Baghdad bombing renews a family’s fears

When the bomb went off, I was in the market with my wife and youngest son.

Cartons flew in the air and people rushed off in all directions. Security forces started warning of another possible explosion and fired off warning shots.

We ran into an alleyway and my wife complained that her legs were weak. She turned pale.

“Raheem, is this a country to live in?” she asked. “Please find us any solution.”

We had applied to immigrate to America, but I had frozen our case earlier this year. I worried that I couldn’t make a living there.

Even in the last week, I had spoken to friends who had moved to America and told me how hard it was to find a job. I am in my late 50s and would have to start over in the United States. But this bombing made me think again about doing what my wife wanted.

As the screams of victims echoed down the alleyway, she begged me: “Think about activating our resettlement. Please. What if something happens to the three of us?”

Around us, wounded women, children and men were being hauled off on wooden carts that normally carried merchandise. Some peopled rushed to help the wounded, while others panicked and simply watched.

“Why are you going there? Aren’t you afraid of another explosion? You can’t even help people!” an elderly woman screamed at her husband.

Police said at least 26 people were killed in the explosions around Baghdad on Saturday, including 14 at the market in Bayaa where we had been shopping.

I have survived several bombings in the last seven years. But this time, I was shopping with my family and I was feeling peaceful. Everything was quiet. It was the weekend and many people were at the market. We were looking for clothes for my son, who’s 12.

Bayaa is a small neighborhood where you can find anything: clinics, pharmacies, banks — all the things for ordinary life.

My wife and son say they will never go back to the market there.

If I had been alone, the bombing would have been easier for me. My son’s teacher had recently died in a bombing and my wife had cried for days. I worried that the two of them would be in shock.

So I don’t know what to do. What can I do? Attacks can happen anytime and anywhere.

The only thing is for my wife and son to stay at home and to go out only on the days when my boy has to go to school.

When I go out, they are always calling me. They ask, have I made it? Am I OK?

Salman is a staff writer in The Times’ Baghdad Bureau.