Scene #1

I’m in my mother’s room
she’s channel surfing
suddenly she lands on channel 88
and they’re speaking Arabic

She tries to mimic what they’re saying
then she talks to me in Arabic
in her version of Arabic
I respond
in my version of Arabic
and we laugh

“From Arabic, we only have the dark circles under our eyes”

That’s what she tells me

I look at the number 88 on the TV
I look at her
and this scene stays in my memory
like a photograph

Then
another scene
comes to my mind

Scene #2

A scene
from the year 88
the only year I asked
for the first and only time about my grandfather
my father’s father
and never got an answer

The answer
(now I know)
was that image
the two of us
next to my father on the phone
in 88
sitting on the stairs
silent
not understanding anything
and now
the two of us
in the room
watching channel 88
not understanding anything
but laughing