When the Apricots Bloom

Huda and Ally head to the checkpoint while Rania stays with Khalid and Hanan in her car. The checkpoint guards say that they need Huda’s papers even though she is not going to Jordan, and that Ally will be picked up by another driver at the border. Huda invokes Saddam’s name and berates the guards until they back off. Huda meets Khalid at the lake and tells him that they are going to Jordan. Khalid blames Huda for working with the mukhabarat and says that she is fleeing to save her conscience. Huda tells him that if they stay in Iraq, he will be forced to join the fedayeen, and Khalid becomes frightened. He still blames Huda for their situation, but Ally steps in to defend Huda.

The Bolt Cutter interrupts the group as they approach the border. He threatens to rape and murder Ally and Hanan, then send Khalid to a prison called Abu Ghraib. Huda hits him, but he hits her back and knocks her down. He threatens to drown her, then Huda tells him that Hanan has been picked out for Uday Hussein, noting that Uday would torture and kill the Bolt Cutter if he touched Hanan. The Bolt Cutter backs off after Huda also offers him Ally’s wedding ring.