All Moji Wanted Was a Good Iranian Wife!
Moji was one of us! He was a few years older than the rest of the guys but he fit right in. He was not the tallest or the most handsome guy in the group, but he was very generous and had a great sense of humor; the kind of man that women describe as their ideal mate! He would listen intently as the rest of us talk about our dates and our encounters with women, “Did she actually say that? Did she really do that?” He was always amazed at what the real world was like.
So when he finally decided to get married, he asked his parents in Tehran to find him a nice girl from the old neighborhood. He figured that being a nice guy living in the US with a good job and a place in the suburbs would be sufficient to attract the right woman!
His parents sent him the pictures and the descriptions of a few girls and he corresponded with some of them and at the end he settled on one, Mahtab. They exchanged letters and phone calls for several months and when Mahtab’s father told Moji over the phone, in a stern language that he could not keep calling her, he got the message and got his Iranian passport and went to Tehran to finalize the deal!
Moji came back from Iran all excited! He came to my place with some pictures and a few tapes. He honestly wanted my opinion about Mahtab. She looked great in the pictures and she danced seductively in the tapes! Moji asked me, “Can you believe this? A hot woman like this can be my wife?” I shook my head too! She looked great and wholesome, but I was looking at the other single women in the tape trying to find one for myself! It was like when you go to a Norooz party and they offer you sweets! You don’t know which one to choose!
They finally got married and after several months she arrived in the US. Moji was happy beyond himself. He had promised everyone a great party and he delivered on that. Friends and family were all there as Moji and Mahtab greeted us. She was hot! She danced all night and Moji tried to keep up. They danced to Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean and she even had the glove! That was when I first became worried!
I didn’t see Moji for a while and then out of nowhere, I ran into him at Googoosh concert and then at Moin concert. It looked like as if whenever there was an Iranian event in town, Moji and Mahtab were there. And I knew that Moji was not that kind of a person. It became clear to me that she was trying to “live the life” and he was just trying to keep up with his wife! He had not shown up at the practices and the guys were all asking about him. Everyone was laughing about how he was having an extended honeymoon, but I was worried about him.
Finally, one day, I ran into him at an Iranian restaurant. I was surprised to see that he had aged so much in a year or so, and his sideburns were all turned white. I asked him if everything was ok. He thought for a second and then looked deep into my eyes and started talking.
“What I wanted was a wife, a friend and a companion, but what I got is a woman who is trying to catch up and live the life that she has missed living in Iran! She wants to live like a teenager, going to every concert, every club and every event and I am trying to live like a family man! I don’t know for how long I can do this! Thank god she is pregnant. Maybe having a baby will change her, I hope.”
They had the baby and I did not see him for quite a while. He completely dropped out of the scene. Then I heard the sad news that they had divorced and he was heart broken.
Months later, I ran into her at a club. She was standing at the bar and a guy was buying her a drink. She waved at me. The guy got nervous. Maybe he thought that his investment in a couple of drinks is getting wasted. I said hi and asked about the kid. She said that her mom is babysitting for her. I turned around and left.
I have to say that I have always had mixed feelings about the “Iranian Green Card Brides” but I assumed that at the end it was for good and it was a way for some honest people to get into this country and do something with their lives, but I am not sure now.
