殘忍而美麗的情誼:The Kite Runner 追風箏的人(180)
“Yes.” I remembered the words from Hassan’s letter. I have told much about you to Farzana jan and Sohrab, about us growing up together and playing games and running in the streets. They laugh at the stories of all the mischief you and I used to cause! “I owe you thanks too, Sohrab jan,” I said. “You saved my life.”
He didn’t say anything. I dropped my hand when he didn’t take it. “I like your new clothes,” I mumbled.
“They’re my son’s,” Farid said. “He has outgrown them. They fit Sohrab pretty well, I would say.” Sohrab could stay with him, he said, until we found a place for him. “We don’t have a lot of room, but what can I do? I can’t leave him to the streets. Besides, my children have taken a liking to him. Ha, Sohrab?” But the boy just kept looking down, twirling the line with his finger.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Farid said, a little hesitantly. “What happened in that house? What happened between you and the Talib?”
“Let’s just say we both got what we deserved,” I said. Farid nodded, didn’t push it. It occurred to me that somewhere between the time we had left Peshawar for Afghanistan and now, we had become friends. “I’ve been meaning to ask something too.”
“What?”
I didn’t want to ask. I was afraid of the answer. “Rahim Khan,” I said.
“He’s gone.”
My heart skipped. “Is he--”
“No, just... gone.” He handed me a folded piece of paper and a small key. “The landlord gave me this when I went looking for him. He said Rahim Khan left the day after we did.”
“Where did he go?” Farid shrugged. “The landlord didn’t know He said Rahim Khan left the letter and the key for you and took his leave.” He checked his watch. “I’d better go. Bia, Sohrab.”
“Could you leave him here for a while?” I said. “Pick him up later?” I turned to Sohrab. “Do you want to stay here with me for a little while?”
He shrugged and said nothing.
“Of course,” Farid said. “I’ll pick him up just before evening _namaz_.”
“是的。”我想起哈桑信裏那些話。我告訴親愛的法莎娜和索拉博很多次，那些我們過去一起長大、玩遊戲、在街上追風箏的事情。聽到我們過去的惡作劇，他們會大笑起來！“我也得謝謝你，親愛的索拉博。”我說，“你救了我一命。”
他默默不語，沒跟我握手。我把手放下，“我喜歡你的新衣服。”我低聲說。
“那是我兒子的。”法裏德說，“這些衣服他穿不下了。我覺得它們穿在索拉博身上真好看。”他說索拉博可以跟着他，直到我們爲他找到去處。“我們房間不夠，但我能怎麼辦呢？我不能任他露宿街頭。再說，我的孩子們也很喜歡索拉博。對吧，索拉博？”但那個男孩只是低着頭，將線纏在手指上。
“我一直想問，”法裏德有點猶疑地說，“在那座屋子裏面究竟發生了什麼？你和那個塔利班之間究竟發生了什麼事？”
“這麼說吧，我們都是罪有應得。”我說。法裏德點點頭，不再追問。我突然發覺，就在我們離開白沙瓦、前往阿富汗到現在，不知什麼時候起，我們已經成了朋友。“我也有一直想要問的事情。”
“什麼？”我突然不想問，我害怕聽到答案。
“拉辛汗。”我說。
“他走了。”
我的心一沉：“他……”
“不，只是……走了。”他遞給我一張摺好的信紙，還有一把小鑰匙。“我前去尋他，房東把這個交給我。他說我們走後隔日，拉辛汗也走了。”
“他去哪裏？”法裏德聳聳肩：“房東也不知道。他說拉辛汗留下那封信和鑰匙給你，就走了。”他看看手錶，“我得走了。走吧，索拉博。”
“你能讓他在這兒留一會嗎？”我說，“遲點再來接他？”我轉向索拉博：“你願意留下來陪我一會兒嗎？”
他聳聳肩，一語不發。
“當然，”法裏德說，“做晚禱之前我會來接他。”
