Not Without My Daughter Page #4

Happy birthday, dear Mahtob

Happy birthday to you

Hi.

Hi.

Nasserine said you wanted to see me.

I can't believe she's five, can you?

No.

Thank you for today.

The doll and everything.

I miss her.

Seems I haven't

spent much time with her lately.

Moody...

I wanna make it work.

You were such a wonderful father today.

It brought it all back.

Honey, I want you to be happy.

I want to make you happy.

I need you to help me.

Oh, Betty.

I didn't want it to be like this.

I love you. I never wanna hurt you.

Oh, Moody. Moody, I need you to help me.

We can't stay in this house.

It's my sister's house.

She'd be insulted if we went away.

No. She doesn't want us here.

She doesn't like me.

We got nowhere else to go.

We could stay

with Mammal and Nasserine.

We helped them

when they were in the States.

Nasserine goes to classes.

I could babysit. I could help.

Please.

Oh, Betty.

I don't wanna lose you.

I want you to tell me

anything I can ever do.

- The kitchen?

- Kitchen.

I'll cook for you.

I'm so grateful, Nasserine.

Thank you so much.

I was telling them

the same rules apply as before.

You have to wear a chador tonight.

Oh?

My uncle's a mullah.

He's highly respected.

He's a very influential man.

He's written books on Islam.

Maybe he's gonna help me get a job.

Betty, you are very good Iranian cook.

- Thank you.

- You are lucky people.

Why you wear chador?

- I thought I had to.

- But why?

Chador is Persian tradition.

It's not necessary to wear it inside.

It is exaggerated with some people now.

Mahmood told me you read Koran.

Yes. I try.

- I like to.

- Very good.

- You go to Koran class?

- No.

Mahmood must send you there.

They are in English language.

- Would you like?

- Yes. Very much.

The Hadiths or reports

are the collected sayings of the Prophet

with additional commentaries

by devout and learned men.

In our readings from the Koran, we'll

consider the Hadiths when appropriate.

- What page are we on?

- I don't know. She just...

- You're American.

- Yes.

.. without there being on it an imam

guiding the people to God.

- We lived there!

- You're kidding?

- Chicago.

- But I lived in Michigan.

- Where?

- Near Lancing.

- Where?

- It's a little place. Owosso.

I lived there for five years!

I went to grammar school there.

- My husband had his own practice there.

- My husband's a doctor too.

I can't believe this!

Now I work for an English language

magazine for Islamic women.

- Have you become Muslim?

- Mm-hm.

- Did you convert?

- Well, I wanted to, I guess.

My husband was happy I did.

It made things a lot better.

Er... I gotta go.

- Ellen, it's been...

- No, really.

Moody.

I just met an American woman in class.

From Owosso. Her husband's a doctor.

- Are they here?

- They just left.

She's invited us over. Is that all right?

Yeah, that's fine.

I want you to ask questions

when you're out with your daddy.

I want you to ask him questions

about taxis and buses.

- And how much things cost.

- OK.

All right? Ask him questions about signs.

What the signs mean, what they say.

- All right.

- Then you can teach me.

Why do you wanna learn all that?

I have to if we're gonna get out of here.

- What's that?

- His name on the sign.

- What's he sell?

- All kinds of things they sell here.

These are pictures of people

who died in the war.

- Why all these questions, honey?

- What's that?

- That's the rest of the market and...

- What do they do?

Telephone. Telephone.

The moment the Shah left

I wanted to go back to Iran,

but Ellen didn't want to.

So I said, "Fine. I'll go without you. "

So she came.

The first year in Iran

things were very bad between us.

She couldn't adjust. Could you, Ellen?

It took quite a time before she understood

how to be a good wife.

Warm, isn't it?

Yes.

Why did you come back?

I mean, my God,

he let you go home to the States...

and you came back.

Maybe at the beginning if...

Of course there was the custody problem

with the kids, so...

It was tough for me.

I had no experience.

A small American town.

- Was he violent?

- Not in the States, never.

You're not supposed to. It's not Islamic.

Marriages do work out here.

They can be good.

It's been hard for me at times,

but you've got to give it time, Betty.

Islam has such beauty in it.

I mean, I'm glad my kids

are growing up as Muslims.

Ellen...

I'm so happy we're friends. When you told

me you were from home, I was thrilled.

It was like a miracle.

Ellen...

I have something I want to tell you.

If I do, can you keep it a secret?

Not tell your husband?

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Ellen, I'm sorry. Please forget I spoke.

No, it's OK. Go ahead.

I won't tell him. That's a promise.

Would you take this letter for me?

I'm trying to get back home to America.

My family is working on it, but Moody

knows where I am every minute.

Are you crazy? Don't you realise

what can happen? Terrible things.

You just can't, Betty.

If you were caught,

they could execute you.

It's for the Embassy. Please.

Can you believe that?

They're desperate for doctors,

they've got casualties from the war,

but because I trained in America,

no one will give me a job.

It's not the reason.

Hard to believe this country was getting

sophisticated before the Revolution.

We were building chemical plants,

oil refineries,

multi-million dollar installations.

They're all rotting because nobody knows

how to operate them!

It's all so primitive!

Honey, somebody needs to go to

the market. We're out of meat and things.

- I can't go.

- It's for tonight's dinner.

I can't go. You'll have to wait

till Nasserine gets back.

She's late. What'll we do tonight?

I don't know!

Can't you go by yourself for a change?

Yeah. I can, really.

I know the way. It's not far.

I'll take the children.

You give me a list of everything you need

and I'll tell you what time

for you to be back here.

Take the baby with you.

Mahtob can stay here with me.

- You are American?

- Yes.

I need dozaari for the telephone.

I was in America many times.

New York. Amarillo, Texas.

You want to telephone?

Please. Come. Please.

Thank you.

American Interests section.

Nicole Adjanian.

Nicole, it's Betty. Have you heard anything

from the State Department?

No, I can't.

Because he watches me all the time

or he has somebody watch me.

I didn't know that.

Will they let us go if I get a divorce?

What?

I can't do that... I can't do that.

I won't leave her.

Nicole... Nicole, I won't leave her!

All right. I'll get to the Embassy if I can.

Thank you. You're very kind.

You can use the telephone

when you want. No problem.

- Thank you.

- I like America very much.

My son was with University of Texas.

That is my son.

He is a martyr for the war.

My name is Hamid.

Any time for telephone, you come here.

I'm Betty.

- Who'll take me to school tomorrow?

- I don't know, honey.

It'll either be me or it'll be Daddy.

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