Alone Page #6

is it? What a lovely name.

Thanks. You're very beautiful too.

But I've got so old now.

You're Alper's friend, huh? What kind of

friend? A good friend?

Mashallah! That's lovely.

Are you hungry?

We'll have breakfast now.

Then you can have

some sleep.

In Alper's apartment? I'll have a sleep

of course but aren't you there too?

I mean, living as friends. Right? I don't

know, sorry. That's why I'm asking.

Let's say I come and go sometimes.

Oh, good. Come all the time, dear.

All the time.

You ve come

loaded to the gunnels again.

Don't shake it about like that, son.

There are dolma inside.

Oh, Mum! Come on, let's go.

Mzeyyen Hanim, are you comfortable

there? I wish you'd come in the front.

I'm very comfortable, dear. The car's

vast inside.

But do stop calling me 'hanim'.

Forget all this formal business.

- Just call me Mzeyyen Abla.

- OK.

So, Mum... Let's hear it then.

What can I tell you, son? Things are

always the same back home.

Your brother

and his lot all send you their love.

Come and see the boy one day. Has he

grown! But let's hear about you.

How are you?

You're the one with the news.

I'm fine. No change.

Well, that's good.

Give those to me, son... Let me put

them in the fridge right away...

What a lovely home you have.

Mashallah!

It's just like the

advertisements...

I said I wasn't tired, but I'm beginning

to feel a bit the worse for wear.

Have a little rest if you like while

I get breakfast together.

- No, dear. Thanks.

- It's up to you.

Where shall I put it?

Ooh! You have two fridges, son!

Mashallah!

Which one should I use,

I wonder?

Whichever one you want, Mum.

This is your bag, right?

With the clothes beside.

Let me take them to

your room.

Don't get too much out, dear.

They fed us on the bus anyway.

A glass of tea

will do me fine.

I'll put some on to brew right away.

Wonderful! I can't stand those tea-bag

things you get.

Leave that. I'll do it all.

Look, there's pure olive oil in here.

A friend brought it.

We'll pour it over

some dried mint and oregano.

It's perfect for dunking bread.

Where does he keep his herbs?

They should be there.

So when's this wedding, Mum?

Tomorrow evening at eight. In ili,

they said. Wait.

The invitation's in my bag. The address

is written there. Have a look.

So OK, Mum.

The place is easy to get to.

You are coming, aren't you, son?

No, Mum. What do I want at a wedding?

You know how claustrophobic those

things make me.

Ah! But that's shameful, son.

Your friend from primary school...

OK. We'll see... I've also got a large

group to cook for tomorrow evening.

You have to work, huh?

Couldn't you at least make an

appearance for five minutes or so?

The thing is, it's a very big group...

Well, if there's work to do, that's

different of course.

Suppose we go together?

If you'd like to.

Bless you. That's wonderful.

Now I won't be on my own there.

Hmm. That's great.

Look. I'll take you there.

Then I'll come and pick you up

later.

I'll pin some gold on the bride and

groom and offer my congratulations.

Thanks.

You're going to wear this?

No way. You can't.

It's a perfectly

good dress.

- Mum, it's so old-fashioned.

- Alper.

Let's get you something nicer here.

I'm not the bride, son!

I'm hardly in any state to wear

a ball gown at this age.

Listen. I'm going to work now. You and

Ada take yourselves off to the shops.

Ada's an expert at these things.

Buy a dress, have a wander around.

And get me

a gold coin to give. OK?

Don't go wasting your money, son.

What do I need a dress for?

You do, come on.

Be beautiful, Mzeyyen Hanim!

Everyone should marvel at you!

He's making fun of me

now.

I'll come and pick you up this

evening. And we'll go out for dinner.

OK? I've got heaps to do today.

All right. Take it easy, son. Have a

good day.

We can have dinner at your

place, right?

I'd like to see it again.

OK, Mum. Sure. Ada, come here a sec.

Look, sorry, Ada.

It's OK. At the end of the day,

it's not me who's getting married.

Ada!

What? Alper, you're rushing straight

off to work.

Couldn't you have stayed?

Isn't that

being shameful to the woman?

She'd only get fed up with me. She'd

find all these jobs to do in the house.

She'd clean the place 50 times,

she'd cook, I know her.

I'll make up for it

this evening.

All right then.

- Get something for yourself too.

- Sure.

Really, I'm serious.

Don't be ridiculous, Alper.

Go on. Off you go. OK.

Oooh! Look at that! How on earth did

they build this place?

Mashallah! You said there's

everything here, didn't you?

Shops, restaurants, cinemas, they stick

them all together...

...in one place these days.

So as not to tire people out, huh?

You come here, get everything done

all at once and go.

That kind of thing... Like an aquarium.

Heavens, it's so crowded! Give me your

arm or I'll get lost.

I don't want to

be trouble for you later.

Don't say that, Mzeyyen Abla!

There's even a jeweller's, you said, huh?

I'm flabbergasted!

Let's get the gold from there, then

have a nice cup of coffee.

Bravo! That's just what's needed. Let s

treat ourselves, right?

Now we're in

Istanbul...

Oh, you lovely girl...

Thanks. Oh!

Yours is big enough to feed

a whole family of orphans! Mashallah!

Sit down and let's have a little chat,

shall we?

I'm not going to beat about the bush.

And don't go getting embarrassed

in front of me.

Think of me as your

mother. Do you love my son?

Oh, my beautiful!

We've only just met really.

It's been a month or so.

My darling! Knowing that in my old age,

I won't worry even if I drop dead!

In all this time, you're the only one he's

valued enough to introduce to me.

He's always been completely alone here.

How can I explain, dear?

Alper is a bit different really.

Strong and silent.

He never shows his affections, never

talks, never airs his troubles.

Then there are times when

he's downright rude...

He's been like that since

he was a small boy.

He never liked crowds. He always

wanted to sit in his room.

What do they say? Human

nature, that's it.

Some people are like

a closed book all the time.

What I'm saying is... Don't be

defeated, dear.

Don't turn round half way. Look,

in all these years...

...he hasn't once kissed me on the

cheek just like that, out of the blue.

I know he loves me. I know it.

Know that for yourself too.

Friendships, or what do you call

it? Dating?

Whatever. It's hard of course. Work at it,

dear. Don't leave him.

These places, big places,

they always fool you.

In all the hullaballoo people

don't realise they're alone.

Be a voice...

A breath of life beside him.

Does it fill up like this every

evening?

At this time, it generally does.

It's not even particularly full.

Weekends get very crowded.

Mashallah!

That's too much for me, son. They serve

everything for giants in Istanbul.

The poor boy's been rushing around

like mad since morning.

He must be tired.

Would you like anything else?

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