The Intern Affair (73 page)

“We were always glad to get a ride home—as short a ride as it was, we enjoyed it.

“After dropping Leha off at home, M
r.
Deschamps drove in the direction of the pool, which was part of a Russian gymnasium complex, and which served as our ‘swimming training camp.’  He didn’t turn into the complex drive, he continued on until we reached a house some ways down the road.

“As we were turning into the driveway, I asked him why we didn’t stop at the pool,

“He said that he forgot to close the door of his friend’s house that morning. He said the man was on holidays and he had the run of the place while he was away. While his speech had remained casual, his manner had changed.

“He opened the car door for me and told me to go into the house and that he would get me a juice while he checked the gates at the back.

“The lure of a juice got me out of the car and into the house. Yet, when he locked the front door on us, I began to worry.  I didn’t like locked doors—even then.

“He then asked me to sit down in the living room and said that he would bring me an orange juice right away. I went to sit in the corner of a beautiful cream-colored sofa.  The entire house was decorated with fine furniture and intriguing ornaments.

“He re-appeared moments later with two glasses of orange juice, which he deposited on the coffee table in front of the sofa.  He sat down beside me and then did the first thing that I had not expected. He put his arm around my shoulders and drew me close to him.  I was not only surprised but I suddenly became afraid of him.  I stood up to leave but I wasn’t quick enough.  He grabbed me and pulled me down to sit beside him once again. 

“He then caressed my hair with one hand, looked at me strangely, and held me down with the other.  He was strong and I didn’t know how to escape from his clutching hands.

“I remember screaming to leave me alone.  I wanted to go home . . .

“The next thing I knew, he unclasped his belt from around his waist and tied my wrists with it. He stretched me on the sofa and quickly took his shorts off while practically sitting on my legs.  He lifted my dress, ripped off my panties and went inside me while I screamed from the unknown pain.

“He was raping me and was enjoying my crying and my fighting to get out from under him.  When he ejaculated inside me, I was horrified. Instantly I felt dirty and repulsive.  He then released the grip from my wrists while letting his body fall over me to hold me down.  With all the strength I could muster, I pushed him onto the floor beside the sofa, and while I was freeing my hands, I tried to run out, but he caught me before I could reach the door.

“
‘
You’re not going anywhere
,
’
he yelled and then grabbed me by the waist and carried me to the bathroom. There he undressed me and dropped me into a tub of lukewarm water where he washed me. I was yelling at him to stop, but every time I opened my mouth to let out another shriek, he pushed my head under the water; he wanted me to drown.

“When he was done, he took me out of the tub and gave me a towel to dry myself off. By this time, I was numb and mute—I was so scared.

“Then he told me to say that I went to the pool with him, like any other times, and if I said otherwise to anyone, he’d make sure I got expelled.

“I knew he would have made his menaces a reality if I dared tell anyone about the rape. Besides, I couldn’t see how I was going to tell my father or my mother that an instructor abused me. No one would have believed me anyway. Since I had no choice, or so it seemed to me at the time, I accepted the bargain and came out of the house without fighting. He knew he won a battle on that day, and I knew that he wouldn’t stop at the one incident and that it would be a repeat performance.

“As we were driving back—it was actually too early for me to go home (swimming practices usually lasted until five or six at night) M
r.
Deschamps decided that he wanted some fish for dinner that evening.  So we turned around and drove to Dubreka instead.”

At that point of Talya’s recollection, she came out of her trance-like state and looked at Samir.  His eyes were looking into hers.

“Princess, you can’t do this.  It’s wrong
.
I can’t let you continue.” He stood up.

“No, Samir. I don’t want to stop now.” Talya got to her feet. “My story doesn’t end there, and I can’t keep it buried anymore. As you’ve said, peace will come to me on the day I open the doors to my memories, and the rest of the story has to be told in front of the wall where the real nightmare began. We have to go to Dubreka!”  Unbending determination lined her every word.

“I beg of you. Stop right now and we’ll go back.”

“Back to where, Samir? We can’t. I have nowhere to go if I don’t tell you the rest.”

He took her in his arms and held her, trying to calm her down, but he couldn’t anymore, and he wouldn’t be able to do so until the entire truth had been told.

“I’ll get Khumar to bring the car over by the other gate,” Samir said reluctantly. “We can walk to it from here.” He took her hand to lead her out of the classroom. 

Khumar, who had been waiting for them on the school veranda, ran across the red field to get the car as soon as Samir told him what they intended to do.

The
village
of
Dubreka
extends downhill to the ocean near a fishing cove of the same name.  They stopped the car at the bottom of the hill at the entrance of a small path that Talya knew would lead to the ‘wall of her desolation’. Holding her hand, Samir led the way down to the beach where her youth ended and horrible memories took its place.

Talya stood facing the old wall passing her hand over the wet stones.
Then she saw the manacles holding both her wrists in place above her head and she began reliving the horror of that evening.

“We arrived here at sunset. We drove down the hill, same as we did today. M
r.
Deschamps went into the village in search of the fishmonger.  Apparently, he always kept a couple of fish aside from the morning catch for him to pick-up on his way home.

“I sat in the car for a while and that until two men opened the passenger’s door, grabbed me and dragged me to this wall. One put a dirty rag in my mouth while the other put manacles around my wrists and hooked them to the stones behind me.

“I remember the feeling of terror that ran through my body on that night. I saw the horizon in flames with the setting sun blinding my eyes. The two men were young and black as ebony. Their eyes were peering down at me with vicious, salacious hunger, and their smiles were that of the devil sneering at my helplessness.

“I had never known true fear until that moment when they proceeded to tear the front of my dress, fondle my breast and violate me
repeatedly;
taking turns at ripping my insides with unbearable violence.

“I was bleeding by this time but that didn’t stop them.  One of them then grabbed a stick and began to hit me across the abdomen.  A minute or two later, suddenly they ran away as I passed out in the arms of M
r.
Deschamps.

“He had followed the track as soon as he had seen that the car door had been left wide open and that I was gone.

“I woke up at my father’s clinic. He was talking to M
r.
Deschamps and I remember my father thanking him for bringing his daughter back and out of this ordeal. Three weeks later, we were at the Hotel de France waiting for repatriation and holidays. I only came back for the next term in January of the following year, spending most of my vacation at my great aunt’s place in the
Ardennes
.  M
r.
Deschamps asked for a transfer soon after the incident and I never saw him again.”

Talya was sitting on the ground, her back against the wall when she finished recounting what had happened to her all these years ago.  Samir was squatting in front of her when she lifted her head and saw him.

“Princess, come with me.  We are going back to the hotel and I’ll stay with you tonight
—
”

Talya didn’t hear what Samir said, but got to her feet, pushed him aside and ran down the beach to the ocean. She walked into the water, took off her veil, pulled off the abayah and plunged under the waves.  It felt so warm, cleansing and soothing that she wanted to swim and swim for as long and for as far as her breath would take her.  Talya was still a strong swimmer. M
r.
Deschamps’ training had never been lost on her.

Suddenly Talya felt an arm beside her body and a hand grabbing the belt around her waist. She stopped, shook her hair out of her face and looked into Samir’s eyes. He was holding her firmly. “Where do you want us to go from here?” He caught his breath. “Do you want to swim until we’re both dead or do you want to come back to
Paris
with me where
Jasmin
is waiting for us?”

“Oh Samir!” Talya yelled,
putting her arms around his neck, almost drowning him in the process.  “I am so sorry,” she said, crying
and laughing all at once. She was free!

They swam together for a while, going farther from the cove and returning only when the sun was setting over the horizon. Khumar was waiting for them with blankets under his arms. The man looked utterly embarrassed. He didn’t know how to handle this sort of situation.  For him, killing must have been easy but this must have been one of the hardest
assignments
of his career.

I bet our escapade on that day wouldn’t go unrecorded
.

“
Your Highness
, Lady Sarah!  Are you all right?” Khumar asked when he had found his voice again. “We had saved some clothes in the car for the both of you just in case we needed to make a quick get away, but I never thought we would need to use them for something like this.”

“It’s quite alright, Khumar. Lady Sarah and I have been avid swimmers since we were in school and sometimes the ocean is irresistible,” Samir said, while wrapping a blanket around Talya, and throwing the other over his shoulders.

“Quite,
Your Highness
,” Khumar said still astonished.

They walked back to the car and to the awaiting chauffeur. Khumar must have told him what had happened when he got the blankets out of the booth because he looked positively distressed.  He never had to deal with such a frivolous couple before tonight, Talya was sure of it, when she saw his face.

As they reach the door of the car, Jimmy, the chauffeur said to the two of them, “If you wish your ladyship you can change in the car first if
Your Highness
doesn’t m
ind waiting for a few minutes.”
He was an older fellow with grey hair and a portly stature. His skin had the smoothness of natural tan and his smile was one that ladies would kill for. He was as handsome as they come.

“Yes thank you, that will be fine,” Talya said, while Khumar closed the door on her. 

It didn’t take her but a minute to put her wet clothes in a pile between the seats and to slip into a pair of black pants, thawb and abayah that had been left on the seat for her. The only problem was her cast. Although it was made of strong plastic, the lining, made of spongy material, was wet. She didn’t know what to do. Hesitating for a minute, she moved her hand and fingers, and since she couldn’t feel any pain, only a slight numbness, she decided to leave the cast aside until she reached the hotel. She quickly wrapped the veil around her head, and came out of the car only to see Samir crouching beside a small boy who had been daring enough to come near the limo. Talya went to squat beside Samir and smiled at the little man. He was sucking his thumb. In a rush, he put his arms around Talya’s neck. She lifted him into her arms, carried him to sit on the hood of the limo, where he immediately touched the little colourful flags eagerly. Samir retreated quietly inside the car.

Talya had no idea if he would understand what she wanted to say, but she did anyway.  “You know, young man; you’re not going to have a thumb left when you grow up if you keep sucking on it.”  He smiled in reply, quickly jumped off his perch and ran into his mother’s legs.  She had been watching the scene from a distance, her gaze not leaving her son for one moment. Talya smiled at her. Khumar went to say a few words to her. She looked at Talya fixedly all the while he was talking. After a moment, she smiled back, bowed her head and left, carrying the little man in her arms. Talya envied her.

When Samir was ready, Jimmy opened the car door and Talya climbed in beside him.  Khumar went to sit up front with Jimmy, and closed the separating window without a word.  He was a perceptive young man. 

Once the car was on the road, Samir took Talya in his arms. Happiness had reached her heart.

“Princess, will you do me a favour?”

“Yes, if I can, Samir.”

“Don’t tell
Christian
about this!” 

“Why not?  He’d love to hear about your swimming feat.” She giggled nervously.

“Lady Sarah! You’re impossible
! 
If I hear you’ve told anyone about this
…
”