Chapter 3

"Fear is without cause. It is imagination, and it blocks you just like a wooden stake can block a door. Burn this stake!"

(Jalal al-Din Rumi)

"Azad amca, orada mısın?" (Uncle Azad, are you there?)

"Evet!" (Yes!)

Yin Chu visibly trembled when he heard that powerful voice speaking an unknown language. As if to hide from the newcomer, he grabbed Azad's long tunic and hid behind it.

"Do not be afraid, my little sumac. Ayaz is a good boy. He will not harm you."

As soon as Azad slowly finished speaking, a young man entered the shop. From behind the flap of cloth, Yin Chu could admire his olive complexion, bright green eyes and thick dark hair. He was mesmerizingly beautiful, but his imposing build and the shadowy gaze with which he was looking at him sent a shiver down his spine.

"Peki ya bu kim?" (And who is this?) said the newcomer, pointing at him with his chin.

"Ayaz, behave yourself. He is our guest." Azad chided him gently, switching to speaking English. "You speak English, don't you?" He turned to ask his saviour.

"Yes...yes. I speak English and French." He replied hesitantly, looking at the other boy quizzically.

"Didn't they teach you that staring is rude?" Said the boy snootily, switching to English in turn.

"I..."

"Who dares to stare at the magnificent Ayaz and claim to still walk this earth unharmed?" A mock cavernous voice asked ironically, interrupting the ongoing discussion.

Another black-eyed boy entered the shop and stood beside the other young man.

"Azad amca, who upsets my choleric brother early in the morning?" He asked again, resting an arm with difficulty around the first comer's broad shoulders. But, noticing his presence, he did not let him answer and lowered himself slightly to look at him. "Who is the little kuş?" (bird)

"Pay respect to uncle," Ayaz said, smacking the newcomer with a slap.

"Ouch! Careful, it took me ages to fix my hair this morning. This humidity is devastating to my thick hair." Puffed the other boy, fixing his messy locks with his fingers.

Yin Chu looked curiously at the other young man. Unlike Ayaz, he had a longer build and was slightly shorter. And unlike the other boy, he had a dazzling, joyful smile.

"Efe, what brings you to me this morning?" Azad asked, turning to the black-eyed young man.

"Mother would like some of your wonderful rose syrup and some saffron pistils."

"Didn't she already take them yesterday?" Azad asked in amazement.

"Uh? No...no, I don't think so." Replied the boy, trying to deflect from the older man's watchful gaze.

"Who have you come to annoy today?" Ayaz asked, taking him by the ear.

"Quiet! I have sensitive ears," Efe exclaimed, massaging his sore spot. "Everything you see was not put on this earth to be defaced by your rough, calloused hands." He asserted, doing a half-turn to show off his person.

Yin Chu smirked behind his saviour's robes. The newcomer seemed very sympathetic.

"Guys..."

"Azad amca, don't take it out on me. You know I'm the most peaceful soul circling these dusty alleys." Efe declared.

Azad sketched a smile, shaking his head.

"You see, because of your roughness, I pass for uncivilized in turn." Efe became annoyed, speaking to Ayaz again. "I apologise for the lack of manners. My name is Efe, which means brave in Turkish. This beast at my side is my brother Ayaz..."

"We are not brothers." The other boy interrupted him.

"Technically, no. But only because you're a big head and haven't asked for my sister's hand yet." Efe pointed out irritably. "Now shut up, you're making me lose my train of thought. I was saying? Ah yes, this is Ayaz, and as his name already denotes, he is pure frost. My family has been in the candy business for generations, but we are best known for our lokums[1]. You know what they are, don't you?"

Yin Chu shook his head, mesmerized by that torrent of words.

"Oh well, I'll let you taste them. On the other hand, my friend is one of the best-known leather tanners in the city. His family's shops are taken by storm for the originality of their creations. All one-of-a-kind pieces. How do you know Azad amca?"

"Well...I..."

"Efe, don't daze him with your words. Give him time to settle in and catch his breath." Azad said, resting a hand on his head.

It was the first time since Wei Mei Te had been sent away that someone had touched him with a gesture as spontaneous as it was loving. Yin Chu enjoyed that little caress for a moment before responding to Efe.

"I...I just ran away from my family." He confessed in one breath, immediately lowering his head, for fear of seeing the negative judgement in the eyes of his new acquaintances.

"Ah! So the men in black nervously wandering around the bazaar are looking for you?" Ayaz asked.

"Well, yes."

"I guess you don't want to come back if you're hiding here, right? "

Yin Chu shook his head vigorously.

"And how are you going to do that without your family? What plans do you have?"

Yin Chu only realized at that moment that he hadn't thought of that. He had no money and no documents. He had abandoned everything in the inside pocket of his jacket thrown on the ground. And he had never worked in his life, so how could he hope to survive?

He looked nervously at Ayaz, tightening his lips.

"You don't know, do you?" The boy asked him, crossing his arms.

Yin Chu dejectedly lowered his head, shaking it again. Two big tears sprang up at the corners of his eyes. What could he do?

"How old are you?"

"I turned 18." He murmured, continuing to stare at the ground.

"18? Bless your heart! What products do you use on your skin? I could barely give you 14, and instead, you're barely smaller than us." Efe observed all pleased.

"Do you hear yourself when you speak?" Said Ayaz, returning to speaking Turkish after huffing for the umpteenth time.

"Yes. I just asked a question. I'm curious about the secrets of his skincare."

Ayaz tapped his forehead with his palm, exasperated at the other boy's stupidity.

"Oh, I mean! Not everyone washes with cold water and soap like you do. Some people care about taking care of their person."

"I think I'm getting a headache." Commented the taller young man exhaustedly.

"Guys!" Azad stepped into the scuffle between the two young men with an amused smirk on his lips. "It's not polite to exclude a person from the conversation."

"It was nothing transcendental...Oh! Forgive my rudeness, what is your name, my little kuş?" Efe asked, turning to look at him again.

"I...My name is Xin Yin Chu." He replied, trying not to let his voice tremble. Not that he felt afraid of those people.

"Ohh! It has such a delicate sound. What does it mean?"

"Will you stop getting lost in nonsense?" Ayaz scolded him once more.

"Your lack of empathy hurts my sensitive soul. But can't you see he's as tense as the 78 strings of a kanun[2]? I'm trying to get him to relax."

"It's hard for him to relax, knowing that there are four men who are literally searching all the shops for him."

Hearing that comment, Yin Chu could do nothing but seek refuge behind Azad's robes again.

"I doubt that's a good place to hide." Ayaz mocked him, seeing his gesture.

"I...I...I don't want them to find me."

"Okay," Ayaz said nothing more, stared at him for a moment and walked out of the shop.

"Efe, does your father always keep a change of clothes in the back of the shop?"

"Yes, uncle. Do you want me to fetch it?"

"You'd be doing me a huge favour. And, on your way back, could you stop by Mehmet's and have some more tea, please?"

"Of course." The boy replied cheerfully before slinging himself out as well.

Calm enveloped those four walls again. Yin Chu finally let go of the fabric, which had become crumpled from grasping. He felt terribly embarrassed by his carelessness.

"I beg your pardon. I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry about it," Azad told him with a warm smile on his face.

"I'm sorry to inconvenience you so much. If you tell me how to get out of here, I'll leave you alone."

Azad shook his head slightly, smiling again.

"How do you know what peace is if there is chaos in your heart right now?"

"Huh?"

Azad leaned over him and gently rested his hand on his heart.

"Your heart is beating fast now." Saying this, he took his hand and gently brought it towards his chest. "My heart is beating normally but, if you leave here, it will beat faster."

Yin Chu looked at him questioningly; he didn't understand what that gentleman meant by those words. Azad inhaled deeply, seeing his bewildered gaze.

"I am here for you. I can't let you go." Calmly affirmed the man.

"You mean you want to help me? But I don't have any money."

"Money opens all doors except those of heaven."

"I don't understand."

"Sorry, I'm confusing you. I don't care about money; I'm doing this because I'm here for you, and that's it."

Yin Chu was confused. Only one person in his life had addressed him in the same way. His beloved bǎomǔ, Mei Wei Te, spoke to him the same way.

'You are my gift, Xiao Chu. We met so that I could share what I have received with you.'

This is what the girl would say to him every time he was disconsolate or dejected and rushed into her arms to receive some cuddles. The scent of roses that enveloped her and her sweet voice was the best balm for his childish heart in need of affection.

And now Yin Chu looked at that face coloured by the sun and time and felt again that sense of fulfilment he had felt years before. He didn't know what would become of him, but he felt he could trust that clear gaze and open smile.

"I can do the cleaning. I know how to use a broom." He threw out in one breath, instantly regretting the stupidity of the sentence he had just said.

Azad burst into a thunderous laugh and rubbed the soft hair on his head.

"Don't worry."

"I can...I can..." He took to looking around nervously. "I can help keep it clean and, if you let me, I can sleep in the shop and keep the thieves away."

"You can't sleep here."

"But I..."

"If you want, you can come to my house. I won't leave a kid to sleep on the cold ground."

Yin Chu widened his eyes in amazement and stared at his saviour in disbelief.

"The question you must ask yourself now is, am I ready to leave what I have, not knowing what I will have?" Azad had taken on a serious air as he said this.

It was all there in those few words: his past, his present, his future.

If he had accepted Azad's invitation, he would have broken all ties with his old life. He would have started all over again in a foreign country, without knowing anyone and without knowing what would happen to him.

However, if he had gone back, he would have continued his old life, where everything had already been planned for him, without any choice, in a country he hardly knew and with people he pretended to know.

What was scarier? Not knowing anything or pretending to know everything?

Yin Chu was doing all that thinking with his head down when suddenly, a frame resting against an earthenware jar caught his eye.

He slowly stood up and walked towards the object in question, thinking that the situation had played a trick on him.

But when he lifted the large painting in his hands, a sweet smile and two laughing eyes looked at him through the glass.

Instantly, as he looked at the familiar figure, the corners of his eyes moistened and a lump formed in his throat. Unable to hold back his emotion, he let the tears he had long held back since their separation flow.

"Wei Mei Te!" He exclaimed between sobs.

Azad came up behind him and looked at the many photos that occupied that frame. When he realised which picture he was looking at, he asked, "Nastaran?" (Wild rose)

Yin Chu looked at him through the veil of tears that blurred his vision.

"Do you know my bǎomǔ?" He asked with emotion exploding in his chest.

"Nastaran? No, sorry, Mei Te. Yes, she is one of the many putative children Allah has sent me." Said the man, with a hint of pride in his voice. "She was my guide when I lived in Nanjing."

Yin Chu did not need to think further. He knew now why he had felt a sense of familiarity ever since he had first met his saviour's eyes.

"I will go home with you, thank you." He said through his tears.

[1] Lokums are starch and sugar-based sweets with a jelly-like consistency. They can be flavoured in various ways (and they are all delicious).

[2] The Kanun is a stringed instrument typical of Arabic, Turkish and Greek cultures. It is a trapezoidal zither with 78 strings divided into choruses. The strings are plucked with two horn plectrums.