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The bastard survived bobbitization and castration. Sometimes people just don't know when to quit. But he wasn't going to get a reward for living. The next day Kamal and Ahmed came to me bearing news of Uday's survival.
"Ok, he's under arrest I hope?" I asked them matter-of-factly.
They looked at each other which instantly irritated me.
"What is it?" I spat out venomously.
"Sir, he hasn't been arrested yet," Kamal replied in a diplomatic tone of voice.
"Why the fuck not?"
"The Police Chief wasn't sure what to do as…Uday is Your Excellency's son," replied Ahmed.
I hissed, "Don't you dare call that beast my son again!"
Ahmed bowed his head, "Forgive me Your Excellency."
"Bring that bastard Police Chief to meet me."
Ahmed nodded and made to get to work.
"Wait," I said raising my hand to halt him, "while you're at it, bring the Chief Prosecutor as well. I want to meet them together."
"Yes Your Excellency," said Ahmed nodding and departed with Kamal just behind him.
(break)
The Police Chief of Baghdad was a portly, short man while the Chief Prosecutor was a tall, gaunt man. They both sat in front of me sweating bullets, and it wasn't because of the Iraqi summer.
"Why haven't you arrested the Beast?" I asked perfunctorily.
"Y..your Excellency?" stuttered the Police Chief.
"Uday man Uday. Why has he not been arrested? He raped and brutalised a woman. There were a dozen witnesses including myself."
The Police Chief looked helplessly at the Prosecutor and then back at me, "Your Excellency…but he is your son."
I hissed in anger, "Say that again and I'll cut your tongue out. He's no son of mine. He's a demon made flesh."
Both the men looked petrified at my sudden anger and threat. Sometimes it feels good to see the fear that people have for my body suit. Sick, I know.
"Y…your Excellency…I…."
I held up a hand to silence the gormless policeman. If he was heading the police for my capital city then I was in deeper shit than I realized. I would have to shake up the police force throughout the country. I mentally sighed. So many things to do, so little time. And what little time I had was being taken up by rapist sadists.
"You will arrest the demon, charge him for his crimes. You will conduct the investigation thoroughly and professionally."
The Police Chief nodded hurriedly.
I eyed him evilly, "I hope you are up to the task. Because I won't be pleased by apathy or incompetence."
I could have sworn the man gulped visibly. He kept nodding and I thought maybe his head would fall off.
I moved my attention to the Prosecutor who shifted uncomfortably under my gaze.
"Mr. Prosecutor, once your comrade here has levelled the charges, I expect you and your subordinates to assist the police in making the case watertight."
He nodded in a more measured manner, "Of course Your Excellency."
I continued to stare him down, "You will press for capital punishment."
Now they both looked shocked all over again.
"Y…your Excellency?" asked the stunned Prosecutor.
"The Iraqi people need to know that the State will not tolerate violence and sadism no matter the origins of the perpetrator," I replied firmly.
To his credit, the Prosector overcame his shock quite rapidly and showed his assent to my demand.
I now considered both of them and wagging my finger I said, "This case will attract a lot of media attention especially from abroad. There can be no fuck ups. You understand me?"
They both looked terrified.
"Sir," said the Prosecutor hesitatingly, "we will of course strive to fulfil Your Excellency's expectations of us. But for the sake of my family I would be brave enough to ask that there will be no blowback from Your Excellency's family over our actions."
He looked petrified as he waited for the expected backlash. I sighed mentally. This was of course the downside of being Saddam. People would doubt my intentions for the rest of my life. It was something that bothered me in the quiet of the night – even I achieved my dream of a wealthy, welfare state would I be welcome in such a nation?
But for now it was time to act the part. So, I quirked my eyebrows dangerously and asked the Prosecutor in a low voice, "I cut off the demon's balls myself. Do you really think I would let any other family member stop this from happening?"
He shook his head in a manner that suggested that his bowels were about to be vacated. I mentally sighed again. I'd have to reform the judiciary as well. Imagine a police chief and prosecutor who were so terrified of the head of state that they just went along with whatever he wanted.
I shooed them away to go do their job and settled into the mounds of paperwork that had piled up.
(break)
Sajda Talfah. Wife of Saddam. Still black-haired and caked in make up. I could hear the harpy screeching outside my office, demanding to be let in. A massive headache but one that I should have expected. Interestingly, my danger sense had increased marginally. She must have been livid and I could guess about what. The rapist fucker, her son, Uday.
Ahmed opened my office door a crack and slipped in. He looked flustered, something I had never thought I would see in my usually unflappable head of secret police.
I quirked an eyebrow inviting him to speak.
"Excuse me sir…it's your wife…Madam Talfah is…demanding to see you."
"Yes I can hear that," I replied drily.
He waited for my response, probably on tenterhooks. I sighed and sat back in my chair.
"Okay, send her in Ahmed but stay right outside the door. I might need you to help restrain the lady. She's clearly overwrought."
"Of course sir," Ahmed said sounding inordinately relieved and then opened the door and invited the harpy in. She didn't spare him a second glance as she rushed past him. Her usually coiffed hair was askew and the makeup was runny. I've never liked makeup, there's something off-putting about the smell.
"How could you! To our own son! You monster!" she screamed when she had finished storming up to my large desk.
I stayed silent and kept my face calm, staring her down. She continued to rant, "You've unmanned him. He's your son, just a child! Over what, some spoiled Baghdad hussy?"
"Our son!" she continued half-screaming, half-sobbing.
"I have only one son. His name is Qusay and as far as I know he's alright," I replied in as infuriating a tone as I could muster. That fucking shrew. Birthed a fucking monster, skimmed past his atrocities, babied and coddled him and she had the temerity to yell at me.
She screamed something inarticulate. I heard snatches of words "son"… "brutalised" … "devil."
"I can't wait to see him hang after his trial is done. I want to hear that demon's neck snap," I said viciously cutting her off mid-rant. And then all of a sudden she went deathly quiet and still. My danger sense spiked and I watched in slow-motion as she reached insider her bizarre business coat and withdrew a tiny pistol. My eyes must have been in the process of widening when the little gun went off with a loud 'pop' and I fell off my chair.
Being shot absolutely fucking sucks. My left shoulder felt like it was being gouged out with a red-hot iron. It was the worst pain I had felt in either life. There was not retreat offered by Saddam's subconscious as I still owned the body's pain receptors. I writhed and groaned. I could vaguely hear a commotion in the background but my ears were buzzing with a tinny noise and I could 'hear' my pain.
I was aware of being lifted bodily by several arms and carried through the Presidential Palace before being deposited into a van. People milled around in the van, hovering in and out of my line of sight while my entire focus was on the pain in the shoulder. The van bounced now and again and the pain lanced through my body afresh. I vaguely made a note to fix the fucking roads of Baghdad.
Then we were entering a solid looking building. There was a lot of yelling as people were cleared out of the way. I was taking to what I assumed was the emergency surgery room and plied with a gas mask through which I felt my breathing ease. Needles were stuck into my arm and before I knew it there was blackness.
I woke up groggy and in an unfamiliar room. It was vaguely white, though the walls were shabby. There was also green paint in places. I was lying on a hard bed, although everything smelled clean and there was fading sunlight entering through a large window out of which I could see downtown Baghdad and the Tigris.
As I got my bearings and realised that I was in the hospital, I looked down at my left shoulder and saw that it was heavily bandaged. My chest was bare and I was wearing just my boxers underneath the sheets covering me.
There were two people by my bedside…Ahmed and Kamal. Kamal was looking at me with concern while Ahmed was standing near the window, his eyes flicking between me and the room's door. His right hand was on the grip of his pistol.
"Your Excellency…thank god!" said Kamal with visible relief as I came around.
I was touched that both of them were there to guard over me. I didn't have any attachment to Saddam's family but I spent most of my waking moments with these two and it was heartening that even when I was incapacitated I was covered. It was something that had always bothered me. If I ever found myself in a weak position would someone see the opportunity to wipe me out? Clearly at least two people would make some effort to prevent that.
"My wife?" I asked in a raspy voice. Kamal immediately poured me a glass of water and helped me sip it gingerly.
"In the Palace's dungeon," replied Ahmed. I nodded.
"Was the operation a success?" I asked Kamal.
He nodded, "Yes Your Excellency. The doctor is actually a distant cousin of mine. He says it was a flesh wound. The bullet did not disintegrate and he was able to extract it with minimum damage to the muscles or flesh."
I lay back, trying to reboot my mind. This was me at my weakest and most vulnerable. If anything was going to happen, now is when my enemies would seize the chance.
"Ahmed," I said softly.
"Yes Your Excellency," came his pat reply as he stepped closer.
"All the Talfahs in the armed forces and police. I want them and their families rounded up and held. Only take your trusted team."
"Yes Your Excellency. What about the other Talfahs?"
"No leave the civilian Talfahs be. Focus on the ones who have access to weapons. And their families."
"What about Adnan Khairallah?" Ahmed asked referring to Sajda's brother who was my Defence Minister."
"Yes," I replied, "he's the most important target. But hold him in an isolated cell."
"Yes Your Excellency." He made to move, but I grabbed his hand.
"Ahmed, this must be done rapidly and with force if needed. Don't dally at all. Curfew is imposed throughout Iraq. Make sure the army takes control of our streets."
"Your Excellency, you have my word," said my head of secret police and then he departed.