“Your enemy will play on your weaknesses.”
Gulnoor never complained, but this disease was taking her life away, and it scared her. She gave Amu a tight hug, which made the baby wriggle out of her arms and run off. She playfully chased after him and then went to begin the morning routines. She would make her brother’s favorite breakfast, flaky butter parathas and an omelet made with finely chopped onions, tomatoes, and chilies, hoping it might make him ease up on his punishment of Rebecca.
When Mullah Shaheen bought Rebecca to their camp, he had hoped she would help Gulnoor. He hadn’t expected anyone in the convoy to live and took her survival to be a gift from the Almighty for his sister’s well-being. He had even mentioned this to his men at the scene of the bombing.
However, he did not bargain for the headstrong woman that Rebecca was. No amount of beating had any effect on her. He had tried to break her spirit, claiming that another suicide bombing was executed a couple of days ago with one of the kids, Zarak, at their camp as a result of her aggression. Could he guilt her into compliance?
“Why can’t she stop resisting and leave the hard work to the men?” Shaheen could never understand the ways of the West. Women in this part of the world were so much less trouble and simpler to control, he thought.
“Next time you try to escape, I’ll do it again!” he swore. “And, this time, I’ll use Ahmad!”
He had enjoyed seeing the horror on her face, and he decided he might have figured out a way to get to her.
Gulnoor tried to portray Rebecca as a doctor for the camp residents, which gave the foreigner an avenue to stay out of trouble. However, Shaheen still had a guard follow her everywhere because he could not trust her.
Rebecca was always with Ahmad, and Shaheen hated to see them together. Ahmad reminded him of Chief Naseer Husain, who was trying as hard as ever to find his son, and seemed to be getting closer all the time. It was because of the Lashkar that they had to keep moving their camp, and life was becoming increasingly inconvenient.
Despite training Ahmad with the other kids to become Taliban fighters, there was always his parents teaching inhibiting his progress. As much as Shaheen tried to change the boy’s values, Ahmad remained the same. It only reminded Shaheen of the boy he was, a long time ago.
Shaheen had tried to get rid of Ahmad numerous times. A year ago, the child went on a suicide mission, at a political rally, but the bomb had failed to detonate, and he had returned unhurt. Now, his need to get rid of Ahmad was growing in urgency because Rebecca and the eight-year-old were slowly forming an alliance that could prove dangerous to the safety of the camp. Shaheen would love to put an end to them both.
“Everything in its own time,” he muttered to himself and said a silent prayer for Allah’s guidance.
Mullah Shaheen believed Allah was happy with what he was doing to make sure Islam was not compromised. He would fight all the infidels of the world, especially the ones who had so unjustly killed innocent Afghans in their land. He would avenge the deaths of his brothers; compassion was something he had no use for these days.
However, it hurt him terribly to see Gulnoor struggling between life and death. Today, she could not get up in bed when he had come to check on her.
He had decided it was time to do something about it.
“Bring the American ladki,” he told one of his men who was standing outside.
While she was cold toward him when she arrived, Shaheen noticed Rebecca’s eyes softened at seeing Gulnoor on the mattress, and Rebecca went to check how Gulnoor was doing. Rebecca was wearing a dress borrowed from another girl in camp and had her head covered with a chador. She blended in well with the other women, and one could hardly tell them apart. Abdullah was sitting next to his wife, and though Rebecca ignored him, Shaheen noticed the man’s eyes following her.
“She needs to go to a hospital,” Rebecca informed. “There’s nothing I can do for her; if you wait another week or two, the cancer cells are going to rupture. Once they spread to other organs, it’ll be a tough case to cure. If we act now, we might save her.”
Rebecca knew what she said was not true; Gulnoor had already passed the point of no return. Shaheen was aware that Rebecca had seen his weakness and would not hesitate to take advantage of it. He regretted his soft spot for his sister, but he had no choice.
“Your enemy will play on your weaknesses,” he could hear his father’s warning words in his mind, and before he could stop the recollection, a scene from his past flashed before him.
He saw his father hovering over him with a hot iron rod in one hand and Shaheen’s beloved pet dog, on the other hand, forcing him to look at the life drain from the animal he adored. He shuddered. His father was no longer there, and he ignored the pain of the past. But now, his discomfort was evident. He could not, would not let his sister die. He had to trust the American woman for now. Besides, he had her under his control, and at present, she was too insignificant to be a threat.
“How many days does the treatment take?” he asked in English. Before immersing in the Taliban business, he had been a good student in college and had mastered English in college.
“It all depends on how bad it is, what facilities they have there, and what the doctors are capable of doing.”
“Roughly?”
“Well, if they give her chemotherapy first, that will take two months at least. And she’ll require someone to help her. It’s not an easy treatment, and she’ll need good food and rest.”
“Ammi can go with her. My mother has been wanting to visit her sister. They can live in their house in the city, and I can go along to see the doctor and then come back,” said Abdullah, standing up to leave.
Shaheen nodded and thought for a while. He turned to Rebecca and made sure she was looking at him because he refused to use her name. She was not worthy of being acknowledged.
“You’ll go with Abdullah to see the doctor and make sure she gets the right treatment. You’ll leave in two days with Ammi, Gulnoor, and Abdullah. Gulnoor and Ammi will stay at Ammi’s sister’s place for the treatment, but you’ll come back with Abdullah after seeing the doctor. I’ll make the necessary arrangements. Cause any trouble, and you really will regret it this time.”
He knew he was taking a chance by sending Rebecca out, but he did not trust Abdullah to make the right decisions for his sister. He had heard the rumors; Abdullah was eyeing other girls for a second marriage. His sister had not taken care of herself and invited the disease. Everyone in their world believed that your ailments are the consequences of your own doing. He held that view, too, just as Abdullah did. But unlike his brother-in-law, he desperately wanted Gulnoor to live.
He wanted her to have the best care. One of them had to stay at the camp; in case they were attacked, and there would be no one trusted to make critical decisions. They had worked hard to build their family, which needed protection at all costs.
Rebecca was of no use to him, aside from her connection to medicine and his sister. Besides the trouble she caused with her escapes, she was already proving to be a bad influence on the kids of the camp. Arif was already talking about becoming an engineer; and about robots, self-driving cars, and places where the rides were so fast and so much fun. At times, that yearning for education returned; even Shaheen wanted to know more about this world. But he knew this could never happen at a jihadi training camp.
As much as Sheheen threatened her, he did not worry too much about Rebecca leaving the camp. Abdullah would never allow her to escape as he was hoping to make her his new wife. How he would be able to control her was anyone’s guess.
He now had a powerful deterrent that he held over her head and reminded her of it before he walked outside.
“I repeat, I want no trouble from you! I swear on my dear sister’s life that if you try to escape, Ahmad will pay!”
As he turned around, a rare smile played across his lips. He enjoyed the look of hatred on Rebecca’s face.
Westerners were so predictable and emotional, he thought.
Let Abdullah marry her! Once she has children, we can control her better, he thought fiendishly. She won’t want to leave her children!
With that, he pushed roughly past her and made his way outside. Once he left, Rebecca sat down next to Gulnoor but could sense Abdullah staring at her. Up to now, she had respected him because he was Gulnoor’s husband and had been less hostile than Shaheen. But recently she had seen something in his eyes. The look of lust alarmed her and warned her to be careful. After her initial fears about rape, she had never felt unsafe in this place, but circumstances could change; there might come a time when she would be vulnerable.
While all the men around were cruel and keen to dish out the lashes they gave her when she tried to escape, she had never yet felt anyone would take advantage of her sexually. It had been almost six weeks since the bombing, and she was seeing signs of being taken for granted. Just as she feared them less, so did they her, and she knew that made her weak. Abdullah’s desire complicated her situation.
“Since Rebecca stays with Gulnoor and Abdullah, she might as well marry Abdullah,” Rebecca had overheard Ammi talking to Zoya, the day before on her way to the kitchen.
“With Gulnoor’s health as it is, he needs a woman, someone to take care of the kids,” Zoya was combing Ammi’s hair.
“He might as well find some good use for the girl. All she does is cause trouble for us,” Ammi snapped before Rebecca decided she’d heard enough.
The men here could have many wives, and once she was married, even though against her wishes, things might get out of control. She had to find a way out before Gulnoor left. She did not trust anyone to help her after that.
Later that day, they were having their evening meal. Rebecca took her plate to sit at her favorite spot at the edge of a rock overlooking the valley below. A meandering stream snaked its way into a lake that glistened in the evening sun. She remembered her last attempt to escape and how close to freedom she had been.
The moon had also been in her favor that night, and she was able to move quite quickly down the mountain toward the lake. It was on the shore that she saw a small dwelling. She reached it in about two hours. There was a small yard where a few chickens might have scratched at one time, but now it looked deserted. There was also no smoke. Was it abandoned, or were the occupants asleep?
She knocked on the door several times and was just about to give up when, through an adjacent window, she saw a dim light through the thin drapes. The cloth parted to one side, and she saw a woman peering out into the gloom as Rebecca heard a baby cry. She again banged on the door, and the face disappeared, followed by the flickering light of the candle.
“I’m a woman alone! Please let me in. People in the mountains have kidnapped me. I’m trying to escape. Help!” she shouted. Then again, she repeated with as much Pashto as she knew that she thought made sense.
But no one came to the door. Rebecca yelled and pleaded again, also using English, but the woman inside refused to respond. Rebecca knew she could not be living here alone. Was there a man in the house? Would he help her? Perhaps he was traveling, and the woman was afraid to open the door at this late hour? She could come back during the day, but what should she do now? She had to hide as her captors were likely looking for her.
She had gone a little further towards another range of mountains and looked around in the moonlight until she found a cave to rest. She was exhausted and soon fell asleep. It was almost daylight when she woke to loud shouting. She crept out of her hiding place, which turned out to be nothing more than an overhanging rock, and saw Musa and Qasim arguing with the woman outside her house.
Rebecca gazed around desperately for somewhere to hide but saw nothing. Her only bet was to run. She had gone about 50 yards before they spotted her and dashed after their prey. The beating she received that time was worse than any of the others. Now she knew her next escape had to be foolproof, or else she would be dead. As would Ahmad. She did not doubt Shaheen’s threat of another suicide mission for him in her name. Rebecca had seen Shaheen’s hatred for Ahmad. She had to find a way out for Ahmad too.