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

felt so useless. I began to weep.
    ‘Child,’ my boss whispered urgently into the
phone. ‘Leave him. Leave him before he kills you.
    For the rest of the night I pretended to
behave normally with Kaiss, but the following day when I took Duran
to visit Papa, I called him from the safety of my father’s
apartment. ‘Kaiss,this cannot go on. I want out of this marriage. I
will take good care of your son. You can see him any time you
want.’
    ‘Maryam!’ he screeched. ‘Get home where you
belong! You belong to me! ’
    ‘Kaiss, listen to me. Marry another woman.
Marry a woman who will not complain when you beat her. Marry an
obedient woman like your mother. I will no longer obey you. I will
no longer submit to your abuse.’
    ‘The only way you will leave me, Maryam, is
when you are dead,’ he threatened. ‘You can leave me when we put
your body in the ground.’
    I felt a cold chill run up my spine, but I
didn’t give in. ‘On Monday, I will find a lawyer. On Monday I will
file for divorce.’ I hung up on him. Although frightened, I felt
more optimistic than I had in years. I had finally made up my mind
to reclaim my life.
    Kaiss called my father and, abandoning his
charming facade for the first time, snarled, ‘Kiss your daughter
goodbye, Ajab. Her days are numbered.’
    Papa realized too late that he had been wrong
about Kaiss. The product he had been sold was fraudulent. From the
first day, his son-in-law had deceived him.
    The police were notified, but we were
reminded that in America personal threats carry no weight with the
legal system unless followed up by violence. For the first time I
yearned for our Afghan system, a country where physical threats are
met with tribal violence.
    The following night Papa’s phone rang. A
close friend of Kaiss’s warned him, ‘He will kill me if he knows I
called you, Ajab. He is going to do something. Take your daughter
and grandson and flee.’
    Papa protested. ‘There is a court of law in
the United States. What can this bully do? He will be
punished.’
    ‘Please leave, Ajab. Kaiss has hired someone
else to do the job. He is serious.’
    Papa was befuddled. ‘What job?’
    ‘Why are you making me spell it out? I am
telling you, your son-in-law has hired someone to kill your
daughter! Take Maryam and the baby away. Leave the city. Don’t tell
anyone where you are going! I am risking my own life by warning
you!’
    When told of the conversation, I became
hysterical. ‘ A hit man? ’
    But Papa was still unconvinced, believing it
was an idle threat to frighten me into returning to Kaiss. I knew
different. I knew Kaiss. He was a brutal, violent man. He had tried
to kill me before. It had all gone too far. My husband and I had
reached a stalemate. I could never return to Kaiss. But he would
never let me go.
    Farid was in the habit of checking in on us
every few days and he called from Paris. Papa told him the latest.
Farid listened quietly, then said, ‘Kaiss’s friend is telling the
truth, Uncle. Think about it. What does he gain by warning you? The
man is obviously worried that he will get caught up in a murder
investigation.’
    ‘Maybe he is as crazy as Kaiss,’ Papa said,
hope in his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was to flee his
comfortable home.
    ‘I am coming over,’ Farid said.
    ‘From Paris?’
    ‘Yes. Stay in your apartment. Keep the doors
locked. I will be there on the first flight.’
    Farid was as good as his word. Within
twenty-four hours he was in Papa’s apartment. My cousin was as
wonderful as ever. He looked at me with his familiar, mischievous
eyes, and said with feeling, ‘Don’t worry, my little
brother . Your big brother is here to protect you.’
    Farid would never let me forget my childhood
pretence to be a boy.
    My anxiety swept away any joy I might have at
seeing Farid again. ‘Farid. He has hired a hit man. He really is
going to kill me, and then he’ll take my son and flee to
Afghanistan.’
    Farid soothed me, then made all the
arrangements. Duran and I would leave and travel as far as possible
without leaving the continental United States. That night he drove
me to the airport where I took my baby and boarded a plane to Los
Angeles, California. Farid had close friends and family living
there who would meet me and keep me safe.
    After closing up Papa’s home and packing his
personal items, Papa and Farid joined me in Los Angeles. I felt
hopeful that everything would turn out well, that I could remain
alive