Chapter 43.

MadamUpstairs, in Mariam's room, Zalmai was wound up. Hebounced his new rubber basketball around for a while, on thefloor, against the walls. Mariam asked him not to, but he knewthat she had no authority to exert over him and so he wenton bouncing his ball, his eyes holding hers defiantly¹. For awhile, they pushed his toy car, an ambulance with bold redlettering on the sides, sending it back and forth² between themacross the room.
Earlier, when they had met Tariq at the door, Zalmai hadclutched the basketball close to his chest and stuck a thumb inhis mouth-something he didn't do anymore except when hewas apprehensive³. He had eyed Tariq with suspicion.
"Who is that man?" he said now. "I don't like him."Mariam was going to explain, say something about him andLaila growing up together, but Zalmai cut her off and said toturn the ambulance around, so the front grille faced him, and,when she did, he said he wanted his basketball again.
"Where is it?" he said. "Where is the ball Baba jan got me?
Where is it? I want it! I want it!" his voice rising andbecoming more shrill⁴ with each word.
"It was just here," Mariam said, and he cried, "No, it's lost, Iknow it. I just know it's lost! Where is it? Where is it?""Here," she said, fetching the ball from the closet where it hadrolled to. But Zalmai was bawling⁵ now and pounding his fists,crying that it wasn't the same ball, it couldn't be, because hisball was lost, and this was a fake one, where had his real ballgone? Where? Where where where?
He screamed until Laila had to come upstairs to hold him, torock him and run her fingers through his tight, dark curls, todry his moist cheeks and cluck her tongue in his ear.
Mariam waited outside the room. From atop the staircase, allshe could see of Tariq were his long legs, the real one and theartificial one, in khaki pants, stretched out on the uncarpetedliving-room floor. It was then that she realized why thedoorman at the Continental⁶ had looked familiar the day sheand Rasheed had gone there to place the call to Jalil. He'dbeen wearing a cap and sunglasses, that was why it hadn'tcome to her earlier. But Mariam remembered now, from nineyears before, remembered him sitting downstairs, patting hisbrow with a handkerchief and asking for water. Now allmanner of questions raced through her mind: Had the sulfapills too been part of the ruse⁷? Which one of them had plottedthe lie, provided the convincing details? And how much hadRasheed paid Abdul Sharif-if that was even his name-to comeand crush Laila with the story of Tariq's death?

1 defiantly   

adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地

参考例句：

• Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 apprehensive   

adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的

参考例句：

• She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
• He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。

4 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

5 bawling   

v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物）

参考例句：

• We heard the dulcet tones of the sergeant, bawling at us to get on parade. 我们听到中士用“悦耳”的声音向我们大喊，让我们跟上队伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Why are you bawling at me? “你向我们吼啥子？ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

6 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

7 ruse   

n.诡计，计策；诡计

参考例句：

• The children thought of a clever ruse to get their mother to leave the house so they could get ready for her surprise.孩子们想出一个聪明的办法使妈妈离家，以便他们能准备给她一个惊喜。It is now clear that this was a ruse to divide them.现在已清楚这是一个离间他们的诡计。