Women Without Men: A Novel of Modern Iran

Farrokhlaqa's Garden, Part Two

— 87 — By spring the garden had turned into a flower grove. The gardener was right; he did have a green thumb. All he did was touch a bush and it blossomed into a hundred flowers the following week. They renovated the house together. Farrokhlaqa did not engage in the work per se, but she constantly moved around giving orders and checking details. It took the autumn months to complete the work. The gardener had the women do different building chores: Zarrinkolah would prepare the mortar; Munis would take it to the building; Fa’iza would carry bricks in a wheelbarrow, while the gardener did the actual construction work. At Farrokhlaqa’s Garden Part Two WWoM_v4.5.indd 87 11/3/11 1:51 PM — 88 — the end of the autumn the house had six rooms, three showers, and three bathrooms. On sunny days Farrokhlaqa would rest by the pool and survey with satisfaction the work in progress. Sometimes she would have Zarrinkolah accompany her on her shopping trips to the city. She had a sense of accomplishment in the fact that the project was progressing according to her plans. When the remodeling work was completed at the end of the autumn, Farrokhlaqa assigned one room to Fa’iza and Munis, who by now had become her primary companions and counselors. Fa’iza tended the kitchen and Munis the other household affairs. She herself took over furnishing and decorating the house. The gardener asked for and received permission to build a small lodge for himself at the far end of the property near the river. He also asked that Zarrinkolah be allowed to assist him in the endeavor. In due course the gardener built the lodge on the riverbank directly facing the Mahdokht tree—which still had not sprouted limbs and leaves. The barrenness had caused Farrokhlaqa some concern, but the gardener had assured her that it would be full of blooms by the spring. He had also suggested that the human-tree is not like other trees; it needs human breast milk to achieve maturity and growth. Farrokhlaqa was stumped by the suggestion, not being able to think of a source for human breast milk. “Don’t worry,” the gardener said, “I am going to marry Zarrinkolah. She will lactate when she bears a child. We will fertilize the tree with her milk.” WWoM_v4.5.indd 88 11/3/11 1:51 PM — 89 — Fa’iza proposed inviting a cleric to solemnize the marriage . The gardener did not agree; he would perform the ceremony himself without the benefit of the clergy. To Fa’iza, such a marriage was not legitimate. Munis stayed out of the discussion and made no references to her own mind-reading ability. Farrokhlaqa was neutral. She did not care one way or other, as long as there was breast milk to feed the tree, as the gardener had promised. Zarrinkolah spent most of her time alongside the gardener helping him in his work. He had taught her bricklaying, tree planting, landscaping, cooking, and embroidery. She was always humming as she moved from place to place on the property, something that annoyed Fa’iza, who held Zarrinkolah in low esteem for lax morals and incessant jollity, as if she had to laugh to prove she was alive. Fa’iza had little tolerance for people like that, although she did not let that interfere with her general satisfaction with her current situation. Occasionally she felt a tinge of sadness when she thought of Amir Khan. Deep down she nursed a longing to be married to him, not so much out of love for him but a desire for vindication . To have him as a husband would vindicate her womanhood. Farrokhlaqa persisted in her plans to become a member of the parliament. Impatiently, she waited for the completion of the building renovations so she could start entertaining celebrities and influential people to cultivate associations with them. In consultations with Munis she had arrived at the conclusion that to have name recognition she had to write poetry and publish it in newspapers WWoM_v4.5.indd 89 11/3/11 1:51 PM — 90 — and magazines. She was intrigued by the idea and spent much of her time trying to write poems. At the onset of winter, the house was ready to be fully occupied by the women. Farrokhlaqa furnished the parlor as a music-cum-party room, equipped...