Caged Nightingale

Ameer

I'm sitting staring at the display on my phone. My dad's contact on the screen. I should call him.
"Give me a minute." I say to Jahangir.
He steps out of vehicle.
I just sit there staring at my phone.
What would dad do? I could ask him. But part of me coming on my own is to see if I can handle this deal and it would be admitting defeat if I call him now. On the other hand, this is major. There's no shame in asking for help if you need it. Dad always says it's better to check in than make stupid mistakes that cost you. The sun is starting its descent. That means we're running out of time. Indecision is weakness. Strong men are decisive and...

"They want you to transport someone" the translator says.
Alarm bells ringing. I say and do nothing.
"They need to move someone out of the area,"Says Jahangir, translating.
We stare at each other.

I don't buy it.

Straight away. I know something is not right. As our cook would say "daal May Kuch kala hei" there is something black in the lentils. Something suspicious is happening here.
We stare at each other another minute.
"His daughter" adds Jahangir after a few moments.
Again alarm bells. Who sends their daughter with a stranger? These men are more than capable of transporting, protecting whatever you want to call it - one of their own.
Dads enforcer: Ameen joked as we were leaving The meeting last night " don't even look at their women. They'll shoot you where you stand. Keep your eyes down or on the men. Don't get curious. They don't like it. These men are honourable to the core. They'll shoot you and the woman in an instant."

Doesn't make sense. There is no way on earth that they would send one of their women with an outsider. They wouldn't trust anyone they didn't know.
She's a pawn.
So basically I'm fucked. I don't take her- they shoot me- because I know too much.
I take her. I fuck myself over. They could say anything later. I kidnapped her, coerced her. No man is going to admit he gave his daughter to a stranger willingly. That's absurd even to me.
She's a pawn.
Jahangir told me that there are inter-tribal conflicts going on. They are vying for power and two of the biggest tribes are in the middle of it.
It's possible she has been betrothed to one of them. I'm giving them a reason not to hand her over. It could be I take her, they join forces against me. I become the enemy. The rift is resolved and they have a new enemy.
Or they accuse each other and I give them a reason to actually start a war. Either way, I lose out. And the girl still remains a pawn.
I can't see a way through.

Silence
"Dad?"
Silence.
"Don't be tempted to run. If you do, they'll hunt you down!"
I take a breath. "Ok so what?"
Silence.
" you get back in there and this is what you are going to say....."
I listen carefully.
——————-
" we are honourable men. We don't take women from other tribes. We especially don't take women alone and we don't interfere with tribal politic. It is against the tradition we follow and yours. You daughter is an amanah to you. I do not have a daughter, so I do not have the knowledge or the experience to protect her as if she were my own. We will pay the new price if you still want to do the deal."
I sit back. These could be my final breaths, but I feel surprisingly calm.
They say nothing. Their faces are passive. My driver places the bag on the table. I half expect to feel a gun in the back of my head as I stand. And I swear to god I'm making every oath I can to god, I'll be better, I'll do better. sweating bullets. But nothing happens.
We walk to the 4x4 parked outside and leave.
I keep my eyes on the mirrors, to check if we ar being followed but we're not.
It's not till we are an hour into the drive that I finally let myself breath.
It's not an hour after that, that we hear the noise from the trunk.