FEBRUARY 5, ‘25 // Jamil had saved him from the jaws of death when the helicopter that was carrying his family across the border had crashed. The events were still so vivid in Rachamim’s mind that it seemed as if they had occurred yesterday. He recalled how the soldiers had forced him and his family onto the helicopter. He remembered the shouts of the pilots that the Americans were shooting at them, and how the helicopter had maneuvered wildly in the air. Somehow he had struck his head and blacked out. When he woke up, he found himself sprawled out on a flea-bitten bed in Jamil’s decrepit hut. The first thing he had seen was a bearded man, dressed in filthy rags, bent over him. The man’s eyes lit up when he saw that Rachamim had finally woken up. “My name is Jamil,” the stranger had introduced himself in a strangely accented Persian. “I was afraid you wouldn’t survive.” Jamil had sat next to Rachamim. He was holding a cup of muddy water and using it to wet Rachamim’s lips every few minutes. Recap: Bin Laden recruits Ishmael-Yechezkel to join a mission that will take his life. Rachamim arrives at the shul and is alarmed when he realizes that Jamil neglected his duties. CHAPTER 11 “Where am I?” he asked Jamil. “Don’t worry,” Jamil reassured him. “You’re in good hands. This is Turkey.” “Where are my children?” Rachamim asked. He could see Naomi lying on a bed across the room, but his two boys were nowhere in sight. Jamil shook his head. “I had no idea that there were children in the aircraft.” In panic, Rachamim tried to sit up. A sharp pain knifed through his chest, causing him to lose consciousness for a moment. Jamil slapped him across the face, forcing him to wake up again. “Don’t move!” he ordered sternly. “You must have broken a few bones.” “But what about my children?” Rachamim started to cry. “I want to look for them.” “That’s impossible.” Jamil shook his head. “You can’t even stand up by yourself. You’ll collapse.” Rachamim realized that this man was right. But he could not lie there peacefully while his children suffered. “I have ten thousand dollars in my pocket,” he offered. He patted his jacket pocket. Naomi had sewn the 174
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTY1MDA0