Chapter Eleven: When Evil Visits
The sunset was spectacular, as usual. The ocean seemed still as the waves breached the shores peacefully. The turquoise colors in the water reflected the orange and red tones of the sun. The waves crept toward their feet reaching out for their toes. There they stood, all five American’s with Gamini and his family, their shadows cast them as tall as giants and lay in perfect form on the sand. They were all deep in thought of God as they were in awe of His creation. Not once during their stay had they taken this view for granted.
Three days and two nights were all there was left. With one of the days being needed for travel back to Malé, their time was even shorter. The building was finished and beautiful. The new community facility was by far the sturdiest and most modern place on the island. The main entrance led into the common room that was twenty five by twenty five foot. Another smaller room was on the south side of the building; it was twenty five by fifteen foot, with a hallway that led to a closet area and an entire wall of shelves. On the north side of the common room was a hallway that divided seven rooms on each side of the hall. Fourteen ten by twelve foot rooms were big enough to be used as bedrooms, hospital rooms, or small classrooms. A multipurpose building was what they wanted and what they got.
The tiny voice of Meena broke the silence they were all sharing. The little girl that Amy had first played with was running toward them with a panicked look as she called out for her. Amy walked toward her and Meena jumped up into her arms, talking so fast that even if Amy could have understood the language, she wouldn’t have been able to understand what Meena was saying. Gamini listened to her and interpreted for her.
“The National Security Service is at the village. They are asking questions about you all. We must go back.” Gamini led the Americans. He gave them the best advice he could. “Do no give any information. Speak only when they ask.” His advice was short and straight to the point. They walked with urgency, trying not to show the fear they felt.
There were four of them and they were armed, which wasn’t unusual. The National Security Service acted as the police, military, and coast guard. With Britain no longer offering military stability, the N.S.S was in charge of it all. They felt the easiest way to deal with crime was to act fast and harsh. No judge, no jury; the National Security Service was the enforcer and interpreter of the law. Gamini met the men and spoke in Dhivehi. The conversation wasn’t without conflict. The security service men kept pointing at Gamini and then the Americans. Gamini smiled nervously at them and pointed to the community building that they had just finished. Back and forth with their questions and then Gamini’s answers. Two guards separated themselves. One guard went into Gamini’s hut and one into the American’s hut. They pulled out books, emptied shelves and tore off all the bed clothes off the pallets. They tore through more in fifteen minutes than could be repaired in hours. Someone had been talking about the Americans and Gamini to the officials. They were speculating about why they spent so much time together. Islamic laws were not being upheld and someone had to pay the price.
Amy held tightly to Meena. She felt the fear radiate out from her little body. Standing behind all the men and watching the confrontation was too much for Amy as well. She hugged Meena to herself and put her head over her shoulder. She ran her fingers calmly through the darkness of Meena’s hair and whispered a prayer in her ears for all of their safety. Meena did not understand a word, but she felt safe in Amy’s arms. She never turned around again. She wanted Amy to hold her; she trusted Amy.
The two guards questioning Gamini got closer and closer to him. Bill couldn’t tell if they were accusing him or just intimidating him. It was actually both. One guard got right up in Gamini’s face while the other walked around looking at the Americans. He was so close to them that they could feel his breath on them. The guard with Gamini became very agitated with him and took a step back putting his hand on his handgun. His voice got louder and louder. Ryan didn’t like what he was seeing and took a step toward the guard.
Arzan appeared out of nowhere and pulled Ryan back forcefully. He walked toward the guard pointing and laughing at the American’s. He started talking, trying to change the mood of the guards. The guards knew Arzan. His grandfather was part of the village council. The guards finally settled down and started bantering with him. Whatever Arzan said made sense to the guards. Their tense angry faces eased up.
“Enough waste of time,” the older guard called to the others. “Any finds?” He questioned the other guards who had not found anything illegal. The guards decided to leave. The guard had two more questions for Gamini before he left. One being, “When are the Americans leaving?” and two, “Did he want to die?”
“Saturday” and “No” were again the short and to-the-point answers from Gamini. He stood his ground proudly, or foolishly, as some might say.
The guards left, but not before stopping in front of Bill and the other Americans, “Make sure you leave.” His voice rang out with a threatening tone. They didn’t need an interpreter, no one answered him. They left without another word.
As soon as the guards were out of sight, Gamini and Bill both ran into their huts to survey the damage and look for all the work they had done while translating the Bible. Bill came back to the doorway and dropped to his knees. Both bongos were missing. All their work was gone.
Meena then climbed down out of Amy’s arms and took her by the hand. She led Amy into her hut and called out for her mother. Razan slid out from behind a stack of mats that she had made to be taken to market. She walked to the door and looked around. She saw Gamini and ran to him. They spoke briefly and soon walked toward Razan’s hut where Amy was with Meena. Gamini motioned for Bill to join them.
As Razan spoke, Gamini translated. “The guards came looking for Americans who build and play music. Razan say someone came to tell council of mystery. Why they here? Why Americans give so much? They suspect things.” Razan went to the mats and slid them back from the wall. Both bongos were there hidden.
Gamini continued translating. “We love your music. Meena listen and go to sleep humming you play at night. We fear they take away music we love so Meena go in and get these out to be safety.”
He asked Razan some questions and seemed uneasy about her answers. Gamini told Bill that from what she understood, someone went to security about them. “We will have to stop now. Security will be back more and time no one know. Once they have question, they will return to see more. Things more danger now. More danger because they already question me and family faith to Islam.” Gamini shook his head. He was more than a little concerned for everyone’s safety.
“It’s ok Gamini,” Bill put his hand on his shoulder. Bill was the one responsible and he had to remember that Gamini’s faith was new. “We are done this trip. You ok?”
Gamini looked relieved. He believed his friend’s words. “No more this trip,” meant to him that they weren’t giving up, but were good to stop now.
“What do we do now Bill? We have time left here on the island.” Wayne felt uneasy. Flashbacks of trouble going through customs at the airport started pounding in his head. “We can’t just stand around here. Can we take the ferry back to Malé in the morning?”
“No, Wayne. We can’t pack up and go. We would not have any place to stay in Malé anyway. Besides that, we have worked too hard to build relationships here just to leave. We aren’t going to just stand around here. We were called here for three very distinct reasons; first, to love these people unconditionally, second, to build a building, and third, to translate the Bible. We have done our best. We may not be able to do more Bible translating, but we can continue to love them. And love them they did.