“Very well then,” Assef said, sneering. He shoved Sohrab in the back, pushed him right into the table. Sohrab’s hips struck the table, knocking it upside down and spilling the grapes. He fell on them, face first, and stained his shirt purple with grape juice. Thetable’s legs, crossing through the ring of brass balls, were now pointing to the ceiling. “Take him, then,” Assef said. I helped Sohrab to his feet, swat ted the bits of crushed grape that had stuck to his pants like bar nacles to a pier. “Go, take him,” Assef said, pointing to the door.I took Sohrab’s hand. It was small, the skin dry and calloused. His fingers moved, laced themselves with mine. I saw Sohrab in that Polaroid again, the way his arm was wrapped around Hassan’s leg, his head resting against his father’s hip. They’d both been smiling. The bells jingled as we crossed the room. We made it as far as the door. “Of course,” Assef said behind us, “I didn’t say you could take him for free.”I turned. “What do you want?” “You have to earn him.” “What do you want?” “We have some unfinished business, you and I,” Assef said. “You remember, don’t you?” He needn’t have worried. I would never forget the day after Daoud Khan overthrew the king. My entire adult life, whenever I heard Daoud Khan’s name, what I saw was Hassan with his sling shot pointed at Assef’s face, Hassan saying that they’d have to start calling him One-Eyed Assef. instead of Assef Goshkhor. I remember how envious I’d been of Hassan’s bravery. Assef had backed down, promised that in the end he’d get us both. He’d kept that promise with Hassan. Now it was my turn. “All right,” I said, not knowing what else there was to say. I wasn’t about to beg; that would have only sweetened the moment for him. Assef called the guards back into the room. “I want you to listen to me,” he said to them. “In a moment, I’m going to close the door. Then he and I are going to finish an old bit of business. No matter what you hear, don’t come in! Do you hear me? Don’t come in. The guards nodded. Looked from Assef to me. “Yes, Agha sahib.” “那麼很好。”阿塞夫冷笑着說。他按着索拉博的背，將他推向桌子右邊。索拉博的屁股碰到桌子，將其撞翻，葡萄掉了一地。他迎面跌倒在葡萄上，上衣被葡萄汁染成紫色。穿着一圈銅球的桌腳現在指向天花板。 “那麼，給你。”阿塞夫說。我把索拉博扶起來，壓碎的葡萄粘在他褲子上，如同海貝吸附在碼頭上，我幫他抹掉。 “去吧，帶上他。”阿塞夫指着門說。我拉起索拉博的手。他很小，皮膚乾燥，長着繭。他手指挪動，跟我扣在一起。我又看見寶麗萊照片上的索拉博了，看到他的手臂抱着哈桑的大腿、頭靠在他父親臀部上的那種神情，看到他們兩個微笑着。我們穿過房間，鈴鐺叮噹叮噹響。 我們走到門邊。 “當然，”阿塞夫在身後說， “我沒有說這是免費的。”我轉過身：“你想要什麼？” “你必須自己贏得他。” “你想要什麼？” “我們還有些沒了結的賬，你和我。”阿塞夫說，“你記得的，對吧？” 他無須擔心。我永世不會忘記達烏德汗推翻國王那天。成年之後，每當我聽到達烏德汗的名字，就能想起哈桑舉起彈弓，瞄準阿塞夫的臉，哈桑說人們會叫他獨眼龍阿塞夫，而不是吃耳朵的阿塞夫。我記得自己對哈桑的勇氣欽羨不已。阿塞夫退開，發誓說他會給我們教訓。他已經在哈桑身上實現了誓言。現在輪到我了。 “好吧。”我找不到其他話可說。我不想求饒，那隻會讓他更加痛快。阿塞夫把衛兵喚進屋裏。 “我要你們聽着。”他對他們說，“再過一會，我會關上門。然後他和我會處理一點陳年爛賬。你們無論聽到什麼，都別進來！聽到沒有？別進來！” 衛兵點着頭，看看阿塞夫，看看我。 “是，老爺。”
