for a moment , he contemplates throwing himself in front of one of the lumbering cars , and then he realizes that his brother-in-law would be more concerned with the fate of the sample case than of salim himself , and that he would bring grief to no one but his beloved sister , fuad 's wife ( for he had always been a slight embarrassment to his father and mother , and his romantic encounters had always , of necessity , been both brief and relatively anonymous ) : also , he doubts that any of the cars are going fast enough actually to end his life .