18. Marianna’s Office (Tehran, 2031)
Small desks are disseminated without any regularity in the large room. A few women are working in front of computer screens.
The front door opens, and Nahid (38) comes in. She greets everyone, hangs up her coat, and asks one of the women:
NAHID
May I come in?
THE WOMAN
Sure. Marianna is with a patient, she’s waiting for you.
Nahid goes to a door, knocks, and comes in without waiting for an answer.
Seated at her desk, Marianna is in consultation with a 35-years-old woman wearing a niqab. The woman seems ill at ease.
MARIANNA
Ah, here comes my colleague.
(to Nahid)
You’re just in time. Mrs. Kalemli has just begun telling me her story.
Nahid shakes the woman’s hand and sits on a chair next to her.
MARIANNA
You were saying that you are married and that you don’t have any children.
MRS. KALEMLI, reluctantly
Yes.
NAHID
You don’t have to be afraid, you have nothing to fear. We’ve helped a lot of women who were in terrible situations. In the beginning, many find it difficult to admit that their marriage has failed because they feel responsible for it. They also think they are betraying the one to whom they have promised loyalty and support. We are often the first to hear what they face at home.
And it’s only once their sufferings stop that they realize how their feelings of guilt and loyalty were misplaced.
Nahid remains silent. The woman begins then to speak in a very soft, hardly audible voice.
MRS. KALEMLI
Six years ago, I got pregnant for the first time. At the beginning of my pregnancy, we were very happy. He was very caring, and we were doing a lot of things together. But soon afterward, things began to change. My husband became horribly jealous. His fits of anger were getting more extreme by the day. He accused me of sleeping with everyone, and, to get a confession out of me, he started to beat me. And the more he hit me, the more obsessed he became.
She hesitates briefly before resuming, looking fixedly at Marianna.
MRS. KALEMLI
One day, he was drunk, he threw me on the ground and began to kick me in the stomach, screaming that he was not going to be the father of a bastard…. That day, I lost my child, but he didn’t believe me, and he kept hitting me the following days until I had to be hospitalized.
The sweetness of her voice makes the scenes she describes even more horrible.
MRS. KALEMLI
When I went back home, he was completely metamorphosed, he was just like before my pregnancy, you know, very caring, acting as if I was his princess. I was very suspicious until I realized he had a total blackout about what had happened. For example, he was convinced that I fell down the stairs with a trunk in my arms. That was the story we told at the hospital.
Her eyes feign a smile that fades away immediately.
MRS. KALEMLI
After a few days, the crisis of jealousy began again. He accused me of being a whore, of sleeping with everyone. With time, he became more delirious. One day, he even asked a man on the street if he wanted to sleep with me.
She lets out a nervous sob, but immediately takes hold of herself.
MRS. KALEMLI
I’m pregnant again, but he doesn’t know it yet. I’m afraid he will become crazy when he hears it. That’s why I got in contact with Omid, and they told me you could help me.
MARIANNA
Why didn’t you go to the police?
MRS. KALEMLI
Two months ago, I was so fed up of being beaten and insulted that I decided to ask their protection. I made a detailed account of what I was going through, I even showed them the bruises on my body, but they kept on asking what I had done to make him mad like that. I came out of the police station with the feeling that everything was my fault.
MARIANNA
Unfortunately, it happens more often than not. Even when a woman or a child dies of domestic violence, the system always protects the man.
MRS. KALEMLI
Do you think you can help me?
NAHID
Yes. But before we come to that, I have to ask you to show us the places where he has hit you lately. It helps us determine the most appropriate treatment.
After a short hesitation, the woman removes her niqab. Her delicate and well-proportioned features are strewn with colored bruises. Her lips are swollen and cut in several places.
MRS. KALEMLI
He hits me in the face so that no man will want me. That’s why I cover myself, I am so ashamed…
NAHID, disgusted
I’m so sorry.
(taking hold of herself)
We’ve developed a product that will make your husband harmless within twenty-four hours.
MRS. KALEMLI, covering herself
If he knows what I’m up to, he will kill me.
MARIANNA
Do not worry, it will be all right.
The first effects occur after just a few hours. He’ll feel weird, nauseous, and he will often go to the bathroom. At first, he will think he has caught a virus. He will go to bed earlier than usual.
You must act normally. The next day, he won’t feel fit, and he will stay at home. He will become apathetic and he will not understand what’s happening to him. From that day on, he will never raise his hand to you again.
NAHID
You will have to reorganize your life. Many women remain with their husband because they have nothing to fear anymore and because he’s entirely dependent on them. A few, however, ask for a divorce after a while, and, in the light of the circumstances, they get it without a problem.
MRS. KALEMLI
What do you mean by that? Which circumstances?
NAHID
Besides a few side effects, such as his voice suddenly shifting from one register to another, or his hairiness starting to disappear, there are three things you must be aware of: your husband will lose his aggressiveness; second, he will lose his libido; and third, his social life will die out very rapidly. The lethargic state and the total absence of sexual desire entice many women to start a new life.
MARIANNA
Is your husband at home?
MRS. KALEMLI
No, he’s gone hunting with friends for a few days.
MARIANNA
Do you want to wait for a few days to think about it?
MRS. KALEMLI
No, it’s not necessary. This nightmare has to stop. Besides, I don’t want to lose my child. It might be my last chance to have one.
(lowering her voice)
I even thought about killing him, but I didn’t have the courage to do it.
Nahid takes a small plastic bag out of her pocket.
NAHID
You will see, our product is easy to use.
The woman nods…
* * * * *
Mrs. Kalemli leaves, and Marianna closes the door behind her.
NAHID, angrily
It’s revolting to see that. Such a nice woman! She seems so kind… What can push a man to do things like that?
MARIANNA
It’s their way to express their chronic insecurity. These men have only their wife and children they can dominate. And as Oscar Wilde accurately put it, everything is about sex, except sex, which is about power.
By the way, I would like to speak to you, but not here. Do you have a moment? We could go drink something somewhere?
NAHID
Okay. Let’s go!
They leave.
