Bayan Khatib | Blog | Iraq: The Untold Tales

Iraq: The Untold Tales

Excerpts

From: Rana's Birthday:
Danya closed her eyes. She heard a faint sound in the distance, like the sound of vehicles on low gear. She sprung from the couch and pressed her face against the window. Rana followed. Danya squinted, but could only see spotting of dim light from the gas lamps behind the neighbors’ windows.
“They’re probably still on the main road,” Rana said. “I’m telling Baba.”
Rana rushed up to Baba and Mama’s room. Danya darted after her.
“Baba, Baba, I think there’s going to be a raid in our neighborhood.”

From: A New Line of Work
Kareema rushed out and locked the door. She sprinted down the street towards the bakery. It wasn’t long before her legs ached and her lungs burned. When the road turned uphill, Kareema leaned on her thighs for a moment, then trudged on. A muscle in her shin cramped. Kareema looked up hoping to see her son standing at the street corner among his friends when her eyes fell upon the old silver and blue bicycle, abandoned on the side of the street. Kareema froze. She couldn’t breathe. No…no…no…

Kareema shuffled to the bicycle, lifted it up, swung one leg over the seat and peddled. She knew she was making a scene of herself, a middle aged woman on a bicycle in Baghdad. Her long skirt snagged the peddle. She yanked it up, tearing the hem.

“Whether Bayan Khatib seats us at the kitchen table stuffing grape leaves with teasing teenagers, or takes us on a heart stopping ride on a rickety bike with a middle-aged mother, we’re fully there.”
-Karen Graham, author of Will I Have Hair for Grad?

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Introduction