Blue-Haired Muslim

Chapter 16: Routine

     Sam watched as Rana placed a slice of pizza on Khadijah's plate before fixing the little girl's silverware. He still couldn't figure out the woman in front of him. One second she was all maternal in her care for her niece and the next, she had torn down an elderly bigot without even breaking a sweat. Now, she was back to her maternal routine as she made sure that Khadijah's shirt didn't eat devour the majority of her pizza. 

     "We're joining you," Max declared before sitting down next to Khadijah. 

     "You didn't ask, Mr. Jameson. You have to ask nicely first," Khadijah murmured while chowing down on her slice of cheesy goodness.

     "Please don't speak while you eat, Shahzadi.  You'll choke and I'm sure Dawood will destroy me for letting that happen," Rana smiled and wiped some sauce from Khadijah's face. 

     "Can we please join you?" Sam asked in his father's stead. 

     "Of course, Sam," Rana smiled before plating a slice of pizza for the teenager. Sam thanked the older woman before nudging his father to scoot over. Max seemed to be staring at Rana, who was oblivious to the action. There was something going on with his father when it came to the soldier, he just couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. 

     "Ms. Hashemi?" Sam called out, getting the woman's attention. 

      "Yes?" Rana asked in reply while studying Sam.

     "Do you get that a lot? The guy's hate at the supermarket? You handled it like a boss," Sam asked and gnawed on his bottom lip. He wasn't sure if he would get an answer, but he wanted to know what being a Muslim in the army was like for her. 

     "I've never been asked that before," Rana murmured in surprise before looking at Khadijah. The little girl grinned while a stringy bit of cheese hung from the corner of her mouth. Rana smiled before wiping Khadijah's face. The little girl struggled, but realized that Rana was winning the face-wipe war. Rana sighed before looking at Max and then Sam. "I think I get that more than I'd like to, especially after donning this scarf."

     "Why?" Max asked while furrowing his brows. 

     "Why do yo look so angry? Are you going to grab a pitchfork to protect my honor?" Rana asked with a smirk. 

     "Yes, ma'am! I don't know the going rates on pitchforks, but I've got a regular fork and I'm not afraid to use it," Max declared while waving his fork which in turn caused Khadijah to giggle. 

     "You may want to protect your friends, Max, but this is my reality. This is my present and future. In the past I was accused for siding with Arab insurgents in Iraq because I was fluent in Arabic and was Muslim. None of my superiors accused me, of course, but it was always my peers or those that were passed over for a promotion. It's a sad reality and part of our routine for Muslims in the military. Some of us luck out and get assigned to fantastic platoons, battalions, etc. Still, some of us are forever surrounded by the ignorant. It's usually the ones who are new to the military who have very dramatic views about me. They have preconceived notions that Muslims are the enemy. You learn to deal with it one day at a time," Rana explained before biting into a slice of pizza.

     "That's not right, though. They accused you of treason. That could have gotten you in a lot of trouble," Sam noted. He knew that treason was never taken lightly when it came to the military. 

     "It did. It was one of the most tiring periods in my life, but I wasn't allowing any of their accusations to hold me back. They accused me of treason with men that killed women in a nearby village. Not only had I ordered the destruction of those terrorists, I was told to lead the operation. After a few months of internal reviews, I was cleared of any wrongdoing. That doesn't mean that it cleared my name, it only meant that my superiors knew I did nothing wrong. It took months of operations and my own sacrifices on the field to prove once again, that I was not the enemy," Rana explained.