The Exception: A Novel Part 34

Its sweet of her to try to be rea.s.suring. They both feel that to attack the Luos here in the bush is nearly impossible, but neither of them says so.

It has been a long time since they heard anything from Roberto. Iben asks him how he is doing.

His voice is almost gone. Not too good.

Iben goes to sit next to him. The darkness and the heat do strange things to time. It must be the waiting that makes time move so terribly slowly. Eventually they fall asleep. Their dreams are chaotic.

Iben is in her own corner again when Omoro comes in with a kettle full of the dreadful tea that is available everywhere in Kenya. It is always served mixed with milk and lots of sugar. Most Kenyans love their tea, and it is a thoughtful gesture on Omoros part. Iben and Cathy thank him profusely and drink, even though the oversweetened concoction somehow swells in the mouth after more than twenty-four hours of hunger.

A little later Omoro brings a dish of dry mush made from ground cornmeal. They eat with their fingers from the dish, doing their best to forget about those trips to the trench. It is a pity that Roberto has no appet.i.te, but its a relief that his soiled fingers arent dipping into the food.

Omoro sits next to Iben and whispers in her ear: If that old man with the scars wants to take you outside, you must try to get out of it.

Iben would like to ask Omoro what he has heard about Dalmas Phillip, but she stops herself. Instead, she tries to imitate the sound made by the Luos when they understand and accept something.

A fly insists on trying to land in her eye. Every time she waves it away it comes back. Mostly the native people dont seem to notice the flies, and Iben doesnt want to disturb the intimacy with Omoro by waving her arms about.

Omoro is silent for quite a while. Finally he speaks. You saw Ojiji too.

Yes. Iben knows that Omoros friend, the dead driver, was called Ojiji.

Omoro sits quietly for a little longer, before saying the same thing again. You saw him too.

Yes. I did.

You saw him in the truck with me.

Yes. She tries to come across as gentle and friendly. The fly investigates her ear. Omoro, it was dreadful.

Once more he seems not to know what to say.

Iben mumbles to show her sympathy. Even though she can glimpse his face in the darkness, she cannot distinguish the expression on it. She feels rather than sees that he is crying soundlessly. His breathing is irregular.

Then Omoro tells her about the choir to which many of the men here belong. With the support of a Christian aid organization, they went on tour around Kenya. In addition to the choir, Omoro and Ojiji also sang in a quartet together. Once, all four of them had traveled to Mombasa to sing at an event in the town council building. The mayor of Mombasa was in the audience. They saw the sea. At night they slept in a park, even though it was forbidden.

She has already heard many stories about Ojiji after the service this morning. All the men seem to feel that his death was the most important event of the last twenty-four hours. They mourn Ojiji in a different way from the other dead man, with more sorrow.

Omoro speaks again: We should never have made him drive the truck.

Omoro, you believed that it was more dangerous to sit next to the driver, holding a machine gun. No one could have known that it was the driver they They talk together for a while longer, speaking into the darkness. Then someone outside the hut calls to Omoro.

When he has left, Cathy stirs. Youre good at this, Iben.

Thank you. Its harder with the rest of them. I think Omoro and I get along well because we sat together in the trucks cab. Iben feels worn out. She lies down before speaking again. It can only be to everyones advantage if I manage to get along with at least some of them.

Cathy lies very still. She is silent.

Then, a long time later, Cathy whispers, half to herself: I could try to do the same thing. Usually Im better at it than this.

Are you still feeling ill?

Yes. No. The diarrhea seems to have stopped, but Im Oh, maybe its just because Im so scared.

Roberto and Mark must be listening.

What about the other two? How are you?

n.o.body responds, except Cathy. Mark is having a very hard time. Mark?

A deep sigh tells them that Mark has heard them. Cathy turns to put her hand on his forehead. He whispers No and she takes it away.

Iben lifts the small oil lamp and holds it close to Robertos face. Roberto, how are you?

He looks bad. She asks again, but he says nothing.

She feels a cold sweat breaking over her skin. She strokes his cheek. No reaction. She becomes aware of her heart thumping as she bends over him and gently pulls back one of his eyelids. His eye has rolled up in its socket so that only the white part is visible.

Roberto!

Cathys voice is hoa.r.s.e. Whats going on?

I dont know. Hes gone limp. He seems to be unconscious. Oh, G.o.d. Hes f.u.c.king unconscious. What should we do?

Iben moves to the doorway. She pulls the cloth back and speaks as authoritatively as she can manage. We need a doctor!

The guard outside the door is new to Iben. She keeps repeating her request. We need a doctor! Quickly!

After a while the guard calls another man. He calls out again and soon several men are milling about outside the hut.

The older man who conducted the service turns up. He goes inside to examine Roberto. When he comes out he looks worried and speaks at length in Dhuluo. Dalmas Phillip has joined the group now. The two older men discuss the situation.

Odhiambo explains to Iben: Ochieng will help your friend.

So Ochieng is the name of the other old man.

But Roberto needs a proper medical doctor!

More discussion. It is quite clear that Dalmas Phillip is the man who makes the decisions. As he p.r.o.nounces his judgment in Dhuluo, he watches Iben with calculated indifference.

Odhiambo interprets. He says that your friend will not be seen by a white doctor. It is not possible. But Ochieng will help him.

Iben easily picks up that Odhiambo doesnt think much of Ochiengs skills.

Iben turns to Phillip. His smell fills her nose. It is very important that the sick man is seen by someone who can give him penicillin. And some medicine for cholera.

She tries to catch Omoros eyes, but cant see him in the group. Then she spots him. He has hurried away from the others and is walking swiftly toward a group of trees outside the perimeter of the site.

She has lost her chance. She is no longer the favorite prisoner. Now she is the one who has stuck her neck out farther than anyone else.

She meets Phillips eyes.

He speaks English now. It will be as I say. He falls silent.

Theres something about him, about his eyes, scarred skin, and short gray hair. A fast sequence of the things he has done to Nubian women is running through Ibens head. There is nothing more she can say.

She discovers that she doesnt dare meet his eyes again or even look in his direction. Instead, she sinks down on her haunches and waits. She doesnt move until one of the men says something, which she a.s.sumes must mean that she is to go back inside the hut. She obeys, unable to fight for Roberto any longer.

Mark and Cathy have heard everything, but they dont say a word. Iben cant be sure if theres not a small part of them thats happy shes the one taking risks.

On her way to sit down she touches Roberto; he seems lifeless. Cathy has rolled him over on his side in the recovery position.

A little later Ochieng comes in. He makes Roberto inhale the vapor from a steaming brew of herbs but seems to know perfectly well that he cant cure him and that the treatment he is offering is only for show.

The night is cold and Iben s.h.i.+vers in her flimsy clothes. Its so pointless for Roberto to die this way, only a few yards away from where she is trying to find enough peace to sleep. I must try to do something to help Roberto. I must try. But she knows that she will not.

Cathy and Mark just lie there, quietly.

Should I move alongside Roberto to warm him with my body? She thinks of how she avoided sharing her warmth with him while he was still conscious. She felt awkward about sleeping with her arms around her sick boss. But now everything has changed it is not feeling awkward that gives her pause, but the thought of waking up during the night embracing a corpse.

After a little while she moves over to Roberto and makes the others come too, so that all four of them can keep each other warm. She dreams that shes back in the office. Malene, Camilla, and Anne-Lise are hysterical because there is a trail of blood across the floor where someone has dragged a dead body. Somehow Iben knows that the blood is Ojijis. Other things happen that she cant recall afterward.

The night feels so long that only remembering the dream proves to Iben that she has slept at all. When the gaps around the curtain become lighter, Roberto is still alive.

They are relieved, but Mark has become quite strange, almost aggressive. He moves clumsily back to his own s.p.a.ce, b.u.mps into the others, and pushes them hard enough for it to hurt. Iben doubts that he is ill but doesnt dare question him about it.

She can hear the men getting together for their morning service. Should she sing with them again? Should she go outside? If she goes outside, showing anger wouldnt make it harder for them to kill her. The choice is between staying in the hut to demonstrate how unforgivable she finds their treatment of Roberto, or joining them, which goes against every natural instinct.

She thinks to herself: If I do go out there it might persuade them to let a doctor see Roberto.

Iben sings along with the hymns and again adds her own solo verses. Then, for the first time in more than twenty-four hours, she hears Marks voice. He speaks quietly.

Shut up, why dont you.

Mark! Cathy sounds upset.

Mark continues: Iben, you wont gain a thing by sucking up to them. Not these guys.

Iben carries on singing regardless. This morning they havent sent a guard to bring her outside. She gets up and, keeping an eye on Mark, tries to get out through the door. The guard says something incomprehensible, shoves her back inside, and pulls the cloth back in place.

Iben has no tears left. All three lie still and listen.

Then Cathy speaks. Iben. Youre a survivor.

This time there are fewer voices in the choir. Some of the men must have left, setting out early in the morning. Iben manages to pick out seven voices.

No one comes in with a morning meal. Iben is dozing when she is alerted by the sound of running feet. Four shots ring out. Men are shouting in Swahili.

Then nothing.

All is quiet again.

Iben peeps through the doorway. Militiamen are walking from hut to hut, investigating each one. Their uniforms are different from anything Iben has seen before, neither police nor army. Someone must have dispatched a special unit to free the hostages. There are about twenty of them. She cant work out who is the leader until the soldiers haul two Luos from a hut and push them down on the ground in front of a man with gla.s.ses. He addresses the Luos and then turns away to give the soldiers new orders.

The guard in front of their hut has disappeared. Iben stands in the doorway and peeps around the cloth, but she doesnt go out. At the far end of the encampment eight unarmed Luos are standing in a line.

Now Cathy and Mark have joined Iben and stick their heads around the other side of the curtain.

Some of the soldiers march the Luos along to the biggest hut and shove them roughly inside. Omoro is among these eight men.

His eyes widen when he sees Iben. He calls to her: Iben! Iben!

Silence.

The leader of the special unit walks toward the hostages. He is smiling.

Everything in order?

Iben finds it hard to look at him and hard to concentrate on what hes saying.

She hears gurgling noises from the big hut. Maybe she replies something to his question. Afterward she cant recall.

The soldiers come out again. They havent been in there long. Their clothes and hands look clean but Iben notices the tops of their shoes where the leather is stained red.

None of the hostage takers emerges from the big hut.

chapter 35.

iben cannot figure out what Paul is up to.

Just after Gunnar left the DCIG, Paul told her to drop her work on Chechnya for the next issue of Genocide News and concentrate on Turkey instead. She has no problem with that except that Paul is also insisting that Anne-Lise is to be her co-editor.

Thats simply too much. Anne-Lise has never done anything journalistic, never written or edited anything. She is sure to run to Paul every time she cant grasp one of Ibens decisions, with the likely result that sh.e.l.l ruin Ibens relations.h.i.+p with Paul and, in the long run, with the board as well.

After the meeting Anne-Lise said she had a headache and went home something to be grateful for at least. Now Iben has twenty-four hours to get over her annoyance before her new teammate returns.

Paul has closed the door to his office, so theres no need to escape to the kitchen for a discussion with Malene. Camilla can hear what theyre saying, but it doesnt matter. Malene acts distant and uninterested. Obviously she is still displeased about Ibens voicing her opinion of Gunnar earlier.

After they chat for a while, Malene says sh.e.l.l pop down and get something nice for their afternoon coffee. She takes her bag with her, which means that the trip is just a cover for her to talk to Gunnar on her cell phone.

When Malene returns, she has spoken with Gunnar, as predicted.

Hes really annoyed. During the meeting here, Gunnar realized that Paul didnt have a mandate from the board as hed said he did. It didnt take long for Gunnar to figure out that Paul was trying to use him in some internal power struggle. Malene looks at Iben, not acknowledging that she was right about Gunnar after all. He turned down Pauls offer of a seat on the board.