The 13th Tablet (36 page)

‘I'm not sure I want to return to Iraq when we get back from our travels. I think I have enough material now to wrap up my PhD at Columbia and surprise the academic world.'

‘You might want to be a little careful.'

‘Why? Now that we're pretty sure that something will happen in a decade, and the secret will be out in the open before long, won't everything sort itself out?'

Jack looked at her. He didn't want to disclose his fears about Wheatley, so he chose his words carefully; ‘I don't think the Intelligence services would appreciate us going public without preparation,' he said.

‘I wish you hadn't contacted your… friend,' Mina said, speaking through gritted teeth.

‘Who? Stella?' Jack asked.

‘Yes Jack, Stella. Don't play dumb with me.'

Jack could not believe his ears. With everything they had gone through, Mina was fishing for information about another woman. He responded with just a hint of a smile. ‘She's just a friend, a really old friend in the service.'

‘Oh. That's it, just a friend?'

‘Yeah.'

‘Was she more than a friend, years ago?'

‘Alright. We had an affair but it didn't work out. Come on Mina, don't tell me you're jealous?'

‘You're right. Why should I be? First you put me on a train to Cambridge on my own and then you run off to meet some wonder-woman in a pub in London. Hey, why should I be jealous of an operative who was previously your superior officer?'

He laughed and she punched him in shoulder.

‘Why are you laughing?' she asked.

‘I never thought I'd enjoy fighting with you so much.'

‘You're impossible,' she blurted.

Heathrow airport. Thai Airways check-in desk.

Mina crossed her fingers, and prayed they would make the flight that evening rather than the next day. Unfortunately, around eight p.m. the final call for passengers sounded in the departure zone and their names weren't announced. Jack was quite dejected.

‘Don't worry, Jack. I'm sure we'll catch tomorrow's flight and you'll find your mum and Jen are just fine. They probably went off on a fishing trip or something.'

‘Yes, you're probably right,' he replied absent-mindedly.

The airline offered them a double room in a four star hotel near the airport at a reduced price. They accepted the offer, picked up the vouchers and walked out of the airport to hail a cab.

Heathrow airport, four star hotel.

After a quick but delicious dinner, Jack and Mina went up to their room. Mina had tried cheering Jack up throughout the meal, but he seemed out of sorts. ‘Not a great start to the holiday,' she thought to herself. He seemed so remote. She wondered if he'd soon snap out of his mood. He sat on the corner of the bed, his arms hanging by his side. Mina sat down next to him.

‘Jack? Please talk to me.'

He sighed and then looking away from Mina, began to speak.

‘I know it might sound stupid, but I didn't really keep in touch with my mother and sister for almost a decade, until I quit the army. And even then, I only went to see them for the first time six months ago. That's when we decided to spend our first family reunion holiday together in Thailand.'

‘So where's the problem?' asked Mina.

‘I guess I feel guilty for not being there already.'

‘Is something else bothering you, Jack?' she asked.

‘Why do you say that?'

‘You're not used to doing nothing with your time, are you? Wasn't it Daniel who called you an Action Hero?'

‘Maybe. I felt at peace when I started my engineering work at the village.'

‘You were still
doing
something.'

‘So?'

‘So, I think that instead of worrying for no good reason, you should embrace this time to think about where you'd
like
to be going.'

He searched her face for any signs of pity and found nothing but an inviting smile. Jack felt the wisdom in Mina's words, and understood what she meant, but he still couldn't shake off his worry. Where were his mother and sister? He still hadn't been able to get in touch with them. But maybe Mina was right and he was worried for other reasons. His family history didn't usually bother him that much. He just tended to avoid thinking about it. But right now, he felt that his tough guy act was crumbling under Mina's penetrating gaze.

She sensed he wanted to speak but couldn't find the right words.

‘When did you stop speaking to your family?' she asked.

‘It's complicated,' he muttered.

‘Try me,' she continued, softly.

He sighed, ‘When I left home. I was sixteen.'

‘Where did you go?'

‘I had a choice: jail time or the army. I don't regret my choice.'

‘Why? What did you do?' Mina asked, a little taken aback.

‘I hurt a guy pretty bad, outside a bar. He was drunk, he insulted me and it made me angry.'

‘Why were you so angry?'

‘Hey. Should I lie down? Do you need a note pad?'

‘I'm not your therapist Jack, but I would like to know.'

‘I'm sorry,' he said, sincerely. ‘I suppose I had been angry a long time, ever since my dad died.'

‘How old were you?' she asked, trying to keep her questions short.

‘About eleven.'

‘What happened?'

‘He was gunned down in a drive-by shooting.'

She squeezed his hand softly.

‘My dad could barely make ends meet at the best of times. When he died, we lost the house to the bank and ended up in a trailer park. I was angry at my dad for leaving us like that.'

‘You must have missed him a lot?'

‘I guess so.'

He felt something begin to thaw inside him. He had a sudden vision of his father returning from the mill early one summer's day and playing baseball with him in the nearby school yard. He remembered his dad's large rough hands and the smell of freshly-sawn cedar wood on his clothes. They hadn't spoken much, but it was a good memory. He felt lighter at heart. He looked sideways at Mina, wondering what she was thinking now that she knew a little more about him. He hoped he hadn't driven her away. But she smiled up at him and he knew he was alright. Slowly, she put her arms around his neck and stroked his hair. He pulled her closer into him, feeling the swell of her breasts against his firm chest. He caressed her lower back. She pulled back to look at him, and then kissed him passionately. He lowered her down carefully onto the bed and started undressing her, removing her clothes, piece by piece, progressively kissing every newly bare area of her silky skin. Since the day – was it only a few weeks ago? – when Mina had seen him walking towards her in the desert with his shirt open wide, she had dreamed of Jack's firm body pressing hard against her own. Looking deep into his smouldering eyes, she undid the buttons of his shirt. They both breathed in unison, one last gasp before the leap, one last thought before losing themselves to the pleasure of the long-awaited moment.

Mina was curled tightly against Jack's warm chest, their naked bodies still intertwined.

‘You know, after all we've been through, getting shot… I should be a total wreck, but there's something about being around you Mina, I feel I could do something amazing now.'

‘You already have, Jack.' She said with a mischievous grin.

He laughed softly.

‘So,' she said, ‘are you ready to introduce me to your family?'

He held her in his strong arms and kissed the top of her head.

‘Sort of.'

‘What do you mean “sort of”?' she said, tensing up.

‘My mum is quite sweet and so is my sister, but…'

‘Yes?'

‘They've never left their trailer.'

‘So what?'

‘Mina, they're not very sophisticated.'

‘Please, don't been embarrassed by your family, not on my behalf!'

‘Alright. What about your parents?' he asked.

‘Oh. That's another story. They were polite on the phone of course.'

‘But what?'

‘You're a soldier you know, you're not a doctor or a lawyer… It might not work out.'

‘You're joking, right?' said Jack, raising himself on his elbow.

She looked at the shocked look on his face, enjoying every second of it, and then kissed him hungrily as she climbed on top of him.

‘Of course I'm kidding! They'll adore you, but not quite as much as I do.'

PART 4

THAILAND

 

Death carries off a person who is gathering flowers, like a flood carries away a sleeping village.

(Buddhist Saying)

 

Chapter 30

 

December 23rd, 2004. Thai Airways flight

 

 

 

The plane to Bangkok was packed with British tourists leaving behind their offices and heading for the beach. They were wearing shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops and were looking forward to a well-earned holiday in Thailand. Mina was amazed to see how lightly dressed they all were. In the shopping area of Abu Dhabi, where they had a short stopover, she was reminded of the variety of dress codes co-existing at airports all around the world. The contrast between her fellow travellers and the white-robed sheiks and their entourage was quite a vision to behold. Mina watched the queues of men of all ages and from all social classes waiting for a connecting flight to Mecca and felt quite moved. Was it their fervour? Or was it their anticipation of revealed mysteries, their communal faith? She clearly remembered her father's serene smile when he returned from the
Hajj
, many years before. She must have been ten years old and had kept asking her mother where daddy was, until one day he walked through the door and swept her off her feet in a long-awaited hug.

December 24th, 2004. Don Mueang, Bangkok airport

Mina was trying to get her head around the time zone difference. The duration of their trip had been twelve hours, but because of the seven hour difference between Britain and Thailand, instead of arriving at ten p.m. it was actually five in the morning on Christmas Eve.