Fire at Rasheed's shop

The fire at Rasheed's shop was a catastrophic turning point that stripped the family of its last economic foothold and unleashed Rasheed's most brutal violence. Late that summer, a fabric merchant fell asleep and forgot to put out his cigarette. He survived the fire, but his store did not. The fire took the adjacent fabric store as well, a secondhand clothing store, a small furniture shop, and a bakery. Rasheed's shop, which was at the corner of the block, might have been spared if the winds had blown east instead of west, but they did not.

Causes and Immediate Aftermath

The fire was an accident born of negligence, but its consequences were swift and total. The merchant's cigarette ignited his own store, and the flames spread rapidly through the tightly packed commercial block. Rasheed's shop, a modest shoemaking business that had sustained the family for decades, was consumed. The family lost not only the shop's inventory and tools but also the income that had already been dwindling under the Taliban's economic restrictions. The fire left Rasheed without a livelihood and without the means to recover.

Consequences and Descent into Violence

After the fire, Rasheed was home almost every day, and his temper turned murderous. He slapped Aziza, kicked Mariam, and threw things. He found fault with Laila—the way she smelled, the way she dressed, the way she combed her hair, her yellowing teeth. He told her, "I married a pari, and now I'm saddled with a hag. You're turning into Mariam." He was fired from a kebab house near Haji Yaghoub Square after a scuffle with a customer, and later from a restaurant in Taimani because customers complained about long waits. When Laila provoked him, he pummeled her chest, her head, and her belly with fists, tore at her hair, and threw her to the wall. Aziza shrieked and pulled at his shirt; Zalmai screamed and tried to get him off his mother. Rasheed shoved the children aside, pushed Laila to the ground, and began kicking her. Mariam threw herself on Laila, and he went on kicking both of them, spittle flying from his mouth, his eyes glittering with murderous intent, until he couldn't anymore. He stormed out of the house, leaving Laila and Mariam bruised and bleeding.

Economic Collapse and Starvation

When the money ran out, hunger became the crux of their existence. Rice, boiled plain and white, with no meat or sauce, was a rare treat. They skipped meals with alarming regularity. Sometimes Rasheed brought home sardines in a can and brittle, dried bread that tasted like sawdust, or a stolen bag of apples at the risk of getting his hand sawed off. In grocery stores, he pocketed canned ravioli, which they split five ways, with Zalmai getting the lion's share. They ate raw turnips sprinkled with salt, limp leaves of lettuce, and blackened bananas for dinner. Death from starvation became a distinct possibility. Mariam heard of a neighborhood widow who had ground dried bread, laced it with rat poison, and fed it to all seven of her children, saving the biggest portion for herself. Aziza's ribs began to push through her skin, the fat vanished from her cheeks, her calves thinned, and her complexion turned the color of weak tea. Zalmai lay around the house, eyes dulled and half closed, or limp as a rag in his father's lap. He cried himself to sleep when he could muster the energy, but his sleep was fitful and sporadic. White dots leaped before Mariam's eyes whenever she got up, her head spun, and her ears rang constantly. Laila said, "My children are going to die. Right before my eyes." Mariam replied, "They are not. I won't let them. It's going to be all right, Laila jo. I know what to do."

Desperate Measures and the Orphanage

Mariam's plan led her to call Jalil's old office in Herat from the Intercontinental Hotel, only to learn that he had died years before. The call yielded nothing. The family's desperation deepened. Eventually, Rasheed told Laila that Aziza would have to beg on the streets. When Laila refused, he slapped her, and she punched him for the first time. He responded by shoving the barrel of his gun into her mouth. The violence escalated until the only option left was to send Aziza to an orphanage. Laila and Mariam walked Aziza to the squat, barracks-style building in Karteh-Seh, where the director, Zaman, accepted her. Aziza's parting gift from Rasheed was a stick of gum. The fire at the shop had set in motion a chain of loss that would end only with Rasheed's death and Mariam's execution.