Sofia had slept in that morning because, unusually, her father had rung her in the middle of the night, waking her from only a few hours’ sleep to talk about Michelle’s little boy – his smile, his dimples, his little pudgy fingers and his wide brown eyes. ‘I think you’ve fallen in love,’ she had said.
He had laughed. ‘I think I have. Well, he’s my grandson, you know, I should.’
‘Of course he is. How stupid am I? I hadn’t even registered that. You’re a grandfather! Congratulations, Dad. So what’s he going to call you?’
‘Hey, he’s not even talking. He’s only six months old.’
‘Nonno,’ she had said, offering the Italian for grandfather. ‘He’ll call you Nonno.’
Sofia’s heart sank. It had taken Michelle six months to introduce her father to his first grandchild. The fact would not have escaped him either. ‘And how’s Michelle?’
When he didn’t answer immediately, a sure sign that she was in for a long night, she had turned on her back to stare into the dark, resting her arm across her forehead. Sleep was not about to return anytime soon and whatever her father said was not going to be good.
‘She’s okay.’ Sofia could hear the lie. ‘She’s much better, actually.’
Much better, he had said, confirming her suspicions that her father knew more about Michelle than he ever let on to her. ‘And the guy she’s going to marry?’
‘Seems like a nice bloke.’
‘Uhuh, and what does that mean?’
‘Doesn’t look like a drug addict.’
‘What does he do for a job, Dad?’
She had heard him hesitate again and immediately regretted asking the question. Something about the guy didn’t sit well with her father. He doesn’t need my questions. What had he done to deserve losing his young wife and then having two daughters who caused him such pain? Life was not always right, or good, or fair.
‘Well, he doesn’t have a job at the moment, but he’s been looking. I gather he’s in finance or something. I didn’t quite understand. Guess I’m getting too old.’ Her father’s brain was as sharp as ever. If he didn’t understand they weren’t being transparent with him. ‘They’re going to move in with me for a while, until he gets on his feet.’
Sofia could feel her skin crawl. They were going to sponge off him. They were going to rip him off. Usual Michelle. ‘That’ll be nice for you, having Jack and Michelle around.’
‘Having family again will be good.’
Sofia had ended the call on a happy note, congratulating him again on being a nonno and having his daughter back and a new son-in-law, but when she had hung up she felt only sadness. She was sure little Jack would lighten his life, but she feared they had only contacted him for a roof over their heads. It wouldn’t have escaped her father’s notice either. It had taken her hours to get back to sleep.
* * *
AFTER STOPPING FOR twenty minutes at a small mud-walled village so Tawfiq could have a rest and they could stretch their legs and get something to eat, they carried on, passing dry riverbeds marked by dead trees in a parched landscape.
The phone resting in Sofia’s lap began to ring.
‘You know how my father works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?’ Iman said as soon as she answered.
‘Yes?’ Sofia said hesitantly. She didn’t like the sound of this.
‘I asked him to look into your visa –’
‘Iman, what was the last thing I said to you?’
‘I know, I know, but he works at the ministry –’
‘You promised.’
‘I know, but you’ll want to hear this.’ Sofia waited. ‘He said the instructions to cancel your visa came from a very high level.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘It means it was so high my father wasn’t allowed to see.’
Sofia had no idea what powerful person she had upset. ‘Could it have been a clerical error?’
‘I asked him that and he said no.’
‘Okay, let’s talk about this when I get back. In the meantime, can you please not discuss this with anyone else?’
‘Why did you go to the bird market?’
‘I can’t explain now.’
When Sofia hung up, Daniel turned around to ask if everything was okay. Before answering she mentally threaded her way back through her side of the conversation to see if she had said anything that might alert the others to what she’d been talking about. ‘A problem with a patient.’
Ten minutes later her phone rang again. This time it was Jabril to tell her that he still hadn’t heard from Chief Wasim.
‘What about Massoud? Anything from him?’
‘No, I’m leaving him out of this for the moment.’
‘I think you should talk with Iman,’ Sofia said.
Jabril waited for her to continue. ‘Are you able to tell me why?’
‘No.’
‘Okay, I’ll give her a call. By the way, has Taban rung you?’
‘No.’
Jabril informed her that Taban’s clinic had been broken into the night before. Not much damage had been done, and no one was there so nobody was hurt, but a message had been scrawled on the wall. It said Taban should to go back to her family.
‘Do you think it had something to do with –’
‘Don’t know. It might, but it could also be someone who doesn’t like the work she’s doing there. Taban does tend to stir things up.’
‘Should I call her?’
‘No, I think she’s got enough to deal with at the moment.’
‘Okay. Call me if there’s any news on any front.’
As Daniel and Clementine began a conversation about problems in MSF’s Kandahar clinic, Sofia leaned her
