i s h t a r r i a........

It was around quarter to eight when Bann pulled up, and in a few moments we were, all five of us, marching once more across the same old car park, heading for the same building that we had visited well nigh a month before. School holidays had rendered early wake-ups a heavy task; we were all still yawning. Drowsiness seemed to farewell us, though, the moment we stood in front of the same lady at the front desk, who greeted us with a meaningful smile, ‘ Mabbrook , congratulations’. Our names were already placed at the reception. We were escorted, after a short wait, to the fifth floor along with three other females, for a meeting with the head of the department and the authority to whom we’d be directly reporting, Mr. Riyadh , a man who spoke good English. He was a graduate of one of the American universities , as we realized later; tall and rather full, in his late forties, with a square reddish face and silvery straight hair. Following a brief but cordial welcoming speech, Mr. Riyadh...

Mum mistily understood what had happened . Pale and shivering, she sat for a few moments with both hands resting on her thighs. She managed to pull herself together. She inhaled a deep breath and hugged me close, stroking my head. ‘Silly you, you scared the hell out of me. So what if they came here? This is how they do it. Stop worrying, everything will be fine’. ‘No mum, it won’t be fine’, I said, sobbing with tears flowing down my cheeks and neck, and still trembling like the leaves of an aspen in a breeze. ‘They usually investigate from far, not come into people’s houses. Something is not right here; I’ll call Dad’, I said, and made a dash for the phone. Mum hurriedly followed. ‘DON’T’, she ordered, ‘the phone might be tapped now that they are investigating’. My blood chilled, and I stood thunderstruck. ‘ Yim-kken , yim-kken , perhaps, perhaps’. she instantly corrected, reassuring me, upon realizing the shock she had induced. She stepped to the phone, ‘I’ll talk to him. I know how ...

The torrent of love, comfort and reassurance that my parents showered so generously upon me, along with my twenty-first birthday, which was just around the corner effectually contributed to the swift fadeout of that vile incident of submitting our applications. I found myself in a relatively short time overwhelmed by a long list of hectic preparations that permitted no other thinking beyond being on track for this occasion. In just over two weeks’ time, I expected most of my girlfriends to be gathered at my place to celebrate my birthday. It was to be the third birthday in a row that the whole bunch would attend in less than a month. The event was marked by loud, vigorous and cheerful merriment that sounded pretty much like Soug Al sufaffeer —Baghdad’s traditional market and the Mecca for tourists, who seek beautiful Iraqi souvenirs, most renowned for its day-long collective hammering and beating, and for the copper that’s shaped into wonderful patterns for souvenirs, which the touris...

Fury, in no time, engaged in a give-and-take whisper with her neighbour, unearthing information about her presence there, and summing up for her our backgrounds. I shot her a few meaningful glances, lest she broadened her unselfishness, and divulged more than she should. Wisdom called for caution in such uncertain environment. The Iraqi aphorism , ‘ Ishterri oula tbee , buy and don’t sell’, seemed particularly apt in this context. 'it takes a while to test the water out and discern good from evil'. Moments crept by at snail’s pace. The wait extended for over an hour. Finally the decisive moment of truth arrived, and it was my turn to meet Ms. Hanna. She was in her forties, short and full, longhaired, with some aging highlights striving for survival against the grand creeping of the silvery hair. Dangling on a neck chain, her specs lay upon voluptuous breasts. She was standing behind her desk when I entered. Her smile put me somehow at ease. We shook hands, and she sat on her c...

The burning heat assaulted me when I opened the car door ; it felt like entering an oven set on a high temperature, ‘Iraqis, good or bad, should go straight to heaven; this bloody summer is our hell’, I said crankily. The ‘team’ laughed, and we marched towards a huge building of several levels. Caught between the intense heat from above and its reflection from the melting asphalt below, which gripped the heels of my shoes, I felt that the distance to be traversed was endless. But much to my relief, we were greeted by the stimulating ‘neutral’ breeze of cool air. We headed for the reception desk that was positioned at the front-end of the foyer, which was elegantly furnished with velvet, navy blue couches and armchairs, and walled in by tinted windows. We lined up with others queuing up quietly, seemingly there for a similar purpose. Led by Fury, we tentatively approached the desk. ‘We’re here in response to the ad placed in the newspaper about job vacancies’, Fury explained. ‘ Ah-lan W...

Iraqis, throughout the dictator’s era, never divorced I.D. from companionship, military record I.D. in particular, even if they were sauntering only a few meters away from home. Leaving home, otherwise, with countless checkpoints dispersed cunningly all over, was none other than insanity that embroiled definite noxious consequences. Special Saytarratt were baleful omnipresent reminders of the tyranny that could swoop down throttling at any time or any place. Iraqis stomached daily terrorizing from direly armed cops or special unit guards, patrolling or stationed, usually clad in easily distinguishable olive-green uniforms and brown reddish boots, who blocked roads to ‘special” areas, looked hard at faces, asked for I.D.’s, and were unrelentingly dogged in searching for incriminating evidence without serious cause. Any reckless hint of a senior moment was enough to bring down upon one the menacing cudgel of the grievous yoke under which Iraqis lived. A triviality such as mere name res...

At about 10.45 I was standing at Frieda’s door ringing the bell, late as usual and the last to arrive. Sumer’s car was parked outside signalling the presence of the whole bunch. The weather was exposing its muscles with arrogance. The repulsive heat had started its merciless onslaught. Its nasty impact had already taken its toll on me; wilt and fatigue crept through my whole body. Tiny beads of perspiration formed on my forehead and above my upper lip. My shoes were drenched, and it wasn’t eleven yet. Munching a sandwich, Mai opened the door. She welcomed me, exclaiming with admiration, ‘You look beautiful Lu’. We hugged, and I walked through the corridor to the living room. When the welcoming stream of cool air patted my face, it felt more like stepping into heaven from an ugly inferno. Frieda’s mum was sitting in the family room watching TV. I hugged her and stood responding to and reciprocating her courteous enquiries about mum. The girl’s giggly voices were emanating from the kitc...