East Meets East
“Ayesha, will
you please hurry? Our parents will be
wondering what has kept us!”
“Just give me
a few more minutes,” Hema heard her older sister call down as she sat in the
front room of their Southall home, slipping on her golden sandals. It was the end of Ramadan, and the girls had
returned from home just as the rest of the family were preparing to go to their
uncle’s house for the family meal.
Only a
promise they would change and get there as soon as they could had allowed them the time they needed to shower and change
from their work clothes into more suitable raiment. Hema was wearing a short sleeved tunic, which
was yellow and red. The main part of the
body was yellow with red spots, but the sleeves and top were red with yellow
spots, while the bottom had darker shades of brown with large circles. She was also wearing a pair of red pants,
while a long red dupatta was placed over her right
shoulder, her long dark brown hair platted as it fell over her other shoulder.
As she stood
up and looked out of the window, she noticed a grey van parked in front of the
house. “Wonder who’s having something
delivered,” she said to herself as she made her way through to the kitchen,
finding a bottle of water and opening it as she took a drink. A knock on the front door made her look
round, as she said “now who could that be?”
She walked
down the corridor, the bottle of water in her hand, as she opened the door and
said “Yes, how can I...”
She stepped
back, the expression on her face one of shock as the three visitors walked in,
one of them holding a gun in her gloved hand as the final one quietly closed
the door. They were identically dressed
– grey bodysuits literally from head to foot, grey sneakers, grey soft leather
gloves, their heads covered. The only
part of their garb which was not grey was the white featureless mask each of
them had in the face opening, hiding their features as they looked at Hema.
“Who... Who
are you,” she whispered, expecting a reply.
Instead, the three women tilted their heads to the side, while the one
holding the gun put a finger to her porcelain lips, and then pointed to the
door for the front room.
“You want me
to go in there?”
She nodded as
Hema slowly walked in backwards, the three women following as one of them
placed a large brown holdall on the floor.
The armed
woman started to twirl the finger of her gloved hand, Hema nodding as she
turned round, and saw one of the others open the bag and took out a skein of
coiled brown rope.
“What’s that
for,” she said quietly, but the armed woman just watched, the gun held steady
as it pointed towards Hema. She was
aware of the sound of the rope dropping to the floor, and then saw it as it was
placed round her neck, the two lengths falling either side as the third woman
removed her dupatta.
“Please, tell
me what you want,” Hema said quietly, but there was still no answer, as she
felt the masked woman behind her start to wind the
rope in a spiral down her arms, pulling them behind her as she did so as Hema
felt her arms being secured together. It
was a strange feeling, as they were folded behind her back, her forearms
secured to each other at the wrists, and then pulled further up her back as the
rope was fed through a small loop at the base of her neck.
“Oh god – are
you going to rob us?”
There was
still no answer, as she felt the rope being wrapped around her upper arms and
legs. As his took place, the armed and
masked woman took a second length of rope and nodded to her two companions,
before she made her way up the stairs.
“Who was it
at the door, Hema,” Ayesha said as she sat at the table in her room, putting on
the last of her make-up. The older
sister by a year, she was wearing a long sleeved black tunic, the sleeves made of
chiffon, a gold design at the neck and on the lower part of the tunic as it
hung to her knees. A loose fitting pair of
black pants covered her legs, and a pair of golden sandals was on her feet.
“Hema?
I said who was it at the door,” Ayesha said as she put her earrings in, and
then turned round – only to gaps as she saw the grey clad woman standing in the
doorway to her room, the white mask showing nothing as she looked at the dark
haired young Muslim woman.
“You’re... You’re one of the China Doll Gang, aren’t
you?”
The figure
nodded slowly.
“My sister –
is she downstairs with the others.”
There was
another nod as the masked intruder pointed at Ayesha, and indicated she should
stand up. As she did so, she adjusted
the matching black dupatta on her left shoulder, and
said “so, you are going to bind me, correct?”
The figure
nodded as she held up the skein of rope, and then shook it loose, putting the
gun down in sight of both of them, and reach of her, before she shook it loose,
doubled it and made a little loop in the centre.
“Then I need
to make an adjustment,” Ayesha said as she moved her dupatta,
hanging it down her back as the middle hung loosely over her chest. She then turned round and took a deep breath
as she watched the rope been placed over her shoulders, and then wrapped down
her arms, remaining calm as they were secured at the wrists and the rope
wrapped around her upper body. It only
took ten minutes, and then she knew she wasn’t going to be able to get free, no
matter how much she tried to move.
The masked
woman tied off the last knot, and then removed her earrings, placing them in a
velvet sack before she searched the rest of Ayesha’s bedroom. From there she made the young woman walk
through the other rooms on the upper floor, taking every valuable item she
could find and placing them in her sack before she indicated the stairs with
her gun.
“After
you?”
Ayesha
watched as the Doll slowly shook her head, and then walked in front of her,
entering the front room to find Hema sitting on a long leather couch. Her ankles were secured with one end of a
length of brown rope, which had then been taken up and used to secure her legs
together below her knees. She could see
the brown band between her legs, as Hema said “Ayesha? Oh god, they won’t say anything...”
“I know – you
must be brave my sister,” she said as she was made to sit next to her, watching
as another of the masked women started to bind her legs together. “These women – the new reports on them say
they will not speak, so you must not let that upset you.”
“But they are
taking our valuables...”
“I know,”
Ayesha said as she tried to move, her dupatta firmly
secured to her body by the intricate rope work, “but your health and mien are
far more important and valuable than that.
Just try to relax, and we will face this together.”
Hema nodded
as one of the Dolls – which one she did not know – stood in front of her,
holding her red dupatta in her hands as she looked at
the young woman.
“I think,”
Ayesha said quietly, “they intend to use that to stop you calling for
help. Do as they say, Hema – it may not
be that bad.”
Her sister
nodded as she opened her mouth, tasting the faint perfume on the thin material
as the masked woman wrapped it around her head, taking it twice into her mouth
before she secured the ends together behind her head.
“Tssntsbbddd,” Hema said as the Doll then took from the bag
a roll of micropore tape, and tore off a strip,
pressing it firmly down on Hema’s mouth and jaw with
her grey gloved hands.
“Ntthfrhnndd...”
Ayesha had to
suppress a giggle as the Doll then stood in front of her, and she realised she
had one of her mother’s dupattas, this one green, in
her hands. “I believe it is my turn
now,” she said as she too was gagged with the scarf and tape, before they were
made to lie face down on the floor, their ankles pulled back and secured to
each other’s chest ropes.
They raised
their heads as a cushion was placed on the floor under them, and then looked at
each other as the three women left, wondering how long it would be before
someone in the family realised they were missing...
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