TE16 Turkish Delight

Let Me Out Here, Please stop herself from hearing the sound of silence, the language of the pupils. “There was a chance, he would find out, and after he did he would either speak differently or be silent. But by leaving in his wake, by not once telling him, ‘be quiet, son, you are being disgraceful, let your aunt Sırhupi explain,’ you allowed it to happen…you allowed him to believe what he thought was true, that Armenians were the enemy. To believe that I, no less, was an Armenian enemy. What do you expect me to tell you now, Mukaddes? Say I am only your peer, but have you no veneration for my mother either? You let him curse my family…” Enough, Mukaddes had the urge to cry out. But how do you silence a pair of eyes? And not only the eyes, the walls were in on it too. The walls suck everything in, everything. Screams, laughter, moaning, coughing, footsteps, running, devastating fights, hopeless silences were sucked in by these walls.

The two women were silent for a time. The sound of the walls filled the room once more. The walls spoke.

At full force they spewed out the words that had passed between Mukaddes’ son and Sırhupi’s grandson.

Son: I hear you’re studying in France, are you?

Grandson: Yes, I’m studying philosophy.

Son: So how do you philosophize about the victims of ASALA terrorism? 185