Chapter 5
Lexie felt like a terrible human being. Here she was, hiding for her life, and she was enjoying being plastered up against Midas. If someone had told her high school self that she’d one day be in the position she was in right now, she would’ve laughed in their face.
But she couldn’t deny that she wasn’t hating the feel of his hard body under hers.
Was amused that he’d smelled her hair. And loved the tender feel of his hand running over her head, smoothing her crazy curls away from her face.
It helped that their hiding space wasn’t pitch dark.
Astur had left the light on in the small back room of the shop, and the rays of light peeking through the cracks in the floor was just enough so Lexie didn’t feel as if she was buried alive.
She was still scared out of her mind and didn’t feel all that great. She was hungry and thirsty, but she didn’t want to risk moving from their hiding spot. The men weren’t trying to find her to give her a goodbye party. They sounded pissed that she’d escaped.
Kicking herself for not asking Midas or any of this teammates how many people they’d killed at the desert camp, she realized now that there had to be at least one person who’d escaped. Who’d seen what happened and had spread the word.
She, more than most people, knew what the ransom money meant for the kidnappers. She didn’t agree with the way they were trying to get money to survive, but on one level, she understood it. Desperate people would do desperate things, especially if they had a family.
And she’d met some very desperate people in her years working for Food For All.
Particularly here in Somalia. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was a real thing.
Most people didn’t think much about their basic needs, because they were easily met.
But Lexie had known more than her share of people over the years who weren’t getting those basic needs met.
Food, water, shelter, sleep, clothing. Beyond those, everything else was secondary.
“Lex?” Midas prompted.
She realized with a start that he’d asked her a question.
“Sorry. I met Astur when I first got here about six months ago. Food For All provides its workers with housing, but all the rooms in their main building were taken, so I was given a small house about two blocks away. I was kind of glad. I like living among the locals. Anyway, about a week after I’d arrived, I’d just left the food pantry when Astur walked up with her three kids.
Hodan, her daughter, is around five; Cumar, her middle son, is nine; and Shermake, her oldest son, is sixteen.
They were in pretty bad shape. They were dirty, their clothes were torn, and Hodan was the only one who had shoes on.
Astur didn’t speak much English, but I understood that she was looking for food for her kids. ”
Lexie hated remembering this, but she knew Astur and her family were among many who were hungry and homeless in the world.
“I turned back around to go get them some food, but my supervisor at the time was closing up the building and told me no, that we were closed and it was against regulations to give away any food or clothing after hours. That pissed me off. I mean, Food For All’s entire mission is to provide food for freaking all.
I had heard bad things about the supervisor before I’d arrived in the country, but dismissed the talk as gossip.
“Anyway, Astur was upset, but she took Hodan and Cumar by the hands and walked away. And while I wasn’t happy, I didn’t want to piss off my boss in my first week, so I didn’t say anything.
I walked home and when I got to my street, I saw Astur and her kids again.
They had settled under an awning of a business across from my small house. So… I invited them in.”
“Damn, Lex,” Midas said with a shake of his head.
“I know, I know…but you should’ve seen them, Midas.
They needed someone to give a shit about them.
And at that moment, I was the only one around.
So I convinced them to come inside, and I made a simple and quick meal for everyone.
When I started rearranging the furniture, pushing it back so I could make a pallet on the floor, Astur began crying.
It took everything I had to convince her to stay, and they spent the night in my living room.
In the morning, they had a small breakfast, then they left.
But that night, I saw them on the street again, and invited them in a second time.
“This happened every day for about a month. Shermake, the oldest boy, was the most proficient in English, and we practiced every night. They were all very quiet and respectful, and every morning they’d head off to wherever they went to spend the day.
I started to enjoy the company, so I was happy when they were waiting near my place when I got home from work. ”
“You were giving them free food and a place to stay, why wouldn’t they keep coming back?” Midas said dryly.
“But they were giving me just as much,” Lexie insisted.
“I was in a new country, trying to figure out all the customs and stuff, and Shermake was a great help. Astur took me to a farmers market one weekend, and it was fascinating to see the interaction between her and the vendors. She was as fierce a negotiator as I’ve ever seen.
And yes, I was paying for the food, but if she was truly just mooching off me, she wouldn’t have cared about getting the best deal. ”
“It looks like she got herself figured out, since she’s working here in this store,” Midas noted.
“Shermake told me that their father had gone to Ethiopia to earn money for the family. He’d been gone longer than they’d planned, and Astur ran out of money.
She lost their small hut and had no choice but to live on the streets with her kids.
Yuusuf eventually came back and had been very lucky.
He’d earned enough money to rent them another place, and Astur decided she wanted to help earn money for their family so they never had to be homeless again. ”
Midas didn’t say anything, and Lexie tilted her head back, trying to see his expression. She didn’t have enough room to maneuver any farther, but she could see the outline of his face. His jaw was tight, and she thought she even saw a muscle ticking there.
“What?” she whispered.
He dipped his chin and turned his head a bit, and their gazes met. “You’ve always been concerned about others,” he said.
Lexie shrugged. She used to feel embarrassed about wanting to take care of other people, but after making it her career, she’d ceased to care what others thought. “So many others have it worse than I ever did. It feels good to help.”
There was a moment of silence before Midas asked, “You had it bad?”
Lexie didn’t respond, not sure what to say. She didn’t want this man to pity her. She was fine. She’d survived and was satisfied with where she was in her life.
“When I joined the Navy, I was so na?ve,” Midas said.
“I grew up with loving parents and two great siblings. Karen was a pain in my ass, but I would’ve killed anyone who tried to hurt her.
I guess that’s what older brothers do for their little sisters.
Max was always trying to be like me. He even joined the swim team, and the little shit broke one of my records. ”
Lexie smiled. She didn’t know a lot about Midas, they weren’t really friends in high school, so she drank in each and every bit of information she discovered about him.
“My parents were happy, treated us kids like we were the most important things in their lives, and we always had awesome Christmases with a ton of presents. When I asked for all the trendy clothes, they usually bought them for me. I had lots of friends and didn’t really have to work all that hard in school for good grades.
I was spoiled, I can admit that now, though my folks did a good job of trying to make sure we appreciated what we had.
But when I joined the Navy…all of a sudden, I was nothing.
Just another grunt who’d been a big fish in a small pond in his hometown, and then I was this tiny little minnow in a huge ocean. It was definitely a shock.”
“I’m sure you didn’t stay a small fish for long,” Lexie commented.
He chuckled softly, and she felt the rumble in his chest against her own since they were pressed together. If she’d been in this hole in the floor with anyone else, Lexie would’ve been extremely uncomfortable. But something about Midas made her relax.
“I learned really fast that it didn’t matter where we all came from. If we were going to make it through boot camp, and then SEAL training, we all had to work together.”
“Embrace the suck,” Lexie said with a smile.
“Exactly. Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of shit. People acting like assholes toward each other. Disrespecting their children, their wives, their neighbors. Fighting over something they probably didn’t even understand. Have you seen the movie World War Z?”
Lexie blinked at the change in topic.
“I have a point,” Midas said.
“That’s the movie with Brad Pitt and the zombies, right?” she asked.
Midas nodded. “Yeah. Anyway, there’s a part when they’re running from the zombies in Jerusalem, and Pitt’s character looks back and sees a boy in the mayhem, crouched down in the middle of the street with his hands over his head.
All the zombies go around him without even looking twice at the boy, even though they’re biting everyone else. You’re kind of like that kid.”
Lexie scrunched her nose and frowned. “In what way?”
“Everyone else around you is fighting and clawing for something. Food. Power. Money. And then there’s you. A calm light in the darkness. Giving out smiles and food. Making friends in the most hostile territory. It’s like the dark can’t touch you.”
“Um, I think you’re forgetting that I was kidnapped and taken hostage,” Lexie said dryly.