Mr. Manning's Consumation

He finally decided to try and talk to the driver, hoping to figure out what was happening. "Excuse me," he said, "Where are we going?"

The boy didn't even turn around to answer. "No English" he said.

"Great" Alec muttered. "At least I know what I'm supposed to do when I get there."

Laila listed to Alec talk to himself. Why did he ask Aadil about their destination? Didn't he know? Did father arrange a surprise? Why would he not even look at her?

For Alec, the trip seemed endless. In college he lived and died by the clock and now he felt naked without his watch and was going through withdrawal. Laila watched his fidgeting.

The van finally stopped and Aadil got out and unlocked the back of the van and beckoned the couple out into the cool night air. Aleck looked at the small, one story concrete house and the burglar bars on the door and windows. No way to escape there. He looked at the boy and the AK-47 he was holding, calculating it would not be a good idea to make a run for it.

The boy motioned for Alec to pick up the two suitcases that had been placed in the van when they left the ceremony. He then followed the two to the front door where the boy unlocked the chains wrapped around the lock holding the burglar bars. He heard them talking in Arabic, wishing he could understand what they were saying.

"Is this a bridal suite or a prison?" Laila asked.

"Father had the extra door and the burglar bars installed six months ago when some thieves broke in and stole some of the furniture. He figured he'd keep it locked until he had some tenants."

"I understand. You're going to lock the door once we're inside aren't you?"

"Uncle Mahmud said you'd need privacy. That's why he wanted you here, here aren't a lot of neighbors to disturb you and your husband—"

"Father picked this house because he could lock my husband in, not to keep people out, didn't he?"

Aadil shrugged, "I don't know. All I know is Uncle Mahmud told my father you needed this place for privacy, I figured you knew about this."

"Knew about what?? Father just told me I was to marry an American Muslim, he said nothing about him being afraid of women."

Aadil looked at Alec as he was surveying the neighborhood, "You think he's like Uncle Ali?"

Laila shook her head, "It would make sense. Lock him in a house and not let him out until he loses interest in men."

She paused for a moment and looked over at her husband looking like a lost dog carrying their luggage. "I guess you should let us in so we can get this over with."

Aadil unlocked the security door and escorted the couple in putting the padlock back on once the door was shut. He looked at his cousin with an awkward mix of guilt and pity. "Don't worry about food, uncle acquired enough for a week. There's also a shortwave radio in the kitchen."

"What about the bathroom?" Laila asked.

"The toilet works but you'll have to get bathwater out of the kitchen." Laila nodded in acknowledgement and her cousin closed and locked the security door while she shut the main door.

While she listed to her cousin put the chains on the door she stared into the dark wooden door for a moment, trying to take in all that had happened. She barely had a ceremony, she had no wedding feast or celebration, just an abrupt acknowledgement before she was to lose her virginity and be bound to a man who seemed as bewildered as she was.

This is my punishment for asking too many questions, she thought. In school she always challenged the teacher's interpretation of the Qur'an, and she was always questioning her father about the way he ran his business. This was her punishment for not being respectful enough, she was sent off with some foreign moron in a sham marriage.

She turned around and saw that he was already heading towards the bedroom. Obviously he wasn't so clueless that he wasn't going to take advantage of his rights as a husband. As she approached the bedroom she took a deep breath and began taking off her bridal gown.

Alec looked at the bed and thought "Oh shit, she's probably expecting me to do it tonight. Poor kid, she doesn't have a clue about what's going on."

His mind raced trying to think of what to do. He could barely say "Hello" in Arabic much less "Not tonight dear I have a headache."

He heard the dry rustling sound of her wedding gown and turned around to face her. There she stood at the doorway undressing in a slow, hesitating fashion not even looking him in the eye.

"As she undid the back of her dress and began pulling it down over her bare shoulders he rushed over and began pulling the dress back on, trying not to stare at her half-exposed breasts in the process and thankful his pants were concealing the erection he was getting looking at them.

He tried to figure out a way to communicate his intentions to her. Then, as he watched her undress he forgot what he was going to say. Her dark eyes and hair were a sharp contrast to her white wedding gown. With the veil off, her jet black hair fell down around her shoulders and shimmered against the light of the lamp. The light also accentuated the smooth oval features of her face, from her full cheeks down to her elegant lips and dimpled chin. Her eyes had a hawk-like intensity, and for a moment as he stared into them he was tempted to rip the dress off. As his heart raced and his erection swelled he muttered "Oh boy."

He quickly put his left hand in his pocket to hide the growing bulge and took a few steps back from her. After a moment he pointed to himself, shut his eyes, and began making a snoring sound and pointed down the hall to the living room.

Laila tried deciphering the weird gestures he was making. So she thought, he's saying he's a pig in the living room? He probably thinks I don't speak English, she thought to herself.

Alec then motioned for her to sit on the bed and Laila complied. He stood there for a moment with both hands in his pocket. "Boy" he said, "I'm glad you don't know English because right now I have this humungous boner and I don't know what to do with it."

Laila kept a straight face as he continued. "I don't know what I did to have to marry you but I'm really, really sorry. I just help deliver food and that's it, you know? Maybe I delivered food to your family and they thought they had to make a trade. I don't know. But it would be really wrong of me to take advantage of you like that. So, uh, I'm going to sleep up front and we'll figure this out tomorrow."

As he turned to leave he put up his hand and said "Just stay, okay? Stay." He then ran down the front hall door, retrieved her bags, and shut the bedroom door.

Laila sat on the bed and chuckled. He may have been unwitting and unwilling, but at least he didn't try to take advantage of her. She also took pride in the fact that he had an effect on him no matter how hard he tried to hide it. He might just make a good husband if properly persuaded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the four watched the lights go out in the house Jasim decided to speak up. "I wonder what the American is making her do right now?"

"I don't care" said Aazim. "I just know what I'm going to make her do for me."

"Didn't that boy lock the front door" Baber asked. "We may not be able to get in."

"We'll just use the rifles to shoot off the locks" Aarif groaned.

Baber retorted "But what about the neighbors?"

Aazim turned around and faced Baber. "They'll sit in their houses and thank God it isn't happening to them. Now quit whining."

As he looked past Baber and through the rear window he saw a man approaching their car. "Everyone stay put and don't do anything."

Aazim got out of the car and calmly walked towards the stranger wearing his best smile. "Can I help you brother?" he asked.

"Are you the reinforcements?" the first one asked.

"Are you with the militia?" Aazim asked.

"Yes, we're meeting in the garage a few blocks away."

Aazim breathed his most convincing sigh of relief. "Thank god you found us, we got lost and were afraid to ask for help!"

"Yes I know. American spies are everywhere. Just hide your car in the alley and follow us." The man then pointed to the alleyway behind him.

Aazim then walked back to the car to let them know about the slight change of plans. He looked at the rental house and clinched his teeth, Al-Shirani's daughter would have to wait.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alec flopped around on the rug amidst the pillows trying to get comfortable, but he couldn't. The experience of going from being a hostage in the morning to a groom in the afternoon, to a husband at night was overwhelming him. The effort it took to hold back his urge to take the girl was also keeping him awake. But, he kept reminding himself that if there was any chance of getting an annulment he had to play it cool.It's like going through a department store, he thought to himself.You break it, you bought it.

He didn't hear her come to him. One moment he was alone, the next she was standing in front of him in her night gown. She was no longer afraid, and her devilish smirk suggested she was more than ready even if he wasn't.

With one hand she unfastened the front of her gown and it fell to the floor. Alec sat up as he looked at her body, his fatigue and anxieties fading away as he studied every inch of her. This time he wouldn't be able to resist her.

As he tried to speak she knelt down and put her hand to his mouth and he went silent, hypnotized by the sensation of her warm, delicate hand against his lips. She then sat on his lap, her legs straddling his waist as she draped her arms around his shoulders and began running her fingernails gently through his scalp and along the back of his neck Alec leaned his head back, his lips met hers, and in a second he was lost in euphoria. For a moment he savored the warm, wet texture of her lips, then she gently pushed him back, sitting up so her firm breasts were level with his face. Alec then took her right breast in his mouth and began to gently suck her nipple, the taste of her skin mingling with the salty sweat from the day. . .

Laila came out of the bedroom for some water when she saw her husband squirming on the pillows and moaning softly. She knelt down and watched his tongue wagging around as if he were licking the air. She looked down at his pants at the same bulge she saw earlier. She then shook her head, wondering if it would ever go down.