殘忍而美麗的情誼:The Kite Runner 追風箏的人(98)

Now the last of the mourners had paid their respects and the mosque was empty, save for the mullah unplugging the microphone and wrapping his Koran in green cloth. The general and I stepped out into a late-afternoon sun. We walked down the steps, past men smoking in clusters. I heard snippets of their conversations, a soccer game in Union City next weekend, a new Afghan restaurant in Santa Clara. Life moving on already, leaving Baba behind.
“How are you, bachem?” General Taheri said.I gritted my teeth. Bit back the tears that had threatened all day. “I’m going to find Soraya,” I said.
“Okay.”
I walked to the women’s side of the mosque. Soraya was standing on the steps with her mother and a couple of ladies I recognized vaguely from the wedding. I motioned to Soraya. She said something to her mother and came to me.
“Can we walk?” I said.
“Sure.” She took my hand.
We walked in silence down a winding gravel path lined by a row of low hedges. We sat on a bench and watched an elderly couple kneeling beside a grave a few rows away and placing a bouquet of daisies by the headstone. “Soraya?”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to miss him.”
She put her hand on my lap. Baba’s chila glinted on her ring finger. Behind her, I could see Baba’s mourners driving away on Mission Boulevard. Soon we’d leave too, and for the first time ever, Baba would be all alone.
Soraya pulled me to her and the tears finally came.

最後一批哀悼者已經致哀完畢，清真寺人去樓空，只有那個毛拉在收起麥克風，用一塊綠布裹起《可蘭經》。將軍和我走進黃昏的陽光中。我們走下臺階，走過一羣吸菸的男人。我零星聽到他們談話，下個週末在尤寧城有場足球賽，聖克拉拉新開了一家阿富汗餐廳。生活已然在前進，留下爸爸在後面。
“你怎麼樣，我的孩子？ ”塔赫裏將軍說。我咬緊牙齒，將忍了一整天的淚水嚥下。“我去找索拉雅。”我說。
“好的。”
我走進清真寺的女人區。索拉雅和她媽媽站在臺階上，還有幾個我似乎在婚禮上見過的女士。我朝索拉雅招招手。她跟母親說了幾句話，向我走來。
“可以陪我走走嗎？”
“當然。”她拉起我的手。我們沿着一條蜿蜒的碎石路，默默前行，旁邊有一排低矮的籬笆。
我們坐在長凳上，看見不遠處有對年老夫婦，跪在墓前，將一束雛菊放在墓碑上。“索拉雅？”
“怎麼了？”
“我開始想他了。”
她把手放在我的膝蓋上。爸爸的戒指在她手上閃閃發亮。我能看到，在她身後，那些前來哀悼爸爸的人們駕車離開，駛上傳教大道。很快，我們也會離開，第一次，也是永遠，留下爸爸孤獨一人。
索拉雅將我拉近，淚水終於掉下來。