The Lioness

by Mary Moriarty

  Fatima needed to get out, she had to get air, even if it was clogged with dirt. She felt like she was in a very bad dream. She wouldn’t be able to look Rose in the eyes now that she knew. No, she would have to. She couldn’t let anyone know she knew. She would live the lie, just like her brothers. She would do her part, though, and it wasn’t going to hurt them to know she was helping but in her own way. She would make Ty as comfortable as possible without her brother’s knowledge. There was time in the day when no one was here but her.

  She had to leave, she had to think. This was too much.

  **********

  Rose had a little down time and was back in her room. She had a ton of messages and had email to do. Nothing mattered though as she watched the TV. There sat Ty. He must have been at the station either just before her or after. God to be so close yet so far.

  Chapter 20

  She cried as she watched him. Men were on either side, with masks on and guns poised at his head. Once when he hesitated and took a breath, they barked something at him that she couldn’t catch. Their voices were muffled by the mask. They had jabbed him and he had sat back up. She could see the sweat pour down off his face and hit the paper.

  She looked into his wonderful brown eyes and saw the tension and heard the strain at the end when he mentioned his loved one who was at risk.

  The tears came. Tears of gladness that she knew he was alive. A prisoner but alive for sure. “I promise Ty, we will get you out of there…” she cried harder after the tape ended and they went to the next news piece.

  Jumping when her phone rang, she reached for it and heard Noori’s voice. “Rose, the captors want to talk to you in about twenty minutes. They will meet us. We are going to be taken somewhere blindfolded.”

  Rose felt sick but knew this was a necessity. She would rather run and hide but to get Ty back she knew she had to do this and probably more.

  “Ok, I will be down in just a minute.”

  “Rose, we will be with you. You are not to worry. I will die for you if I have to.”

  Rose got up. “There won’t be any talk of dying today, do you hear me? We are going to get through this and get Ty out.”

  Noori rubbed his forehead. “I hope so. I don’t know what my sister would do if anything happened to me.”

  “Nothing is going to happen to you. Now let me get ready, I’ll be right down.”

  Rose was tempted to just peek out the window but knew it was still tense around town, even in the Green Zone. So she kept her drapes pulled shut. She lived in prison.

  She grabbed her burka and put it on. Grabbing her keys and bag, she opened her door and was thrown back. The explosion shook the building. God, that was close. She hoped it wasn’t something that came over the barricade. It didn’t happen often. She steadied herself and started to walk. Thank God for no windows. Who knows what would greet her when she got downstairs. She would take the stairs.

  **********

  They drove quickly once they got past the scene of the explosion. It was awful to say but she was so used to this kind of thing that she didn’t even flinch at the sight of the charred car. Burnt remains of whoever had martyred themselves. Only three deaths this time, including the man in the car. A lot of injuries. When would all this stop? God, there had to be an end to it all.

  Noori said something to Daoud and they stopped in front of a building. “It’s funny, this is my cousin’s shop….” All of a sudden men came from both sides and told them to get out. At first Rose panicked and then she heard one of them say they were glad they were on time. So these were the men? “You will travel in our vehicle with our driver. We will blindfold you all so you won’t know where we are going. It’s important you don’t know any more then you need to.”

  Rose followed Noori. He turned and came to her side. “It’s okay, Little Sister, we will be okay. They want too much to let you get hurt.”

  “But you Noori and Daoud, you are like my family.”

  Noori gave a weak smile. “Well maybe you can, as you say, put in a good word for me.”

  Rose wanted to squeeze his arm to reassure him but knew that wasn’t appropriate.

  “We will get through this.”

  Rose tried not to breath. The blindfolds were old, a stale smell of cigarette was stuck to the cloth like glue. The car came to a stop and Rose sat very still. Daoud was on one side of her, Noori pressed tight against her.

  “You okay, Rose?”

  Rose sneezed. “I will be once this stupid cloth comes off my face. God, it stinks.”

  The front doors opened and Rose could hear them get out, feel the movement. The back doors opened and she felt Noori get out first. She felt like she was falling into nothingness all of a sudden as Daoud also got out. She sat by herself. Then she felt a hand on her arm. Not rough like she thought it would be and she heard him say, “Watch your head.”

  If only she could hear his voice clearly but everything was muffled by their masks. At that moment, as she felt the hands of one of Ty’s captors guide her out, she heard the call of the Mu’addin calling the faithful to prayer, or the adhan. That’s right, it was Friday. She had lost time, days.

  Rose felt herself guided by the same hands and then her foot caught on something and she went flying. She almost went all the way down but was caught. She had let out a yelp and she heard Noori’s voice. “Rose?”

  Rose was back on her feet. “I’m okay, no damage done.”

  “Are you sure you are okay?”

  Rose turned towards the voice of one of the captors. Something sounded familiar, she just couldn’t place the voice. She was starting to imagine things, she knew she was.

  “Yes, I will be fine. I just hope I can take this blindfold off. I can’t stand the smell. It’s giving me a headache.”

  Her guide yelled something to another of the men and she heard a curt reply but heard that person walk off.

  “We will get you another scarf. You will be able to uncover your eyes once we are inside.”

  “Thank you…very much,” Rose said.

  **********

  Rose sat at a table with Noori and Daoud. The other men weren’t there. Psychological tactic. Make them wait. “I wish they would just come back in, get it over with.”

  “We have to be patient with these men. They hold all the cards, not us.”

  “I know it’s just so hard.” Rose sat, twisting the material of her burka. Abdul watched from the little hole they had set up. He was listening to Omar drone on.

  “Listen Omar, things are going good. Actually better than we ever thought they could. We need to go in and talk to them.”

  “You go, I’ll be in shortly. You know, Abdul, you are too soft. Telling Hamid to get a new scarf for the American. She would have been fine.”

  “We need her, it doesn’t hurt to be kinder.”

  “Since when have they been kind to us? It’s because of them that our country is overrun with foreign fighters. They say they fight for Iraq, but in reality they fight for their own cause. Her country is not our responsibility. The sooner you figure that out, the better for you. Maybe you will live longer.”

  Abdul watched Rose. The strain was on her face. He could tell she was trying to keep a tight hold on her emotions, but it wouldn’t take much.

  He couldn’t take much more of his brother or his nephew. Hamid just sneered all the time, like he knew something. He was a hot head, looking to prove himself. They didn’t need that. He would get them all killed, and he, frankly, wanted to live.

  He saw Rose’s shoulder’s shake, saw his two cousins sit up straighter, say something to her, saw her shake her head.

  “I will go in now, don’t be long.”

  **********

  Rose jumped at the sound of the door opening. Well finally. She saw the masked faces, probably one of the same men who’d held a gun at Ty’s head. She wanted to hate these men, both of them, all of them, but it was hard. She couldn’t be swallowed up in the hate.

  Si
tting as straight as she could, she looked into the eyes of her lover’s captor.

  “We are glad you will speak with us. It is important to get things moving to ensure the safety of Ty Madison. I think we both know the quicker we do this the better for all, especially him, you….”

  Rose felt a chill, like an ice cube had run down the center of her back.

  Sitting up straighter so she was looking directly into the captor’s eyes, she had the feeling she had looked into those eyes before. “Let’s get past the veiled threats. Let’s get down to what you want and a time table.” She took a deep breath. “You know the US Government has only given me a week, at best, and then who knows what way they will attempt to get me out of the country.”

  “We are aware of that and are taking measures to ensure you are not interrupted.”

  “If you mean what happened this morning.”

  “Exactly. Now I give my word that if you get a lot of those demands started, we will hold up our end. I am a realist, I know not everything will happen overnight, but I don’t want to be taken advantage of. My brothers aren’t as patient.”

  Rose looked down at her hands then back at the man with the mask. “You know my father is in contact with other parties, to act as the third party for negotiations. They will be in contact with you as soon as I call them.”

  “Here is the number we can be reached at all the time. We won’t fool around. We are doing this to accomplish something for our country and the lives of our countrymen.”

  I am doing all I can to move this forward. I know, I see and hear. We will be in touch… soon. Now if you will wait here I have a new scarf for you to use to cover your eyes. Wait here.”

  **********

  Rose sat astounded. So that was it? All this way and nothing more? The man with the mask came back in.

  Rose stood up. “Can you tell me how Ty is? Is he feeling okay, he isn’t sick or in need of anything? Could you possibly pass on a message?” She figured it didn’t hurt to ask.

  Abdul looked into the depths of Rose’s blue eyes. He felt her need to know, he was struggling with the whole operation now but knew it had to play itself out. If it didn’t who knew what would happen. It wasn’t unheard of for a terrorist group to become part of the government. Look at Hamas.

  “He is fine. I am sure he would rather not be in the place he is but he is well fed. He is allowed to exercise each day.” Seeing relief flood her face, he felt good. She really was the most remarkable woman. If only he had been born in another place. To know a woman like her, to have her love like Ty had was more than he could ever expect. His life expectancy rate wasn’t good, not now anyway. He would never have what his captive had.

  “You can give me a note. I will make sure he receives it.” At that moment the door came open and Omar came in. “What is the hold up? We have things to do.”

  Noori studied the new man that came bursting in, all impatience. Something was too familiar about him. Rose moved closer to him and so he put her behind him. Something was wrong, but he just couldn’t figure it out. Something seemed too familiar with these men.

  Rose reached into her little knapsack and pulled out a piece of paper and pen. “I will just jot down a quick note.” She scribbled a quick note in short hand and signed it with her name. “Here, I want to thank you for delivering this.” She started to hand it to Abdul, but it was intercepted by Omar.

  “What is this? Are we a message carrier service too?”

  Abdul snatched the note from his brother’s hand. “Listen, it won’t hurt to let her write to him. She is helping us.”

  Omar faced his younger brother. His son was right, Abdul was turning soft on them. He was falling under the spell of the Americans. Better take care of it soon or he could be the downfall of them all. “Make sure this doesn’t happen too often. I won’t allow it!”

  Abdul gave his brother a look. Turning to Rose, “I will deliver it. Now it would be better to get you back.”

  Abdul watched the streets as they went around the block a couple of times. They pulled up in front of his shop and got out. He opened the door for Rose while Omar took care of Daoud and Noori. Speaking low so only Rose could hear, “Don’t worry, he is fine and will continue to be so. I think though you should work fast as my partner here is impatient to see results fast.”

  Rose looked into the eyes of Ty’s captor. “Thank you. I will be in touch as will the others working on this.”

  “You can take that scarf off now.” Abdul didn’t want to be accused of touching a woman, though he was sorely tempted to touch her hair, her skin. That wouldn’t be proper, though, and her heart belonged to another.

  **********

  Fatima left the room that Ty occupied. She had made sure he had everything he wanted. She knew she couldn’t give him the most important thing, his freedom. She stopped still, could she? Could she actually be so brave to do that for him, for her new friend? What would her brothers do to her? She ran back into the room.

  **********

  Ty looked up and saw Fatima come in all winded. Seeing the look on her face. “What’s the matter?”

  “I know this may never happen but I have to ask this. What would happen if I were to get you out of here? Do you think my brothers would kill me?”

  Ty was floored. She was actually thinking of letting him go, or at least entertaining the idea of it. “I can’t answer that as I don’t know your brothers. I know one thing, I wouldn’t want it to endanger Rose. If it were to put her in harm’s way then I won’t go.”

  Fatima was thinking fast. If she were to do this then she was to make sure she had it planned.

  “I will think… I must go for now.”

  She left, closing the door as quickly as she came in.

  Chapter 21

  Abdul turned quickly on his brother. “I won’t be accused that I am not a loyal Iraqi. What makes a good Iraqi? Our brother-in-law never would have even done this, yet he loved Iraq and its people. He was never accused of being soft, being a spy.”

  Omar shook with rage. “I didn’t accuse you of being a spy, but I did accuse you of being soft. You have to be harder. You don’t show the ability to want to die for the cause.”

  Abdul wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t go strapping bombs to himself. “I won’t die for stupidity. I think more can be done being alive. I want to see Iraq free to do, to grow. I will not be like your hothead son here,” nodding his head towards his nephew.

  Hamid looked at his uncle and to his father. “I will be proud to die for the cause. The others believe the same way as I. We hate what America has done. This man, this Ty Madison, is a voice for the pigs who have taken our country. They are the bigger enemy, and if I have to I will fight them, not our other brothers who fight them.”

  “See Omar, he is a hot head. He isn’t fighting for Iraq.”

  “We need results Abdul, and we need them soon, or the American will die.”

  “No he won’t. I gave our promise. We keep our promise, Omar. We are not animals.”

  Abdul walked out of the store, past the clerk who worked there for the mornings. He needed fresh air, needed to think. The pace would have to pick up or Ty would die. Then what?

  **********

  Ty sat with the note Rose had written. Funny how she had written it in shorthand. He read it again. ‘I miss you so, Ty. Da and I are working hard for your release. I have met with the captors just now. Da’s contacts will be contacting them to start the process. Remember I love you.’

  **********

  Abdul felt like he was going to go crazy. He needed to confide in someone. Fatima walked in, gave him a look like she knew something was up. “There is food to eat. Will you come, sit and eat?”

  “Yes, I will be there. Can we talk as we eat?”

  Fatima gave her brother a look. Was he kidding? They always talked. If Omar and Hamid were there, it ended up being a very loud discussion.

  Sitting down, Abdul tore the bread and started to eat. “I need
to talk to someone. Omar won’t listen to reason.”

  Fatima studied her brother. Could he be having second thoughts on what they had done?

  “You know you can tell me, you have always come to me.”

  Abdul pushed his plate aside. He couldn’t keep it in. “We have him.”

  Fatima went along with the whole charade. “Who?” Hoping she looked convincing enough.

  Abdul got up in his sister’s face. “The American, Ty Madison. We have been holding him for a while now, here at the house.”

  Fatima knew she had to act shocked or she would give herself away. She stood up and wailed. “How could you? You have been hiding this from me? I don’t know what the world has come to when a brother keeps something like this from his older sister. A sister who has taken care of you since you were little. I have fought your battles.”

  Abdul stood and went to his sister, taking her hands. “I am sorry. It has been eating me up. If that wasn’t bad enough, Omar is acting strange and Hamid is ready to be a martyr. He is a hothead of the worst kind.”

  Fatima looked at her younger brother. “It is good you told me. I will do all I can to help you.”

  “You must not let Omar or Hamid know I told you. They are talking of possibly killing Ty if things don’t move faster. They have both accused me of being soft.”

  Fatima wanted to get a hold of her other brother and shake him. He was the worst kind of person. To think she had been happy when he had married her best friend. Now she would kill him herself.

  “Don’t worry, we will handle him and Hamid. Oh, Abdul, you should have told me at the beginning.” She was letting herself go and getting into this whole play acting. “Oh, poor Rose.” she let herself wail.

  Abdul felt awful. What had seemed like such an easy, clear cut plan was turning into a mess. Maybe he was soft but he didn’t think the Americans were evil, especially people like Ty and Rose, who did so much good.

  “I am going to talk to Ty. I will let you come in later.”

  Fatima watched her brother leave and head for the spare room where Ty was kept. She hoped Ty didn’t react too strangely. Maybe she should confess.