Jock's Love

Part 51: fear

It was a sunny Saturday and Jo was anxious. She has a friend who is Israeli and Muslim, and she was really worried about their safety. They had tried calling them to see how they were feeling because of the war, but they weren't picking up. Eventually, after 2 hours of trying to reach them, they answered.

"Hey Aaira! I was worried about you because you didn't answer my phone calls!", Jo said on the phone.

"Sorry about that Jo. I was trying to find my song toy train because he lost it and was crying because he really wanted to play with it."

"Oh thank goodness. You scared me!"

Aaira replied agitated, "Well, It's very scary still being in Israel. Thankfully our town is safe, at least for now. I have friends who have been hiding in bunkers and not knowing if their home is still standing, or if Hamas bombed it."

"Wow. That sounds really terrifying!" Jo replied.

Suddenly, Brick opened the front door with a bag of groceries, and set them on the counter and began putting them away in the fridge and pantry. Jo walked over to him and handed her phone to him. 

"Hi! How is everything back home? I'm shocked to know you haven't had to hide in a bunker yet!" Brick told Aaira.

"Yeah, well hopefully I never will!"

"Um... what was that sound? I swear I heard a loud boom sound..."
"Aaira? You there?" Brick said, concerned. 

"Oh, sorry. My daughter is playing fortnight in the living room. That's where I'm currently calling you from." Aaira replied, embarrassed. She then turned to her daughter and quietly said, "Hey Abeeha, can you turn the TV volume down? I'm on the phone."

Abeeha turned down the TV but didn't understand why she had to. Couldn't her mom continue the phone call in a different room?

Aaira then said goodbye to Brick and hung up the phone. Brick was hoping he could get more war updates from her, so he wouldn't feel so worried and concerned. He had already dealt with hate from a neighbor who spraypainted a swastika on his mailbox after Brick hung up a poster saying "I stand in solidarity with Israel" on their window. He didn't take the flag down after the incident, though. He just reported the hate crime to the local police, and they told the lady that she'd be arrested if she did it again. This happened on November 26th, 2023. 

"Hey, Jo? Are you sure everything is okay with your friend? She didn't seem super stressed, but she also didn't give me any war updates. I didn't ask for any, but I also thought she'd at least say something."

"Brick, I know you want to know everything, but Aaira has a lot of trauma from her 22-year-old son dying in this war. Remember when he was drafted and sent to Gaza to fight? That photo of the AK47 pointed at his head still gives her the chills. You cannot expect a grieving mother to feel okay talking about the war." Jo said to Brick.

"I just have lots of war-related PTSD, so knowing we have friends dealing with war is getting to me. I feel really on edge not knowing all the details about how our friend is handling everything. I lost 2 good friends in a battle, and I didn't know they were dead until 2 weeks later when their funerals were held. " Brick stressed.

"I understand where you are coming from, but Aaira has trauma of her own, and she's not obligated to discuss that if it makes her uncomfortable. Y'know Brick, you have similar experiences to her, so I'm surprised you feel the need to know personal details from her"

"You wouldn't understand. You don't have war trauma!" Brick protested. He then began to quickly walk upstairs, and after heading into their bedroom, he slammed the door and lay face down on the bed.