16
Azadah tried to make sense of what had happened. One moment she was ladling bata rice with a spinach qorma for the guards, including the bastard who had struck her. The next moment she had once again been slammed to the ground.
She lay there wondering who had struck her this time.
No one moved toward her.
Now Mahmood lay near her on the floor as did others.
The air was thick with dust and the room looked as if a whirlwind had blown in the front doors and out the back. The electric lights were gone, but the fire still burned and lit the room, giving the dust a ruddy glow of eternal flames.
Geti had been in the kitchen doorway and now lay far across the room in a position that said she would never rise again.
And then Azadah knew.
She sat up and her head spun no more than it had s
