Friday Fantasy - Part 9, Egyptian Escapade

We left fairly quickly without looking back. Basim opened the back of his van and dug up some pants and a shirt for the young explorer. Fortunately, he had a strip of cloth that could be used as a belt to hold the pants up. Basim was a much bigger boy than Mr. Butterfly. The young explorer told us how Akbar tied up Roble, drugged him with opium and raped him. He had tried to stop it, but was physically restrained as well. He was to be raped the next day. I felt faint hearing about it; it was just so horrid to contemplate. I hugged the young explorer again. But we were in a hurry. We all piled into the van and drove off to a nearby hostelry and took some rooms. Basim telephoned the local police immediately and told them how we were ransomed and the amount and how our friend was abducted, raped, seriously injured and still being held captive. Consensual homosexual sex was illegal, but forcing it on someone was really illegal and would garner a very severe punishment, maybe even death. Roble’s injuries would prove force. The police said that they would check it out. Basim’s name didn’t have any pull here, since he was a cop in Cairo. So, we would have to wait and see when the police raided the harem. Our hostel was close enough to hear a raid though.

Meanwhile, the young explorer had begun to shake from hunger and post-traumatic stress, so Basim went out to buy some food and cotton robes or galabias. He was back in no time and Mr. Butterfly put on his new robe and ate some kabobs in a pita and felt better. Then he was sleepy. I sat watching over him and stroking his back. Eventually he fell asleep, muttering about Roble an how he had tried to save him. When he was truly asleep, I walked out to Basim who was pacing.

“I wonder how long my police colleagues will take before they get their collective asses over to the harem.”

“Patience Basim. How long has it been since you called?”

“Forty-five minutes.”

“Okay, but they have to round up a force right?”

Then, we could hear sirens in the distance and the police raid was on.

“I am going drive down there. You stay here with Mr. Butterfly.”

“Fat chance there is of that happening.”

Basim gave me an impatient look, grabbed the keys to the van and left. I was right on his heel. We drove the scant two blocks back to the harem and parked down the street a ways so as not to be in the way of the local gendarmes who were swarming all over the place. They had managed to get into the front door and past the aging servant and all hell seemed to breaking loose inside. Basim and I just waited.

We heard a couple of shots fired. But I guess I had to expect that some of Akbar’s brawny slaves would defend him no matter what and need to be put down my lethal measures. The police began leading suspects out in handcuffs. Some were guard slaves and then we saw a very angry and upset looking fully naked Akbar. At this point, Basim strode forward and said to one of the police officers “Hello. I am Basim. I am the man who called you today about the ransom being taken. I identify this man as Akbar, the man who took my money in exchange for an American gentleman who is at this very moment recovering from his capture at…” and then he gave the address of our hostelry. “This is Dr. Sue Fairview, who is an acquaintance of Dr. Roble Castagno, who is still inside the harem and has been brutally raped by Akbar. She would like to be admitted so that she can identify him now. Then he can be given the medical attention he needs right away. Is that alright?”

The officer in charge nodded during Basim’s speech. Then speaking to the officer holding Akbar he said “Take Akbar away and charge him with kidnapping, sodomy and rape.” Then to the officers at the door his said “Please escort these two people into the harem so that they may locate their injured friend. Tell the other officers to find any money located in this establishment. If we don’t find it, we will ask Akbar where it is.”

And with those words, we were allowed in. Basim assumed that Roble would not be on the ground floor, so we took the staircase to the second floor. There were some brawny slaves with gunshot wounds lying on the floor in pools of their own blood. They must have been dead, because they weren’t moving. Not my problem. I had to save Roble. There was a very grand room off to our right, and peeking in; I noticed that the floor was covered with naked men having an orgy. The police raid had not even been enough to stop them. I could detect the sweet, sweet smell of opium. So this was where the party was.

“Do you smell that?” I said to Basim.

“Yes. Opium.”

“Mr. Butterfly said that Roble was on opium. Let’s just see if any of these guys isn’t having sex.”

So we looked more carefully to see if all of the men were really moving and there, in the corner was one that wasn’t.

“Roble!”, I screamed. I ran across the room, pretty much tripping over naked bodies to get to him, but I got to him. God, he looked awful. His color was yellowish and his cheeks sunken. That had to be from the drugs. I looked down between his legs and didn’t see any fresh blood. That was good. Basim was beside me.

“We have to get him out of here and to a doctor.”, I said.

To my surprise, Basim, lifted Roble like a baby and carried him from the room. He said, “Keys. Get them from my front pocket and drive the van to the front.” I ran to do as he said. When I drove the van up, Basim was coming out the front with Roble in his arms. I hurried to open the back doors to the van. Basim carried Roble into the van and laid him on a bench inside. The officer assigned to us was right behind him.

“So this is your injured friend Dr. Fairview?”, the officer asked me.

“Yes sir it is. This is Dr. Roble Castagno. As you can see he is drugged. We will call a doctor immediately to diagnose his internal injuries. You have our address at the hostel?”

“Yes thank you. You may go and see to your friend.”

Basim and I didn’t need to hear anything else. I rode in back with Roble and we drove off to the hostel. We got there in no time and Basim came around the back of the van to lift Roble and carry him into our rooms. I went in front of him to open doors as needed. We laid Roble next to Mr. Butterfly who was still sound asleep. I went down to lock the van while Basim called for a doctor. When I returned, he had found a very good one that would be by soon. Then Basim called Ernst to report our progress.

Ernst was in a tizzy that I had snuck into the van, but was glad that I was unharmed and that we got Mr. Butterfly back. He was concerned about Roble though and asked that we call him back after the doctor’s visit. Basim promised we would.

There was a knock on the door and that woke Mr. Butterfly. Basim went to answer the door and I stayed with the young explorer and brought him up to date on Roble. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Aziz walked in to see his patient. He asked everyone to leave, but the young explorer insisted on staying which was alright, since he had witnessed the rape. The exam took forty minutes. Dr. Aziz left the bedroom, took off his latex gloves and went into the bathroom to wash his hands. Then we all met in the common room.

“He has a rectal tear that goes pretty far up, but has begun to heal on its own. So he does not need stitches. That is the good news. But it is painful. That is the bad news. I will give him some Tylenol with codeine and if that is not strong enough we can up him to Percocet. If he shows symptoms of opium addiction we can put him on a methadone detoxification program. Here are some free samples of drug now. He is a bit dehydrated and has taken too much opium and that is why his color is bad. He needs soft easily digestible foods for a few days and water when he wakes which should be pretty soon. Try to get the pain pills into him right away. I have requested that the police test Akbar for sexually transmitted diseases so we shall know if any remedies for these will be needed. I also recommend baths with Epsom salts. I will send my report to the police with your permission as evidence of a crime.

Basim agreed to sending the report to the police and handled the bill and Dr. Aziz left. A call was placed by Basim to Ernst to update him on the situation. It was looking like we were going to be spending the night in Bubastis. Sometime later, Roble did wake up. He was so glad to be rescued from the harem that he took his pills, drank water, ate some mashed fruit and slept cradled in the young explorer’s arms. He would deal with everything else tomorrow. He hadn’t even met Basim, the man who carried him to safety.