Shaikh Abdul Gorino: From Our Own Correspondent

Shaikh Abdul was dressed in a sultry camouflage
army uniform when I arrived for our meeting. I
had been informed by the protocol officer from
Marietta that this was an informational meeting
after which I would have "at least six weeks"
to interview this shadowy figure of islamic resistance,
famed worldwide for his bravery. A mythical
man, to be sure, his myth was only enlarged by
the arrival, before our first dialog, of an ambassador
from the United Nations who, promptly at 1.00PM, looked
at his watch then ushered in three Princes from Saudi
Arabia who felt it "necessary" to proxy the interchanges.
Perhaps they were concerned that Abdul's words and
actions were liabilities in the complicated world
of international alliances.

"You know you're going to have to take this seriously"
I giggled to Hillary, my photographer.

"Sure, whatever," she had been gambling the evening before
at the hotel's casino and was perhaps ready for a nap. This
before the first shot was... taken.

"I will demonstrate to you the power I have"
Shaikh Gorino said the moment I arrived in his
presence. He pointed to a soldier who promptly
used his fingers, as Hillary snapped away in fascination,
to slit, fillet even, the throat of an imaginary
woman.

"But she's only imaginary" I said tentatively, attempting
to get the B-Side talks going.

"For now" the Shaikh said, "but should you threaten me
with torture then I have a bridge to sell you"

"That's America's Highway" I said, it was the I-35.

"And so it is," he said of the bridge, "nonetheless
these are my powers. Now shall we discuss?"

The head of the woman dispersed with the culprit
soldier, I sat down to chat, B-Side, with the Shaikh.
It is how this story, Mayowa, began.