The door opened slowly, almost gently, and a man entered whom Hamza recognized, although he didn't know his name. The visitor smiled, saying, "Kaeyfae haelik?"
"I am fine, shokran" Hamza replied.
Fred Leighton sat down. "Would you like some coffee? I can have some brought in."
"That would be nice," Hamza said, relaxing now.
Leighton got up and went to the door, opening it and speaking some words in English, then came back and sat down again. "It's been a while since we've chatted, Hamza."
"Yes, effendi"
"How have you been? Are you getting enough to eat?"
Hamza nodded, feeling more encouraged by the considerate questions. "Please, effendi, how long will I be here?"
"I cannot say, Hamza," Leighton replied, noting that the prisoner did not include his friend Rahmat Nahayan in the question. "It depends on how you behave and cooperate."
They were interrupted when an MP guard rapped on the door, then stepped into the room. He sat a thermos pitcher of coffee on the table with a tray holding cups, sugar, and milk, then made a silent exit.
Leighton poured the coffee and gestured to Hamza to help himself to the sugar and milk. "Some of those guards are nice fellows, aren't they?"
"Yes, effendi," Hamza said. "And some are very strict and unpleasant." After dumping in three servings of sugar and a generous pouring of milk, he stirred his coffee.
"Yes, you are right," Leighton said. "Have you found any who are particularly friendly and helpful to you?"
"Only one I can truthfully say I like," Hamza said.
"Oh? And who might that be?"
"Arjumand Allawi," Qazi answered. "He is a sergeant."
"I see," Leighton said. "Do you and Arjumand talk a lot?"
"Yes," Hamza said. "He was born in America but he speaks Arabic just like I do. His parents are from Syria."
"What do you talk about?"
Hamza shrugged. "Many things, effendi. He tells me about his home and I tell him about mine. Or sometimes we talk about football. Arjumand likes to play as much as I." He smiled modestly. "I was quite good back in my hometown league."
Leighton knew he was talking about soccer, not the American brand of football. "I guess you miss the excitement of the games, lae?"
Hamza grinned, saying, "It was my fondest dream to play in the World Cup."
Leighton smiled back. "Perhaps someday you will." He let a moment of silence slip by as they both sipped their coffee. "Did Sergeant Allawi ever ask you about the circumstances when you were captured?"
"Oh, yes," Hamza said. "He was very interested in that."
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him what happened," Hamza said. "I told him how my friend Taqqee tried to run away and escape but was bitten by a snake."
"Really?" Leighton said, feigning surprise. "How unusual. What happened?"
"The Americans that captured us could not save him," Hamza said. "Taqqee was in great pain and dying. He said his prayers as loudly as possible as if he would have to shout for Allah to hear him. So one of the Americans had to shoot him so he would not suffer more."
"It must have been a very large snake," Leighton said.
"Oh, yes, effendi," Hamza said. "It was a cobra. People cannot survive such a serpent's poison. It is a sure awful death."
"How terrible for Taqqee," Leighton said. He poured them each another cup of coffee. "Tell me more about your friend Sergeant Allawi. He seems a very nice fellow."
The conversation settled into a pleasant chat, and Leighton paused after a while to go back to the door and request some pastries to go with the coffee.
.
SEAL BASE CAMP
THIRD SECTION BUNKER
21 JULY 2010 HOURS
PO3C Chad Murchison came in from his stint on the second dog watch, going over to his living area. After setting down his M-16 and bandolier of ammunition, he knelt to pull some MREs out of his rucksack.
Guy Devereaux, lounging on his foam mattress with a paperback Western, looked over at him. "You got a letter, Chad. It's over in Greene's area. He said he left it out where you could find it."
"Thanks," Chad said. He walked over to his team leader's sleeping place and found it with some other letters for members of Foxtrot Fire Team. It was from his girlfriend, Penny Brubaker. "Ah, shit," he said.
Guy chuckled. "What do you have there? Something from a bill collector?"
"Naw," Chad said. "I don't know why I said that. It's from Penny."
"That should put you in a good mood," Guy said. All the men in the detachment knew Penny Brubaker, having met her in Afghanistan when she worked for UNREO in a relief effort for the indigenous people. "I heard she's taken a house in Coronado and is waiting for you to finish your tour over here. She's a nice girl, man."
Chad walked over and settled down on the bunker floor next to Guy. "Yeah. She's a nice girl, alright."
Guy put his book down and sat up. "She must be lonely there."
Chad shook his head. "She's got her cousin and her cousin's husband staying with her. So she's got company."
"Are you two getting married when you get back?"
"I don't know," Chad said. He looked at his buddy. "I'm really confused about how I feel about her."
Guy raised his eyebrows. "What's the problem, man? She's a real doll. You must be a babe magnet to get a girl like her. She could be one of them supermodels."
"I've known her all my life," Chad said. "I always had a big crush on her when we were kids, and we started going steady in prep school."
"Oh, yeah," Guy said. "You didn't go to a regular high school, did you?"
Chad shook his head. "It was a private high school. She and I were day students because we lived close. That was when I became quite fond of her in a romantic way."
Guy chuckled. "You really express yourself funny at times."
Chad grinned. "I know. At any rate, I was a year ahead of her and went to Yale while she finished her senior year. Well, to make a long story short, she threw me over for a jock. It shook me up bad, so I joined the Navy."
"That's right!" Guy said. "When you ran into her over here you two hadn't seen each other for a long time." He showed an expression of puzzlement. "Wait a minute! You two was getting along great, as I recall. And in a 'romantic way,' as you would say with such sophistication."
"She had dumped the guy and decided I was the one she wanted all along."
"What the hell's the problem, buddy?" Guy exclaimed. "You turned out to be the best man after all."
"Yeah," Chad said, getting to his feet. "But . . ." He stopped speaking for a moment. "I guess I'm emotionally flummoxed about the whole affair."
"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," Guy said. "You sound like you're uncertain about how you feel about her."
"Yeah."
Chad walked over to his own area and sat down on the mattress, staring out the bunker entrance. Guy noticed he hadn't opened the letter; it was almost as if he dreaded reading it. Chad didn't seem to be exactly disturbed, but he wasn't relaxed and at ease either.