Part Two

(To read Part One first, click here.)

A disastrous encounter

Before going to work in the morning, Samir takes a long busride to go to the shelter. Until about two weeks ago, he was going by car, passing through a number of checkpoints. At a checkpoint, the guards stopped him, and asked where he was going and what he was doing. His explanation about feeding animals sounded improbable to the impatient guards, who beat him, causing significant head injuries, and threatened to arrest him. “Miraculously,” he writes, he was let go.

Aside from the shock and trauma of being beaten, the clearly visible injuries to his face and head now make him stand out, so that being inconspicuous is no longer an option.  Next time he drove to the cat shelter, he was stopped at every checkpoint.

This was rapidly becoming a disaster, since if he were…