More from Scraps

Ann Craven, Moon (Paris Review Roof, NYC, 9-19-24, 8:40 PM), 2024, 2024, lipid connected linen, 14 x 14″. From our winter issue, no. 250.

Editors’ note: Abdulah Sidran (1944–2024) was calved to a household of Bosnian Muslims during the concern of what is present Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Croatian fascist Ustaše. After World War II, the portion became, nether Tito, a portion of the caller socialist republic of Yugoslavia. Following Yugoslavia’s interruption with the Soviet-led confederation known arsenic Cominform, Tito’s authorities arrested suspected Soviet sympathizers en masse, imprisoning them successful the forced-labor campy of Goli Otok, a formerly uninhabited land successful the Adriatic Sea. You tin work the Review‘s enactment of his memoir, Scraps, successful our caller Winter issue, no. 250. 

The extortion was leaking again. Dad stopped coming home, and Mom lined the level with bowls and pots and pans and different dishes everyplace the h2o was dripping. Because the h2o dripped truthful much, Mom got up successful the nighttime to bare the containers and returned them to the aforesaid place. We ever heard erstwhile she got up successful the night, and we knew what she was doing arsenic soon arsenic she enactment the dishes backmost and the drops of h2o sounded different, falling into the present bare containers. The worst was erstwhile the extortion leaked implicit our beds. We had to determination them wherever and nevertheless conscionable truthful the h2o wouldn’t drip connected them. Mom said, My God, what person I done wrong? Whenever we heard Mom crying astatine night, we knew Dad had travel home. Mom said, At slightest don’t aftermath the kids. Can you promise? Dad pretended not to perceive her and said, Conference. Women to the different room. So we had to get up and spell implicit to the table, and Mom took Dina to the different room. Dad sat astatine the array and cracked his knuckles. Ekrem, Edo, and I sat successful silence, waiting for Dad to talk. Dad said, Lest you deliberation I’m drunk, Ekrem volition pb the meeting. Ekrem asked what was the agenda, adjacent though it was nighttime, and past Dad took the level and spoke astir his beingness and communism. You boys volition unrecorded to the twelvemonth 2000. By past communism indispensable prevail, you got that? We got that adjacent though we were sleepy. Have you work Germinal, helium asked me, and I lied that I had. He told america however he’d gone to schoolhouse with nanule connected his feet and however we had nary close to inquire for thing beyond that, adjacent though we didn’t inquire for anything. While talking, Dad walked astir the room, and past helium sat down again astatine the array oregon connected the couch. When helium waved a manus from the couch, we knew the gathering was over. To these meetings, helium ever brought caller words. Always a antithetic one. One nighttime helium kept saying pretermit, others, permanently oregon withdrawal. We didn’t cognize what those words meant, but we utilized them to archer 1 league from another. Ekrem said, You know, that nighttime helium kept sayin’ competent. I said, I know.

Mom was crying successful the different room, but you could hardly perceive it due to the fact that she held a pillow implicit her face. Dina asked, Why are you crying, Mom? We’ll beryllium blessed 1 day, too. Everyone has to beryllium blessed 1 day. Mom said, When the ungraded covers me, that’s erstwhile I’ll beryllium happy.

Translated from the Bosnian by Ena Selimović.

Abdulah Sidran (1944-2024) was a writer of poetry, prose, and screenplays, including the Palme d’Or winner When Father Was Away connected Business.

Ena Selimović is simply a founding subordinate of the translators’ corporate Turkoslavia. Her translation of Maša Kolanović’s Underground Barbie is forthcoming from Sandorf Passage successful outpouring 2025.