Page 347 of 5+Us Makes Seven

“It’s been so long. My memories are a little hazy, but I think so.”

“Good.” I turned to the passenger up front. “I need the gun.”

He twisted around, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Do it, do it, he’s been vetted,” the driver said in English.

The other man reached into the glove box and pulled out a revolver old enough to be in a museum.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “This isn’t what we agreed I would be getting. I’ll need more firepower than this if this turns out to be a trap.”

“That what you pay, that what you get,” the driver said.

Meanwhile, the passenger continued to stare at me menacingly.

“It’s okay,” Jade said. “We’ll be fine.”

I wanted to call her out for being so naïve, but I held my tongue in front of the strangers. Every decision I made concerned her. I couldn’t forget that now if I tried.

The two in front returned to arguing amongst themselves as we bounced around in the backseat. Outside, the unforgiving Afghanistan landscape stretched to the horizon.

Coming back to the war-torn country was stupid in so many ways, but if we wanted any chance of a future together, it was necessary.

* * *

At the outskirts of Samangan, the so-called escort specialists dropped us off and zoomed away, a cloud of dust rising in their wake.

“Fucking assholes,” Jade said, wiping off her baggy white blouse and jeans.

“I’m sorry. It’s the best I could get on such short notice. We’re here now. Let’s find out what this old man claims to know.”

“Thanks for supporting me with this,” she said.

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s you and me. We’re in this for the long haul.”

“I’d kiss you, but my lips are full of sand and dirt.”

I smiled, squeezing her arm briefly.

“Let’s do this.”

We walked side by side into the city which had only begun to awaken. Everyone who saw us stared. I gripped Jade’s hand tightly, increasing our pace.

At the center of the city, we arrived at the market, already bustling with vendors setting up shop and locals arriving for early bird specials and the freshest produce.

“It’s this way,” she said, leading me toward the left side of the plaza.

She stopped a few stalls down. We both peered inside, seeing nothing.

“Where is he?” she asked.

I had already turned to glance around the plaza.

“What the hell?” she asked.

“I told you it was a trap,” I said, scanning the crowd still increasing in size. “There…”

Her gaze followed my finger as I pointed across the market.