Juanna Artmane - Test-&-mend

Although Hannah was too small to give a reasonable explanation to what was happening, she was ready to do anything to avoid this game in the future. But she couldn’t tell anyone about it as she was beaten by her parents regularly into the state of total submission. She was not able to make out, what her fault was. The only thing she wanted was to avoid was being beaten. Should she tell her mum about Ibrahim? Was it her fault to play the offered game? Her little soul was tormented with these questions. Each time Hannah was beaten black and blue, she came to question what her fault was. Why was she punished? When she got brave enough to ask her mum about it, she got an answer, driven from the common wisdom of the locals: “Those, who don’t beat daughter, will beat their knees!”. It was a proverb, used by natives, and it served a paragon to her mother. Pondering over “the common sense”, Hannah made the conclusion that being a girl was a mistake in itself.

Each time Hannah encountered Ibrahim, a feeling of disgust stirred up in her system. The fifth of August was not an exception. Although she did her best to wear a mask of calmness, Hannah could not conceal the distress – so clearly it was declared on her countenance. Hardly anyone would look carefully enough to see the state she was in – especially after a sleepless night.

It was at dawn, when the phantasmagoria finally finished. The guests started leaving one by one, expressing gratitude to have been invited and granted small boxes of packed food. They praised Leila on her lavish hospitality. It was a tradition to give takeaways after parties or funerals. A little bit of everything, left on the tables untouched, should be equally distributed.

After all, there was wisdom in it: one could not eat up everything, before the products went off. Back then, it was an unimaginable luxury to throw away food. Not even a slice of stale bread, not a single edible crumb could be found in the dumps. Although Abdul's family was leading a luxurious life, which was measured by the amount of food in the fridge, even they took due care not to waste anything. If a family could afford red meat and greenies, it was equal to being wealthy. If, besides the mentioned, a family could pay visits to doctors on a regular basis, they were looked upon as almost millionaires. Whereas the middle class’ usual cuisine consisted of potatoes, bread and meat byproducts. When it came to the poor, they might get along with grains and…, well, it hurts to think about the limited diversity of their menu. To throw a bash was available only to people in uniforms with shoulder straps.

Therefore, no one would miss an opportunity to take part in such social events. It was a good chance to be fed and feed your non-invited members of the family. That night, everyone, especially Abdul's neighbors, left the house satisfied and joyous. On the coming day they were not going to bother with the most mundane question, they had to face on day-to-day basis: «What shall I feed my family on?».

To those, who found themselves in a moral predicament, the city “N” offered mollas – a mixture of fortune-tellers and priests, who could help you choose, whether to accept the situation or to be afraid of its consequences. These people were in a much more respectable position than casual frauds; as they predicted things using Koran – not coffee grounds or cards.

In search of peace of mind, Leila turned to a local molla. She invited one to their house to look at what destiny held in store for her children: especially for Ali – as he was to leave the country the next day for the three upcoming years. A woman in a hijab appeared at Abdul’s estate. She was wrapped in a black gown from head to feet, leaving just her eyes unveiled. Before crossing the gate border, she mumbled something turning her head right and left and then, carefully, as if she was checking the solidness of the ground, entered the yard. Leila welcomed her into the living room with a tea-set, including traditional baklavas and Turkish delights, laid ready for her.

With exploring eyes, the molla was looking from side to side then she opened her face revealing her bulky features – a flashy nose and a square chin. Despite the absence of wrinkles, her face seemed heavy and impossible to guess at her age. She took the book and beads out of her black bag and shuffled to the table. With a nod she invited Ali to the procedure. Koran was placed on the table. She muttered something under her breath in Arabic, then started blowing on the book. Ali was asked to open it with closed eyes and pick up a random page, which was supposed to tell his future – as it was taken as the Godly sign.

“You, my son, will be given exactly the thing your heart wants! It is said here,” – she proceeded interpreting the verse from Koran. Ali’s face lit up with joy and was whole-heartedly willing to believe the words of the woman, whose reputation he initially doubted.

Standing at the foot of the table, Hannah was observing all this from the corner of her eye. She could barely restrain herself from sneering at this absurdity. “A sign from God!” – she repeated to herself with a mock, – “What is the use of all this anyway?”. Nothing in the world could make her believe in the existence of that Creature in the sky. She lost her faith in praying to the Creature “All Mighty”. It is because she kept asking, where Its might was, when she pleaded It to avert Ibrahim, as well as when she was beaten. People referred to “IT”, using the pronoun “Him” – as to a “Man”. For Hannah, this partly explained the cruelty of “the Creature” – if “IT” indeed existed.

Leila insisted on looking at Hannah’s future, too. She was keen to leant, how soon the wedding would take place and how many children Hannah would bear. Obviously, nothing else was expected from the girl’s life. The expression on the molla S face changed rapidly, when she saw the Koran page that fell out for Hannah. Her eyes widened in surprise and she sighed, as if something terrible was written there. This happened to amuse Hannah: the object of consideration burst out laughing in the face of the doom.

“Hush, hush, girl!” – said the molla in an irritated manner and after a while added: “You will be married to a man – not from this Land. He is the man from the land of the evil spirits and cold.” By “evil spirits” she meant Christians. Any other religion apart from Islam was thought to be wrong and people who were not Muslims were referred to as “filthy”. She proceeded: “ Two children of the same gender… You, my girl, should pray to God so that Shaitan did not have a chance to lead you astray. You should devote your life to religion, otherwise your life will be a contradiction to the norm!”. A mixture of surprise and alert was ringing in her voice.

These words were taken at face value by Leila. She got pale, becoming deathly white in countenance at such predictions: “What exactly does “the contradiction to the norm” mean, anyway?” Would her daughter become a social outcast? Even a thought of it made Leila feel nauseated.

For Hannah’s disbelieving ears, the words of the prophet were a feast: she rejoiced at the idea of not getting married to Ibrahim.

Leila, sheepishly looking at the molla, asked if there was anything she could do to prevent the bad things of such future; if they could somehow influence the events and make them in accordance with their plan. The molla , with a solemn expression on her face, did not give the answer immediately. She stared at the table, analyzing and calculating in her head, what could be sold to this desperate woman and what price it would be reasonable to announce.