Between the Grapevines

17. Sab'ata 'Ashar (P. 2)

"As a man," her brother spoke up, his eyes staring daggers through the man standing too close to his sister. "Your words should only be with men like yourself, not with a girl young enough to be your daughter."

"I would kill myself if I was his daughter," Harakat murmured.

The soldier who had turned away slowly brought his head back around to meet her gaze, hatred spewing from his eyes. "Go ahead and speak your nonsense. In the end, no one will remember your so-called courage nor your resistance because we will kill each and every one of you Arab scum until this entire country becomes ours alone."

Harakat smirked, keeping her chin raised confidently in front of him. "I swear on God's name, may I not live to see another day, there will never come a day when this land is yours. Our children and our children's children will continue to throw the rocks that you are so scared of. They will see just as we do that, behind all those tanks and rifles, are cowards who will run away at the first sign of a threat. I swear by the God that has brought both of us into this world and will one day take us from it, shoo ra'yek?"

The man scoffed. "Then we will continue to kill each and every one of you. We will orphan your children and throw them onto the streets so they become the beggars that we spit on in passing. Shoo ra'yek?" He repeated the question as if he'd won.

"You think the children you orphan will become beggars? Our people cannot be broken as yours may. We are unlike you. See who you will spit on? See how quickly we will cut your tongue." She said, her expression deadly.

The man stepped closer, his shoulder pressing against Harakat's brother's as he tried to jam himself between both of them while the other soldiers kept him still. Harakat remained firm in her footsteps. He lifted his finger to point sharply at her. "I spit on you, your mother, and your dead father's grave."

"You dog," her brother hissed.

Harakat's smile fell from her face and grew on the soldier's when he realized he'd finally gotten into her head. Her eyes blazed with fury. How dare a man as dirty as this one speak of her loving mother and deceased father so disrespectfully? Her lips trembled when she rolled her tongue over her teeth, forcing a hateful sneer onto her mouth to match his. She gathered her saliva and spit into the man's face.

He flinched, turning away in surprise.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You dogs only know how to bark."

The man suddenly jerked his arm forward and Harakat felt the sting on her cheek before the slap echoed through the cell around them. Her head flew to the side from the impact, her ears ringing at the power of the contact. She processed the slap quickly, hearing her brother shout, and feeling her own fury blister to levels unmatched as she turned her head back to the man. Her cheek tingled but she did not allow the man to see her pain when she met his gaze.

"What kind of man lays his hands on a girl, you animal?" Her brother snapped, fighting against the two soldiers who now wrapped both of their arms around his to keep him still. "Let me go!"

The man scoffed insolently.

Harakat seethed while holding his attention before she felt her control snap. "You see yourself as something, now?" She asked quietly, raising an eyebrow.

Then the girl wheeled one arm forward to slap the man back. It all came undone and both of her arms attacked him before anyone else could move, pushing him backwards as he raised his hands in defense. Harakat spit on him. "Shayef nafsek?" She repeated loudly. "Do you see yourself now? Move your hands! Move your hands, you coward! I told you that you are nothing but bark, didn't I? Let me see. Let me see your manliness now, you animal!" She shouted, gripping his head and slamming it into the iron bars he'd fallen against.