Lovely

By Mira Martin-Parker

[Click. She finds a station and heads over to the kitchen sink.]

Good morning, everyone, it’s time for the war and peace report…This has been the worst week so far… The worst month so far…an explosion, a beheading…a female detainee sodomized…they photographed it…he knew the commands must have come from way up the chain…but he couldn’t investigate…

[She begins washing dishes and thinking: I wonder if I should invite the new neighbors over for dinner. I could make homemade pizza.]

This happens everyday, they are stopped and randomly searched—whatever you do, don’t turn around. They will shoot you in the back. They do this as a trick. So I walked away slowly. I did not turn around. I watched them the whole time and then they let me go…

[If I prepare the crust myself, I can use organic ingredients and I can grab up some cheeses from that wonderful collective over in Marin. But I wonder if we’ll find anything to talk about?]

They found his body floating in a river, several others were found in the streets of the city…75 killed in a blast…women and children…The Military Commissions Act…Cofer Black…The gloves come off…

[Of course there’s always the usual stuff—the housing market, the election, the war…]

Afghanistan is a spectacle of criminality, a fragmented, feudal economy, based on drugs, armed warlords, and organized crime networks.

[Maybe I’ll go over to the farmer’s market today. They have the best vegetables, and those great tamales and smoked local salmon. Yes, I’ll definitely grab some salmon.]

They grow Opium poppies, and hashish in the off-season. Just drive around for a while, you’ll see it. Every hillside is covered with either bright red flowers or huge marijuana plants…

[And the greens, I shouldn’t forget to pick up some greens. There are so many different varieties to choose from—wild arugula, chard, baby spinach—or maybe should I just order something so I don’t have to cook. I don’t have much time these days, and the baby…]

They produce 92% of the world’s heroin. It’s moved through Iran by armed caravan. From there it travels through Russia then down into Europe.

[Of course, I could always make a nice salad and order the pizza from someplace in the neighborhood. Arizmendi does such a wonderful crust—sourdough, olive oil, no sauce. And the new neighbors really are a nice couple. But I wonder what, if anything, we’ll find to talk about?]

They don’t classify as them as civilians, they call them enemy combatants… An air strike…seven children in a schoolyard….Reverse engineering…Jointness…Black sites…Morgan Banks…Bruce Jessen…

[Perhaps I should make my famous balsamic vinaigrette?]

Most of the profit is captured outside of Afghanistan…It was just a steppingstone to Iraq…

[I suppose if we can’t think of anything to say, I can always take out the pictures from our recent trip. I can buy a bottle of Tuscan from the wine shop in the Ferry Building and we can chat about Italy. I can tell them about that Middle Eastern rug shop we visited in Venice, the Swiss dealer on the Via Marzo who tried to sell us that ancient Caucasian runner for €24,000, and we left the store laughing and had coffee at Florian’s. Yes, let’s talk about that.]

And here comes the famous General Taguba…So, do these acts really constitute?…Do you think?…Well they had him handcuffed on a wet floor… and they were sticking things in his….Yes, it most definitely constitutes…

[We were fools not to have bought the damn thing, though. It was a spectacular piece, probably from the nineteenth century and worth double what he was asking. It would have been perfect in the entry, next to the mahogany secretary.]

I was with General Abizaid in the backseat of his Mercedes sedan…He issued a quiet warning…You and your report will be investigated…

[It would have been stunning to see the natural dyes when you first come in the door.]

I’d been in the army thirty-two years by then, and it was the first time I thought I was in the mafia.

[Yes, we definitely should have bought that rug. It was so lovely. I’ll be sure to mention it tonight when the new neighbors are over. Click.]

 

 

 

 

Mira Martin-Parker earned an MFA in creative writing at San Francisco State University. Her work has appeared in various publications, including the Istanbul Literary Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Mythium, and Zyzzyva. Her collection of short stories, The Carpet Merchant’s Daughter, won the 2013 Five [Quarterly] e-chapbook competition.