would have a free cinema cket. The car stopped beside the cemetery wall, 200 meters away from us. We wouldn t have no ced it in that darkness if its back lights were not on. The Hare lipped said: Run! and he started running, himself. I started to run a er him. Mammadoo shouted one more me: Come on! I m hungry. My mom s wai ng for me. I ignored him. I was very angry with him and didn t care what he would eat. My foot was painful. My shoes were ght because they were my last year shoes. Of course shoes don t get ghter and it s our feet that grow but as we never see ourselves, we always put the blame on other things. The Hare lipped said: Walk more slowly. I asked: Why? Are you scared? Do you want to go back? He answered: Fellow! These people are suspicious My heart started to beat faster when he said this. We took slower steps. We got nearer to them. We could hear them talk. The hare lipped said: They re two. I said: You lost the bet. I can hear a woman. He said: But at first there was only one, where did the other one come from?

3 Bambak`s Scorpions 3 I answered: There were two from the beginning. Will you accept that you have lost the bet? He said: Gaas! They want to do something stealthily. I said: Do you bet? He answered: How stupid you are! Listen! They re talking about a grave and a pit! There was no doubt that the Hare lipped s big ears were sharper than mine. I said: I can t hear anything. I was just checking on the car to see the driver, but the car started moving and went forwards again, Bastard! I couldn t see the driver, yet. The Hare lipped said: what do they want to do? I said: They might be looking for someone s grave. He spit and answered: In the dark night?, Behind the cemetery wall? Why didn t they get in the cemetery? Why won t they look for it in the morning? Is it good me to look for it now? Gaas! They re fishy! I pulled his bony arm: Let s leave, that s none of our business. He said: Look! It stopped again! I squinted to see be er and said deep inside me: Yes, it s stopped again, goddamned! We got nearer to them. The car s shiny, big brake lights had been on. I saw a huge man through the red light, and then I saw a woman. The woman was the driver. One of those thin short-haired women that you can t tell they are men or women. I recognized her from her clothes. I mean, she was wearing a skirt. She got out of the car and went towards the wall and passed her head through the hole and for sure took a look at the cemetery. We crept forwards and hid behind an Oleander tree. Honestly I was a bit scared. What would we do if a scorpion stung us? There were lots of them in the neighborhood. The scorpions which would s ng you so badly that no one could guarantee you would stay alive. The Hare lipped didn t care about that. He was a scorpion himself. He punched me in my side and said: Pfff Why are you moving so much? Can t you stay s ll? I said: Sco...scor pion! He said: Sshh! Look! They are three people. There are two women, one young and one old, and there is a huge man, too. Can you see them? I said: My foot is burning. There s a scorpion He acted like I said nothing, he said: Gaas! The man is their servant! Look! He opened the car boot.

4 4 Bambak`s Scorpions There was no scorpion and I had this fake burning feel, or maybe a mosquito had bi en me. I pulled away the Oleander branch and saw the huge man taking a heavy suitcase out of the car boot and taking it to the other side of the wall hole. My mouth was foaming out of surprise. I spit. The hare lipped spit, too and said: What do you think there is in it? My tongue was heavy. I said: I don t really know. He said: Gaas!It must be vary valuable. I didn t say a word. I saw the woman, who wasn t the driver and was old, ligh ng a cigare e with a lighter. The Hare lipped said: They re rich! Look! She is smoking a cigar! I wasn t able to see his face in the dark but I knew he was smiling, having dimples in his cheeks saying that. I don t know how he recognized the cigar in that darkness. The huge man passed the suitcase through the wall hole breathlessly and returned. Then he took a shovel and a pickaxe and agilely went back. The smoking woman went, too. The other woman who was the driver stayed outside to guard, for sure. The wind was blowing in her short hair and in her white skirt. Then she said in trembling voice: Ms. Manager (Or Ms. Monir), can you not bury them? She didn t have southern accent. She talked like actresses, strong Tehrani accent. Ms. Manager or Ms. Monir didn t answer, or maybe she did and I didn t hear her. Instead I heard the pickaxe. Someone, of course that huge man, was digging the ground quickly. The Hare lipped s eyes seemed to be shining. His voice had go en a bit scary and I could hear it from the bo om of his throat: What do they want to bury? I answered: I don t know. Whatever it is, it is not a corpse, by the way, you have lost the bet, too! The Hare lipped was staring at my back in silence. The guys whistled. It was the Dumb whose whistle sounded like a cat s scream and only we knew it. We had to go back. The Hare lipped also said: Let s leave. We couldn t hear the shovel and pickaxe s sounds any more. Very quietly, like earthworms, we crept on the ground and we went to the guys from behind the Oleander tree. They were si ng on their buckets. Mammadoo was singing for the dead and the Dumb was playing the tempo. I had told him a thousand mes not to bother the dead in the graves by his singing, but he never listened to me. It wasn t really a good thing to do. Once I had my dead mom in my dream telling me: walk more slowly on the graves so that we won t feel the pain in our bones and tell Zinou, the Prayer, not to pray loudly with her sharp voice, it s like she is scratching our faces and you, yourselves, don t scream in the cemetery at nights, we want to throw up when you do that.

5 Bambak`s Scorpions 5 I said: what?! You re singing again, si ng on the grass? Mammadoo said: You ve kept us hanging on and you re s ll telling us things? What happened? Were they men or women in the end? The Hare lipped said: Gaas! There were two women and a man, very rich ones, they are burying a big suitcase! I said: It was a safe not a suitcase! He answered: It s a suitcase which looks like a safe, like the old ones, we have got one of those, too at home. Mammadoo s eyes shone like two pieces of broken glass. He sniffled and said: Hooray! Let s go bother them. I said Stop it! He answered: So what? I said: Let s go home. My dad is wai ng for me. He said: You cryboy! Go home and have your dinner, brush your teeth a er that. Give my hello to your dad, too and do not forget to piss before you go to bed Everybody laughed. The Hare lipped said: He is right1 Give our hello to your druggy dad and tell him we have got great respect for him! He was imita ng Behrouz vosoughi starring in Stags. I wanted to slap him in the ears: Shut up! Can t you see it s late? It s 9pm. He said: What? We leave them here to do whatever they want to? It is our what do we call it? I said: Territory He said: Yes, it s our territory here, we mustn t let them To be honest, I was feeling a bit scared inside. I was also red. I said: If I am the leader, I would say let s wait a bit. They will not be staying here ll morning. They will go away and get the hell out of here soon. Mammadoo said: What if they won t go? Will you be staying here ll morning? The Dumb who had been quiet so far said, using gestures: It will be so bad if they understand that we know about them and started miming shoo ng and killing. His voice sounded like cu ng dry wood, filled with fear. The Hare lipped said: They won t know about us, the woman was shaking all over. When a person commits a crime, he loses his mind and is always worried to be caught. The Hare lipped was so brave. He was always looking for trouble. I think this is in his blood or as our teacher used to say, Inherent. He was like that by nature. I think he took a er his grandfather, who was a Qashqaaee and had quarrels with Reza Shah. He had told us stories about that several mes. I do not know whether he was telling us the truth or not though.