28 January, 2024
Theirs is a house in the neighbourhood of Nor Arabkir. It is two-storey domicile clustered together with houses of a similar shape, all on one street, with Soviet-style apartment towers in the background. The natural colour of the tuff is the house’s only decoration. Otherwise, it is a plain construction, of pink bricks, roof tiles, and windows. A car pulls up to the house. The road on which the house lies on is paved but extremely narrow. There is only space for the car and the people who come out of it, and then no more space at all.
The people who emerge are the two owners of the house, then three others. One is in a wheelchair. Someone pushes the one in the wheelchair while someone else grunts a lot.
« Be careful. That is our mother. Watch out for this pothole. And what about that area? There is no pavement. Are you looking? Are you being careful? »
The one who is the owner of the house says:
« Nikol, I know this road well. Let me take her inside. »
The one pushing the wheelchair smiles.
« Levon, once we take her inside, she is your responsibility. This is my mother as well. Once we return to Metsavan, it will be long before we see her once more. Let me take her around one last time. »
The owner of the house smiles. He takes the hand of the other owner of the house, and they watch as the one steering the wheelchair takes the one sitting in the wheelchair about. The one in the wheelchair coos and caws, says words like « pink » and « so pretty. » The one who was yelling is still complaining.
« This is our mother. She is not a little girl who wants to play games. »
The owner of the house quips:
« You make everything a chore, Argam. At this stage of dementia, it will not matter. She is an old woman. She is a little girl. She is both. Let her have fun. »
The one who complains crosses his arms.
« She has to take this medicine…she has to take that medicine…she has to have fun. She also needs to be home. »
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