We are here to improve drinking water in Ankara. I'm not at all sure what the U.S. base is doing here. I feel the hostility and resentment all around us, as solid as the pebbles that we hunt every day. Once Melanie and I had strayed too close to the invisible edge of our apartment complex, and a little boy had appeared out of nowhere, cheeks bulging. We were wearing shorts in the summer heat and he viciously spat a mouthful of water on our bare legs and hurled mean-sounding words hard at our backs as we ran away.
Dangers lurk everywhere.
I have a reoccurring dream of seeing Melanie in the glassed-in stairwell of her apartment building during a huge earthquake. Come out, come out, I would scream, begging and pleading, beckoning desperately with both hands. And she would just wave sadly, gently shaking her head, looking down at me as if it were all no use. As if there was no hope for escape. Neil was marched quickly off the bus, a big white hand clamped on his shoulder.