The Ungrateful Refugee. Dina Nayeri

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      Now he looked up at me for an answer, and I was still working it out.

      “Dina, Daniel,” Maman repeated. “Come on. We have work to do.”

      “Who’s Daniel?” I asked, tentative, but also feeling the excitement. I loved it when Maman got up to stuff. I thought she was a warrior. And I was starting to catch on: this was no petty betrayal; it was a strategy. Maman wasn’t going to let us be any less dignified than the stupid Jahangirs.

      She smiled. I don’t remember if she explained: This will be your brother’s name from now on because Westerners can’t pronounce Khosrou. She said this later, many times. But did she say it in that moment? I remember a rushed morning, and a dedication to the game—she had to see it through, like sleep training a baby or finishing a bottle of antibiotics. When the realization hit him, my brother’s eyes welled up. It was time for sweet Khosrou to bid us farewell, to make room for Daniel, his American counterpart. He was five. Until around that year, each time he felt the sting of welling tears he would roll his eyes back into his head, stare at the ceiling, and wait for the feeling to pass. He thought if he couldn’t see anyone, then no one could see him. He could hide in the cracks of the ceiling and return to us strong and brave, never having cried at all. But, though I disappeared from his sight each time his gaze drifted upward, I was still standing there. I saw his quivering chin and his wobbling cheeks, his angry eyebrows, all those very private things.

      The fact that Maman held strong meant something to us—she adored Khosrou; his tears turned her to putty. Not this time, though. She helped us dress and gather our things. She promised a day of fun, maybe a rotisserie chicken for dinner. My brother was confused for a few days, burst into tears now and then, but eventually he accepted it. And by the third morning, Daniel was Daniel just as easily as I was Dina. (And it has felt strange writing his name as Khosrou until now. I’m glad to be past it.)

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