by Ted Oswald
A tear slipped down her cheek. She knew this was the closest he could come to saying he loved her. With all the feelings coursing through her, she didn’t know what to say back. She turned toward the river, and he reached to tug at her bag’s hanging strap.
— Whatever happens, don’t lose hope. His eyes felt as if they were boring into her. The end of hope is the end of us all, he said.
She nodded and rushed down the quiet path toward the river alone.
Libète lies sweating on the jail’s floor, her mind set on hate.
Cinéus and Wilnor keep watch with their dog on a nearby shaded boulder. She knows their voices well, their cackling. They discuss their reward for trapping her, how they will spend the money. Their dreams are quite small. They want to return home to open a butcher’s shop in Gonaïves.
— You hear that, ti fi? Cinéus calls to her. You’re our future!
There is singing now, two women’s voices, and the sound rises up the hill. Libète rolls over, squints through the wall’s cracks. It’s Magdala with Délira, and her baby. Magdala carries a basket on her head.
What are they doing?
— Hey, you two. Yeah, you! Let us in the jail. We need to give the prisoner some food.
— No. No visitors. Cinéus threw a stick, and his dog coursed after it.
— Aw, come on. Aren’t you men? You don’t have to be cruel to do your jobs. She has a long journey ahead of her! Let her at least have a full stomach before she goes.
The dog dropped the stick before Wilnor, and he patted the animal’s head. He looked to Cinéus, who shrugged. Wilnor got down from their boulder and hustled over.
— It’s the least we can do, said Cinéus. You can fatten this calf today for our fattened calves tomorrow. He snickered as Wilnor came over and inspected the basket. Magdala didn’t understand the joke and scowled anyway.
The lock came off the door. Libète cringed at the light. She sat up and dusted herself off. The door swung open, and Magdala swooped in. She gave Libète the most powerful of embraces despite the blood soaked into Libète’s shirt. My dear, my dear, my dear.
— Give her the food and get going, Wilnor said.
— Bite your tongue, Magdala snapped. If this is good-bye, at least give us a few moments.
— Whatever. He locked the door behind them and left.
Délira looked very tense, even more so than Libète. She approached Libète and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.
— Sophia, take off your clothes, Magdala said.
— What?
— Take them off. Your headscarf too. Délira had already handed her baby to Magdala and was following the same instructions.
— What are you both doing?
— They’re coming for you, but we won’t let them have you.
— Why?
— Ah! What a silly question. Because we love you.
— Youn ede lòt, Délira said. One helping another. This is my thanks. For delivering me, for saving him.
Libète put her leaden limbs into action and began to swap her clothes. I’m sorry they’re a mess, Libète said. Délira nodded warily and put them on anyway.
When the clothes were switched, Magdala handed Delivrans to Libète. Libète didn’t feel good about using him as a prop in the deception, and certainly not when she was ailing and likely contagious.
— It’s the only way, Délira said, answering Libète’s concerns. She wrapped Libète’s headscarf about her own head. He’ll be back in my arms soon enough.
— Ah, the transfòmasyon! Magdala remarked. It’s complete!
Libète’s eyes watered as she looked at Délira. You are so incredibly brave, Libète said. As soon as they realize the ruse, we’ll have problems.
— Of course. But we will deal. Délira, lay on the ground and face away. Ah, that looks perfect. Sophia, hold the baby close. And hide your face; act like you’ve been crying.
Magdala breathed deep and forced a smile. Guard! she called. We’re done!
Libète and Magdala rushed over the hill, taking a back route to reach Janel’s home. Libète felt the babe cooing in her arms. Such an immense responsibility wrapped in such a small body.
— Janel must be made to know what you discovered about Dorsinus–about the Sosyete and their involvement with these, these miners! She spit. Rapists is what they are!
— How did you know I’d been taken? It dawned on her. Félix reached you?
— In the middle of the night.
— He’s safe, then?
— For now, as far as I know. He told me how you gave yourself up to protect him. He escaped as soon as he could. He woke me wildly, like one possessed. Said he needed to talk to others.
— And you’re here already? To rescue me?
— At first, I was paralyzed. I didn’t know what to do. I’ve never been very brave, you know. But I thought of you. Saving Délira. Helping Jeune. Protecting Félix. You remind me of my father. He was a good man. She dabbed at her eyes. A very good man.
Libète reached out to touch her. Tell me about him. I need inspiration to face what’s coming our way.
— He’s a hard subject. She sighed, collecting her thoughts. Whenever we were crushed by life–maybe a bad crop, maybe a dead baby–he would say, ‘The end of hope is the end of us all.’ And so we would hope, and pray.
— He said that, did he?
— And he stood up for what was good. There were endless dark days, as far back as I remember. We weren’t always from this place. He and my mother, they chose to come here. To raise the consciousness of the people. But the opposition, it was strong.
First the chef de section and tontons macoutes. Then the military. Then the paramilitaries. Oh! This mountain has suffered. He would say, ‘We are seeds, fallen on the ground. If we go through our days laying ourselves down for others, we’ll see a big harvest. A big one. Nothing can stop such seeds from growing into strong trees.’ He heard the old preacher who used to come through here say that, and he planted it right in his heart. For me, he’d always say, ‘I love you.’ Many fathers wouldn’t say things like that so openly. To my brother, he had to phrase it differently. He was a man, after all. ‘I’d do anything for you,’ he told my brother.
Libète stilled. What happened to him?
— Men with guns came. When I was about your age, thereabouts. I ran, but he stood his ground, along with my mother, to keep them from pursuing me. ‘Peace!’ he shouted. ‘Peace! Aren’t we brothers?’ The men with guns, they hit him. Brought him to his knees in front of her. I hid. I watched. Until I couldn’t.
Her eyes watered. When faced with evil in those men, he and my mother gave themselves up. He was loved by most everyone. But there were always divides in the community. Hardship sucks away generosity. But his death, it changed things.
It was terrible for a long while, it really was. Crops stayed bad year after year. So many left the mountain to try to survive in the city. I moved in with a man to get by. He was bad. He left me when Félix was a baby. And my brother, my marassa, my twin–he was lost to the city too. Never heard from again.
— You had a twin?
— I did. But you know what? After all that heartache, Hearts United formed. The organization, it was the harvest collected from my father and mother’s planting. My parents had dreamed of a unified community ever since they came here. The Good Lord takes evil and uses it for good. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it time and again.
— And what about a man, oh, what did he call him? Libète asked herself. The man who convinced him to wait?
Magdala was confused. Who do you mean? A man?
— Robert! That’s it! Do you know a man by the name of Robert, living here in Foche?
— Why, that’s old Jeune’s name. But nobody calls him that anymore.
The color from Libète’s face slipped away. Magdala. I have a very important question for you. Your brother–was he named Dimanche?
— My brother? No.
Libète paused, sighed. It felt lik
e a revealing curtain had been pulled back halfway and then dropped.
— But my father, yes.
Libète’s eyes widened. She shifted Delivrans and his swaddling to her other arm.
— Cheri, what in the world is the matter?
— What is his name? Your brother’s true name?
— Why, Marcel. Marcel Dieudonné.
With tears in her eyes, Libète spoke. My dear friend, I know what became of your brother.
Libète returns from the river. Her pack is full of water bottles positioned carefully so as to let the frightened pigeon rest on top.
It was hard to find her way back. New lances of lightning slashed across the sky, making shadows shift and slide. The thunder that followed was a series of delayed explosions, paralyzing in their strength. The fear encroached on her.
She heard the same unnatural sounds as before, but closer now. They were like the dirt bike, but lower.
The motors cut. Dogs barked.
It dawned on her. Dimanche knew they would find him! He wanted me far off!
Libète saw flashlights sweeping over the woods. She ran.
I have to save him! I have to–
She lost a shoe – no time to stop! – up and down, tripping on roots, stubbing a toe. She threw out the bottles of water–they weighed her down, made too much noise. She wanted to scream but kept it in. When she was half a football pitch away, she slowed.
It was already too late. The dogs’ barking stopped. The lights rested. They had found Dimanche.
She crept closer. She heard orders, mostly clipped, and two men in fatigues left their ATVs and kept Dimanche on the ground. They searched his bag and his person. They collected his gun – why didn’t he shoot them? – and bound Dimanche. Had the fight left him entirely?
And then Libète saw. Maxine came forward out of the dark and shined a blinding light in Dimanche’s face. Where is she? Maxine asked.
He didn’t respond. She kicked him in the stomach, and Libète cradled her own as if she had received the blow. Dimanche gasped.
— Talk. I’m tempted to let my dogs eat you. After what you did to poor Remus back in Jacmel . . .
She kicked him again. They’re hungry, she said. One dog gave a sharp bark, almost as if in agreement.
— I told Libète to run. To leave me, he wheezed. To get across the border. Maxine looked at his splinted ankle. She stepped on it, and he screamed.
She circled him, observing his misery like a dispassionate scientist.
— Working for a man like Dumas, Dimanche said, is dangerous. He’s like one of your mutts, liable to eat you up whole when you turn your back. Just ask Pascal. Years of loyalty–
— Please. Maxine stood. You know why Pascal died.
— All I know is he died for a few digits.
Libète couldn’t see Maxine smile but heard the woman force a laugh. The inspector still inspects! So that’s it? Trying to get clues, even till the very end? She stepped on his ankle again. Just tell me where she is. She’ll live. I promise. I have no reason to hurt her.
Libète unconsciously folded her hands before her face and waited for his answer.
— You don’t realize how hope spreads.
— What? Maxine said.
— You try to cut the plant, but you spread the seeds. You try to crush the seeds but you only plant them deeper. I’ve sinned. Done terrible things. But I would never violate the trust of that girl. If you think I would betray her for my own safety–
Maxine pulled a gun from her side and shot Dimanche.
Libète cried out, and fled. The dogs heard, and followed.
Magdala has to sit, has to sit now.
She collapses at the telling of the thing, not comprehending it all, and weeps.
Libète cries too as these terrible memories breach their containing walls and flood everything. She falls to the earth too and clutches the baby. New life, new life. Live for that.
— To know he’s gone . . . Magdala says.
— When I arrived, in your home, I said my people would come for me. I knew Dimanche–Marcel–would not, but I couldn’t face what his death meant then. I realized I didn’t want to be Libète anymore–the exiled girl, the abandoned girl, the girl who sees her friends die.
— A fallen seed, Magdala whispers. That’s what he is. She whimpers. On to Janel’s. Our best hope, she chokes out.
Libète’s fever makes it hard to stand again and push on, but Magdala’s hand rests on Libète’s shoulder. Moans continue pouring from her. She needs Libète to lead her on.
When they crest the hill, they see Janel tending beans in her yard. Janel looks up and becomes stone-faced at recognizing Libète.
— Sophia? Magdala? What’s going on? How are you here?
It seemed an odd question.
— There are problems, Libète said, evenly.
Janel blinked. Come in. Yes, come in. She led them inside her home, drawing two chairs together for them to sit. Isn’t that–Délira’s child? Janel asked.
Libète nodded. Magdala was still despondent, and Libète placed a bracing hand on her friend’s knee.
— But why do you have him?
— I was captured last night. At the dig. Cinéus and Wilnor trapped me in the jail. Madanm Janel–Félix and I discovered something terrible. Those men are not recovering our history. They’re mining!
Janel sat up straight. Magdala was inert.
— If this is true . . . excuse me. I need to call the people together. Janel reached for her nearby conch shell and rose to step outside. She paused and gave out one long, sustained blow followed by three short bursts. She repeated the signal.
Libète felt an excruciating pain behind her eyes. But Janel–it is worse than that. The Sosyete is in league with the miners. Dorsinus–Félix and I–we found Dorsinus. He’s been made a–a zombie.
Janel braced herself against the doorframe.
Libète pressed on. We need to rise up against these people. The community must stop this. Disarm the guards. If you know who the members of the Sosyete answer to, especially the one who is above this local group, you have to go to him. Convince him of the wrong being done.
Janel’s shoulders sank. She spun to look out her doorway and peered out. Her eyes searched for something.
— Madanm Janel–are you hearing me? They are tearing up our land. If they continue, they’ll pollute our water, ruin our crops, give us sicknesses.
— How are you so sure?
Libète blinked, cocked her head. If these men are doing what they do under the cover of a lie, it has to be because their methods are fast and rough and wrong. It’s just a matter of time before–
Janel looked outside again, and seeing something, sighed in relief.
— Who’s there? Libète asked, annoyed at Janel’s distraction.
— It seems there are two trucks coming our way. Full of armed men. Paramilitaries, it appears.
Magdala suddenly rose. They’re coming for Libète? Magdala whispered. Then we must hide her! They can’t have her!
Janel’s face was an empty slate. It’s too late for that.
Libète nearly wretched, and the coughing began again. Magdala was horrified. What are you–
— You must both go with them.
— Go . . . with them? Magdala wailed.
Libète closed her eyes, shook her head. She tried to stifle the scratch at the back of her throat that made not coughing an impossibility. You sold us, Libète choked out.
Dear God.
— You made Prosper go out with Cinéus and Wilnor last night. You ordered him.
Dear God.
— You know they’ve been mining all along. And you helped them hide it.
Dear God.
— You don’t fall under the Sosyete’s authority. They fall under yours.
Libète stood, holding the baby tight, tight, tight. You ordered Dorsinus to be handed over to the Sosyete. You ordered the Sosyete to make me leave. Your lies – her voice fell
to a whisper – they’re endless.
— You talk of lies? Janel said. Your name isn’t even your own.
— No! Magdala exploded. She pulled at her hair. No, no, no. We trusted you, Janel . . . above all others! Her cries rose.
— It was all to protect Foche, Janel said. The land was dying. Our youth were leaving. We were dying. The university–the miners–came with an offer. They would give us seed, fertilizer, and water. And the results? We haven’t seen yields like these in years! Parents are eating, as are their children. The community, it has hope again.
— At what cost? Libète murmured. Her arms tightened too much, and Delivrans began crying. You traded everything for a good season. You’re about to let them rob the common plot. This child–this child in my arms–will not have a home. You understand? They have bought you, and fooled you, and you’ve led this community headlong to its destruction.
Janel trembled. She reached for a nearby mug and threw it. It nearly hit Libète and the child and shattered against the wall. Get out! Now!
The trucks had come close. The men jumped down, their guns at the ready. Magdala forced Janel out of the doorway and screamed and Libète came close behind her. From behind Magdala’s flailing she glimpsed a terrible figure step from the lead truck. Libète dropped to her knees.
Maxine.
The woman, bedecked in military garb, walked cautiously toward Magdala, toward Libète, toward the child. At last, she said.
Magdala’s tears stopped for a moment. Is this woman–is this the one you told me about?
Libète could only stare at the ground, only cling to the child mewling in her arms.
Magdala knew her answer. You murderer. Her wails began again, climbed higher, spread all across the hills.
Janel watched the scene with fear and trembling. Take them, she gasped. You can pass word to the big shots running the mining operation that with them gone, all is not lost.
— Tell them yourself. They just hired my people for security. The girl is all I’m here for. She advanced toward Libète.
Bursts of gunfire in quick succession erupted from not far off, echoing throughout the mountains.
All looked in the direction of the sounds. A silence followed that no one would break.