by Anne Tyler
Well, I'm an old fool, Lou was saying cheerfully. I poked my mike at somebody who turned out to be a stranger. I took him for one of the neighbors or some such. But he was mighty nice about it. Said, 'Regretfully, I don't have the pleasure of knowing these people but I certainly wish them the best and I think they're very lucky to have such a beautiful baby.' Of course I could always erase him, but I'm thinking I might leave him in.
Definitely leave him in! Bitsy said. Is he still here? We should invite him back to the house! She hoisted Xiu-Mei higher on her shoulder and turned to Dave. Dad, will you be riding with us? Can you fit between the two car seats?
I don't see as I'll need to try, he told her. I'll just hitch a ride with...
He turned to look for Abe or Mac and found himself face-to-face with Maryam. She said, Certainly. I can take you.
Before he could explain, Bitsy said, Great! Thanks, Maryam. And thanks for coming to welcome Xiu-Mei.
I wouldn't have missed it, Maryam said, but in that idle, floating tone that always made Dave wonder if something had struck her as humorous.
Everyone headed for the parking lot carrying pieces of luggage, Dave in front so he could show where he'd left the car. Jin-Ho protested when he tried to stash her present in the trunk. I have to give that to Xiu-Mei! she said. She can open it while we're riding.
Okay, sweetheart, he said. See you in a few minutes.
He handed Brad the keys and then set off with Maryam to where she had parked her own car, one more level up. The garage felt colder than outside, bone-chillingly cold, and both of them walked quickly, the sound of their footsteps almost metallic against the concrete floor.
Isn't it odd, Maryam said. Just like that, a completely unknown person is a part of their family forever. Well, of course that's true of a birth child, too, but ... I don't know, this seems more astonishing.
To me, both are astonishing, Dave said. I remember before Bitsy was born, I used to worry she might not be compatible with the two of us. I told Connie, 'Look at how long we took deciding whom we'd marry, but this baby's waltzing in out of nowhere, not so much as a background check or a personality quiz. What if it turns out we don't have any shared interests?'
Maryam laughed and wrapped her coat more closely around her.
They didn't speak again until they were in her car, merging onto the highway with the ticket booth behind them. Then Dave said, How about Sami and Ziba? Think they'll adopt another?
I suspect they feel that one child is all they can afford, Maryam told him. What with the cost of private schools these days.
They don't believe in supporting public education?
She sent him a sideways glance but said nothing; merely drove for several minutes in silence. Her profile, edged in silver by the passing headlights, seemed icy and austere, the long slant of her nose impossibly straight.
Although I guess that's a very personal decision, he said finally. She said, Yes.
He felt a surge of rebelliousness. What right did this woman have to act so superior? He said, You know, it wouldn't do you any harm to indulge in a little to-and-fro discussion.
She sent him an even briefer glance and went back to watching the road.
You could tell me, for instance, that the Baltimore public schools are abysmal. I could say, well, yes, but if the parents got involved I still had some hope we could change things. Then you could say you didn't want to sacrifice your granddaughter's future for a mere hope. I could handle that! I wouldn't fall apart!
Still she didn't speak, but she seemed to be fighting back a smile.
You act as if you think you're so right that you don't need to bother arguing, he said.
She said, I do? and now she gave him a full-on stare of surprise.
It's as if you think, Oh, these cloddish Americans, what do they know about anything?
I don't think any such thing!
It's harder than you realize, being American, he told her. Don't suppose we aren't aware how we appear to the rest of the world. Times I used to travel abroad, I'd see those tour groups of my countrymen and flinch, even though I knew I looked pretty much the same. That's the hell of it: we're all lumped in together. We're all on this same big ship, so to speak, and wherever the ship goes I have to go, even if it's behaving like some ... grade-school bully. It's not as if I can just jump overboard, you know!
Whereas we Iranians, on the other hand, Maryam said wryly, are invariably perceived as our unique and separate selves.
He said, Well. He felt slightly foolish. He knew he had overreacted.
Did you see how people edged away from Sami and Ziba and me at the airport tonight? No, probably you didn't. You wouldn't even have noticed. But that's what it's been like ever since September eleventh. Oh, she said, sometimes I get so tired of being foreign I want to lie down and die. It's a lot of work, being foreign.
Work?
A lot of work and effort, and still we never quite manage to fit in. Susan said this past Christmas, she rode home with me after school one day and she said, 'I wish we could celebrate Christmas the way other people do. I don't like being different,' she said. It broke my heart to hear that.
Well ... , Dave said. He spoke cautiously, not wanting to call forth another of Maryam's looks. Um, maybe you could let her have a little tiny Christmas tree. Would that be a problem?
She did have a tree, Maryam said. They were entering the city now and she glanced into her side-view mirror, checking for a chance to switch lanes. She had a huge tree. That much we could do for her.
Then ... I don't know, decorations? A wreath, a string of lights?
Of course. Also mistletoe.
Ah. And ... would it go against your beliefs to give her a few small presents?
She received dozens of presents. And gave them.
She did, he said. He was quiet for a moment. A stocking, maybe, he said at last. Did she hang a stocking?
Oh, yes.
And how about the caroling? I mean, not the more religious carols, of course, but maybe 'Jingle Bells' and 'Good King Wenceslas,' and, let's see, 'I Saw Three Ships ...'
She went caroling with the next-door neighbors. They walked up and down her street singing every single carol there is, baby Jesus and all.
Well, then, he said. I'm not quite sure But in the car that day she told me, 'It's not the same. It doesn't feel the same. It's not like a real Christmas.'
He started laughing.
Oh, for goodness' sake, he said. You're talking about every child in this country!
She braked for a light and looked over at him.
He said, You don't think that's what all of them say? They say, 'Other families celebrate better; on TV it seems much better; in my mind it was going to be better.' That's just Christmas! That's how it works! They have these idealized expectations.
She did seem to get his point, he saw. Something seemed to clear in her forehead.
The kid's one hundred percent American, he said.
She smiled and started driving again.
For the rest of the way they rode in a silence that Dave didn't try to break, because she seemed deep in thought. At red lights she tapped a fingernail against the steering wheel as if keeping time with some private dialogue, and as she slowed in front of Brad and Bitsy's house she said, You're right, of course.
I am?
I am far too sensitive about my foreignness.
What? Wait. That's not what I said.
But she nodded slowly. I make too much of it, she said. She had brought the car to a stop now but she left the engine running; so he gathered she would not be coming in. She stayed facing forward, gazing out the windshield. One could even call it self-pity, she said. A trait that I despise.
I would never say that! You don't have an ounce of self-pity.
No, you see, she said, you can get in a, what would you call it, a mind-set about these things. You can start to believe that your life is defined by your foreignness. You think everything would be different
if only you belonged. 'If only I were back home,' you say, and you forget that you wouldn't belong there either, after all these years. It wouldn't be home at all anymore.
Her words struck Dave as profoundly sad, but her voice was cool and her profile remained impassive. A yellow glow kept flickering across her face as guests passed between the car and the front-walkway lamp.
Dave said, Maryam.
She turned and observed him from a distance, it seemed, her expression friendly but contemplative.
You belong, he told her. You belong just as much as I do, or, who, or Bitsy or ... It's just like Christmas. We all think the others belong more.
At least she seemed to be listening to him. She cocked her head and kept her eyes on his. He felt self-conscious, all at once. He hadn't meant to sound so solemn. Anyhow, he said in a lighter tone. Aren't you coming inside?
She said, Oh .. .
Please, he said, and he reached for the ignition key and turned off the engine. She didn't object. Come in, he told her, and he gave her the key. And then it seemed that the words began to mean something more, and he said, Come in, Maryam. Come inside, and her fingers closed not just around the key but around his fingers too, and they sat there clasping hands and looking at each other soberly.
Well. Ziba didn't know what to think. People kept asking her questions the women, mostly. Her mother and her sisters-in-law and Siroos's wife, Nahid. Is Maryam ... is she ... ? Could there be some special reason she is always with that Bitsy person's father?
She showed up with him at the Hakimis' New Year's party in March the real one, the completely Iranian one that Ziba's parents gave every year at a big hotel in Washington. Ordinarily she would not have attended. Khanom thinks she's too high-class for our simple family gathering, the relatives liked to tell each other, although in fact there was nothing simple about it, which was probably why Maryam had always before sent her regrets. It was very, very dressy, very musical and loud, and it lasted far into the night. But this year, there she was, in a long black silk caftan trimmed with gold embroidery, her chignon of pure black hair pulled back tight and sleek, her face a perfect, stunning oval perfectly made up, and Dave Dickinson stood next to her in a baggy gray suit and blue shirt and striped tie, perhaps the first tie Ziba had seen him in outside of his wife's funeral. He was almost the only American present. Oh, a few of the young male cousins had married blondes there was no getting past that Iranian thing about blondes but still the man was noticeable for his pale-skinned, faded appearance. Not that it seemed to bother him. He was looking all around with an expression of open joy, taking in the elaborate decorations and the musicians with their santours and tambours and the dressed-up children running wild among the grownups. When he saw the array of foods, he pressed his huge hands together as if he could barely contain his happiness. This made some of the other guests laugh, and Ziba felt almost sorry for him although he himself seemed unaware.
She had known he would be coming, but only because her parents had told her at the last minute. Maryam herself had said nothing. Did she say anything to you? Ziba asked Sami, and Sami shook his head. This was before the party began, even, but still it came as a shock to find Dave in the midst of the swirling crowd an hour or so later. He stood beneath a high marble arch, next to a fluted column. There were not two inches of space between him and Maryam. Ziba paid close attention to that. (Everybody did.) All evening he stuck to Maryam like a shadow, although he never actually touched her. Maryam, for her part, seemed merely his acquaintance. She didn't set a hand on his when she spoke to him; she didn't take his arm as they moved toward Sami and Ziba to say hello. It was early in the relationship, then: a first or second date. Or maybe not a date at all; maybe a cultural expedition born of Dave's curiosity. Or a convenience for Maryam, who felt uncomfortable driving at night. (But in that case, why not just ride over with Sami and Ziba?)
Ziba telephoned Bitsy the very first thing the next day. Bitsy said he hadn't breathed a word to her.
In April, at Maryam's own New Year's party that she had put on every spring since the girls' arrival, Dave was already settled in when Sami and Ziba got there. And they got there early. As usual, they came to help out ahead of time, not that Maryam ever left the slightest detail unseen-to. It was Dave who offered them drinks, Dave who went to answer when Ziba's parents rang the doorbell. Although again, he and Maryam stayed physically quite separate, and he complimented her food as any casual guest might wanting to know the name of a spice and appearing to have no previous, inside knowledge of her menu.
Bitsy, when she and Brad showed up, said, Oh, there you are, Dad! We've been phoning you all morning to see if you'd like a ride.
All morning? Ziba thought. Exactly how long had he been here?
Ziba's mother told her later that she should come right out and ask Maryam what was going on. She's your mother-in-law! she said on the phone. You see her almost daily! Ask, 'Should we be buying our wedding clothes?'
Ask Khanom? Ziba said.
As a rule, Ziba objected when her family called Maryam Khanom behind her back. Madame was all it meant, but in their particular tone it might as well have been Her Highness. Ziba pretended to disapprove. She never let on how intimidating she had always found Maryam. Really you just have to get to know her, she often told them, and she hoped with all her heart that someday that would be true. Now, though, she admitted it: I wouldn't have the nerve to ask her!
Her mother said, Well, Sami, then. Surely she would tell Sami.
Sami said he didn't mind asking in the least. But he waited till the next time he saw Maryam in person, Ziba noticed. He didn't just pick up the phone and address the subject head on. (Which Ziba refrained from pointing out. There was a certain delicacy between them, a certain gloved and tentative quality, when it came to discussing his mother.) The next Sunday afternoon, when they stopped by Maryam's house to drop off Susan on their way to a movie, Sami said, What: no Dave? Seems to me Dave is everywhere I look these days.
No Dave, Maryam said serenely. Susan, come look at my garden with me! I need to decide what flowers to plant.
Butter would not have melted in the canary's mouth; wasn't that the saying?
And if they are a couple, Ziba ventured to ask Sami once they were back in the car, how would you feel about that? Would you feel I'd feel fine, Sami said.
Because I know it might seem strange to you, seeing your mother with somebody new.
I would wish her every happiness. She deserves it, after all. It's not as if my father was an easy man to live with.
He wasn't? Ziba said.
Oh, no. He slowed for an intersection.
You never told me that.
Oh, he was very moody. Very up-and-down, Sami said. You just couldn't predict, with him. When I was a kid I'd check his face every morning to see if it was going to be a good day or a bad day.
That's not the way your mother talks about him at all!
On good days he was quite friendly asking about my schoolwork, offering to help with my projects. On bad days, he just ... sank in on himself. He went all morose and dissatisfied; he demanded constant attendance. 'Maryam, where's my this?' and 'Maryam, where's my that?' Had to have his special tea and his English digestive biscuits. Demanding. A very demanding man. I always wished Mom would stand up to him more.
Ziba said, Really.
She wondered how it was that Sami hadn't mentioned this till now. Men! she thought. And then she felt a flood of appreciation for all the ways that he was different from his father. There was nobody steadier, more even-tempered and amiable than Sami, and he was so conscientious about helping with the housework and the child care. The women in her family marveled at that. She moved over as close as her seatbelt allowed and laid her head briefly on his shoulder. That must have been hard for you, too, she told him.
But he said, Oh, it wasn't too bad, and then, What time did you say this movie starts?
Men.
In May a new contraption appeared in M
aryam's kitchen: an electric kettle with a teapot that matched it exactly both a modernistic brushed steel, the teapot's base the very same circumference as the kettle's top. No longer did she have to balance the one tipsily on the other. Oh! Where did that come from? Ziba asked.
From that import shop in Rockville, Maryam said.
You went to Rockville by yourself?
Bitsy's father drove me.
Ah.
Ziba waited. Maryam measured out tea leaves.
I thought you liked your Thousand Faces teapot from Japan, Ziba said finally.
Well, I did, Maryam said. But this is nice, too. And besides ... it was a gift.
Ah, Ziba said again.
Maryam had her back turned, so Ziba couldn't see her expression.
It was a favorite subject now any time Ziba and Bitsy got together. What was happening? they asked each other. And why bother keeping it secret? Didn't Maryam and Dave realize that everyone in both families would be thrilled to see them dating? They cataloged the few clues they'd gathered: Maryam was less often available for babysitting duty; Dave had been caught playing an LP record of Iranian music sung by a woman named Shusha. Shusha! Ziba said. Maryam's favorite singer! And Maryam is the only person I know who still doesn't own a CD player.
Although she did own an answering machine now. After all the times that Sami and Ziba had urged her to get one! But she didn't seem to know how to work it. Her outgoing announcement kept reverting, for some reason, to the generic greeting provided by the factory Please ... leave ... a ... message in a robot-like male voice without intonation. And then, mysteriously, a new announcement of her own would take its place, even though she had claimed to need Sami's help to record it. He would show up as requested and she would say, vaguely, Oh, it's back to normal again, I believe. But thanks. As if the new announcement had installed itself by magic, while she was looking elsewhere.
