Forgotten Fire Chapter 32 Summary

  • Vahan worries that he will be discovered as an Armenian, and then comes a day when he fears this very nightmare has come true.
  • The wagons are stopped by soldiers, and Vahan realizes that he has nothing to prove he's Turkish, except for the uniform he's wearing.
  • When he hears a commotion up ahead, he asks one of the other drivers what language they are speaking, and is relieved to learn it's Greek. Hey, it's all Greek to him.
  • It turns out the Greeks have been taken prisoner or executed by the Turks too, just like Armenians.
  • When Vahan tells the Greek driver he's Armenian, the guy acts like he's seen a ghost—Armenians are so rare in Turkey at this point, that he might as well be.
  • Vahan tells the guy—named Spiros Koulouris—that he wants to get to Constantinople. It'll cost him, but he can pay a few lira; he takes off his shoe and offers eight lira to the guy, so he'll have two left.
  • Spiros agrees to arrange the journey to Constantinople, and to take Vahan to a guy tomorrow to do so. First though, he gets his son Manolis to get Vahan some bread.
  • The next day, Vahan meets a guy who asks him some questions about why he wants to go to Constantinople—Vahan lies, claiming he's got relatives there, and it works.
  • He'll board the boat tomorrow and pay the guy when he gets on board.