The Truest Soldier-Islamic Life Story

Chapter Eleven

Asima was quite taken by the Sergeant.

He was handsome, to say the least, and he smiled kindly at all the incoming soldiers. He also wanted to get to know the soldiers personally, so Asima, Zaen, and Mikey were scheduled a visit. His show of empathy even made Asima forget that Scar was in their training team.

"Take a seat," the Sergeant had said, gesturing for them to sit, and pulling out a chair for Asima. When they settled in, the Sergeant sat down. "So, tell me your names."

"Michael Rodgers, Sir," Mikey said, "but everyone calls me Mikey." The Sergeant nodded and looked over at Zaen.

"Zaen Kawari, Sir," he said. "I don't have a nickname but I'm Algerian." The Sergeant's eyebrows raised, clearly surprised. His eyes then went to Asima. He smiled at her. Asima fought the blush in her cheeks. Why was she so weak in the knees now? Perhaps it was because she was still unable to wear her hijab and she was ever conscious of the wind pricking her neck and the stray hairs falling across her cheek.

"Asima Kadijha, Sir." It was all she could say.

The Sergeant leaned back in his seat. "So what religion do you guys follow?"

The question threw Asima off, so Mikey spoke first.

"I'm a Catholic," he answered.

"And we're both Muslims," Zaen said.

Hearing this, the Sergeant's lax demeanor dissolved, his face darkening as he sat back up. The spiteful look in his eyes made Asima sit up in her seat, a twinge of fear biting the back of her mind.

"I better not see you two practicing your shit, or we're going to have some problems," he warned. "Understand?" The three nodded, speechless, before the Sergeant dismissed them.

Asima had been stunned by his words, any sort of infatuation she had for him was clearly gone.

"What the fuck was his problem?" Mikey said after they had stepped out and walked a good distance away from the Sergeant's tent.

"He was pretty on the outside," Asima muttered, kicking the ground with distaste. "And ugly on the inside."

Mikey scoffed. "I don't think you two are going to have a good time with that jackass."

"Let's hope our Commanding Officer won't be like him," Zaen said. "This guy is just our mentor, remember? We're going to have a serious problem if the man in charge of us has the same attitude."

"Pray to Allah he doesn't," Asima agreed.

In the three months Asima and Zaen had gone through together for their field training, life was worse than at basic. They were constantly being harassed by some of the other soldiers who received no reprimand for their doings.

Time and time again, the two faced verbal slurs, among those were Scar's favorites: Asima Bin Laden, Raghead, and Carpet Jockey. The Sergeant's threat, too, was just an addition to their worries, making it difficult for the two to keep up daily prayers and Qur'an recitations without being caught.

However, the worst was during their final field exercise where Asima and Zaen were told to act as terrorists for the scenario. Zaen was given something to wear on his head to appear more "realistic" and Asima was allowed to wear her hijab openly. They were then made targets where everyone participating in the exercise had a duty to find and kill them.

The two were later transferred over to Captain Caleb Atara, their commanding officer. Mikey, Scar, and several others from their experience training were also enlisted under the Captain.