by Ayad Akhtar
ZARINA: Yeah…
MAHWISH: I thought I was going to marry the Prophet. I know it’s deranged. But that’s how kids are. Things don’t have to make sense, right?
’Cause Mom told me—I was like seven—that the Prophet met Aisha when she was nine, and she ended up becoming his favorite wife. So I got it in my head that when I was nine, I was going to become the Prophet’s favorite wife, too…
You know what happened when I turned nine?
I met Haroon. That’s when Yasmin chachi moved from Pakistan to South Carolina. That’s when he and I first met.
That was the sign.
He was wearing that white turtleneck and those Levi’s. You remember that?
ZARINA: I don’t.
MAHWISH: He was seriously cute.
ZARINA: Yes he was.
Beat.
MAHWISH: I mean he still is.
(Off Zarina’s silence)
Because if it wasn’t meant to be, then everything in between has just been wasted time…
(Pause)
Zarina, I can’t stop wondering what Mom would think of me.
Mahwish’s phone sounds with a text.
ZARINA: That him?
MAHWISH: Dad. He wants me to come over.
ZARINA: For what?
MAHWISH: I don’t know.
Right now, it’s not really a betrayal, right? It’s just a lark.
ZARINA: I can tell you saw him just from your vocabulary.
MAHWISH: I mean it’s not as bad as it would be…
ZARINA: If?
MAHWISH: I do it again.
ZARINA: I say, do what you want.
MAHWISH: What if I don’t know what I want?
Beat.
ZARINA: When you think of Haroon… what do you think of?
MAHWISH: He’s my husband.
ZARINA: But what is it about him?
MAHWISH: Oh. He’s smart.
ZARINA: Yeah.
MAHWISH: And funny.
ZARINA: Mmm…
MAHWISH: No, he is. He’s different around you. You intimidate him.
ZARINA: Okay.
(Beat)
What else?
MAHWISH: He never does any dishes… but he always buys me Pinkberry.
ZARINA: Okay.
MAHWISH: And he’s got such a great job.
ZARINA: Okay…
So if you take away all those things…
MAHWISH: Yeah?
ZARINA: And if you think of him. Of who he is. Just him.
MAHWISH: Yeah.
ZARINA: Not what you can say about him.
MAHWISH: Uh-huh.
ZARINA: How do you feel then?
MAHWISH: Feel?
ZARINA: Yeah.
Pause. Mahwish shrugs.
MAHWISH: I…
ZARINA: Just try.
Mahwish closes her eyes.
Beat.
They open, with a sudden thought.
ZARINA (CONT’D): Yeah?
MAHWISH (Realizing): Mad. I feel mad.
ZARINA: Maybe that’s why you ended up at Manuel’s place.
Just as we hear sounds offstage.
And Eli enters with his bag…
ELI: Hey.
ZARINA: Hey.
Eli comes over to kiss Zarina. She offers her cheek.
ELI: Hey, Mahwish.
MAHWISH(Gathering her things): Hey, Eli.
(To Zarina)
I’m heading off…
ZARINA: Home?
MAHWISH: Stop by Dad’s first.
ELI: Well, the kitchen sink’s working now…
MAHWISH: Didn’t know it wasn’t before.
ZARINA: What was wrong with the sink?
ELI: Just a clog. Nothing serious.
MAHWISH (To Zarina): I bet Dad clogged it just so he would come by and fix it.
ELI: Huh.
ZARINA: He was always disappointed he never had sons.
MAHWISH: Well, he’s got one now! Bye.
Mahwish exits.
ZARINA: How’s Dad?
ELI: He tried to give me money again.
ZARINA: Get used to it, honey. He makes money. He gives it away. That’s the meaning of his life.
ELI: Certain elegance to it.
ZARINA: Absolutely.
(Beat)
So?
ELI: What?
ZARINA: How much?
ELI: Zarina. I didn’t take it.
ZARINA: Why not?
ELI: It makes me uncomfortable.
ZARINA: Why?
ELI: I feel like it diminishes me.
Eli considers her for a long moment.
ZARINA: Okay. I’m sorry I was such a pain this morning.
ELI: It’s fine.
ZARINA: No, it’s not. You were just being honest. I was making it difficult for you to do what I asked you to do.
(Beat)
If you can’t take me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best. Right?
ELI: Why are you quoting Marilyn Monroe?
Beat.
ZARINA: What’s wrong?
Pause.
ELI: Mahwish was sure in a hurry. Everything okay?
ZARINA: I probably shouldn’t say anything.
ELI: About what?
Zarina hesitates.
ELI (CONT’D): Fine, don’t tell me.
ZARINA: Okay…
There was this GRE instructor she had a crush on. I told her to get it out of her system before she got married.
ZARINA (CONT’D): She went to the coffee shop where he hangs out and ended up back at his place. They kissed.
ELI: So she liked this guy more than Haroon, but she married Haroon anyway.
ZARINA: I mean, it was a crush—
ELI: She gonna have an affair with this GRE instructor?
ZARINA: It wouldn’t be the worst thing. She’s not happy.
ELI: That seems incredibly destructive.
ZARINA: It’s better than sitting around for years wondering what it would have been like…
Words that land hard on Eli.
ELI: Right.
(Beat)
Is there a reason you never told me about what happened with Ryan?
(Off Zarina’s silence)
Your father mentioned it. He assumed I knew what he was talking about.
ZARINA: What did he say?
ELI: You wanted to get married.
(Off Zarina’s silence)
Zarina.
ZARINA: Yes.
ELI: Why didn’t you tell me?
(Off Zarina’s silence)
Are you still in love with him?
ZARINA: It’s over.
ELI: So why didn’t you tell me?
(Silence)
Do you still have feelings for him?
ZARINA: Eli…
ELI: You do.
ZARINA: Stop it.
ELI: God. I’m an idiot.
ZARINA: Why are you saying that?
ELI: I wake up every morning and I feel so lucky to be with you.
ZARINA: I feel the same.
ELI: It’s not the same. If it wasn’t for your dad, you wouldn’t be with me. You’d be married to somebody else!
ZARINA: But I’m not. I’m with you.
Pause. Eli roils inwardly.
ELI: At the Nikah ceremony—I had this moment—we were signing the certificate—I saw you… Some part of you wasn’t mine. But I thought it would be. Someday. With time. I just didn’t realize it was because you were in love with some other guy—
ZARINA: I’m not—
ELI: Why don’t I believe you?
ZARINA: I don’t know who Ryan is anymore! He’s just an idea in my head! It’s not about me being in love.
Dad made me end it. And I did. Just like that. I wouldn’t talk to Ryan. I never saw him again. I shut the whole thing off. Shut myself off.
ELI: Are you with me to make your dad happy?
ZARINA: Of course not.
ELI: Are you in love with me?
ZARINA: When we met, all I had was that book. After Mom died, after Ryan, that book was it. You know what changed? You came into my life. You are what changed it. I thought: Here’s somebody I can actually be with.
ELI: Be with?
ZARINA: Eli, stop it.
ELI: I can’t believe this is happening…
ZARINA: You were right. You just needed to give me time. That’s all I need. Time.
ELI: I can’t… I need to…
Eli picks up the bag and starts to exit.
ZARINA: Where are you going?
ELI (Noticing something in his bag): Unbelievable.
(Pulling the envelope of cash)
I wouldn’t take it, so he just stuffs it into my bag.
(Searching through the bag)
Wait a second.
ZARINA: What?
ELI: Your manuscript.
(Still searching through the bag)
I had it with me when I left the masjid. But it’s not…
ZARINA: What?
ELI: Your dad…
Zarina and Eli share a worried look.
Act Two: Scene Four
Afzal’s kitchen.
Mahwish stands across from her father, Zarina’s manuscript open before her.
She is reading aloud.
MAHWISH: Do I still treat him like a boy? he wonders as he pushes open the door to the courtyard. Is that the cause of his strife with Zaynab? I know her feelings for me; I know my own for her. He stops. It is wrong for you to want her like this. There is something wrong with you.
AFZAL (Underneath): Tauba, Allah, Tauba…
MAHWISH (Continuing without interruption): Approaching the door, he hears something inside. “Zayd?” he calls out to his son. There is no answer. He knocks. The door yawns open. There is Zaynab. Scurrying through the room, undressed.
Mahwish stops. Looks up at her father, alarmed. Then goes on, suspiciously.
MAHWISH (CONT’D): “Come in, Father,” she says. He has no words to reply. His stomach hurts with the pain of not having her. Through the window, he sees her, her breasts, full and startling…
(Stopping)
Oh my God.
MAHWISH (CONT’D): Dad. What is she thinking?
AFZAL: She’s not thinking. I’ve been too soft on that girl. Letting her pine away in that ivory tower.
Mahwish puts down the manuscript.
As if it were something unholy.
AFZAL (CONT’D): What did you know about this?
MAHWISH: Nothing.
AFZAL: You knew nothing?
MAHWISH: Dad. Of course not.
AFZAL: You mean to tell me you never asked her…?
MAHWISH: I did. She never wanted to say much.
AFZAL: Now we know why.
Beat.
MAHWISH: The most I ever got from her was that it was gender politics.
AFZAL: Gender politics?
MAHWISH: Relationships between men and women.
AFZAL: What does that have to do with politics?
MAHWISH: It’s just a term, Dad.
AFZAL: It was something to do with politics?
MAHWISH: No, it’s not—
AFZAL: You should have told me. I’m your father.
MAHWISH: I’m sorry.
AFZAL: You never told me your sister was sex-crazed.
MAHWISH: I mean… she’s not.
AFZAL: Then why is she writing these things? Hmm?
MAHWISH: I don’t know. We have to talk to her.
AFZAL (Over): It’s unacceptable! Completely unacceptable! I won’t stand for it!
MAHWISH: Calm down, I’m sure she’ll—
AFZAL: In Pakistan? She would be killed for this. Killed. If anybody gets their hands on this, God forbid…
(Getting emotional)
If anything happened to her, to either of you…
MAHWISH: Dad. Stop it. It’ll be fine.
AFZAL: How do I know that?
MAHWISH: Nothing’s gonna happen.
AFZAL: How do you know that?! Can you promise me that? Can you? Hmm?
All at once, Afzal looks as though he’s on the verge of a panic attack.
Mahwish goes to him.
Just then, we hear sounds offstage.
Zarina and Eli appear.
MAHWISH: Zarina, you have to talk to him—
ELI: I think I may have left something—
AFZAL: You didn’t leave anything. I took it.
ELI: You went into my bag…?
MAHWISH: Have you read this?
ELI: Yes I have.
AFZAL: You know about this and you carry it around in your bag? What kind of man are you? What kind of Muslim? You know about it and you do nothing to stop her?
ZARINA: Stop me?
AFZAL: What is wrong with you, man?
ZARINA: There’s nothing wrong with him.
AFZAL: For God’s sake, Zarina!
(Taking up the manuscript)
This? About the Prophet?! Have you lost your mind?
It’s clear Afzal’s anger is having an effect on his daughter.
ZARINA: Have you even read it, Dad?
Afzal stares at her for a long beat, then looks down at the manuscript and turns a few pages. He begins to read aloud now, his quiet voice trembling with anger.
MAHWISH: Dad, please don’t.
AFZAL: She lowers her head to offer her bare neck.
MAHWISH: Zarina, get him to stop!
AFZAL: She leans against the wall as he leans against her. He grows against her body—
MAHWISH (Over): Stop!
AFZAL: —kissing her skin. She closes her eyes and moans, pushing into him, her neck against his mouth. His hands cup her breasts.
MAHWISH (Over): Dad, stop reading!
AFZAL (Throwing the manuscript at Zarina): This is the Prophet!—peace be upon him—What did I do to deserve this!?
ZARINA: Dad, you can’t just read a few sentences and think you know what it’s about.
MAHWISH (Coming in): What’s it about, Zarina?
AFZAL: I don’t care what it’s about!
MAHWISH (Emphatic): No! What’s it about?!
AFZAL (To Zarina): And for your information, I read more than a few sentences. God being a woman? God having breasts?
ZARINA: That’s not what’s in—
AFZAL: It is. I read it.
ELI: It’s a metaphor, sir.
AFZAL: I don’t care what it is! God does not have breasts!
ELI: I’m just trying to help.
AFZAL: Nobody asked you.
ZARINA: It’s about the Prophet, Dad. And the Quran. And how what we think we know about those things is not real. Not human.
AFZAL: What nonsense are you talking…
MAHWISH: Dad. Let her speak.
ZARINA: I’m telling the story of when he married Zaynab bint Jahsh. She is the reason for the revelation of the veil.
MAHWISH: The veil?!
ZARINA: We don’t understand so many things about our own history and traditions.
AFZAL: Where your mother came from, I don’t even want to tell you what they would do to you.
ZARINA: This is not Frontier Province, Dad.
AFZAL: If anyone sees this, you will never be able to go to Pakistan. We will never be able to go to Pakistan. Never again.
ZARINA: That’s what you care about?
AFZAL (Yelling): That’s not what I care about! You are what I care about! You think they can’t hurt you here? Hmm?
ZARINA: Then so be it.
MAHWISH: What are you talking about?
ZARINA: We can’t keep not saying things because we’re afraid of what somebody’s going to do.
Beat.
AFZAL: Behti, are you so unhappy that you don’t care what happens to you?
ZARINA: You know what you said to me the night I told you I wanted to marry Ryan? You told me a story about the Prophet’s daughter—
AFZAL: I know what I said, for God’s sake!<
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ZARINA:—about how she gave up the man she loved because he wouldn’t become a Muslim. Do you remember?
AFZAL: Just let it go!
ZARINA: You said the Prophet’s daughter had done it and so should I.
AFZAL: Would you forget it!
ZARINA: The story you told me wasn’t even right, Dad!
AFZAL: I don’t know what you think—
ZARINA: You didn’t even have the story right!
AFZAL: So what’s the story? This pornography about the Prophet?!
ZARINA: Dad—
ELI: It’s not pornography, sir.
AFZAL: Shut your bloody mouth!
ELI: I’ll shut my mouth when you calm down, Afzal—
AFZAL (To Eli): Call yourself an Imam. What kind of Imam doesn’t care about his wife writing such things about the Prophet?!
ELI: I’ve got a congregation I have to worry about.
AFZAL (To Eli): Bloody fake is what you are!
ZARINA: What you did with that story is what we do. Distort these tales. It’s what we’ve done with the veil for a thousand years.
