Ground Zero(14)

Baba’s eyes narrowed. Reshmina knew he saw right through her simple lie.

“I didn’t touch him, Baba,” Reshmina said. “He was hurt, and he asked me for help, and I came looking for you right away,” she explained. “Shouldn’t we help him, Baba? Isn’t that Pashtunwali?”

Baba sighed. He suddenly looked older to Reshmina than he ever had before, and her heart broke at the thought of bringing more hardship to him. She knew just how dangerous it would be to harbor an American soldier in their home. But Reshmina also knew her father was an honorable man.

“If this man has asked for refuge, he will have it,” Baba said at last.

Reshmina clasped her father’s hand in gratitude. Then she held Baba’s crutch for him as he helped the American soldier to his feet. Together, Baba and the soldier hobbled into the house, Reshmina trailing behind them.

Anaa looked up from her needlework, and her eyes went wide. “Oh dear,” she said.

“Mor jani, help me,” Baba said to his mother, and Anaa quickly stood and spread a sleeping mat on the floor. The American soldier let out a groan of pain as Baba lowered him onto it.

“Where are we?” the American asked, turning his head. “What’s happened?”

“This is my home,” Reshmina told him. “You are safe. I am Reshmina, and my father and grandmother are here.”

Anaa leaned over and peered at the soldier’s wounds.

“Thank you,” the soldier said. “My name’s Taz.” He put his head back wearily on the sleeping mat, then suddenly jerked up again. “Wait—did I lose it?” he asked. He patted at his chest until his hands found the brown stuffed animal attached to his vest.

Reshmina blinked. She’d seen that stuffed creature before. This was the American soldier who’d led the search of their house!

The soldier seemed to relax when he found the toy.

“What is that?” Reshmina asked him.

“My Tasmanian Devil,” said Taz. “He’s kind of my good luck charm.”

Reshmina frowned. The word Tasmanian meant nothing to her. She knew the word devil, but the thing didn’t look like any devil she’d ever seen.

“Is this what Americans think the devil looks like?”

Taz grunted a laugh. “No. He’s a cartoon character. He spins around and destroys things.”

Reshmina didn’t know what a cartoon was, but destroying things certainly sounded American.

“That’s why they call me Taz,” he added. “For my Tasmanian Devil.”

Reshmina noticed that the word LOWERY, not Taz, was sewn on Taz’s vest. Most Afghans didn’t have family names, but Reshmina knew from her teacher that many other people in the world used them. Lowery must have been this soldier’s family name.

“And what does D-T-V mean?” Reshmina asked. The letters were tattooed on Taz’s arm.

“Oh,” Taz said. He pulled his arm against his chest to hide the tattoo, as though he were embarrassed by it. “It means … Damn the Valley. It’s kind of my company’s slogan. This valley—it kills our friends and ruins our lives,” he said sadly.

“Yes,” Reshmina said quietly. “It is the same for us.”

“Will he live, Mor jani?” Baba asked Anaa.

Anaa looked up from Taz’s bloodstained leg. “I don’t know,” she said. “He is badly wounded and needs a hospital.”

Reshmina knew that wasn’t going to happen. The nearest hospital was in Asadabad, more than a day’s walk through mountains full of Taliban.

Marzia came in from the front room with an armful of wet clothes. She saw the American soldier laid out on the mat, dropped the clothes on the dirt floor, and screamed.

“Foolish girl!” Mor scolded, following on Marzia’s heels. “Now we’ll have to wash those all over again!”

Mor froze when she saw the American soldier. Taz seemed to sense that he had been discovered by the rest of the family and stayed tensely quiet.

“No!” her mother cried. “No no no no no!”

Reshmina gulped. She’d known her mother would be furious. But Reshmina had to help him. It was Pashtunwali. Her mother had to understand.

“He asked me for help,” Reshmina said.

Mor’s eyes flashed to Reshmina. “Reshmina, you foolish girl,” she hissed, “you have brought death to this family! You have brought death to this entire village!”

Her mother’s words stung as if she had slapped her. Reshmina tried to argue, but her mother turned and marched back into the kitchen.

The front door banged open, startling Reshmina. A moment later, her brother’s voice came from the front room.

“Everybody! You’ll never guess what happened!”

Pasoon! He was back. A chill ran down Reshmina’s spine. She had never feared her brother before. But lately, Pasoon had grown angrier and angrier about the Americans. If he saw Taz in their house now, there was no telling what he would do.

Reshmina ran into the front room to intercept her brother.

“The Taliban ambushed the Americans and the ANA, just like they said they would!” Pasoon crowed. He circled the room, wrapped up in the memory of what he’d seen. “They killed them all and dragged their bodies away!”

Reshmina bit off a gasp. The Taliban wouldn’t distinguish between soldiers and their translator—especially not a female one. That meant that Mariam—