I bit down. “Yes, the boy! The boy who came with me. Have you seen him or not, for God’s sake?”
The fanning stopped. His eyes narrowed. “No getting smart with me, my friend. I am not the one who lost him.”That he had a point did not stop the blood from rushing to my face. “You’re right. I’m wrong. My fault. Now, have you seen him?”
“Sorry,” he said curtly. He put his glasses back on. Snapped his newspaper open. “I have seen no such boy.”I stood at the counter for a minute, trying not to scream. As I was exiting the lobby, he said, “Any idea where he might have wandered to?”
“No,” I said. I felt tired. Tired and scared.
“Does he have any interests?” he said. I saw he had folded the paper. “My boys, for example, they will do anything for American action films, especially with that Arnold ??WThatsanegger--”
“The mosque!” I said. “The big mosque.” I remembered the way the mosque had jolted Sohrab from his stupor when we’d driven by it, how he’d leaned out of the window looking at it.
“Shah Faisal?”
“Yes. Can you take me there?”
“Did you know it’s the biggest mosque in the world?” he asked.
“No, but--”
“The courtyard alone can fit forty thousand people.”
“Can you take me there?”
“It’s only a kilometer from here,” he said. But he was already pushing away from the counter.
“I’ll pay you for the ride,” I said.He sighed and shook his head. “Wait here.” He disappeared into the back room, returned wearing another pair of eyeglasses, a set of keys in hand, and with a short, chubby woman in an orange sari trailing him. She took his seat behind the counter. “I don’t take your money,” he said, blowing by me. “I will drive you because I am a father like you.”
我强忍怒火：“对，那个男孩！那个跟我一起来的男孩。以真主的名义，你见过他吗？”
扇风停止。他眼睛一缩：“别跟我来这套，老弟，把他弄丢的不是我。”虽然他说得没错，但不能平息我的怒火。“你对，我错了，是我的错。那么，你见过他吗？”
“对不起。”他强硬地说，戴上眼镜，打开报纸，“我没见过这样的男孩。”我在柜台站了一会，抑制自己别发火。我走出大厅的时候，他说：“有没有想过他会去什么地方？”
“没有。”我说。我感到疲惫，又累又怕。
“他有什么爱好吗？ ”他说，我看见他把报纸收起来。“比如说我的孩子，他们无论如何总是要看美国动作片，特别是那个阿诺什么辛格演的……”
“清真寺！”我说，“大清真寺。”我记得我们路过的时候，清真寺让索拉博从委靡中振奋起来，记得他趴在车窗望着它的样子。
“费萨尔？”
“是的，你能送我去吗？”
“你知不知道它是世界上最大的清真寺？”他问。
“不知道，可是……”
“光是它的院子就可以容下四万人。”
“你能送我到那边去吗？”
“那儿距这里还不到一公里。”他说，不过他已经从柜台站起来。
“我会付你车钱。”他叹气，摇摇头，“在这里等着。”他走进里间，出来的时候换了一副眼镜，手里拿着串钥匙，有个披着橙色纱丽的矮胖女人跟在身后。她坐上他在柜台后面的位子。“我不会收你的钱。”他朝我吹着气，“我会载你去，因为我跟你一样，也是个父亲。”