Yasmeena's Choice: A True Story of War, Rape, Courage and Survival by Jean Sasson

Author:Jean Sasson [Sasson, Jean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-10-06T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen: Tick, Tick, Tick: From Midnight to Dawn

After ministering medications to Lana and coaxing her to eat bits of chicken wrapped in pita bread, Yasmeena hid the remaining food under one of the three fancy nightgowns still folded in a box stacked in a corner of the cell. Lana had mentioned that for some reason the beast never looked through her clothing, although he frequently rummaged through everything else in the cell, looking for something to spark the long-standing rage that permanently simmered in his heart.

Yasmeena had planned a nice long chat with Lana, to tell her all the exciting details she had learned of the military buildup in Saudi Arabia, the only event that gave her hope their nightmare would end one day, and that the day might be soon. But Lana was nearly immobilized in pain from her mangled fingers. The poor girl could scarcely follow their conversation.

Rather than strain Lana with talk, Yasmeena consoled her friend with her calming presence, patting her on the shoulders and soothing her forehead with her fingers, and finally making an effort to comb out the tangles of Lana’s long hair with her fingers. Lana was blessed with waves of beautiful black hair that hung to her waist.

Lana had previously confided that she had always been proud of her hair, so thick that her mother and sisters exclaimed over its beauty, declaring it a perfect frame for a flawless face. In the beginning of her imprisonment, she had endeavored to keep her hair in one thick braid, but after the beast used her hair as a weapon--seeming to take pleasure from throwing her around the room by her plait--she stopped that practice. After the beast wrapped it her neck and choked her with it until she passed out, Lana longed for a pair of scissors so that she might cut her prized hair into a bob.

But none of the women were permitted to possess such an item. Even Lana’s Captain would not allow her to acquire a sharp instrument. Those who victimize, brutalize and terrorize must always fear uprisings.

Suddenly Lana noticed something unusual about Yasmeena. Yasmeena was wearing a diamond encrusted gold Rolex watch, one of several extravagant items the Captain had found on the sidewalk outside one of Kuwait City’s most illustrious jewelry stores. The previous thieves had evidently overstuffed their bags with dazzling watches and jewels, spilling the overflow as they ran away. The Captain just happened by as thieves were running and these jewels lay like treasure at his feet.

He had scooped them up and told no one but Yasmeena, because soldiers were supposed to send everything of value back to the palaces of Saddam, so that the dictator and his family could keep all Kuwaiti wealth. Since the Captain had plans to make Yasmeena his second wife, he had elected to present her with the smallest of the watches. He was pompous when boasting to Yasmeena that he was saving two of the watches for his mother and his wife back in Iraq.

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