Runaways

Syria. Aleppo. 1948. It was a very odd morning for Edmundo. The 19 year old Jewish Arab that lost his mother and sister in an air raid three years earlier. He had woken up with the sound of a bomb coming from Israel. He could hear the screams of the people in his Jewish village, although the loudest sound came from his father’s mouth.

“Edmundo wake up! Get your stuff. We have to go now. The bombs are getting closer!” He then stood up as fast as he could, got a backpack from the top of his desk, and met his father at the door.

“This is it” his father said. Without any time to think, Edmundo saw his father’s open the door to the outside world. The discordant screams, the flames, the death that had been brought to his surroundings were unavoidable, but that just made him want to run faster. “We have to be very careful, very quiet. There are soldiers all around.” Edmundo’s father said.

It was early in the morning. Probably around 4:00 am. He and his father arrived at the port. They had to get on a Jewish refugee ship, a ship that most jews who could afford, would get on to escape to Milan, Italy. It would definitely take a long time, but they had to flee.

“Alright, here’s how this is gonna work,” his father whispered from behind the bush they were hiding in “At 5:15 am this ship is going to leave port, there are many ways this can go wrong, but whenever I tell you to run, you do it as fast as you can, alright?”

“Yes, sir,” Edmundo answered with respect and a certain amount of fear for his father...

The time had come. Edmundo put the backpack that had rested on the dirt, on his back, and with just a small word the 19 year old boy’s life would change completely.

“Run” his father said.

Edmundo ran. He ran like he never had. He thought of his mother and sister, hoping that his death wouldn’t be the same as theirs. He thought of his father’s depression, but mostly of their future. After 400 meters he had gotten to the door of the ship. They knew most of the jews that were fleeing by the ship, but many of the people in their village couldn’t afford paying for their escape. His father was very known in the Jewish community, and it was definitely to their advantage. Their family had money and used to help poorer families and orphans that had lost their parents in bombings and raids. They had even helped a few people to get on that ship with their families. After a few seconds of adrenaline, Edmundo realized his father hadn’t arrived with him. He turned around to look for him, but it was too dark to see. Suddenly he saw lights in the distance, four precisely. He realized they were flashlights when he saw the men. He couldn't believe it. His father had been kidnapped by Syrian soldiers.

After the news had arrived to the captain, the refugees had reached an almost unanimous decision. The ship would wait in port until Edmundo’s father was rescued. Everyone slept on deck. After the soldiers realized who the man they’d captured was and what he was worth, they sent a request for his ransom. It took Edmundo two weeks to gather all of the money. He borrowed some from friends, and even went back to the house to get some more from the buried safe in the basement. Finally, he had gathered 25 million Syrian pounds (equal to almost 50 thousand U$D).

“There’s your father! He’s here!” a young Jewish boy sitting by the deck screamed, waking up Emundo and the others.

“It really is him,” Edmundo thought to himself, running outside to rescue his father. He had the money in a bag, a gun in his pocket in case something went wrong, and had told the captain to turn on the engines, so that they’d leave as soon as they got his father back.

He could spot his father, being held by two men, one on each side, they were about 50 meters away from Edmundo. He noticed a car behind the men as he walked closer to them and figured the other two must’ve been in the car…

“Tawaquf! Tawaquf!” yelled one of the men holding his father.

Edmundo right away noticed the soldier had a dialect that was different, but could still understand that he was being asked to stop.

All of a sudden a knife was pulled out of the soldier’s back pocket.

“Stop! I have the money. Let’s make the exchange… Please, don’t do anything aggressive!” screamed the 19 year old, already in great stress. In the blink of an eye, Edmundo could see around thirty more soldiers coming out of bushes and from behind the car. It was an ambush. He grabbed his gun that was attached to the back part of his pants, and pointed it straight ahead.

“Drop the gun!” screamed the soldier on the right to his father, “You lost. This isn’t going anywhere! Drop the gun and get on your knees!”

Edmundo was in state of shock. He couldn’t move, but he knew he’d do anything to save his father.

“Take me!” he screamed with fear.

“No, no! Don’t do this! Leave me here, go back to the ship! Leave! Now!” His father screamed, knowing that he would get punished for communicating with his son.

“Shut up! No talking!” The soldier on the left pulled out a gun and hit him in the face with it twice.

Edmundo’s father realized the only way his son could leave that situation safely was if he, himself, was sacrificed. In a matter of seconds Edmundo’s father kicked the man on his right, grabbed the gun out of the other soldier’s hand and pointed it at his own head.

“No!” screamed Edmundo from a distance.

A shot was fired.