Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 31
Shabane slumped in her chair, trembling. ‘Please, do hurry and tell us what happened. My imagination is causing my heart to flutter in fear.’
Lala’s face was ashen when she blurted out, ‘Did those men rape her in the house in front of the children?’
‘Ladies, I am not here to provide you with sweetness. These stories are heartrending. So, please, gather your courage. As far as Souzan’s abuse, I will tell you in good time. The end of the story should help your nerves, for Souzan survived and she is now safe.’
Lala nodded. ‘You are right, Maha. The successful conclusion is where my mind will dwell, but I am now dreading hearing the rest of this frightening story.’
Maha tightened her lips. ‘You must be strong to know such stories, for if you join our group, you will have knowledge of many such tragedies. Listen,’ Maha leaned forward and narrowed her eyes, ‘we all know that the heart of evil is what we are dealing with. Assad is that evil heart, but evil is like a vapour and spreads to all who are around it or who simply follow its orders. These men who do Assad’s malevolent deeds have inhaled his evil and are equally guilty!’
I was moved by my daughter’s words and could not help but interject. ‘You are speaking a sad truth, my daughter. Indeed, the government of Syria is the heart of evil. As we all know, Saddam Hussein’s regime was guilty too of many crimes against his own people, and during the most horrific days of his regime innocent adult women were raped, but there were never reports of government-sanctioned rape of children coming out of Iraq. But in this regime the Syrian government is actively targeting young children, who are seized from the safety of their homes and taken away from their parents to be brutally raped, and in some cases tortured and murdered.’ Although I, too, was unable to imagine such unbelievable cruelty perpetrated against the most helpless victims possible.
‘We are becoming distracted,’ Maha said, with a hint of impatience. ‘I will return now to a woman who deserves to be heard, and that is Souzan.
‘One of the men who was obviously the leader of the security unit shouted to Souzan, “Where is your father? We want your father. Tell us where your father is hiding and we will leave you.” The man then gave a hand signal to his crew, who fanned out to search the small home, room by room.
‘Souzan, who had been sheltered for her entire life by her conservative parents, and who in fact had rarely had a conversation with a man not of her family, was so frightened that she found she could not speak a word. Although she was conscious of moving her mouth, trying with all her might to speak, to tell the angry man that her father was working, she could make no sound.
‘Souzan truly believed that was the truth, as all the children had been sheltered from their father’s military activities by their parents. Souzan had even pressed her mother with her worried questions but had been reassured that her father was safe on a job in a neighbouring city. With the war, there was unlimited need for electricians, which was her father’s profession. His high-quality work restoring electricity to damaged buildings was the only reason he was away for long periods of time, according to her mother.
‘Souzan’s silence further angered the man, who pushed her to the wall, screaming his threats so loudly that the female infant in her arms began to wail.
‘Finally, Souzan was capable of uttering a few words in rapid succession: “My father is working. He is working. He is an electrician.”
‘“And your mother? Is she working, too?”
‘“No. No, next door. To borrow six eggs.”
‘Then the moment Souzan dreaded occurred. She shivered when she heard the cries of her younger siblings. The situation grew more tense with the actions of Omar, the nine-year-old boy, who considered himself the man of the family because his father had lovingly told him that he, Omar, was the protector of his mother and younger siblings when his father was away. Thus, he began to kick and scratch the men who were roughly shoving and pushing his young sister and two younger brothers into the kitchen where Souzan was desperately trying to convince the man who was questioning her that, indeed, her father was working.
‘Out of fear that the men would harm her younger brother, Souzan shouted to Omar to stop resisting and thankfully he obeyed her. But when the head man observed the children, he became even more invigorated, and Souzan assumed it was because he had more children to intimidate.
‘“Hiding? Why were these children hiding? Have you committed a crime? Is that why these children were hiding? Only criminals hide,” the ugly man said with a smirk.
‘Souzan stuttered, “No, no, no. They were playing a game, a hiding game. I was about to play looking for them. They were frightened of the noise.”
‘“Playing games? Well, sister, I am not playing games. Tell me where your father is at this moment, so we can go and collect him. Your father is an enemy of our great country. You should tell us his whereabouts willingly.” Then his voice grew more gruff. “Tell us what we want to know, or you will regret it.”
‘Souzan was helpless, clinging tightly to her infant sister while keeping an eye on the other siblings. The second daughter of the house,