Between the Grapevines

24. Arba'a Wa'Ishrun

"Then you believe she might still be alive?"

"It's not about what I believe," Riyad replied, turning toward the two boys who ran alongside one another with their hands clasped firmly together, bags of chips in each of their hands and wide smiles illuminating their features. "It's about what would be best for her."

Amer dropped his head to the side in an attempt to read Riyad's still expression. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Would it be better that she was killed when they first took her...," he began, bringing his eyes back to the boy beside him. "...or would it be better that she be alive all this time in the unforgiving and cruel hands of the Occupational Regime? I want mercy for her. Whatever her ending be, I only wish that she is unharmed and protected by her Lord."

"But would you not be upset if she was killed?" Amer whispered, the words seeming heavier even in his own mind. They all knew the weight of her death. Riyad because of her place in his heart and Amer because of her place in their world as the beacon of hope, the shining example of their youth's resistance for her people.

Riyad felt a pang in his heart at the words. He would be saddened. He might just be as broken as he'd been after Radi had been killed. "I am more than capable of bearing that pain. I would gladly carry it if it meant she would not be hurt by it."

Amer peered at him in wonder, his expression growing solemn and sad at the thought before another illuminated his features. The corners of his lips slowly lifted when he began to speak. "You love her and I know why. How could a man not fall for a woman who was rolling grape leaves for his birthday?" He chuckled.

The memory almost transferred its joy to Riyad had the burden of its knowledge not come in the emptiness of the forsaken apartment. When he had opened the fridge for water the day after she'd been taken to quench his thirst from his journey to the city in search of a girl who may have escaped. His eyes had caught on a covered pot hidden at the bottom behind everything else and, when he'd pulled it out and uncovered it, found within it perfectly rolled grape leaves and more stuffing in need of rolling. He'd been reminded then of how she'd taken the leaves from the trees and hid them from him.

He nodded in response to Amer's words. "Exactly...."

"Don't be afraid, brother," Amer draped his arm over Riyad's shoulders reassuringly. "Fayza Awad returned from the dead once before. I wouldn't put it past her to do it once more. You just focus on staying alive long enough to see her return."

But the words did not soothe Riyad as Amer had intended. They only reminded him of the state he'd found her in at the beginning of their story, weak, starved, and able to survive only by forgetting her past and the cruelties they had put her through. If she did escape again, if she survived, what would they strip from Fayza this time?

"Uncle!" A little girl's shout broke through the street. Riyad turned his attention from Amer to the small arm waving at him from a few houses down, towering over all the others as she sat on the shoulder of her grandfather. She quickly squirmed until the older man lowered her to the ground, following her with a smile when she raced toward him.

"Their attack on Jinen will not be the first. With tensions rising in the South, I think they will begin to victimize greater areas," Tarek said from beside Farhan. When they'd been forced to relocate, Tarek and his division had been quick to accept them after two of their fighters had been detained. "Not only will we be tasked with protecting our citizens, but we must be prepared for greater confrontations between our men and theirs."

Farhan nodded. "But confrontations in the city are risky for the reason that we will be amidst innocents. That's why we've emptied out the houses at each entrance of every large camp. Our people have moved to more centralized locations. It is our responsibility to make sure no Occupational soldiers, rockets, nor tanks are able to reach the residential areas."