but at her insistence Jalil had described it to her, and so she knew that the facade was made of blue-and-tan terra-cotta tiles,
that it had private balcony seats and a trellised ceiling.
Double swinging doors opened into a tiled lobby, where posters of Hindi films were encased in glass displays.
On Tuesdays, Jalil said one day, kids got free ice cream at the concession stand. Nana smiled demurely when he said this.
She waited until he had left the kolba, before snickering and saying, “The children of strangers get ice cream.
“What do you get, Mariam? Stories of ice cream.”
In addition to the cinema, Jalil owned land in Karokh, land in Farah, three carpet stores, a clothing shop, and a black 1956 Buick Roadmaster.
He was one of Herat's best-connected men, friend of the mayor and the provincial governor. He had a cook, a driver, and three housekeepers.
Nana had been one of the housekeepers. Until her belly began to swell.
When that happened, Nana said, the collective gasp of Jalil's family sucked the air out of Herat.
His in-laws swore blood would flow. The wives demanded that he throw her out.
Nana's own father, who was a lowly stone carver in the nearby village of Gul Daman, disowned her.
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