Locked In

Processing

"Everyone out!"

One of the men came to the door and pulled on the beginning of the chain that shackled us together. "Keep moving!" The other men circled us as we filed out of the truck and blinked our eyes at the sunlight. I did not know what sort of fate we were going to endure in this camp. We moved along slowly in single file and gazed around us. There were small houses inside the barbed wire fences that surrounded us. We saw the heavy gates close behind us. I noticed a small mess hall in the center of the camp and a small building near the gates. It was to this building that we walked to. There were guards patrolling the perimeter of the camp and I could see towers at all four corners and two towers beside the gate with armed men stationed there.

The wailing of the men, women, and children was something I would never forget. There was so much despair in the camp. I did not see any type of medical facility anywhere. Were we destined to die if we became ill? I could see a woman posted at the door to the building we were heading to with a clipboard in her hands. As I looked up at the building I could see two words above the door; Processing Center. I could hear screaming from inside the building. What types of tortures were we about to face?

"Parasa family. One adult and four children," a man said to the woman.

"Uncuff them from the group and show them inside," the woman replied. I could sense there was no sympathy in her voice.

We were uncuffed from the chain and shoved through the doorway. I glanced warily around me at the American flag on the wall behind the desk. I could see the picture of President Fitzgerald. The man looked up from the brim of his glasses at us.

"Are you the Parasa family?"

"Yes." My voice was shaking from fear.

"Take the girl first." He said to another man.

"Where are you taking her?!" I shouted at him as the other man uncuffed Sabura and dragged her down a hallway. I tried to follow but was hit across the back of the head with a gun and fell to my knees. One by one my children were hustled down the hallway. Then it was my turn. As I was dragged down the dark hallway to the fifth door on the left I was shoved in and was strapped into a barber chair, the kind that appears in old Western movies.

"What is going on?! Where are my children?" I screamed.

"You will see them soon enough. As soon as we give you a number."

"No! I cannot get a tattoo. That is against my religion," I pleaded with the woman but she did not waver.

"Hold her!" She commanded the men who had brought me into the room. They grabbed me and held me down as the woman dipped the needle into the ink and then plunged it into the skin on my arm. I screamed and pleaded as the pain shot through my body. After twenty minutes the procedure was done. There was a number and the crescent moon and star.

I was hustled out and down the hall. We took a left and I was shoved into a room where I was reunited with my children. I could see they were crying and saw that they too had the same tattoos I had, only with my name tattooed onto their left hands. We were given a change of clothes and a couple of blankets. "Get your clothes off and then hop into the shower."

I was aware of the men as they stared at us while we undressed. I could hear the wolf howls as the men looked over my body and color rose to my face. I tried to cover myself as best I could in order to preserve some type of dignity. Then we were paraded down the hallway and into the showers. We huddled there, naked and ashamed as the water came down from the shower heads above us. At least they are not gassing us like the Nazis did to the Jews during the Holocaust.

We filed through another set of double doors and changed into our clothes. A man shot a gun into the air as we huddled together crying and wailing our despair. "Welcome to your new home." The man said. "I am Director Hannibal. You are all here because you are traitors to this beautiful land, America. If you renounce Islam now we will grant you a pardon and you will be set free. Anyone who doesn't will be forced to endure the rest of their lives here." No one made a sound. "Very well. I must commend you for your steadfastness in faith. But that will be of no help to you. Here are the rules of your new home.

"You will not be allowed to leave the camp. Anyone who tries will be shot on sight or blown up by the hidden mines surrounding the camp. Lights are out by sunset. You will not be allowed to pray or do any of your other religious practices. If you are caught you will be severely punished by whipping, death or other punishments. Breakfast is at 7:00 AM, lunch at noon, and dinner at 5:00 PM. No one is allowed second helpings. If anyone is caught stealing they will be flogged in public and forced to a term of no more than seventy days in solitary confinement."

We were forced to walk outside and were handed off to one man per family where we were shown our new home. Number 10 was on the door. "Memorize your number well." The man said to us. We went into our home and stared at the bare ground and a small mattress in the corner. There was a toilet and a sink against the wall. We fell to our knees and cried for what we had lost. "Mommy what is going on?" Ijaz asked me.

"We are prisoners of America," I replied. "But as long as we stay true to Allah we will be safe."

There was a knock on the door and I opened it. A young woman was standing there.

"Salaam Alaykum. Peace be upon you."

"Walaykum Salaam. And peace be upon you," I replied.

"Dinner is in a couple of minutes so you'd best get to the mess hall if you want to eat."

"Thank you."

She looked inside and her eyes were sad. "My children will be happy to make some new friends."

"How old are they?"

"My children are aged twelve, ten, seven, five-year-old twin girls, along with a three-year-old, and a two year old and a one month old baby."

"That is a lot of children."

"Yes it is. Come we must hurry if we want to eat."

"Of course. Daboor, Rahmat, Ijaz, Sabura. Come."

We walked to the mess hall and managed to squeeze inside. We took our pitiful meal of bread, tomato soup and an apple with a glass of water and tried to eat while standing up. Then we were ordered outside for an inspection before we filed back to our homes and I fell into a horrible and dreamless sleep.