by Terry Toler
“Malak. I didn’t ask you to make your case. I asked how your client wishes to plead. Does she plead not guilty or guilty to the charges before this court?”
“The evidence supports a not guilty verdict,” Malak said.
I knew what he was trying to do. Malak was trying to keep from getting her on the record as having pled not guilty. If the judge found her guilty, which he might very well do, that was a crime in and of itself. Smart lawyering on Malak’s part, but I doubted the judge was going to let him get away with it.
“So, your client pleads not guilty. Is that correct?” the judge asked.
“Yes. Your Honor.”
“Thank you. I’m ready to make a ruling.”
“Your Honor, I have more evidence for the court to consider,” Malak said with urgency in his voice.
“Make it quick.”
“Amina Noorani was seventeen at the time of the attack. She was a juvenile.”
A murmur went through the crowd. Even the prosecutor seemed stunned by the news. He bolted out of his seat.
“I don’t believe that’s the case, Your Honor,” the prosecutor said. “The father said to me that she was over eighteen.”
“That S.O.B,” I whispered in my headset. “He lied so they could charge her.”
“I have a copy of her birth certificate,” Malak said.
Samitah stood to her feet. “Your Honor. I’m her mother. I can tell you that she just turned eighteen last week.”
“You are only to speak when spoken to,” the judge said to Samitah sternly.
Samitah’s husband pushed her down with such force that she fell back into her seat. He raised his hand to backhand her but must’ve thought better of it. At least four male witnesses were present. According to the law of the tribe, a husband was allowed to strike his wife for insubordination, but only if he didn’t leave any marks. A woman didn’t need four male witnesses to testify to an assault as long as she had physical bruises to prove the abuse happened.
Fortunately, Amina’s father sat back down. It took a lot of courage for Samitah to defy her husband. I was sure she’d pay a price for it later. I also wondered why that principal didn’t apply to rape laws as well. Amina clearly had physical injuries to support the rape claim. As Malak argued, common sense would demand that a woman wouldn’t voluntarily submit herself to the physical abuse that Amina went through.
Malak handed the prosecutor and the judge a copy of the birth certificate. After looking it over, the judge said, “This looks to be a legitimate stamped copy of the defendant’s birth certificate. She was clearly a minor at the time of the incident.”
“You can still find her guilty, Your Honor,” the prosecutor said.
“I can and I do find her guilty of the charges of zina.”
“Your Honor!” Malak said in protest.
The judge held up his hand.
“But… the law doesn’t allow me to impose any punishment on a minor. So, while the defendant is guilty of having sex outside of marriage, the court will not impose any jail time or lashes.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Malak said.
I had a hard time controlling my jubilation.
The guys were disappointed.
“Damn!” Bond said. “I wanted to kill that bloody judge.” Bond was from England and had a heavy British accent.
“Give me five minutes alone with the four guys. They’ll wish they were dead,” Alex said.
I let them vent.
The prosecutor stood to his feet. I shushed the guys through my microphone so I could hear what he was about to say.
“Your Honor, the defendant is not a minor today. May I remind the court that you have already found the defendant guilty of slander. Bringing a charge of adultery against a man without four male witnesses to support it is slander and punishable.”
Malak stood to his feet. “Even that so-called slander was before her eighteenth birthday. The rape charge was made at the time she was brought into the hospital.”
“The court has heard the defendant make claims of rape against the four men today, Your Honor,” the prosecutor said. “She has slandered the four male defendants right in front of you. You heard it yourself.”
“My client has yet to speak in this courtroom today, Your Honor,” Malak countered.
“She has spoken through you, Malak,” the judge said. “You’re her attorney, advocating on her behalf. Whatever claims you make are her claims. The prosecutor makes a good point. She has claimed that the three defendants raped her and that the married man committed adultery with her.”
“This court has already found otherwise,” the prosecutor said. “You found no evidence of rape by the three defendants, and you found Tarek Quadri not guilty of adultery. Therefore, the defendant has slandered all four men in this courtroom today. The court has proof in front of you that she is over eighteen. The court should find her guilty of actions from today and sentence her to lashes and prison based on those offenses.”
“Get your guns ready,” Josh said. “We’re going to put a stop to this.”
I wanted to tell him to stand down, but I felt the same way.
“Further, Your Honor, the defendant pled not guilty to the charges of zina. You found her guilty. May I remind the court, that pleading not guilty to a crime you actually did commit is a crime in and of itself.”
“I object to this whole ridiculous prosecutorial argument,” Malak said. “The defendant was a minor. She should be found not guilty and released. All she did today was profess her innocence on the basis that she was a juvenile at the time of the attack. The prosecutor lost his case, and now he’s trying to find some way to punish a woman who has already been punished enough by the actions of the defendants.”
“I’m ready to rule,” the judge said.
“Better rule the right way if you want to live, you scumbag,” Alex said.
“I previously found the defendant guilty of slander. I also found the defendant guilty of zina as a minor. I’ve ruled that the offenses occurred before her eighteenth birthday and won’t result in any punishment. For the slander and perjury committed by the defendant today, I find her guilty. I sentence her to six months in prison. If she takes sixty lashes today, I will reduce the sentence to time served.”
“Arsehole,” Bond said. “Let me take out the judge.”
“I’ll take the prosecutor,” Josh said.
“The four lowlifes are mine,” Alex said.
“You lay a hand on that girl, and I’ll shoot you in the head,” A-Rad said, speaking out for the first time. He rarely spoke on the radio.
We did have a dilemma. If we let her take the sixty lashes, then she was free to go. We could also rescue her, but it had its risks.
“Does the tribe wish to impose a further sentence?” the judge asked.
The father stood. “I am the tribal elder. We wish to impose a sentence of two hundred lashes and death by stoning.”
“The father is dead meat,” Josh said angrily.
The judge was silent for a good thirty seconds. He was rubbing his beard again. Something I was beginning to think he did for show.
“I sentence Amina Noorani to one hundred lashes and death by stoning!”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” the father said.
Malak stood to object.
“Sit back down, Malak,” the judge said. “I order that since the tribal elders have imposed the sentence, that they be the ones to carry it out. The lashes and the stoning shall all be at the same time. This court will not order the lashes today. The defendant also has the right to appeal.”
“Let’s roll,” Josh said. I could hear the van doors open.
“Hold on,” I whispered. “I have an idea.”
I stood from my seat and walked over to Malak and told him my idea.
“Who are you?” the judge asked me.
“She’s a friend of the defendant, Your Honor,” Malak said.
“She needs to sit back down,” the judge said
.
I sat down right behind Malak. Not before I had a chance to touch Amina’s shoulder in a weak attempt to comfort her.
“I have a request of the court,” Malak said.
“Make it brief,” the judge replied.
“What are we doing?” Josh said. “We’re ready to infiltrate.”
“Dolly said to wait! Don’t move until she gives us the word to go,” Alex said. Dolly was my handle for the radio.
Malak began. “Three days ago, the court sentenced Majahammaddan Tabithe to stoning as well. That ruling is on appeal to the Supreme Court. We intend to appeal the court’s ruling today.”
“As is your right.”
“Should the Supreme Court reject the appeals for both girls, we request that the court order that the two sentences of stoning be carried out together. At the same time. The girls are friends.”
The prosecutor stood. “We don’t have any objection to that, Your Honor.”
“Neither do we,” the father stood and said.
“If there’s no objection, then so ordered,” the judge said. “The court’s adjourned.”
The judge hit his table with the gavel and stood and left the room.
“Do you want us to grab Amina or not?” Alex asked me.
I put my hand over my mouth pretending to cough, so I could speak without anyone noticing. “This is a chance for us to get MJ out as well. We’ll make our move at the stoning.”
“Do you really want to take that chance?” Alex said. “Amina is right here. We could lose her, too.”
“You’re also sending her back to that prison, where she was abused by a guard,” Josh said. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
The arguments confused me. Before I was sure. Now I wasn’t.
“Dolly?” Alex said. “We need an answer.”
“I have eyes on the girl,” Josh said. “The guard is leading her to the van. Running out of time here.”
“Stand down,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Josh asked.
“No. But that’s what we’re going to do.”
“Everyone back to the van,” Josh ordered.
I hope I didn’t just make a big mistake.
28
Malak and I stayed at the courthouse for a good half hour after Amina’s trial was over, discussing the events of the day. He was clearly distressed that both Amina and MJ had gotten the death penalty, and he was unable to prevent it. To me, things might still work out.
“We have a better shot at getting Amina’s case overturned by the Supreme Court,” Malak said, understandably angry.
“She was a juvenile. We don’t kill minors in this country. The judge was wrong in letting the tribe punish her. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will do the right thing and reverse the sentence.”
I couldn’t say why, but I hoped that wasn’t true. If my plan worked, MJ and Amina would be taken to the center of the village square to be stoned to death by the tribal men. Our team would be there to rescue them. If the Supreme Court freed Amina, we’d be back in the same predicament. We had no way to save MJ from stoning. Amina might also be released into the custody of her father without our knowledge. I was sure he’d kill her if given the chance. Preventing both of those scenarios created all kinds of problems.
We had to rescue the girls but also protect our cover. Brad had gone to great lengths to set up AJAX. Things were going well. We couldn’t risk blowing our cover just to save a couple girls. With the girls together in the square, the team could sweep in wearing masks, rescue the girls, and the authorities would have no way to stop it. The girls would be on our plane in no time and out of the country to safety.
“Keep me posted,” I said, as we walked out of the courthouse. Malak had my cell phone and would notify me as soon as he heard anything. Especially if a date was set for the execution.
I got in my car and sat there for a couple minutes, staring off into space. Thinking. My mind started to turn toward the Sheikh. We’d have at least ten days before we could do anything about MJ and Amina. I was anxious to start working on finding Odille.
I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye.
Then screeching tires.
A car pulled in right behind mine. Like the driver was trying to block me in.
I could still get out if I wanted. Curly trained us to always park our cars in such a way that no one could completely block us in. Fortunately, I had done so. Something that was now a habit for me.
In the center console was my gun. I opened it and slipped the gun into my skirt pocket. Then opened the door and stepped out of the car.
Four men were already out of the vehicle.
The four men who attacked Amina!
I closed the door to my car but kept my back to it so they wouldn’t have the chance to circle around me. Adrenaline now pulsed through my veins. Not from fear. From elation and anticipation. I couldn’t believe my luck. These men intended to attack me. Clearly. This was my chance to kill them. A chance I thought might come at the stoning. Even then, the guys were the ones who were going to carry out that mission. I’d have to be a bystander to protect our cover. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d get an opportunity or the satisfaction of disposing of these men myself.
“Vanhan fe taregana lagayam beck ma falnah lamina!” the married guy said to me in Arabic.
I think he said, we’re going to do to you what we did to Amina.
I didn’t think they’d do it right in front of the courthouse. The road was right there. I preferred more privacy as well. They hadn’t made a move yet. Probably for that reason. So, I surprised them. Curly always said in a fight to make your first move a surprise. Throw your opponent off guard.
“Let’s go around back,” I said as I pointed to the back of the courthouse.
A big smile came on their faces. They pointed for me to go first.
I assessed my options. The four men were not imposing in the least. Skinny. Unskilled, more than likely. That’s why they preyed on women. I wasn’t at all concerned about them hurting me. Even with four against one.
The question was, how am I going to hurt them?
They had to die, for sure. That much was certain. If I left them alive, they could testify that I did this to them. The easiest thing to do was pull out my gun and shoot them as soon as we went around the corner of the backside of the courthouse.
No witnesses. Clean kills. Unsolved murders. They’d never suspect that I did the killings. Amina’s father might even get the blame.
But… that was too easy.
The men needed to suffer.
I had a knife in my pocket that would do the trick. It’d kill them, but not until they felt some pain. I could think of a half a dozen places to strike them with a knife that resulted in a slow and painful death.
We were nearing the corner of the courthouse. While we were walking, I took the knife out of my skirt. Hidden from view, but sharp and ready to inflict damage. The men were surprisingly silent. When we rounded the corner, I stayed close to the building. The configuration I wanted was the four of them to be in a half moon, crescent shape so that my back was to the wall and no one was behind me.
Me in the middle of a circle was the only situation where a lucky blow from a blind spot might incapacitate me to the point where the men could win the fight. Not likely, but I didn’t want to give them that chance.
Normally, I warned people before they fought me. I usually gave them a chance to walk away. Not this time. This was an opportunity that I’d been dreaming of. The anger inside me was on the verge of erupting, even though I was calm and cool on the outside. The men had to wonder why I was so calm. I suspected that Amina wasn’t the first girl they had attacked. I’m sure they’d never seen a victim act like I was acting.
“Al-dhay wahid munkim yered an yamout ola?” I asked. Which one of you wants to die first?
Their smug grins turned to anger mixed with confusion. I didn’t give them a chance to answer. Curly always sai
d when faced with more than one combatant, I should dictate who I would attack first. After that, I couldn’t necessarily control the order. That depended on the men. Once the first blow was struck, I had to rely on instincts. Until then, I could make my first move a well-thought-out lethal blow.
Married guy was on my left. For some reason, I held the most animosity for him. I took a step his way, then turned toward him. My back was to the guy to the right, but that was by design.
With one motion, I stepped my right foot across my left so that my right hand which held the knife was across my body. With speed and force, I brought my right hand back in an arc, as married guy started toward me.
His eyes widened when he saw the knife. Right before I slashed him across the throat. Cutting his jugular. I purposefully lessened the angle so that the cut wasn’t deep. Deep enough to cut the vein, but not deep enough to kill him instantly.
He collapsed to the ground clutching his throat. The guy behind me was already moving. I expected that. Without even looking, I set my feet and brought my right heel backward. I’d either hit him in the groin or in his stomach. The shot was a direct hit to his groin, because when I turned back toward him, he was doubled over clutching his private parts. His head was about at my waist level.
Perfect.
I brought the knife high in the air and then down in a slashing motion. From right to left at a slight angle. It made contact at his temple just above his eyebrow and continued down his face. Penetrating his eye. Then cutting off half his nose. Finally, splitting his lip in two.
He screamed in horror.
I didn’t have time to admire my handiwork.
The other two men were already on me. The one to my right reared back to hit me with his left hand. Somehow, in fights, I always got lucky. His left hand was high in the air. Perfect target for my knife which was still in my right hand.
I slipped the punch by stepping into it and thrust the knife into his chest. Between the ribs. It penetrated his heart. He collapsed to the ground. Probably dead before he hit it.
Oh well.
In a fight, you can’t have everything you want.