On a Day, Alack the Day

James M. Sutton

I woke up thinking today is going to be like every other day. I am going to drink my cup of green tea,
read Quran and then get ready to leave. I began my morning rituals at about 5 o'clock in the morning.
Everything was as it is every day. However, about 7 AM I started hearing sporadic gun shots. In Yemen,
this is something we have grown to tolerate. Hearing gun shots here is as about as normal as hearing
people honking their horns in New York. So, not paying these shot any mind, I continued on with my
daily routine.

Ten minutes later, the shots began to increase in volume. With each shot, the report from the Aks
seemed closer and closer. It got to the point I thought my neighbor was in on all this also. After about
15 minutes of the sporadic gunfire, the whole world seemed to open up and pour forth all that was
within it. Explosions rocked our residence from side to side. I just remember running frantically around
the house gathering up my 2 sons and getting them as far away from the windows as possible. My wife
carried our newborn son Asad in her arms.

We took our living room as our new hideout spot because it is on the opposite side of the house away
from the direction of the fighting. We had no idea what was going on or why it was going on. All that
information didn't really matter to us then.

Once we experienced a lull in the fighting, I decided to take my chances by going to the store and trying
to call my work to tell them that I wouldn't be in that day. The feeling of leaving my house was probably
much like the feeling of the scared child lifting the covers from his head after seeing the boogeyman to
make sure he is not there anymore. I walked out with a very cautious step not knowing which step
might be my last.

As I made my way out to the main street and started to walk towards the store, I noticed a shocked look
on people's faces, an expression that said, “what in the hell just happened”. Well I assume that my
expression was the same for all onlookers. I don't think anybody was worried about their facial
expressions at a time like this. One peculiar thing I did notice was that even with all that was going on,
stores were still open and fruit and vegetable vendors were still selling on the streets. This is an image
of Yemen that will stick in the mind of all who have viewed it.

Upon recharging my cellphone account, I called my manager to tell him about the beautiful morning I
had experienced. He spoke as if he had heard nothing of the events of the morning. I told him to call
somebody to check on what is going on. He concurred and said he would call me back in a few minutes.
I made it back to my safe haven before he called and before the world began raining down doom upon
us once again. He told me to relax for the morning and I could just come to work in the afternoon. That
phone call of course was followed by another one five minutes later, when my manager got firsthand
experience of what was going on, ordering me to stay home for the day. That was a relief as far as I was
concerned. Even though everything seemed to have stopped, I didn't feel like going to work after all
that happened in the morning.
I don't think I had one minute to enjoy my relaxation until everything opened up again. It started again
the way it started the first time; with a few shots here and there. However, the build up of events was
much quicker this time. Explosions began to rock our house once again. My wife and I broke the
cardinal rule of being civilian in the middle of a war; we looked out of the window. As we were looking
out of the window to see what was going on, we noticed a few teenagers joking and laughing in the
street. They were standing there in an exhibition of their bravery, to kind of say, “we aren't scared
because we are so tough.” Tough or stupid you choose. A minute into their display of bravado what
seemed like a mortar shell hit the roof of our neighbor's house and exploded. That was the end of their
bravery, they ran away like a group of little school girls who just saw Tommy with a pet rat in his hands.
My wife and I laughed, of course after we ran away from the window and got to a bit of safety.

As the fighting picked up, I felt we should all get ready to vacate the house at a moment's notice. I got
myself and the kids dressed. My wife and her mother also got on all their female attire in preparation
for a quick escape. I probably looked like a quacked out version of an Islamic Rambo that day. I had on
my cargo pants with a big AK-47 bayonet knife attached to my belt. I had my thobe covering all of this of
course. We packed up our bags with clothes, dates and anything else we would need. Now was just a
waiting game. What were we waiting for? This is a question I really had no answer to, but I knew I
wasn't going to chance going out in the street right now with my family in tow. We had to wait and see
what was happening before we could make any decisions.

The fighting continued for what seemed like hours with us still watching in a trance. We were getting
reports from all over the place about what was going on. Of course everything we heard contradicted
the previous news we heard. We could only go by what we knew and that is the government and the
houthis are fighting. Who is winning and who is losing, who gives a shit? All I cared about during this
chaos was the safety of my family. The news I think that really got us worried was the news about the
houthis going into people's houses and taking them over. If anybody refused to give up their house,
they were shot on the spot. Being that we were so close to those houses, we didn't have a comfortable
feeling for the affairs of the day.

The whole time we sat in that house we sat in a state of complete helplessness. There was nothing we
could do, and we felt there was nowhere we could go. Being that we don't have a TV, that made our
time in the house more difficult because we had no idea what was going on. That was the worst feeling
I have ever felt in my life. Just imagine sitting there for hours expecting any form of explosive device to
hammer your house at any time, or even for bullets to start raining into the house from all corners. I
don't know what I would have done if one of my children had gotten injured in all the chaos. I don't
know how I would react if some harm came to wife or my baby. I am assuming that is how terrorists are
made. Those people aren't really looking to terrorize the world, they are really just trying to get revenge
on the people that caused a death or deaths in their families.

After about three hours of constant fighting, we finally began to relax a bit because we felt that we had
seen the worst of it all, and there was nothing more to come. We were right. There were more lulls in
the fighting which gave me time to run to the store and get some needed supplies like water or anything
we could eat. However, each time the fighting died down, we went into a state of relaxation and we
were quickly torn right out of that state in an instant with heavier fighting.

I contacted some of the brothers from Dammaaj to see how they were doing. I was a bit worried about
their situation as it is not far-fetched for the houthis to use all this confusion to get a bit of revenge on
the brothers for all the deaths the houthis met at the hands of the students of Dammaaj. I was right of
course. It was not a major event, but then again it doesn't have to be. Apparently, someone shot at the
tea shop the brothers drink tea in after the Fajr prayer. It is not really a shop, it is just a tin shack with all
the needed essentials in it to boil water for tea and eggs for sandwiches. Once you get your tea, you can
sit underneath a tin roof and enjoy. That is just what a group of the brothers were doing, as they did
every day.

While they were sitting there enjoying their tea, someone shot off a very high caliber gun, more than
likely some type of anti-aircraft machine gun. The bullet hit a car and splattered deadly shrapnel all over
the place. One piece of that deadly iron flew at the speed of light right through the throat of our
brother AbduRabbu Al-Waadi and killed him instantly. That became the apex of emotion for the day.
Here we thought we were in such a bad situation and we were really feeling sorry for ourselves.
However, when we heard what happened to the brother over at Masjid Al-Fat'h, it made us forget all
the petty trials we experienced throughout the day. At a time when I was feeling happiness at the
ending of the fighting, I heard this news that took all that happiness, threw it on the ground and
stomped on it with construction boots.

The occurrences of the day eventually drew to a close. It was nothing like you probably would have
expected, however. Most people who grow up on TV and drama would expect a grand finale, “let's end
this show with a bang.” Well there was none of that. Just as there was shooting going on at the
moment, a minute later there was nothing. Within a minute the whole earth became completely silent.
For the next thirty minutes, we could hear sporadic shots off in the distance, but nothing of what we
grew accustomed to throughout the day. It is funny because when you spend your day listening to
these big explosions all day long, regular gun shots seem so peaceful and safe. They aren't I tell you, but
that is the way you feel.

As the sun gave up its position in the sky for the moon to come and perform its nightly security duties,
we felt a strong sense of calm. It is not that this night was any calmer than any other, however, after
being at such a heightened state all day, you kind of have this plummeting feeling as things quickly
transition to quietness and calm. Some would say that was the calmest night they ever felt, but I would
say that now you know what calm means because you experienced the antithesis of calm for 10 hours.
The same feeling a convict must feel when he gets released from prison after rotting for 5 years in a hole
and then getting to enjoy his first slice of pizza. The pizza tastes no different than it did 5 years ago, but
the feeling of gratitude is what intensifies the experience. Needless to say, we enjoyed the calm, rather
we were quite grateful for the calm, so grateful in fact we all fell asleep. We slept so well that night we
could have been the people in the night before Christmas story.