Family Planning

Setting: A furniture store in the basement below a veterinarian's office in an Islamabad strip mall

Characters:
American woman, wearing a long, loose embroidered shirt and sunglasses
Afghan man, wearing a tan shalwar kameez, a khaki photographer's vest, and a white cap

In front of Pets and Vets, a rottweiler lies sprawled and panting on the sidewalk. White gauze encircles both of his paws, and a long plastic tube connects his shin to an IV bag that has been affixed to the railing with twine. Through the glass storefront, we see a golden retriever with superficial head abrasions tied to the door handle, and behind him two small rooms: one crammed with dog kennels, all full, and a cattery of stacked chicken wire cages.

To the right of Pets and Vets, a cement staircase leads into a basement furniture shop crammed with antique Pakistani and Afghan tables, shelves, bureaus, and tables stacked up to the ceiling. A film of dust covers everything, and the room is dim.

Man: All my children are in school here. But when they finish, I will move back to Kabul.

Woman (tracing a tribal pattern on a table leg and then looking up): Oh. How many children do you have.

M: I have six. Four girls and two boys. Do you think that is too many?

W: Oh no, of course not. Do you?

M: It is enough. After the sixth, I was worried my wife would have six more! But in 12 years no more have come.

W: Hmmmmm.

M: Want to know why?

W: Well --

M (interrupting, with exuberance): I went to the family planning clinic!

W: Right.

M: The Canadians, they taught me! They taught me to use birth control! No more children!

E: Ah.