Amie in Africa Box Set 1

by Lucinda E Clarke

Amie did some fast mental arithmetic. It worked out to about £50 a month. “That’s not very much,” she said. “How can they live on so little?”

  “Well the minimum government wages work out to thirty dollars, so you can see we are paying almost five times that rate. Also, you will find a lot of women will want to work for you. Most of the British and the Americans are respected for always paying their wages, and paying on time, which is not usually the case if they work for the locals. A maid will think she’s doing well if she’s employed by an expatriate.”

  “But why not pay more, I mean if she really works well?” asked Amie.

  “Remember what I said last night about jealousy? If her neighbours find out your maid is getting paid lots more than they are, they will be jealous and that puts her at risk. Her house or family might be attacked if she doesn’t share this extra money or they might even put a spell on her. Either way, it doesn’t actually improve her life.”

  “A spell? They surely don’t practice witchcraft, do they?” Amie was both amazed and horrified.

  “Oh yes, witchcraft is alive and well, and I’ve known European friends who are a bit wary. There’s a lot about the mind we still don’t understand. Most people go to the medicine man or witch doctor regularly and they don’t come cheap either. Even the local doctors who’ve been trained in western medicine overseas and returned to work here, will visit the sangomas for a love potent or to cast a spell over a rival.”

  “You’re kidding!” gasped Amie. “Do they work? The spells I mean.”

  “Those who are cursed certainly believe it, and I’ve seen cases where people just curl up and die, especially if they can’t pay for another witch doctor to remove the curse.”

  “I have a lot to learn,” said Amie. “I thought all those tales were just stories in books, definitely not real! And not in this century either!”

  “Fact is often stranger than fiction,” replied Diana.

  After touring around the streets of Brianwood, Diana directed the driver to take them to the mall.

  “There’s a shopping mall here?” asked Amie in surprise.

  Diana laughed, “It’s not a very large mall, but there’s a supermarket, a bookstore, computer outlet, a dry cleaners and about a dozen other shops, mainly clothes and it’s all very clean and neat. It mostly serves the ministerial class and the expatriate community, so you’ll meet lots of other people at the mall. My friend has a small coffee shop there, so we’ll get some refreshments at the same time.”

  After all the horror stories she’d heard in the last few hours, Amie was a little re-assured when she saw the neat car park and the row of smart shops, similar to those at home, but they were less crowded and nothing like as large. However, the layout was familiar, and she saw many products in the windows exactly the same as she could buy at home.

  “You’ll find things a lot more expensive here if they’re imported, but the fresh fruit and vegetables in season and the local meat you can get for practically nothing.”

  “This is like a little oasis of England in the middle of Africa!” said Amie as they took chairs in the courtyard outside the mall coffee shop.

  “Yes, as you can see, Africa is a land of contrasts,” replied Diana, picking up a menu.

  Amie felt as if she were in the middle of a surrealistic dream. The sun shone so brightly it was dazzling, and the air was hot and close reminding her she was in Africa, yet she was looking at a very upmarket, British suburb transplanted almost in the middle of nowhere.

  “What’s Jonathon doing today?” asked Diana lighting a cigarette.

  “He was collected early this morning by someone from the company they are liaising with here, and then he mentioned discussions with some government minister I think,” Amie answered.

  “You’ll probably find he works quite long hours all the men do. So, don’t be surprised if he gets home exhausted in the evening.”

  Amie wasn’t quite sure how to broach the question she’d been dying to ask. She took a deep breath. “What do the women do, do they work as well?”

  “There are very few of us who can get jobs, difficulty with the language for one thing. I guess we keep busy entertaining and visiting the Expatriate Club and playing sports, things like that. A few of us help at some of the local schools, ostensibly with basic English lessons, although we spend more time teaching the teachers than we do teaching the children.”

  When the smiling waitress brought the coffee, Amie found it was the same as they’d had the night before. When she mentioned this to Diana, she told her they grew coffee on the slopes near the capital and prepared the beans themselves. No, they didn’t export much, as firstly the yields were not high, and it was difficult to find labour to increase production. For a housewife, Diana was certainly well informed about what was going on thought Amie. She wondered if all the wives took as much interest in their adopted country.

  “Now I’ve seen a couple of good areas to live, how do we go about finding somewhere to rent?” asked Amie.

  “First port of call will be the Club, that’s the Expatriate Club, to check on the notice board. Then if there’s nothing there, the next option would be to ask around some of the larger landlords,” replied Diana.

  “Who owns all these properties?” Amie waved in the direction of the Brianwood houses.

  “They are all owned by local people. Before independence, all these houses were built by Europeans, but now the law states that within the capital, only Togodians are allowed to own property. Of course, the vast majority of them can’t afford houses like these in Brianwood.”

  “So did the government buy them from the … what would you call them, settlers, colonials?” Amie was curious.

  “Goodness, no,” answered Diana. “They simply requisitioned them. It all happened overnight so I understand, although it was several years before we arrived. Suddenly, people who owned houses were forced to pay rent for them, it’s bizarre, isn’t it? Most were given to government ministers and family members, so your landlord is likely to be a very wealthy and powerful man.”

  “But, but surely that’s not legal is it!” Amie was horrified.

  Diana laughed. “My dear, this is Africa, and if the government wants to do something, they do it. There is no such thing as fair play, or abiding by the law. If they don’t like the law, then they simply change it or ignore it. Remember any opposition party is in name only and all members of parliament do as they’re told, so any bill put before the Assembly is sure to pass, especially when it’s written by the president.

  “So, it’s not really a democracy at all?” said Amie.

  “Democracy the African way, one man, one vote, one time,” replied Diana. “Remember, once you’re in power, that’s it. You stay there usually until you die, or someone bumps you off, or there’s a full-scale civil war.”

  Amie felt a shiver run down her back. “Could that happen here?”

  “Sure, it could, but at the moment President Mtumba is firmly in control, and although the teaming masses are generally not happy with him, there’s been no great disaster or upheaval to cause a serious threat to his leadership so far. What do you fancy for lunch?” said Diana changing the subject and handing Amie the menu.

  Amie was further reassured to see there were quite a few European women doing their shopping in the mall, often with young children in tow and accompanied by a black nanny who was there to help push the trolleys and look after the little ones. Several of the women stopped to chat to Diana, and they all welcomed Amie into the community. It’s almost like the first day at a new and friendly school, thought Amie, as she said hello and told them where she and Jonathon were from and that he was here to work on the new desalination plant.

  “We desperately need one,” was the general comment, as the present water supplies were erratic at best, and often there was no water for days on end.

  After lunch they drove to the Club and Diana introduced her to the Secretary and said that most probably Amie and Jonatho
n would be joining, and Richard and she would sponsor them.

  “It’s really quite easy to become a member,” Diana whispered to Amie, as they walked around the large swimming pool, “but everyone likes to keep up appearances, and you must be proposed and seconded and fill in all the forms. Unless you’re one of the Great Train Robbers, you’ll automatically be accepted.”

  The club house consisted of a large dining room, a smaller coffee shop, a bar, changing rooms that served both the pool and the small nine-hole golf course, and two or three meeting rooms. There was a full-time staff including gardeners, who tended the well-kept lawns and flower beds.

  There were three properties on the board for rent, two in Spring Glen and one in Brianwood. Amie wrote down the contact telephone numbers while Diana advised her to let Jonathon call the landlords; it was very unlikely the owners would negotiate with a woman. As Amie put the list into her purse she nodded. Her new life was going to take a lot of getting used to.

  When Jonathon got back to the hotel that night it was quite late. He looked tired and admitted he’d not had an easy day. Apparently, the land for the plant which had been agreed to in London was now all of a sudden ‘not available.’ They were now in the process of deciding where it could go. The previously agreed site was too close to the President’s summer palace, and he might be disturbed by the building contractors during construction.

  “It would be a lot easier to move the President’s summer palace than re-site the plant,” grumbled Jonathon. His negotiating skills had been stretched to the limit, but he had been promised a fixer, who would be working for him from the following day.

  “What’s a fixer?” enquired Amie.

  “A Togodian who works for a foreign company and smooths the way through government bureaucracy and red tape. He can obtain permissions, work permits, grease government hands – just about anything.”

  “So, they do the actual bribing, so the foreign company isn’t seen to,” remarked Amie.

  Jonathon looked at her in surprise. “I’ve never considered you a political animal!” he exclaimed.

  “I think you need to be one to survive in a country like this,” replied Amie. “I’ve learned more in one day with Diana than I ever learned in civics in school. It’s all very different, and I can see it pays to be aware.”

  Jonathon smiled and took her hand. “Are you OK with being here? I mean, you don’t think it’s going to be too bad do you?”

  Amie thought for a moment. “I can’t honestly answer that right now,” she replied. “It all takes a lot of getting used to. There’s some good and some bad as well. I mean I wasn’t expecting such large houses – you should see them – most of them are enormous. And I never expected to be hiring a gardener and a maid to do all the housework, that will be nice, and the shopping mall is great and everyone is so friendly. That’s on the upside.”

  “And the down side?” prompted Jonathon.

  “Well, there’s definitely an undercurrent of fear and poverty, and I wouldn’t want to break the law here. The police are useless and the houses are surrounded like fortresses with barbed wire, and you have to hire a security company and the crime is bad.” Amie paused for breath. “But that’s all I’ve found out so far.”

  “Well, you’ve seen a lot more of the country than I have,” Jonathon laughed. “I’ve been stuck in an office all day, trying to keep my wits about me. At least the air conditioning was on high. Well, it would be in a ministerial office, I guess.”

  “You do look tired,” Amie said, as she got up to stand behind him to rub his shoulders. “I guess an early night is in order. Let’s have a quick meal downstairs in the restaurant and head back up to bed.”

  “Great idea,” agreed Jonathon. “It’s more negotiations again tomorrow and I’m not looking forward to it.”

  “Then I am going to make sure you enjoy tonight,” replied Amie as she began to unbutton her shirt slowly, and let it drop on the floor.

  “You’re a tease,” Jonathon smiled as he began to take off his own shirt.

  “Uh, uh, you don’t want to waste your energy now do you?” Amie released her bra and then led him to the bed. She gently forced him down and very slowly began to remove his clothes.

  “Please,” he murmured, “stop teasing!”

  Amie smiled at him. “Are you hungrier for me than for a meal downstairs?”

  “I think you know the answer to that,” said Jonathon, as he reached up to pull her closer.

  “I thought most of this basic stuff had been sorted out,” said Amie as they tucked into their steaks an hour later.

  “That’s the impression they gave me before I left,” Jonathon replied. “I understood they’d organised offices and the site for the plant had been chosen and all I had to do, was to complete the office set up, and then supervise the initial building to specification with the labour force that was waiting as we stepped off the plane.”

  “So, what has happened so far?” asked Amie.

  “Absolutely nothing. The local company which was supposed to be sorting everything out, didn’t even rent space for offices.” Jonathon took a sip of wine. “We’ve made contact with the useless organizers here, and it seems as if nothing can be done at all without ministerial permission. You wouldn’t believe how many ministers there are, and they are all jostling for position, it’s one major power play. I was taken to some government office and most of the day was spent talking about where our offices were going to be situated, although why that should concern them, I don’t know.”

  “What happens next?”

  “Well, I think we’ll be setting up in a building quite close to the city centre. I absolutely refused to construct an office building from scratch.”

  “They wanted you to put up a brand-new building, for the company?” Amie was astounded.

  “Yes, it’s ludicrous! You only have to look around to see dozens of unoccupied buildings in the centre of town. I think,” Jonathon paused for a moment, “they want us to put more money in, and invest in building an office block as well as the desalination plant. They showed me some lovely designs, basically another way of making us spend more. And of course, when the desalination plant is up and running, they’ll have a new office block to rent out.”

  “It doesn’t look as if they can rent out the buildings they’ve already got,” Amie remarked.

  “I’m not sure what they own, but it seems we need just one more decision, hopefully tomorrow and I can start getting the office set up. It’s all a lot more chaotic than I thought it would be.”

  “So, will this mean the Drenton people will delay coming out?” Amie asked.

  “Yes, it’s been put on hold. They won’t arrive until the office is up and running, and that’s going to take several days at least, maybe even weeks. Right now, there’s nowhere for them to work. First, we have to agree on the office location, then I must get the banking sorted out, so I can get the furniture and communications systems installed, and then, hopefully, they’ll be on the next plane.”

  “Let’s hope it won’t take too long,” said Amie, finishing her meal. She had to admit to herself she’d be a lot more upset if she’d not met Diana, at least she had someone to talk to, and she was certainly learning a lot about her new country. Amie dug into her bag and handed Jonathon the contact phone numbers for the rental properties.

  “Diana says all the houses are owned by more government ministers, and if I tried to contact them, I wouldn’t get very far.”

  “Why not?”

  Amie took a deep breath. “Because I’m a woman,” she hissed. “Apparently they would refuse to negotiate with me.”

  “Oh dear,” said Jonathon, knowing this was one moment when he dared not smile. “OK, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll phone them from our associates’ offices first thing in the morning. What are you going to be doing tomorrow?”

  “I’m meeting Diana again, and she’s going to show me more of the area and the best places to get the stuff we need f
or the house,” said Amie. “Even driving around for half the day is exhausting.”

  “I can believe it,” said Jonathon, “it’s not going to be easy to build a plant in this heat.”

  The next morning the sky was a cloudless blue and the sun was shining as strongly as ever.

  “Is it this hot every day?” Amie asked Diana as they went into the hotel coffee shop for a drink before they ventured outside.

  “Most days, yes. We have two rainy seasons, called the big rains, from September to November or around that time, and the little rains in March and April. But you can’t always tell how long they will last and how much rain will fall. There’s been a lot less recently, probably due to global warming.”

  “Um, my company was making a programme for television on that subject,” Amie replied.

  “You’re in television!” exclaimed Diana, “how glamorous!”

  “Don’t believe a word of it,” said Amie. “I was working in a production house which makes inserts for TV and the staff all agree it’s mostly hard work. On shoot you need to work very fast, you never know how long the rain will hold off.” Amie felt a little guilty not mentioning her duties as a mere receptionist, but she hadn’t exactly told a lie either. What Diana believed was up to her, and it was nice for other people to think she was part of the entertainment industry.

  “You have no worries about that here, even in the rainy season it doesn’t rain all day, but the moment it stops, the ground steams, the humidity goes up and you feel even hotter, and all your clothes stick to you. In no time at all, the rain has disappeared, at least outside the city. Here in town, there are no such things as storm water drains, so it runs all over the place and flows down the streets and generally causes chaos. No, what I miss most are the long summer evenings.” Diana ordered a café latte from the waiter, while Amie settled for tea.

  Amie struggled to remember long forgotten geography lessons. “What time does it get dark in summer then?”

  “Practically the same time as it does in winter, we’re close to the Equator here …”