Bitter

The time had come.

In the confined seat with her head down, her eyes looked around- everything was new to her. It was natural to be excited, but it was the anticipation of what was ahead that made her shiver.

Everyone had unintentionally assisted from the start. They’d boarded her first, found her seat and stowed her bag. She thanked them but modestly ignored their questions. They looked at her figure, nodded and moved to settle into their own seats, fanning their faces and reaching for the air conditioning.

Everything about her homeland was hot. With their bare shoulders and uncovered heads, the stupid foreigners never stopped going on about it. She saw them all the time through the windows of the stores and brand new shopping centres, spending money and eating and drinking without ceremony. They were licentious and ostentatious and she spat on the ground when they passed.

But not today.

Today she was staying close to the script and it was only the script that allowed her to be so close to the man next to her. They’d met only once before and even then she’d kept her eyes down. That day they’d measured and fitted her, attaching the belly and fitting the wires and switches up her chest and over her shoulders.
She looked right. They’d meticulously researched and her stomach was exactly correct, appropriate in shape and size, and it did make her heart beat faster, her precious cargo. She felt apt; she was a virgin, they were unmarried and this bundle would change the world.

So far everything had gone to plan. At each point she stopped, she’d been subject to the same checks, but nothing more. She protectively held her stomach, assured to be the one place they wouldn’t touch, the one place no one would search.

After a safety demonstration that she didn’t bother to watch, the man fitted her
seatbelt across her thighs and startled her by placing his hand on her stomach. He kept it there and closed his eyes in prayer. His words were too soft, but she knew what he’d be saying. He felt as blessed as she did to be chosen.

At the carefully calculated point they both left their seats. She struggled down the narrow aisle, everyone innocently making way for her huge, black-clad figure. In the tiny toilet she reached under her layers and connected the wires as she’d been shown. She allowed herself one quick look in the mirror and watched her lips move with the same words as the man: I thank you for this chance. I will not fail. I will not fail.

She checked the watch they’d given her, waited one more minute and opened the door just in time to see the man do the same thing from the other end. They walked towards each other. He came from the front, she from the rear. They looked at each other briefly. Then he walked to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

The first thing she had in common with the foreigners was the last thing they all heard- the man’s unexpected, shouted words. She never saw their confusion or their brief fear, only his face as he sent them both into history and martydom.