Obwekur Reunion

Seven years after he signed on with the United States Air Force, Martin "Dufa" Obwekur reunites with his sister, Shawna. He is now a United States citizen with the rank of MSGT[1] in the Air Force and a wife and three sons. Martin's MOS[2] is classified, and so he rarely leaves Offutt Air Force Base. In fact, he wouldn't be out now except that he hasn't seen his sister in more than seven years.

"Dufa!" Shawna exclaims as they embrace.

"Shaw-Shaw!" Martin answers.

"How ya been? It's been years!"

"Too many, sis. I hear you're still single."

"I work too much, Dufa."

"Yes, I know. This war has us all working overtime. Your work is especially challenging."

"True, but let's forget work and the war for a while."

As she completes the statement, a woman and three boys enter the restaurant. The woman is short with red hair and cat-green eyes. Petite and slim, she is preceded by a tallish six year old boy with kinky brown hair and light brown eyes. The other two boys are twins. They have curly reddish-brown hair and dark brown eyes. All three have skins the color of wet sand. Both Martin and Shawna stand to greet the quartet.

"Martin!" the new woman smiles as the boys cry out, "Daddy!"

"Charlotte, boys, this is Shawna, my sister and your aunt," Martin says as he introduces his sister to his family.

"Pleased to meet you, Charlotte," Shawna says.

Shawna kneels to hug the three boys and then they all sit down. Over dinner, the three adults converse and talk about their lives. Shawna comments approvingly on her brother's marriage and family. The two women strike up a conversation.

"So, Charlotte, how did you meet my brother?" Shawna asks.

"It was back in 2002. I was working for the railroad at the time," Charlotte told her.

"Doing what?"

"Dispatching trains. I went out one evening and a bunch of Air Force guys were at the bar I went to. Of course, when you get a bunch of guys together, you get a lot of noise, boisterous talk, and some passes at women."

"I see. So you picked Martin out of that crowd, then?"

"Yes, but because he was the only man in the place who wasn't trying to pick me up that night. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice me. I found that a little insulting, frankly, but at the same time it intrigued me. Here I was, the woman every man in the place was trying to get to go home with him, and this one (points to Martin) isn't even looking in my direction."

"So, what did you do?"

"Well, I walked right up to him, looked him square in the eye and asked, 'What's the matter? Are you a homo or something?' He looks at me and says, 'Homo? What does that mean?' Of course, when he said that, it dawned on me that he was an immigrant and wouldn't have the foggiest idea what I meant."

"And so you told him what you meant by that?"

"Yeah, I did. He just looks at me and says, 'Where I come from, only Muslims are sodomites. You do not know me or my culture, so I will let that insult pass.' Well, I looked at him again and said, 'Well, you're the only man in here who is not hitting on me, so I...' He interrupted me and said, 'I am simply awaiting the right woman to come along. If our current conversation is any indication of how American women act, then I will be waiting a very long time to come.'"

"I will guess that you walked away from him then?"

"Yes, but not with so much anger as embarrassment and a desire to win this man who so coolly and calmly put me in my place that night. It took another year, but I was finally able to get him to marry me."

As Charlotte completes her story, two Air Force SPs[3] enter the restaurant. Taking seats at the bar, they look around and monitor the room. Though not being blatant, the two men are overhearing the conversation at the Obwekur party's table. Satisfied that nothing related to classified matters is being discussed, the two men drink their drinks and continue to look around the restaurant. Martin notices the two men and knows they are here not only to monitor what he is doing, but also to guard against any attempt to murder or abduct him and/or his sister. The two women continue to talk, oblivious to the change in scenery, but the eldest son notices.

"Daddy, who are those men?" James asks his father quietly.

"They're very special, son. They keep you, your brothers and your mother and me safe," Martin explains.

"Oh... well, they scare me," James admits.

"Yes, they can be scary. They're supposed to be."

"Why?"

"Because there are bad people in the world, and they help keep the bad people away, son."

"Oh. O.K. Then I will try not to be scared of them."

The younger boys also notice the two men, but quickly turn their attention to their plates again. The whole family tableau, if one were painting it, is one worthy of a Norman Rockwell painting. Patrons continue to enter, eat, and depart from the restaurant while Martin's thoughts are interrupted again by Shawna.

"Martin!" she blares.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he grins, "What's up?"

"Charlotte wants to know why I call you 'Dufa'," Shawna informs him.

"Are you sure you want to know, Char?" he says to his wife.

"I'm on the edge of my seat," she grins evilly.

"Well, when we fled Sudan, years ago, we both had a tough time learning English," he continues. "I had trouble with the different sounds of the letter 'C', and Shawna here used to taunt me by calling me a 'doofus.' Thing is, though, she couldn't quite get the hang of the 'S' sounds, so it always came out 'doofa'."

"So, when she calls you 'Dufa," what she is really doing is calling you a doofus?" Charlotte chortled.

"No... not now, anyway," Shawna interjected. "You see, Martin was the only family I had left. All my other brothers and sisters were killed, raped, and/or sold into slavery by the Arabs in the north of Sudan. My parents were crucified for being Christians who would not convert to Islam."

"Yes," Charlotte sighed sadly, "I can see why Martin hates Arabs so much. As much as I've tried to get him away from that kind of hatred, it never quite works. Of course, with this war going on now, I don't even try anymore. I have a cousin who hates Muslims worse than Martin does."

"You mean Maria?" Martin inquires.

"Yep. That's the one. Of course, she's now actively killing them whenever they cross her path," Charlotte tells them.

"I know there's a war on, "Shawna says, "but isn't it still illegal to kill people in this country for their religious beliefs?"

The question makes both Charlotte and Martin nearly convulse with laughter. As Shawna looks at the two with utter confusion, Charlotte gets control of herself and realizes that Shawna just met her not more than an hour ago. "I'm sorry, Shawna," Charlotte apologetically answers. "Maria is a Navy fighter pilot. It's her job to kill Muslims, as long as they're our enemies. She doesn't kill Muslim Turks, though, as Turkey is our ally."

"Oh, that's a relief," Shawna grins, "I thought I had said something incredibly stupid."

As the sun begins to set, the party breaks up. "Well, Charlotte, it was great to meet you and my nephews James, Edward, and Richard. I'm going to return to my hotel and get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow. Good night!" Shawna says as they all depart for the evening.

On the way home, Martin and Charlotte speak briefly about the evening and look backward to see their three sons fast asleep in their car seats. "Your sister is a very charming, bright, intelligent and beautiful young woman. Why hasn't she married?" Charlotte inquires.

"Shawna will never marry, I'm afraid. What she didn't tell you was that she was raped by Arab gunmen when our family was destroyed," Martin tells her.

"How horrible!" Charlotte gasps.

"Yes, it was. I believe it was worse for me, though, as I was forced to watch and couldn't do anything," Martin moans.

"Now I get it," she admits, "Why you can't see an Arab without wanting to emasculate and then crucify him."

"I'm getting better about that, Char."

"Better about trying to act on it, Marty. Not about wanting to do it."

"Not sure I'll ever get to the point where I won't want to do it, Char."

"Well, you and Maria agree on that, I know."

Meanwhile, as Shawna walks back to the hotel, the two SPs that were in the restaurant follow her. Several minutes later, two Omaha police officers and a man in a dark blue suit step in front of her. "Dr. Obwekur?" the man in the suit asks.

"Yes?" Shawna replies tremulously.

"I'm Agent Barsome, National Security Agency. These two men are special operatives currently attached to the Omaha Police Department," the man tells her.

"Did I do something wrong?" she interrogates.

"No, but you may not want to return to your hotel room. In fact, you may want to change hotels," he answers.

"Why?"

"A cleaning maid was found dead in your suite this afternoon. Indications are that she was poisoned."

"Oh, that's terrible! Poisoned?"

"Yes. The local police think she overdosed on some kind of drug, but we've been monitoring you since you left Springfield. Islamic Imperial Intelligence is trying to eliminate you."

"What would they want with me?"

"I don't think we should discuss this any further outside. If you will come with us..."

With that, Shawna Obwekur is whisked away to another hotel further into the city of Omaha. While there, she is told that there is an operative inside the research facility who may be selling secrets to the enemies of the United States. For her own safety, she is advised to not return to Springfield after her vacation, but to report directly to Minot AFB in North Dakota.

[1] MSGT- Master Sergeant

[2] MOS- Military Occupational Specialty (usually used in the US Army and US Marine Corps)

[3] SP(s)- Security Police (USAF)