The Story of Nargess
Nargess, her mother, and her sister used to work at my parents’ home, though not at the same time. First, the mother worked, then Nargess took over. When Nargess got married, her sister, Robabeh, took over.
The time came for Nargess to marry. A neighbor approached Maryam, the mother, with the suggestion of a young man who was a hard worker. He was pleasant and good-looking. He had worked as a gardener for quite a few years at a private home. The proposition appealed to Maryam. Her husband had passed away a while ago. Her relatives lived in a village a distance away. It was difficult looking after her daughters without the help of her late husband, even though they both were working now. Having her daughters married was a much better idea. Soon Nargess got married. Very soon afterward, she was with child. She delivered a beautiful baby girl. That’s when she discovered her husband had a roving eye. He was most displeased that she gave birth to a daughter; he had wanted a son. In the Muslim religion, a man could have more than one wife. The idea appealed to him, but he did not reckon on Nargess. She adamantly refused the suggestion of him taking another wife. No matter how much he cajoled her, she did not accept to be part of his plan. They argued endlessly about that.
One day, she needed to run a quick errand. Since her husband was home, she asked him to keep an eye on the baby. He agreed. She was gone for about a half hour. When she returned, both her husband and the baby were gone. She could not imagine where they had gone. She waited and waited, but he did not show up. She was becoming quite anxious. Just after dusk, he finally showed up. He was alone. The baby was not with him! There was a strong smell of alcohol on his breath.
“Where’s the baby?” she demanded. A strong sense of panic rose up within her.
He gave her a look of triumph. “You are a bad wife. Since you refused to allow me another wife, I got rid of the daughter you produced for me! You knew I wanted a son! You will never find her!” he sneered drunkenly.
Nargess felt as if she was living in a horrible nightmare. Everything in front of her eyes seemed to turn red! She rushed at him and clawed at his face! “What have you done to my baby, you monster?” she screamed hysterically. “What have you done?” she sobbed desperately.
In retaliation, he began hitting and kicking her over and over and over again in fury. He picked her up and flung her against the wall repeatedly. Her sobs of despair turned into cries of pain. The neighbors rushed into the room in which they lived. The men tried to pull him off her. They finally succeeded in disengaging her from his brutal attack.
Raging in an uncontrollable anger, he looked about him. In the Muslim religion, a man can divorce his wife if he repeats the phrase, “I divorce you!” three times in front of several male witnesses. He had more than enough witnesses. As the women led poor Nargess out of her home, he bellowed that phrase along with some degrading profanities.
That night, Nargess slept in the corner of one of her neighbor’s rooms, if you can call it that. Her body was badly bruised. She had a black eye. There was a bloody gash on the back of her head. She was in shock and despair at the loss of her infant daughter. She breathed in gasps and sobs, enduring emotional and physical pain all night long.
The next morning, when she heard her now ex-husband leave, she quietly slipped into the room which she had called home until the night before. She gathered her meager belongings and those of her baby. As tears silently ran down her cheeks, she bade goodbye to her neighbors and returned home to her mother and sister. She needed to recuperate.
Afterwards, she worked at my parents’ home with Robabeh. Eventually, both sisters got married. This time, Nargess’s husband was a good and kind man. She had three beautiful daughters with him. But fate was not kind to Nargess. When her daughters were very young, her husband died suddenly. This time, her mother took care of her daughters, and Nargess returned to work at my parents’ house once more. When I got married, she accompanied me to my own home. She took over running our home. She was an integral part of our family. Sometimes she brought one of her daughters to play with mine.
At the start of the Revolution, she disappeared with all the other domestic help in Tehran. Very soon afterward, we left the country. We came to New York. One day, I stood on the corner of Sixth Avenue by Macy’s, waiting for the light to turn red in order to cross the avenue. Who should be standing next to me but my neighbor from Tehran! I did not even know that she also lived in New York. We stood on that sidewalk and caught up with each other’s news. She told me that months after we left Tehran, Nargess had come looking for me.
As we talked, the light turned green, and we crossed the street, each of us going our own separate way. We lost each other in the Manhattan crowds. I craned my neck, looking for her, but she had disappeared. That was forty-odd years ago. I never saw her again. To this day, I think of Nargess. I pray that her life had become easier and that her daughters gave her much joy.