Captivity: 118 Days in Iraq and the Struggle for a World Without War by James Loney

Author:James Loney [Loney, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, Iraq War (2003-), C429, Extratorrents, Kat
ISBN: 9780307399274
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Published: 2011-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

JANUARY 20 DAY 56

The voices—loud, excited, running into each other—move to the bottom of the stairway. It sounds like a party. The voices subside. Footsteps in the foyer. Junior and Uncle appear. “T’al wiyaya,” Junior says. “Downstairs.”

Uncle unlocks us. I scramble to put my shoes on. I’m irritated with myself. I should be ready, always ready. You know neither the day nor the hour.

“La shoes. Come on,” Junior says. My chest tightens like a drum. Where are they taking us? What’s going to happen to us?

We follow Junior through the dark foyer and down the stairs. Nephew, waiting at the bottom, directs us to turn left through an open door. The room we enter is grand, at least fifteen by twenty feet. The walls are plum grey and crowned with butterscotch-coloured mouldings. A ceiling fan hangs between two cascading chandeliers. The floor is covered with a hard-worn Turkish rug. The walls opposite the door and to my left are banked with cobalt drapes that reach from floor to ceiling.

There’s noise, confusion, people everywhere at once. Video Man is at the door holding a camera. He grips my arm and leads me towards three plastic lawn chairs lined against a blank expanse of wall. He turns me around and pushes me into a chair. He grabs Harmeet’s arm and ushers him towards the chair next to me. Tom is next. “No, I can stand,” he objects, pointing to the empty chair. “For the Doctor. Old man. Kabir, kabir.”

“Ogod!” Video Man barks, face reddening. Tom offers to get a chair from upstairs.

“Sit down,” Junior orders, jabbing Tom in the chest with his index finger.

“Chair for Norman. Doctor kabir,” Tom says.

“Sit down,” I hear another voice say. I look up. It’s Medicine Man. He takes a step towards Tom. His eyes are blazing.

I’m incredulous. Tom—what’re you doing?! “It’s their show,” I try to warn him. “Just sit down.”

Junior takes hold of Tom’s shoulders and forces him to sit. Video Man’s face and gestures are urgent, almost frantic. He points to Norman and Tom. Medicine Man shrugs his shoulders and steps back. Video Man is clearly in charge. He pulls me out of the chair and leads me to a bed heaped with clutter located against the wall. He wants me to sit here instead. I move a plate encrusted with food to make space to sit down. He brings Harmeet to sit next to me.

Then I notice the little boy. He is leaning against a second bed located against the curtain-covered wall to my right, fingers in his mouth, staring at the floor.

Norman has been standing in the doorway to my left. Uncle instructs him to sit down in the chair next to Tom. Norman doesn’t understand. “Imshee,” Uncle says. When Norman doesn’t move, Uncle grabs him by the lapels and jerks him towards the chair like a rag doll. Norman’s eyes are wide, startled, full of fear. Medicine Man touches Uncle’s arm. Uncle lets go with a laugh, fixes Norman’s lapels and steps back.

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