Page 66 of The Mismatch

She wished he would disappear instead. Wished he’d stop controlling them, burdening them.

She heard another crash and looked over to see he’d thrown down her TV. He picked up the watercolour set she’d been given for her birthday and smashed it against the wall.He had the ability to ruin everything; he destroyed and destroyed until everything was broken.

‘Hossein, stop!’ her mum shouted.

‘This is your fault.’ He turned on her then. She had a hand on his shoulder and he pushed her off him. She fell full force and the look on his face was one of surprise. As though he wasn’t aware of his own strength. Soraya and her mum both lay crumpled on the floor. Seeing him touch her mum in that way changed something in Soraya.

‘Neda,’ he said softly, bending over her, hand outstretched, as though he hadn’t meant to hurt her.

Her mum ignored his hand, instead keeping her gaze on him, her jaw clenched. She managed to stand up unaided, on shaky legs.

‘Don’t you ever touch her, don’t even—’ Soraya began.

Anger returned to his face then, bringing him back to the reason he had pushed his wife, despite the brief moment of remorse he had shown.

‘What? What did you say?’

‘Leave Mum alone—’

He gave a short, harsh laugh. ‘You think your mum is innocent? She let you go to London, let you live with thatgayboy, let you wear short skirts, and this happens. Like fuckingLaleh.’ He spat in Soraya’s face. Saliva ran down her cheek and into her hair. She tried to wipe it off her face but it was gluey and elastic. It stuck to her skin. She wiped her hand repeatedly against her pyjama bottoms. ‘You’re lucky Amir isn’t home. He’d kill you, he’d fucking kill you!’ her father ranted.

‘For what? I’ve not done anything!’ she shouted. ‘You’re a bully, all you ever do is bully all of us, and I’m so sick of it!’

His eyes were wild, hungry for confrontation, and she’d stupidly fed him. He reached out and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her towards him. She was about to groan with the pain of it when he smacked her across the face again.

He hit her harder this time and her face felt like it had been branded by a hot iron. Her vision blurred. A contact lens had come out following the blow. She cried, couldn’t help it, tears gushing down her face, and sobbed loudly. As if she had been reduced to an animal, her cries were feral, unrestrained.

‘I told you before. Everything we do is for you,’ her father shouted. ‘We came to England foryou, your mum works like a donkey foryou.’ His voice rose after each word, until he was bellowing.

Soraya looked over at her mum. Her head was bent low in resignation. Her lips were turned down and in that moment she noticed how much her mum had aged. Her wrinkles looked deeper, her body smaller. In particular, her hands looked tiny, childlike.How had she ended up with such a monster?And why wouldn’t she leave him?

‘I’m ashamed of you,’ he spat.

Soraya shut her eyes for a moment, willing this to be a nightmare. Wanting to wake up and have a normal dad. A calm, boring family. Not this.

She hated him so much then. It was a familiar feeling but it was in this moment that she felt it charge her veins until she had to resist the urge to scream.

‘What’s going on … ?’ Parvin stood at the top of the stairs, looking in at the chaos.

There were shards of glass on the floor, the television upside down, paint on the walls. Her mum held her face in her hands and Soraya stood facing their dad, her cheeks wet with tears, blood dribbling from her nose. The silence in the room was almost audible.

Parvin’s presence seemed to calm her dad’s fury. He backed away from Soraya and turned towards her sister, forcing a shaky smile onto his face. ‘Nothing, darling.’

Soraya didn’t know what she wanted him to say, but it wasn’t that.

‘Nothing?’ she let out. ‘You callattacking usnothing?’ Her voice echoed around the room.

‘Don’t exaggerate.’ He scratched his bald head. ‘You’re always talking back, always going against what I tell you, having a fuckingboyfriend, drinking alcohol. And now you’re saying Ihityou …’

Parvin looked again at the spectacle in front of her.

‘Why do you never bother her?’ Soraya said, pointing to her sister, not sure where her boldness was coming from. Was it Parvin’s presence? Or had she simply had enough?

Her dad ignored her, turning to make his way down the stairs.

‘I asked you a question!’ Soraya called after him. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, tears mixed with blood.

He turned, his eyes dark again. ‘Do you want to know why? Because she listens to me, she doesn’t backchat likeyou, likeLaleh.’ He said the name like it was a dirty word. ‘I seeherin you. You act just like her. And I don’t want to be embarrassed again. Do you fucking hear? No more of this. If I hear you’re still with this boy,any boy, you can fuck off out of this family. No more shame. Do you hear? No more!’