through the crowd to get a closer position.
âI have an idea,â said Sohrab.
âThen come out with it.â
âWhatâs the point? You donât take me seriously.â
âCome on, spit it out,â I hissed, impatiently.
Sohrab scratched his head and cleared his throat. âWhat if we join the headmaster?â 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.
âYou always say such dumb things!â I fulminated. âThe headmaster is already a part of the mob, you jackass.â
We heard a loud, scratchy voice proclaim, âTear the place down!â
âGod is great!â Haj Yadollah excitedly cried.
âSo, now you call me a jackass,â 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.
âYou canât take a joke, can you?â I said amicably, holding tight to his wrist.
Then I heard the unmistakable voice of Hussein Jumbo. âWe must set fire to this corrupt, rotten joint,â he shouted loudly.
âAll it takes is a can of gasoline and a box of matches,â suggested one of the boys in the gang.
âThen what are we waiting for?â someone with a scratchy voice yelled.
Suddenly, Sohrab jerked his hand out of my grip.
âWhat the hell do you want from me?â he asked contentiously. âWhat does all this have to do with me? Whatâs in it for me, anyway?â
âYou can get her lute,â I told him, trying to be conciliatory.
âWhat good is it to me? I canât play.â
âYou can sell it. Itâs a collectorâs item, worth a lot of money.â
Several men walked out of the café, frightened at the sight of the crowd, and frenetically hurried down a dark alley. Two members of Husseinâs gang ran after them and disappeared in the darkness.
âIâll give you two tomans over and above,â I offered Sohrab.
âThatâs a deal,â 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.
âDonât you dare start a fire,â warned Haj Yadollah, waving his walking stick over his head vigorously. âSomebody stop these bastards.â He tried to push his way toward them in the middle of the crowd. Some people followed him.
âLetâs go help Haj Yadollah,â I urged Sohrab.
âBut didnât you say he was one of them?â he asked, exasperated.
I was confused, unable to think straight. Sohrab wastrying to pull me behind him by my sleeve. âLetâs move on. Letâs get going,â 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.
âItâs her,â I whispered, my heart thumping.
âWho?â asked Sohrab.
âThe mermaid!â
âWho?â
She was just as I had imagined her.
âCanât you hear?â Sohrab uttered irritably. âWho? I asked.â
The time had stopped still. I could not make a sound.
âShe is the same woman who is there every night,â 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.
âStop it,â Haj Yadollah yelled, sounding outraged.
âWe must stone her,â the man with the scratchy voice announced.
âGod is great!â 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