National Exile: A 21st Century Novel about Nobility, Poverty, and Cruelty, Page 4

  Chapter 3

  Under the Bridge

 

  Few days later, on a sunny day during the cold winter season, Sidra went outside for a walk as usual. She saw a little boy selling newspapers. He was barefoot, and had a dirty-old shirt and shorts on. He came towards her and asked if she could buy one. She looked at him and wondered,

  “How poor is his family? What drove his parents to send a little kid out like that?”

  She asked him about his name and where he lived. He pointed towards the old bridge in the city and said nothing. She asked if she could go with him to visit his family. She didn’t know why she wanted to do that. She just felt like she wanted to have a purpose in life once again. He took her to the bridge where his family was living. It was an hour walk. They finally arrived to the bridge where the kids’ family was living.

  As they passed a hill right before the bridge, Sidra saw something she never thought she would ever see. She started to have mixed feelings between anger, sadness, and fear. She did not know what to say. The little boy noticed her reaction.

  “I think it was not a good idea to bring you here. We should go back. I still have tons of newspapers to sell. My boss could get angry at me.” Little boy said and laughed awkwardly. “He has such a short temper. Let’s …”

  “Stop talking …..” Sidra told him.

  The poor thing realized that she was not going anywhere. He left her and started walking down the hill and towards where his mother and father were. She ran after him and stopped at his parents’.

  “This is how you want your children to grow up? Have you lost your minds… What is wrong with you people?” She yelled.

  “This is the only way we have to keep our children safe. And outsiders… like you… young lady, out. Who are you? And what are you doing in such place?” The boy’s father replied.

  Sidra just yelled and said,

  “Keep your children safe? By leaving burned bodies of the soldiers of your own country out in the open like that? What kind of example are you setting to your children exactly?”

  “Look around you. Do you see all of these people? They all had families and homes at some point. Who do you think destroyed our lives? The invisible enemy that no one exactly knows who? Our dear administration is blaming our miserable lives on outside forces. In reality, our own so called ‘Government’ is preventing us from getting all the food and supplies that we need.”

  He stopped talking for a moment after he saw how mad she looked then continued talking with a calm voice,

  “Young lady, we are hundreds of people living under this almost destroyed bridge, after our homes were destroyed. That is when I lost both of my legs. We almost lost our lives. So… we came here thinking we can have a safe place. We built small tents and started growing some vegetables. One day, random soldiers came and burned our tents and killed few of us. They thought that we might be involved with some anti-government activities. The same thing happened last month. They came to us and just started firing. A group of young men came out of nowhere, and helped us out. They turned the fire on some of the soldiers and left them in the way you are seeing right now. Someone covered them with officials’ uniforms. It was a good idea to keep others away. This is our way of delivering a strong message.”

  Sidra stood there shocked as the man was talking. She looked around and saw hundreds of people living in very old, half burned tents. Some of them did not even have tents. Some children were crying, some were screaming, and some were just sitting playing with dirt. On top of all of that, seven burned human’s bodies were left in the open. It seemed like such a normal thing to have. No one seemed scared or annoyed by that.

  “That does not make any sense… Why would they do that? We are on the same side. Are you telling me that we have been fighting our own administration that whole time? I tried denying it, but all evidence points to them.” Sidra said.

  “Lady, we got used to it. We know that by doing so we can stay safe. Therefore, we don’t mind anymore. We just got used to it.” The little boy said.

  “How could a little kid thinks that it is normal to see things like that? It is not… Who was that guy that did this in the first place? Nothing justifies such actions.” Sidra asked.

  “The guy who protected us does not live here anyway. We don’t know who exactly he is. We just owe him our lives.” The little boy said.

  “Just know that we will do whatever it takes to protect the ones we love. We don’t have much, but can we offer you a glass of water?” The boy’s father asked.

  “Yes, please. Boy, what is your name? I’m Sidra by the way.” She asked looking at the kid.

  “Sidra… Such a strange name around here. I’m Amal. It means ‘hope’.”

  Sidra smiled as she extended her arms to get that glass of water. It was a chipped measuring cup. The water inside was not clear. However, she drank it all at once.

  After saying a quick goodbye, she left the bridge going back to Burj. She kept thinking the whole time of why people were doing what they did.

  “Who is the real enemy? Who are we fighting for? Is the real enemy among us? Do they have the right to do what they did to the soldiers? No… I refuse to justify what they did. Who is killing who? Why am I so confused?” So many questions came into her head as she was walking away.

  “Rain… Rain… Where are you? I need to talk to you.” Sidra yelled as soon as she entered the Burj.

  “What? Why are you yelling?” Rain answered.

  Sidra ran towards him and punched him right on the face with all she’d got. Rain was just stunned.

  “What on earth was that for?”

  “You killed those soldiers under the bridge… HOW COULD YOU… Is this what we stand for? This is how we’re going to live our lives?”

  Rain was just shocked and his face turned red.

  “How do you know about that? And what were you doing under the bridge in the first place?”

  “So, you are not even denying it?”

  “It is not what you think. It was not me. I would never do something like that. I tried to stop it. I swear. But people are not what they seem anymore. The hate is consuming them.”

  “I saw that cup that you used to have in your small lab. It was with some people. They gave me water in it. I knew it was yours because it was chipped from when I broke it.”

  “And that made you think that I killed those soldiers? You are way too smart for that, Sidra. You should know better than that…. Come with me.”

  “To where?”

  “Just shut up and walk.” Rain said with an angry tone.

  She followed him to the woods, to some place where a young man lived. The man was seen sitting near a window. They just looked at his small house from a safe distance.

  “This guy watched his brother die. His brother was just a kid when an old man shot him because he stole some money. This guy was raised to hate everyone who works for the administration. I do believe that he is the leader of the group that burned the soldiers under the bridge. I think they got what was coming to them.”

  “Was that nine-year old boy named Zain by any chance?”

  “How did you know that?”

  “I’ve heard stories.”

  Another image from Sidra’s past came down to hunt her. She remembered that day. She was there. She always thought that her entire life turned upside down after that incident.

  “Stop day dreaming. We need to do something about this. Or do you still feel like you don’t care about anything in life?” Rain said.

  “No, I care. Believe me.” She replied.

  She just was not good in showing emotions. She always hid under that strong emotionless woman. Maybe it was because she had seen a lot in her life that made everything seem normal.

  “Here is what I don’t understand. Just the other day, we had people killed in an explosion, and you did not care at all. You see things every day and you still feel nothing. What made you so angr
y about what you saw at the bridge? I know it is very barbaric, but what ….”

  “You know you never told me what your measuring cup was doing there?”

  “Changing the subject, I see. I go there every now and then and help the people out as much as I can.”

  “I would like to go with you when you go next time. I made friends with a little boy named Amal. He sells newspapers around. I would like to help him and his family. We should also clean their place and bury the dead to stop the madness.”

  “I tried. They wouldn’t let me.” Rain said.

  “We’ll see about that.”

  The next day Rain, Sidra, and Yazan went to the bridge. They talked to the people and convinced them that they can protect them. It was a very long talk. The people agreed that they should not have allowed that mysterious group of men to do what they did. They could’ve protected themselves without the need for such behavior. They finally buried the bodies, or what was left of it.

  Sidra suggested that they should go back to growing vegetables and rebuilding what was destroyed. Everyone started helping out. Rain had some money, so he used it to buy some supplies and some seeds for them to grow. Since part of the bridge was destroyed, people took the wreckage and started using it to build a wall around their camp. Everyone, including the kids, helped out. The little boy, Amal, was able to come back after selling half of his newspapers. Rain bought what was left of his newspapers and told him not to tell anyone. They both smiled and joined everyone at the camp.

  Weeks had passed and things were not getting any better. The people were still dying out of cold and hunger. No one was secured enough. They started forming their own armies. Every time they got attacked, they fought back. Estil’s administration did not like the fact that groups of people were getting together. It was always considered an act of terrorism. No one knew for sure who the real enemy was. No one knew why they were being attacked.