Free The Shipwrecked by Fereshteh Nouraie-Simone

through the crowd to get a closer position.
    â€œI have an idea,” said Sohrab.
    â€œThen come out with it.”
    â€œWhat’s the point? You don’t take me seriously.”
    â€œCome on, spit it out,” I hissed, impatiently.
    Sohrab scratched his head and cleared his throat. “What if we join the headmaster?” he mused.
    That was a stupid idea: Sohrab knew that the headmaster had lodged complaints against the café, demanding its removal from the vicinity of the school.
    â€œYou always say such dumb things!” I fulminated. “The headmaster is already a part of the mob, you jackass.”
    We heard a loud, scratchy voice proclaim, “Tear the place down!”
    â€œGod is great!” Haj Yadollah excitedly cried.
    â€œSo, now you call me a jackass,” Sohrab said plaintively.
    I almost punched his face because I felt he was trying to extricate himself from the situation. Then I would be left alone to rescue the mermaid from the vicious mob.
    â€œYou can’t take a joke, can you?” I said amicably, holding tight to his wrist.
    Then I heard the unmistakable voice of Hussein Jumbo. “We must set fire to this corrupt, rotten joint,” he shouted loudly.
    â€œAll it takes is a can of gasoline and a box of matches,” suggested one of the boys in the gang.
    â€œThen what are we waiting for?” someone with a scratchy voice yelled.
    Suddenly, Sohrab jerked his hand out of my grip.
    â€œWhat the hell do you want from me?” he asked contentiously. “What does all this have to do with me? What’s in it for me, anyway?”
    â€œYou can get her lute,” I told him, trying to be conciliatory.
    â€œWhat good is it to me? I can’t play.”
    â€œYou can sell it. It’s a collector’s item, worth a lot of money.”
    Several men walked out of the café, frightened at the sight of the crowd, and frenetically hurried down a dark alley. Two members of Hussein’s gang ran after them and disappeared in the darkness.
    â€œI’ll give you two tomans over and above,” I offered Sohrab.
    â€œThat’s a deal,” he replied.
    The gangs who had followed the customers in the alley returned carrying a container between them. The crowd parted to let them in.
    â€œDon’t you dare start a fire,” warned Haj Yadollah, waving his walking stick over his head vigorously. “Somebody stop these bastards.” He tried to push his way toward them in the middle of the crowd. Some people followed him.
    â€œLet’s go help Haj Yadollah,” I urged Sohrab.
    â€œBut didn’t you say he was one of them?” he asked, exasperated.
    I was confused, unable to think straight. Sohrab wastrying to pull me behind him by my sleeve. “Let’s move on. Let’s get going,” he insisted.
    As we pondered the idea, I noticed a hand slowly push aside the curtain on the window of the café. I watched, motionless.
    â€œIt’s her,” I whispered, my heart thumping.
    â€œWho?” asked Sohrab.
    â€œThe mermaid!”
    â€œWho?”
    She was just as I had imagined her.
    â€œCan’t you hear?” Sohrab uttered irritably. “Who? I asked.”
    The time had stopped still. I could not make a sound.
    â€œShe is the same woman who is there every night,” Sohrab speculated. He did not know what he was talking about. The woman behind the window was the mermaid herself, the one I had seen in my dreams. She wiggled like a fish and dove into the sea as I tried to embrace her.
    By now the crowd was behind us, pushing us forward. Some men started whistling.
    â€œStop it,” Haj Yadollah yelled, sounding outraged.
    â€œWe must stone her,” the man with the scratchy voice announced.
    â€œGod is great!” Haj Yadollah responded.
    The woman in the window crossed herself and let the curtain drop.
    Somebody hurled a rock at the mermaid over the doorof the café. It hit