امیرحسین - قسمت دوم

I attuned my steps with the flagstones on the street.

I was looking at the street.

As usual, I came back from school alone. This day was like the other trashy days.

Waking up in the morning, eating breakfast, going to school, pretending to listen to the teachers, scratching the corner of the book, waiting for the school bell to ring, going home and going to bed. This cycle is usually repeated every day.

I took two cigarettes I had bought in the morning out of my pocket. Luckily for me, one of them was cut in the middle. I threw it away and lit the other one with a match. I hadn’t smoked for a long time. Maybe the depression of the entrance exam made me want to do it, or maybe it was to show others that I had grown up. But I had no particular reason. Except for the nerds, almost all of our class were smokers, and smoking had become common among us, the 12th grade science class B. I finished smoking the cigarette and threw it at the rat in the gutter.

It was early November. There was a cold breeze. I zipped up my sweater.

I could no longer walk. I stood on the side of the street to take a taxi.

A white Pride pulled over next to me. I got in immediately. After greeting the driver, the driver started talking about the weather and analyzing the recent developments in Syria and Iraq.

I was lost in the driver’s analysis when I realized I had arrived. But because I was too shy to interrupt him, I had to get out of the car 200 meters past my destination. Before arriving home, I bought a pack of gum from the supermarket to get rid of the bad breath. When I reached the end of the alley, I took the cologne out of my bag and sprayed it. Then I went straight to the house, turned the key and entered. Dad was, as usual, at the carpet shop. It had only been a few years since we had been able to manage our expenses after the my dad’s clothing factory went bankrupt. Poor mom! Even though I knew she was having a rough time, she was still setting the table with a smile. When she saw me, her smile became brighter. But God knew how much sorrow she was hiding behind that smile.

“Hi Amir…Go change quickly, the food is getting cold.”

I put some fries in my mouth and answered with a full mouth.

“hey, okay. Where is Milad?”

“Where do you think? It’s been a month since he started going to your dad’s shop every day to help him.”

Milad, my older brother, has returned from military service only recently and he’s unemployed. But he still has the same happy old spirit. At least it seems that way.

Tired, I tossed my bag into a corner of the room and packed my clothes in the closet as usual. I don’t know why I always did this with a certain pleasure! Maybe I was obsessed with clothes. Mother always said: “if one day I had a stroke, Amir would first go and put on a suit and tie and then take me to the hospital.” Then she would laugh out loud.

Before doing anything, I rushed to the table and started eating. This year was my entrance exam year. I had to study. And I did more or less, but most of the time I just pretended to study so that my parents wouldn’t be too worried. At least when I couldn’t solve any of their problems, I could try not to add a new one.

After lunch, I laid down on the bed tired and closed my eyes. I was just falling asleep when I got a text.

It was Ali that said:

“Amirhossein, come to Afra today at 5, gotta tell you sth»

Although I really wanted to hug my pillow and sleep for a whole year, I was also tired of all these walls!

I got out of bed and went straight to my closet. Slowly and patiently, I put on my clothes and fixed my hair. I looked out the window of my room. The weather was so gloomy. I loved autumn. Because to me, everything about it was different from other seasons. Not that I want to fall in love and watch the leaves falling down and write poetry. No! Not my cup of tea. I loved autumn because I felt I could change myself in harmony with the slow pace of the season changing,

or at least I could try.

I came out of my room. My mom was washing the dishes.

“Mom, I’m going to class”

Mom replied in surprise:

“You didn’t have a class today!”

I hesitated a bit to answer.

“Yes, but Mr. Khakpour is holding a makeup class today.”

“I don’t know. be careful”.

“Okay”.

I had to lie. Because if I said I was going to a café, my mom would say all my future bad grades are the result of this day. I got out of the house. I played a slow song that fitted the mood and listened with my earphones.

The distance from our house to Afra café was not long. That’s why I walked there. On the way, I bought four cigarettes from a street vendor and immediately lit one.

When I finished smoking, it suddenly rained heavily. The passers-by were all trying to find shelter. I continued walking ignoring the rain wetting my clothes. I loved rain. Because my mom said I was born on a rainy day. I had almost come to the conclusion that good things happen to me on rainy days.

I arrived in front of Afra Cafe and entered.

The combination of yellow light lamps with the wooden wall and aesthetic photos on the wall gave a good feeling. “Sir, unfortunately, we have no vacant seats” said the waiter.

“But my friend is waiting for me here,” I replied confidently.

“Which table are they sitting at?”

I distanced myself a little from the waiter. I looked for Ali. He hadn’t come again! History had never shown Ali Talebi to arrive on time! I wanted to go back to tell the waiter that my friend had not arrived, when suddenly my hand hit the table behind me and then I only heard the sound of a cup breaking.

The girl sitting at that table said:

“Are you blind? Is your head in the clouds?…”

And so she continued nagging me. She looked very angry.

I took a look at the girl from head to toe in surprise. She didn’t have any makeup on her face and was wearing her outfit inside out. I laughed. I’m no psychologist, but it was clear from the way she talked that she was upset and was looking for a punching bag to take it out on.

I interrupted her:

“And World War II is my fault, too, right?” »

The stunned waiter was looking at us. I had two options. Either I had to wait for Ali under the pouring rain or I had to be this girl’s punching bag! I had to do something.

I pulled the waiter aside and said softly:

“She is my friend…” »

He said with surprise:

“Are you sure? Because… »

I interrupted him:

“Yes… She is just a little edgy and nuts. If you don’t believe me, take a look at her outfit!”

The waiter glanced at the girl and laughed.

“God help you, bro”

I gave him a forced laugh and went back to the girl’s table.

“Excuse me, miss, I’ll order some tea for you again.”

“I’m…”

I interrupted her and said:

“No! Don’t even mention it”.

I went to the waiter and ordered two cups of tea.

When I returned to the girl, I saw that she was looking at me.

“Excuse me, miss. Not to be rude…Can I join you if it’s no bother? Because I’m supposed to meet my friend, but he hasn’t come yet. And this café doesn’t have an empty tables. And you see the weather outside!”

The girl glanced at me from head to toe and glanced out and said:

“Mr. …?”

“Amirhossein!”

“Yes…Of course! Have a seat, Mr. Amirhossein»

I sat on the chair in front of her. Meanwhile, the waiter brought the tea.

“May I ask your name?”

She thought for a moment and said:

“I’m Parya!”

“Nice to meet you!”

When I said that, Parya laughed and said:

“Nice to meet you, too, but I’ve met you before!”

“Sorry, I don’t understand what you mean”

“I saw you on the street today”

I asked her curiously:

“Really?”

She looked at her watch and after thinking for a while said:

“Yes…I mean no!…Excuse me, I have to go, thank you for the tea.”

She picked up her bag from the table and got up.

“But…”

Parya stood up and looked at me. I couldn’t finish my sentence. Sometimes finishing a sentence is as hard as writing a book. I looked at the table and said with a laugh: “Let go of the world, tea is getting cold.”

I thought to myself: “what the hell are you saying, boy;” when Parya looked at me strangely and then we both laughed.

“Alright. I think I still have time.”

I don’t know why, but I got a little happy.

It was not long after I got happy that we heard the sound of the door opening and I saw Ali coming. This was not the time. I couldn’t interrupt the taxi driver, how could I leave now when I had just persuaded Parya to stay? It would be very rude. I put my phone on silent mode. I huddled myself up a little and tried to hide my face with my right hand. The waiter stopped Ali and repeated what he had said to me. Ali went out of the café. I peeked out of the window. He looked like a seal under the rain. He took his phone out of his pocket and called me. I put my phone face down and said to Parya who was drowning in her thoughts: “You said you know me?”

She looked at me from head to toe and said:

“Today I saw you throw your cigarette at a rat in the gutter when I was waiting at the red light.”

I laughed and said:

“So there is someone else besides God who is watching over my deeds, i guess.”

She scoffed and said, “It was by accident! What do they say? It was destiny and all that stuff. Isn’t your friend late?”

I answered her jokingly.

“Thank you, so you mean I should be going?”

Parya curled up in her chair.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude”

“I know, I was just kidding”

I took a sip of tea. I was looking out of the window at the rainstorm when my eyes fell on Ali. He looked very angry. I picked up my phone. I had 12 missed calls from him. I didn’t dare to face him today. I texted him and made an excuse, telling him that I couldn’t come. Maybe he was upset now, but tomorrow I would definitely make it up to him.

There was a long silence between us. It was clear from the way she looked and was shaking her legs that her mind was busy with thoughts. I tried to change the mood a little: “Why do you wanna fight with everyone?”

She looked at me tensely. I was expecting at least a little smile on her face. I thought she’d pick up the cup at smash it on my head. She finally answered.