No Place for Females

Chapter Seven

Amir headed toward the door of the house.

"Sir, please! Do not defile yourself and my mother this way," cried Musa.

Amir ignored the boy. He was determined to find out what was in that house, no matter what he had to do. He knew the American was close by. He could feel it in his bones. As he walked up to the door entrance, his phone began to ring. He paused. Part of him wanted to ignore it, but it was Asa's ringtone. He never called, unless it was a matter of utmost importance.

Amir answered the call. "Speak," he said.

"We found them," said Asa.

"Who?"

"The wife. And the translator."

"Great. Hold them. It might be a little while before I can get back."

"No, you need to come now. My spies tell me that the Americans are coming to get them. If we don't move now, you will miss your chance to make an example."

"Why can't you do this without me?"

"What is keeping you? I need Resa back. This is important. And you need to be here. Or shall I tell your commanders that when we had a chance to shore up support, you were in the countryside chasing a ghost?"

Amir wanted to reach through the phone and strangle the man. But Asa had a point. At that moment, Amir could not afford to have any interference from Tehran. If his father received wind of this, he would come immediately to try and steal the glory. No fucking way. He just needed a little more time, so he could deliver this fatal blow to the Americans.

 He needed to see what was in that house.

"Come back now," said Asa, before hanging up the phone.

Amir fought the urge to hurl the phone into the dirt.

"Resa, get in the car," he called out. "I'm going into this house, and then we’re leaving."

"No."

Amir spun around. "What?"

"No. If you go into that house, I cannot ride in the same vehicle with you. You will be unclean, and everything you touch will be unclean, until you see the Imam. I cannot risk it."

Amir fingered the trigger of his gun. He didn't give a damn about a ritual bath. This was war. Such things didn't matter. And he was pretty sure there was no mother in that house. But the Taliban in Afghanistan were tricky. One moment, they would shoot children in a mosque, and in the next moment, they would be the most pious men in the world. It annoyed the hell out of him.

 He glanced over at the children. They both seemed frightened, but the girl was better at hiding it. She truly was a marvel. If she had been a boy, he would have enlisted her as a fighter. She could well have become the strongest of all of them. When all this was over, he might still recruit her as a bomber.  Such bravery should not go to waste.

Amir considered putting a bullet between Resa's eyes. The man was useless. A bully, and a poor shot. Amir could shoot him dead before Resa had even touched his rifle. Unfortunately for Amir, Resa was Asa's cousin. And not just any cousin, but one of his favorites. Asa babied the man like no other. Right now, Amir didn't a have a good enough reason to kill Resa. He couldn’t afford to arouse suspicions. And as much as he hated taking orders from that fat goat, he had no choice. He needed Asa's men and influence in the region, and therefore he would have to cater to the man, no matter how distasteful.

Amir couldn't wait for the day when he no longer needed Asa. He would personally ensure that Asa "accidentally" fell off a cliff before he’d had the chance to leave this dusty, sad little country.