One by one, they silently slipped away to their blankets in the cave passage outside the room. Even Kehalis slipped silently away, his lust satisfied,...but his hatred for the Arab and his desire to possess the American woman greater than before. Eventually the Arab was left alone with Cathy.////////////////////////Once the men had left her alone, Cathy had quickly fallen into an exhausted sleep. But even in her exhaustion, she could not escape her rapists. Her mind relived bits and pieces of her. Thedelicious and urgent throbbing persisted unrelentingly in my nether regions,especially when I glanced at the small, naked figure still hanging there, alllimp and covered with a criss-cross pattern of blooded welts, and I surreptitiouslysqueezed my thighs together. My head was reeling with shameful thoughts; it wasI who had reduced him to such astate. It was I who had determinedthe awful severity of his punishment. And to be so cruel had felt simplydelicious! My thoughts were interrupted. I noticed that we had twice as many soldiers or police in the compound. Several of my friends were preparing to leave on the next plane. They made me think seriously about leaving before I decided."We sat in silence, just hugging as the other dreadful news of the world kept playing in mute. By now, we didn't need commentary. We knew what was going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel.Later, one of the lovely CNN news reporters or anchors interrupted, "We have breaking news about the American. I was so afraid ofpopping out of my clothes, that on my lunch break I went to a clothingstore and bought a new white blouse a size bigger in order toaccommodate my burgeoning bust. I had told Melissa about the latestdevelopments and she told me she would come shopping with me to getsome new clothes. I was both extremely grateful but highly embarrassedby this. I loved spending time with Melissa, but going bra shoppingwith her, and the bras being for me was so humiliating.The day we went shopping.