Genuine

The gunshots are terrifying. I can hear them from our rusty apartment. Mama and Papa  would always say “Don’t worry beta (son), I will always keep you safe.” I was eight years old during the most disastrous Afghanistan war I have lived through. The men in those ugly uniforms running around carelessly, shooting and killing neighbors and families, kidnapping children, who were never seen again. It is horrifying. I remember the day when those men took Mama and Papa, and shot them right in front of me. They were the ones who were supposed to keep me safe.

I hadn’t been outside in a while to play with my friends, Nani (grandma) would never let me in case those men came through our village again. I could remember when I played soccer with Vijay and Kumar. I was the best. For as long as I can remember, my dream was to become a professional soccer player. Papa bought us a soccer ball by selling one of our kitchen pots and we would play from dawn to dusk. But ever since it got more dangerous, I wasn’t allowed to go outside.  

I can clearly remember this one day, it was around 9:00 o’clock in the morning, April 1964, when one of the men living in the next door apartment yelled, “There are no men right now! Come everyone, come get the clean water before they do! Come! Come!”

“Beta, stay here okay? I need go get the water from the well. Do not go outside.” Nani said.

All I said was “Okay”.

There was no one in apartment except a few kids. All of a sudden I heard familiar sounds. It was Vijay and Kumar playing out in the courtyard with our old soccer ball and the torn up soccer nets one of the neighbors built a long time ago. Vijay caught me staring out the window.

“Hey! Come play.”

“Nani said I can’t come outside!”

“Come on you coward, they are all gone to the well. It will take them a while.” he replied.

All I could say was “Okay.”

I was actually nervous and terrified. I haven’t been on the courtyard since the men came to take Mama and Papa. Horrible thoughts were going through my head.

“Come let’s play,” said Kumar. We started to play; it had felt like nothing changed. I was still the best.

“Oh no! The ball went out, go get it!” Vijay yelled from the other side of the courtyard.”

I ran towards the entrance of the courtyard, beside the large useless wall. As I came toward the ball, I saw a man. A man in a ugly uniform, holding the largest rifle in his right hand. I couldn’t move. Those horrible thoughts were racing through my head. But the man kept watching us, as if he was watching us for a while. He did not move, no smile, not even a twitch. But the man did say these words, “Wow Beta, you are the best at this game.” and the man walked away toward the road that is the exit out of the village. He never came back. For the first time ever, I embraced the genuine man in the ugly uniform. The only time, ever.