The Pearl That Broke Its Shell

Tensions and emotions run high in Rahima’s house. Arif summons Rahima’s grandfather and uncles. Abdul Khaliq’s family returns. The men meet to decide on the girls’ fates. Arif’s father again expresses doubt at marrying Rahima before her elder sisters. Abdul Khaliq’s father interrupts, saying that they have brought his nephews, Abdul Sharif and Abdul Haidar. Uncle Fareed notes that the family has a tradition of asking for a large bride price—one million afghanis. Abdul Khaliq, growing impatient with the negotiations, immediately produces the money. He also promises Arif a share of his opium production. There will be no wedding, only the nikkah ceremony to validate the marriages. Rahima is distraught. She thinks, “Barely a teenager, I was to be wed to this gray-haired fighter with bags of money and armed men to do his bidding” (127). That night Rahima dreams of being taken away by Abdul Khaliq. None of her friends or family can help.

Plans for the wedding move forward. Shahla will be Abdul Sharif’s second wife; Parwin will be Abdul Haidar’s third. Shahla blames Rahima for angering Arif and spurring him into action. Rahima silently agrees; she “had pushed the situation without thinking about anyone else” (130). The family prepares for the marriage ceremonies. Arif smokes opium and counts his money. Raisa undoes the bacha posh. She reminds Rahima how to behave as a girl. Arif begins to completely ignore Rahima. Rahima and Shahla make up. They hope that they will be able to see each other often, since they are marrying into the same family.

Khala Shaima visits. She is angry when she finds out what has happened. Raisa could not have done anything; she says it was naseeb, destiny. Khala Shaima says, “Oh, the hell with naseeb! Naseeb is what people blame for everything they can’t fix” (133). She says that she would have protested the arrangement; Raisa says that it would have been useless. She quietly says that a death in the family would delay the wedding for a year—implying that she is thinking of suicide. Khala Shaima reminds her that the youngest daughters need her. Both sisters are exasperated with each other. Khala Shaima continues the story of Shekiba. She tells the girls, “As much as I hate to think it, her story is your story” (134).

Azizullah took Shekiba home and beat her brutally. It is two days before she can even stand. Azizullah wants her up and ready: Today is the day she will be given to King Habibullah. Marjan berates her for her stupidity; Shekiba says that Marjan would have done the same. Marjan says you either accept the social situation or die. Azizullah returns from Hafizullah’s house after meeting the king. He is in high spirits. He tells Marjan to fetch Shekiba. Marjan advises her to put her faith in Allah and to know her place in the world. Shekiba says she has no place in the world. Azizullah warns her, “[I]f she dares to walk with even the slightest limp, I’ll take both her legs off” (137).

Shekiba keeps pace with him on the way to Hafizullah’s, “too hurt to risk more punishment” (137). Outside of Hafizullah’s house, Shekiba sees a carriage for the first time. Azizullah leaves her outside the kitchen and threatens her not to leave. She eavesdrops on the men’s conversation. The king has accepted Azizullah’s gift. Hafizullah’s wife finds Shekiba slumped in the garden. She takes her to sleeping quarters, where she waits through the night. They leave in the morning.

Abdul Khaliq wants all three marriage ceremonies to take place on the same day. He brings in his family and a mullah with the title of Haji, meaning he has undertaken the pilgrimage to Mecca; Khala Shaima highly doubts this. Shahla pleads with her mother not to give her away; Raisa is devastated. Shahla “was more than a daughter to her. She was Madar-jan’s best friend” (140). Raisa held onto the hope that Parwin would go unmarried due to her lame leg.

The ceremony begins with a prayer lead by Haji. Khala Shaima interrupts his chanting, correcting Haji; she claims he recited the verse incorrectly. He resumes, but he gets the verse wrong again; Khala Shaima interrupts once more. The men begin the nikkah ceremony in the next room. Raisa gives the girls words of advice about what to expect from their husbands. She begins to cry but tells the girls that it is part of life; it is the way Allah has willed it She cannot promise that they will be able to see each other again. She advises them to make peace with their co-wives and mothers in law.

Shahla is the first to be summoned, then Parwin. Khala Shaima interrupts the ceremony to tell the men that due to Parwin’s lame leg, it would be best for her to “go to school, to learn to manage physically, before she is made into a wife” (144). Abdul Khaliq dismisses this concern. Raisa gives Parwin some hurried words of comfort. The women know Parwin will not be treated well, and their “hearts broke for her” (145). Rahima holds out hope Khala Shaima will save her from Abdul Khaliq. Despite being a boy for several years, Rahima breaks down. Arif has to wrestle her away from Raisa, as “Abdul Khaliq’s family watched in consternation” (146). Arif redeems himself in their eyes when he slaps Khala Shaima for shouting that the ceremony is a sin. Rahima’s new mother-in-law looks at her critically; her new husband, Abdul Khaliq merely smirks. 

Shekiba arrives at her new home. She is shocked at the size of the city of Kabul, and the king’s palace is more opulent and impressive than anything she has ever seen. She catches sight of the king as they disembark at the palace. She is led by a soldier into the company of a masculine woman. To Shekiba’s surprise, “all of the guards in this house were actually women dressed in men’s clothing” (148). The guards are led by a woman-man named Ghafoor. For the first time in a long while, Shekiba sleeps soundly.

Shekiba’s transformation begins. She cuts her hair and is given a set of masculine clothing. Despite the embarrassment for breaking the female dress code, “there was something liberating about her new clothes” (149). Ghafoor fills her in about her new position. Shekiba is to help guard the king’s harem. Ghafoor welcomes Shekiba into their company and tells her she will now be known as “Shekib.”

Four women-men guards protect the harem. Ghafoor, formerly Guljaan, is their leader, and is enthusiastic about her position. She has the appearance of a young man. Her father traded her to the palace for a cow; but she soon grew to enjoy palace life and adapted well to her new position. Karim (formerly Karima) and Qasim (formerly Khatol) are sisters whose parents could not afford to feed them. Karim is more dominant than Qasim and is the second in command. Tariq was the newest before Shekiba, and “carried out her duties well enough but fantasized that she would be noticed by the king and recruited to his court of women” (152). Of the women they guard, she is most friendly with Benafsha, “the former guard who enticed the king” (152).

Ghafoor introduces Shekiba to the women of the harem. Benafsha is the most beautiful. Halima is the eldest and bore the king two daughters. Benazir is the darkest in complexion, and she is pregnant for the first time and scared. Sakina and Fatima are less beautiful than the other girls and are often troublemakers. Shekiba is shocked at how simple life in the harem is. The women do not do housework; there are servants who fill that role in Arg-e-Shahi, the palace of the king.