The Truest Soldier-Islamic Life Story

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Asima was in, what she called, the lull weeks. 27 days into the grueling training, her body had begun to adjust to the heavy training. She was jealous, however, of Zaen's progress, which exceeded her own. Asima blamed it on the fact that he was already fit when joining.

But for the most part, the other trainees stayed away from Asima and Zaen, unless it was a group workout, of course. Asima was glad, though, that Zaen remained steadfast by her side. She worried he would easily replace her for some of the other, friendlier trainees, being that Zaen was able to catch more positive attention than Asima could.

The two also had to cover for one another when it came to praying, which they had to persuade the Colonel to accommodate for. Some of the other trainees had previously stolen and hid their makeshift prayer rugs and leaving them somewhere for the two to fetch. It was a constant battle, especially if Asima was by herself she would get knocked up for wearing a hijab.

When Asima came late into their lunch break (she had to make up for her sloppy push-ups because one of the trainees had "accidentally" pushed her against a wall the night before and bruising her shoulder in doing so), she found Zaen already seated with a couple other guys. She couldn't help but feel annoyed –because she was already upset for being sweaty and going extra work– and abandoned.

Asima took a seat by herself, telling herself she didn't need Zaen. She picked at the food, although knowing that the salad and fish on her plate was the best meal she could get here without having to worry if it was halal or not.

Something had moved in front of her. Looking up she was surprised to see –what did they call him again?– Scar sit across from her. Asima looked back down at her food, feeling ashamed that she'd caught herself hoping Zaen had walked over.

"Looks like your on your own," Scar said, looking over his shoulder at where Zaen was seated. Asima reamined silent, eating her food. Scar watched her eat for a while. "Hey, I'm talking to you, Sandy."

Asima looked up. "What did you just call me?"

Scar smirked.

"Sandy. That's where you're from, right, the A-rab desert and stuff." Allah help her, she was going to yell. This was the last straw.

"Idiot," she muttered.

"What did you just call me?"

Asima looked him in the eye. "Idiot. That's where you're from, right, since you can't tell the difference between an Asian and an Arab."

Before she knew it, the rest of her lunch had clattered noisily off the table and onto the floor. Scar had gotten to his feet, red-faced. For a moment Asima was stunned, before a prickle of fear ran down her spine. Scar was big. Very big.

"What did you just call me?!" he repeated, shouting. Nearly everyone's head turned their way, including Zaen's.

"I called you an idiot," Asima snapped, angry that her food had gone to waste. She stood up to go; there wasn't much of a point in staying. Unfortunately, Scar followed after her.

****

There was a single moment of silence before there was a loud thud, followed by a shout. Fear shot through Zaen. He jumped to his feet, running towards where the two had gone. He mentally prayed for Asima to be okay.

Zaen found Asima pinned against the wall, Scar pressing down on her. Asima kicked out wildly, her knee making contact with Scar's gut. He let go of her, swearing. Zaen rushed to Asima's side.

"You okay?" Asima didn't respond, rubbing her throat where Scar had held her with his forearm.

The Colonel barged in, frowning. He didn't need an explanation.

"Anyone need medical attention?" he asked. The three shook their heads. "Kawari, get outta here while these two knuckleheads spend the rest of their lunch running laps."

"Yes, sir."

Zaen turned to help Asima up but she shook him off, walking out. Scar did the same, smirking in his direction. Zaen didn't like it one bit, but he couldn't do anything. Not with the Colonel there.

He nodded at the Colonel and headed back into the cafeteria, where the chatter had risen back. Mikey, one of the guys he'd been talking to before, hailed him over.

"What happened? Anyone banged up pretty bad?"

"Thankfully, no," he answered, taking his seat.

But Zaen wasn't so sure about that. He couldn't understand what had happened and why. Asima was never the easily angered type. So how come she'd gotten into that fight? And why did she refuse his help?

Confused, Zaen tried to focus on what Mikey was saying. For some odd reason, he couldn't help but feel like it was his fault.

Maybe if he'd just waited for Asima she wouldn't have been cornered by Scar. Maybe if he'd just lied the other guys that Asima was his, they'd be less likely to pick on her knowing they'd have to get through him first. Although some of the others, like Scar, had no problem with verbal slander.

Allah, why was this happening to them?