The tall man stood there with a tense expression, full of hate and fury. Suddenly it occurred to me that the man and the woman had committed adultery. And I knew just as well that this wasn’t going to end well.
The tall man’s body was rigid as the woman I took for his wife approached him. I wanted to call out to her, to tell her not to go near him. She reached her tiny hand out and touched him lightly on the arm. And with that he went into a fury.
He hit her once hard in the face, and then again as she was falling to the ground. Her head smacked the pavement. The man against the wall made a break for her, but two of the onlookers caught him and slammed him back.
I wanted to help. I didn’t see any weapons, but this was a mob and somehow I knew they would kill me if I tried anything. Unable to act or to turn away, I whispered a prayer.
The tall man stomped on the young woman’s chest and she coughed weakly. It was still dark, but I could see that blood was coming out of her nose and mouth as she tried to rise to her hands and knees. No one stepped forward to help her.
Then the tall man turned his attention to the man who had violated his honor. Several of the other men were holding the adulterer against a wall on the other side of the street, and the tall man ran across and hit him at full speed, crushing his forearm into the man’s nose. His head snapped back and he collapsed to the ground in a heap.
In an instant the others set upon him, kicking him from all directions. At first he struggled to protect himself, but then he stopped trying and gave himself over to them.
After a few minutes of that, the tall man said something to the others and a friend handed him a knife. I saw the blade flash in the moonlight. The men surrounded their victim, who had struggled to his feet. I couldn’t see everything, but it looked as if they were pulling his pants down. Then there was an awful scream, and the man fell to the ground again. The tall man kicked him a final time in the head, but he just lay there, not moving. They left his pants down around his ankles.
The woman was sitting up by now, trying to get her bearings. The tall man walked over and punched her in the face with the hand that held the knife. It was a move they’d taught us in basic training—punch and cut. Inflict as much damage as quickly as possible. The woman who had been trying to help ran off down one of the alleys. And then the man tore the poor girl’s shirt open and went at her with the knife. He tired of it quickly, but there was no mistaking the damage.
After a moment of terrible silence, the men drifted off one by one. Finally the tall man turned and followed the others away, leaving the woman to die on the ground near her lover.
There was a little girl standing in the shadows a few feet away from me, waiting to see what I was going to do. I didn’t know what all she had seen, but judging from the look in her eyes, it was more than a little. And when I stood to go, it looked as if she was planning to come with me.
I motioned for her to go away, but she wouldn’t leave. She just stood there. She smiled at me and touched the sleeve of my BDUs.
“Go,” I said forcefully. “Just go home now.”
I walked back among the shacks and tents, sidetracking here and there so she wouldn’t know where I was going. But each time I turned around, she was trailing along behind me still smiling. I took off running as fast as I could, but every time I stopped, there she was, laughing. She obviously thought it was all a big game. I was so tired I wanted to cry.
I took a roll of duct tape from my bag. I smiled at her as I wrapped it around her ankles, making it part of the game. Then I showed her how to hop. She laughed. And then I took off running. I stopped to look back a final time, and the look on her face as she tried to hop after me was painful.
I arrived back at the beach to find Zeller and Santiago sleeping. They were out in the open, clearly visible in what was left of the moonlight. And neither of them budged as I approached.
The sky over the ocean looked steely gray. Dawn was at hand. It would be Tuesday, or something near it. But that didn’t matter much anymore.
I sat down beside them, drew my knees to my chest, and rested my head on the back of my hands. One of us should have stayed awake, but I couldn’t bear to roust them. I closed my eyes and drifted off.
EIGHT
I WOKE UP BEFORE THE OTHERS, FEELING AS IF I’D emerged from another world. The sky was the color of mud, and barely distinguishable from the ocean. My head was heavy and my body felt awkward as I stood up. It was only then that I knew it was morning, and remembered where I was.
Santiago and Zeller woke up soon after, and groaned when they saw me pacing. We were out in the open again.
Santiago let out an awful sound as he sat up. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was dark with blood and sweat and filth. He licked and chewed at his lips, trying to wake himself up. He put a
