No one answered any of my questions, and I wondered if I was alone. Was I delirious? Was I dreaming all this?
My hands went numb first.
Then I could feel pins and needles stinging my ankles and feet. Then shooting pains moving up and down my legs.
My head began to swim and I thought I was going to pass out.
“I have to pee,” I said. “I have to go.”
No answer.
I held it as long as I could, then let go down my legs, over my bare feet. No one reacted. Was anyone there? Was I alone now?
Wall-standing. Some American government officials had said that it was okay to use techniques like this on suspected terrorists.
Was I a terror suspect? What had I done to deserve this? Who was torturing me?
My hands were completely numb and I badly wanted to sleep. I could think of little else and would have given anything just to lie down on the floor. I couldn’t give in, though.
Wall-standing. I can do this.
I thought about stepping away from the wall and what the consequences might be. I held internal debates with myself. They wouldn’t kill me, would they? What would be the point of it?
Finally, I turned my body so that only one hand was on the wall. Did that count? Was it a violation of the rules?
Immediately I was kicked hard behind the knees! I went down hard on the floor. Cold to the touch. A bed—finally!
But I was yanked right back up and thrown hard against the wall. Still, no one spoke. But I assumed the position. Not just my legs were trembling now. Everything was—my entire body was shaking terribly.
Who else was with me in the room?
What did they want from me?
Chapter 149
THEN I WAS talking to Jannie. I was hugging her, and I was so happy that she was all right. “Wher
e’s Ali? Where’s Nana?” I asked in an excited whisper. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
Suddenly I came to and realized that I had been sleeping on my feet. Jannie wasn’t here.
It was only me.
I had the sense that I was in the second day of captivity. Or may be the third day. Suddenly I was startled as someone pulled the cloth hood up around my nose, still keeping my eyes in darkness.
“What?” I muttered. “Who are you?” As I spoke, I realized how dry my lips and mouth were.
I was given water, which splashed from somewhere, maybe a bottle, pouring down my throat and all over my face.
“Don’t be greedy, now,” someone said and snickered. A captor with a cruel sense of humor. “Eat this! Slowly. Don’t make yourself choke.”
I was fed three crackers, one right after the other. I didn’t choke, but I was afraid I was going to throw them up as fast as I’d eaten them.
“Water?” I asked. “More water, please?” My throat was tightening up again.
There was a long pause, but then the bottle was returned to my lips. Once more, I drank greedily.
“Too fast,” someone said. “You’ll cramp up. Don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”