A Thousand Splendid Suns

After Nana's funeral, Jalil took Mariam in his arms. "You can stay with me" he said. When they arrived at his house, she was given the guest room to stay in. For a couple of days, she would lye in bed all day, not speaking to anyone. Jalil would always come in and try to talk to her, but nothing would work. Mariam was still angry at him for letting her sleep outside. After some days, One of Jalil's wives came into her room and told her to come downstairs. When she arrived downstairs, she was seated at the table, across from Jalil and all his wives. One of the wives started to talk to Mariam and told her that they had all agreed that it was time for her to get a suitor and that they have already found her one. Mariam started yelling. "Tell them you don't want to do this!" she said to Jalil; he couldn't even look at her. She knew that he didn't want this to happen, but he had to do this because his wives didn't want any suspicions about having a love child on the side. So it was decided. Mariam was to be married soon at the age of 15. The next day, Mariam got clean and was given a nice dress to wear. When she got downstairs she sat at the table with her suitor next to her. Rasheed was his name;40 some years old, reeked of smoke, and was a fairly big/strong man. After they were announced husband and wife, they headed out for the bus. "Wait!" Jalil said. Mariam said nothing. He then grabbed her tying to say something. "I never want to see your face ever again, leave me alone" she said. After that, she boarded the bus with Rasheed. The bus started to move, and she could see Jalil chasing after it, trying to say something to her...then they headed for Kabul.