No Place for Females

Chapter Six

This man looked different from any of the other locals. His beard was neatly trimmed, not long and straggly, like the beards of most Afghan men I'd seen. He wore aviator shades, and although he was dressed in a traditional Afghan kameez (man dress), he wore boots instead of sandals. On his wrist was a shiny watch. His AK-47 appeared newer than the others. And he was much taller, maybe six foot. This was no ordinary Afghan. I was glad I hadn't taken the first shot. He was talking into a cell phone.

Ah! A cell phone. I remembered I still had the Captain's cell phone. If he was getting reception, that meant I could probably get reception. I could call the base! I needed them to leave, and I hoped that would happen soon, but I had the feeling it wasn't going to be that simple. As the man with the phone walked out of my line of sight, the man who'd been restraining the children by their arms threw the little girl onto the ground. Then he slapped the little boy.

This was becoming worse by the minute. I thought that the kids had probably tried to protect me. They had tried to prevent him from coming into this house. As far as I could tell, there were only two men, but I couldn't be sure. If I could take them both out, I would be able to save the kids and take the truck. If I missed, I'd get all three of us killed.

When the man slapped the boy again, I knew had to do something. I knew what it was, but I didn't know if I could pull it off. I began to train my rifle on the first man.

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The man threw Khalesia to the ground. She could feel dirt in her mouth.

"Your sister is insolent. You need to teach her some manners," he said to Musa.

"She was only telling you the truth, to spare you from doing a bad thing against Allah, and against our mother."

Khalesia heard a smack.

"You think I care about what your stupid sister thinks? I go where I want! If I want to go into the house and kill your mother, I will," the man shouted.

A few minutes ago, when the man had threatened to enter the house, Khalesia had been so afraid. The American lady was sleeping. Even if she woke up in time, she seemed too weak to defend herself, and she wouldn't be able to protect all three of them against the men.

     For a moment, Khalesia had wondered whether they should just turn the American over. But as soon as thought had entered her brain, she had been filled with shame. No. She would never help the Talibs, even if she had to die to keep from doing so. These men had killed her mother for no reason at all. Because they could. They were worse than vermin.

When the man had started walking towards the house, Khalesia had needed to think fast. What could keep the Talibs from going into the house?

 "My mother is on her menses," she'd called out.

The man had frozen in his tracks.

 He was still angry about it now. As Khalesia wiped the dirt from her lips, he continued to rant. "I could have become unclean entering that house! Why hasn't your mother gone away to stay in a tent, like most women do?"

"We have no money for a tent," Khalesia countered.

"You are a mouthy little girl. And you still need to be taught a lesson. Let your mother watch, as I show her how little girls should speak to their elders."

Khalesia looked angrily at the man. He was a worm, and with her hardest stare, she tried to tell him this. He was going to hit her, this she knew and while she could not stop it, he would not get the satisfaction of her cowering.

"She is my sister, I will do it. I will punish her properly after you leave."

That was Musa. Khalesia glanced over at him. She knew what he was trying to do, and she loved him all the more for it.