Stillness of the Sea Read Online Free

puts the headphones back on and speaks again.
    “When they came inside the house, one of them ordered us to go into the next room. He wanted cash. Money and gold. He pulled a knife from his boot andsaid: ‘I’ll use it if I find someone has kept back a single dinar. Get on with it.’”
    “What happened next?”
    “We went into another room and the adults put all their money and jewellery on a table. One of the men was sitting on an armchair with a shotgun in his lap. He called to three of us and said: ‘Get undressed.’”
    “Were you one of the three?”
    “Yes, I was.”
    “Then, what?”
    “He said: ‘Take your clothes off.’ I began to unbutton my blouse. Then I said: ‘I can’t carry on.’ He repeated: ‘Undress. Like that.’”
    “You held up your index finger just now. Was that how the man gestured to you?”
    She breathes in. He knows this from the way her shoulders move.
    “Yes. He showed me his index finger and said: ‘You should be as naked as this finger.’”
    Mr Bloom: “Please, continue.”
    “I began to take off my underwear. I had to come over to stand in front of him, then turn around. He looked at me. After a while, he said: ‘Get dressed again!’”
    “Where was the defendant at this time?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe he was waiting outside.”
    “Did one of the women refuse to take her clothes off?”
    “Yes.”
    “Who was that?”
    “My mother.”
    “What was done to her?”
    “She had told the man that she didn’t intend to undress. But my aunt caught hold of her and I started unbuttoning her blouse. Together, we undressed her.”
    The elderly lady who had been tearful earlier crosses herself.
    “Were you all searched?”
    “Yes. They searched everyone, even felt the children’s pockets. One mother had put some things made of gold in her little son’s pockets, I don’t know exactly, but anyway they found out and beat him.”
    She makes as if hitting out with her fist.
    Mr Bloom: “You show us a blow with your fist. Is that what the man did to the child?”
    The witness: “Yes, it is. He hit the child in the face.”
    Some of the public shake their heads. The woman next to him has stopped taking notes, her fingers rest on the pad, closed round the pen. For a moment, everyone seems still, quiet. Even the interpreter.
    Šimić fiddles with his suit buttons, twisting them.
    The prosecutor looks down, puts one sheet of paper on top of another, then turns back to his witness.
    “Did the men return later?”
    “Yes. Yes, of course they did. Had they not, I wouldn’t be here, talking about it all. I would be at home with my family instead.”
    She looks at the prosecutor for the first time. Pulls her chair a little closer to the table.
    “When the men returned – I mean, when the men came into the house for the second time, was it already dark outside? Was it night?”
    “Yes, it was dark. Night-time. The children had already fallen asleep.”
    “How were you alerted to the men’s return?”
    “We heard a car pull up. As it swung round, the headlamps lit up the house. One of my aunts said: ‘They’ll do us all in. Hang us or set us on fire.’”
    “Did you hear anyone pray?”
    “Yes. My father was a religious man. He always told us to pray to God and ask for his salvation.”
    “Did you pray, too?”
    “Of course I did. But I had been looking around to work out how to save myself. I didn’t want to leave everything in God’s hands.”
    “Would you please tell us what happened in the house?”
    “That’s why I’m here. To tell the truth about my family.”
    One of the defence lawyers stands up, shakes his head theatrically, and says, “Your Honours …”
    But the presiding judge waves him away and turns to the witness.
    “I have to ask you to keep your account limited to what happened inside the house. Anything else will, as you can see, be regarded as provocative.”
    She nods.
    “The door opened and instantly, the flames shot upwards, all