Every other day, I shop at the market with the kids. Going there is a journey in itself. Going to the bazaar is a journey too. Going to Shahla’s house at the other end of the town is a journey. I fill my bag with snacks, lemonade, fruit, and chocolate. The kids are allowed to ask one hundred questions till we get to where we want. They can talk as much as they want. They can run after each other and even collect pebbles. They can ask for grilled corn or ice cream.

Shadi draws a picture for Amir. Shahin writes a few lines, and after greetings, I tell him about the landlord’s message. “I won’t extend the deadline. We need the house ourselves. You must leave by the end of the month.”

In fifteen days, this place will no longer look like a house. It’ll be storage filled with boxes placed on top of each other, with packed furniture. Life will stop. I have to look for a new apartment. We have to move.

Amir can’t quit his work to come back home. The kids have to keep walking.

“I’m tired, Mom.”

Walking is good. It’s always been rewarding. It’s certainly useful when you’re poor and the taxis are expensive, or when you’re rich and you lose weight by walking. If you want to think, you can walk. If you want to empty your mind of thoughts, walking helps. To appreciate life, you should walk in busy streets. To forget people’s unkindness and malice, you should walk, when you’re young and when you’re old. When you’re a kid, every stop means something delicious, and to get to the next stop you should keep walking.

The kids are walking ahead of me. When they get tired, they fall behind. When all three of us feel good, we walk hand in hand.

Father always walked ahead of everybody. Maman and the kids fell behind. Shahla would always pull me, and Mahin wanted to walk farther back to jump and play. The back of Father’s coat was my only target. I was afraid of getting lost if I lost track of his coat.

But Amir isn’t like him. He gets bored walking by himself. He wants me by his side in order to do two things at the same time. Amir always hits many targets with one bullet. It’s a waste to use one bullet for each target. When he eats, he watches TV too. When visiting relatives, he wants to run a couple of errands on his way. What’s he doing now?