For the Love of a Son: One Afghan Woman's Quest for Her Stolen Child

peace treaty
so that at least the Afghans kept the right to conduct their own
foreign affairs as a fully independent state.
    This upheaval did not bode well for my
family. Grandmother Mayana had enjoyed unexpected happiness with
Ahmed Khail. His genuine affection for his youngest wife and their
four children had been so conspicuous that it was offensive to his
earlier families. Now that Shair was the head of the Khail tribe,
my grandmother would be ruled by a stepson who had detested her
from the first moment she had arrived at the galah. Her beauty
could not save her now and neither could her former powerful
position as the most favored wife of the Khan. She was helpless
without her protector husband and all she could do now was pray,
hoping for the best, for that is all a woman can do in
Afghanistan.
     

Chapter
II
    My grandfather was an extremely wealthy man.
Islamic law demands that when a father dies, his property is
divided between his wives and children, with his sons receiving a
double share. But only Shair had reached adulthood when his father
died, and as such he was in charge of the birthrights of his
younger siblings. Although by Sharia law wives should receive their
portion at the time of their husband’s death, in Afghanistan men
often ignore Islamic law when it comes to females, rarely allowing
surviving widows and daughters to handle their own wealth. And so
Shair seized control of his father’s wealth the moment he knew he
was the head of the family. His wishes, decisions and commands
became law for every person belonging to the Khail tribe.
    My grandmother’s life and that of her four
children changed immediately. Shair Khan elevated his own wives to
the position his father’s wives had once held, and in their new
positions, these women became insatiably greedy. Grandmother Mayana
and her daughters were called before Shair Khan. He brusquely
ordered them to deliver all their jewels and gold to him so he
could drape them on the necks and arms of his own wives. But most
unexpectedly and shockingly, he informed Grandmother, ‘You are now
a servant. You will join the servants in their duties.’
    In just a day my grandmother went from the
lady of the galah to a lowly servant, washing and cooking
vegetables, scrubbing floors, milking cows or whatever else her
stepson and his wives ordered her to do. Menial tasks were
maliciously piled upon her and Shair’s wives and children enjoyed
the greatest amusement thinking up new humiliations for the woman
formerly elevated above them all.
    Although he was only a small child, even my
father was not spared. He was ordered to forget play and told that
he must earn his keep. Any time Shair left the galah, my father
Ajab was to climb to the highest point of the stone tower to keep
watch for his older brother’s return. He must stare at the road,
watching for the dust from the horses’ hooves, and as soon as he
saw it he was to run as fast as his little legs would take him down
the stone stairway to the main gate. He was also in charge of
collecting the Khan’s gun and hat.
    The Khan was often away until very late in
the day. My father was too young to stay awake until the early
hours, so on that first night he fell into a deep sleep while on
watch. He was startled awake when his brother Shair pulled him up
by his arms and slapped his face. He warned him, ‘If you ever fall
asleep again, Ajab, your punishment will be severe.’
    After that, my father was terrified of
drifting off to sleep again. As well as the threat posed by his
older brother, there were other dangers for the young child.
Afghanistan has a huge number of venomous snakes, scorpions and
tarantulas, so he spent much of his young life looking out for
those deadly creatures while trying not to fall asleep. Years later
he told me how his great fear would cause him to talk to himself,
or jump up and down, or even pinch his flesh between his little
fingers, anything to keep him awake.
    Shair’s next order was that the family had to
move. The King of Afghanistan had recently presented Shair with a
few hundred acres on the outskirts of Kabul. Shair built a much
larger galah on this land. The basic design followed the model of
his father’s old one, but the interior was much more modern and
built to the standards of an extravagant palace, including every
feature needed for daily life independent of any city or village.
Although the new galah was undeniably luxurious, my grandmother and
her children