Part 4: The household
There was only the sound of the water which came from the wooden-cabinet bath. He had gotten up from his short sleep after he fainted. His wife, Fatma, was taking a shower. She was screaming when people brought Osman to the house. They calmed her down and told that he had a little heart attack which made him fainted, that’s all. At that time, Salih was also at the house and actually he headed the people at the coffee-shop to bring his father from Station back to home. He thanked every single man in that group and waved them while they were leaving the house. He carried his father to the back room -which was called as “the black room” due to the lack of light bulb inside it-, called his mother and told her to rub his father’s wrist and forehand with the cologne.
That was the short story Fatma told her husband about what happened. It was right except one point: Salih hadn’t been in the house when people brought cookie-man. She learned what happened in the coffee-shop and changed it to a pretty way. Though Salih had the respect to Osman for being his father, he did never love him. He is the most miserable member of the family who suffered a lot from the ottoman slaps of his father. That’s why he would choose studying in the big city near to the village one year later at his eighteen. He was affecting recently by the concepts of freedom, democracy and other western ideas. He believed that he would pursue his goals when he was out of the village, adapting to the city life. However, at the home, he always restricted his sisters about their cloths, behaviors and even close-friends. Ironically, at times, he was resembling his father for being in limbo. He was inconsistent between his ideas and behaviors -theory and practice.
Nurten, the eldest sister of the family, had been grown up under his brother’s pressure. Unlike him, she was such a caring person. When she felt his mother’s endless effort for the household, she was only seven years old. She started caring her sisters and little brothers, fed them and changed their diapers every day. At the age of ten, she already was cooking for the family and cleaning the house. She never went to school since she felt herself so responsible about the house. Her little brothers thought her as their mothers. At the big green yard of the house, she taught entertaining games to her siblings. The real hey-days of the house were those years which had never been lack of chuckling, smiling, running and happiness. Despite the frozen expressions of Salih and his father, children somehow found a way to amuse them. It was the unforgettable moment while Sebo, the youngest, had been chasing by Salih, he made a sudden trick to his brother and made him lie on the ground with pain. After that incidence, Salih could not move for weeks from his bed and was always swearing his little brother for the bruises he caused.
The family seemed so loud to the people who walked down the street in front of their home. Once the children from the upper street came to the house to observe what was going on inside it. They heard so many stories about this house. People said that it was the devil’s home and that’s why it had never been silent. Those curious children pushed the already half-opened door and froze at that moment when they saw Rambo, the silent and grudgy child of the family, holding a wooden stick which ended with three sharpened arrows, wearing a black cap on his head and full red sheet from his upper body to his foot. He ordered his dog to chase them and at a sudden, also he started to run onto the children. The chase ended up at the corner of the street and he yelled at the children: “Next time, i’ll burn you to death. Dare you, motherfuckers!”
Nurten raised her two sisters as queens of the village. She always advised them to be nice and pretty. She saw the lack of beauty at her appearance and tried to cover it with those beauties of the house. Gülten always followed the way of her big sister, while Ayşe wanted to be separate from her sisters. That’s why she chose being the most precious of his daddy. Hence nobody felt himself/herself so close to the father of the family, Ayşe easily used this opportunity and gained a privilege upon his father at the house. Even Salih had no power on Ayşe about her friends and spoiled behaviors. For Rambo, she was the person that he envied most. After her, Sebo -the smallest sibling- came second on the envy list of Rambo.
After the deep sleep, Osman wanted to find Salih and talk to him about all the things in this coffee-shop. However, as always, these family issues were destined to close forever. Only whacking could open the page of the past at this house. He took a deep breath and fell asleep again.
