by Renee Topper
Kennen’s voice is clear “Come on now. We should be having fun and resting.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever rest again.” Says the decided voice from beneath the dark circles under her eyes. She’s depressed.
“Aliya, ya can’t keep doin this to yourself.”
“I’m not doing anything...That’s the problem. But I will.”
“What are you on about?”
“I’m going to do something.”
“Tell me. What about ye?”
“It’s just. It’s the only way I know how...” Tears swell up in her eyes with her resignation.
“Maybe you should go home.”
“This is my home now.” She finally looks at him and notices his camera phone on. After a beat, “Are you filming this? Turn it off. Now.”
Fiona’s voice breaks the gravity of what they’ve just seen. “I found it yesterday, going through his web accounts. The time-stamp is July 8th, the day they were taken from us. He must have been in range of a tower in order to post it.”
“We need to find out what happened.”
“I can’t stay.”
“You can’t go. Will Kennen rest? Can he, without answers, without resolution?”
“Will you, Jalil? This is not my war. It wasn’t Kenny’s yet he sacrificed his life for it. I hope you understand that there...”
He cuts her off, “We can find the people who did this to him and hold them accountable. If we walk away, it doesn’t mean anything.”
“It means plenty. I’m taking my brother home. We don’t even know who did this. I’m not going to sacrifice myself for them too. My heart goes out to these people, the albinos and the hunters. There’s something dark here. I don’t understand it enough to fight it. My family has given my brother. May he rest in peace. And whether you accept it or not, you’ve given your daughter. She and you are in our prayers.”
28
Fahamu
July 19
Jalil is in his room. He sits on the edge of the bed palming the knife Rolf gave him. There is a knock on the door. Jalil puts the knife in his pocket and opens the door, surprised by who is there, he turns his back to gain his composure so he doesn’t punch him.
Rhadi’s voice cuts through the shadows, “The cross road at Batumi.”
“What about it?”
Rhadi steps into the light of the room and we see that he has been crying. “Fahamu is there. A witch doctor.”
“Why should I listen to you?”
“Because you are right. I was outside Akida’s window. I heard your conversation. I didn’t take them, Mr. Scott. I wish I had taken them. Then they’d be safe. No one has gone down the dark road to look for them. I will take you.”
Jalil takes out the knife. When Jalil turns around, Rhadi sees this and jumps back with his hands up. “Wait, man!”
Jalil puts it in his belt concealed under his jacket. “Let’s go.”
#
Bakuma Street has woken up since Jalil’s early frenzy, now vibrant with people living and trading their wares. Rhadi leads Jalil down one of the many paths, deeper into a poverty stricken neighborhood. There is trash everywhere and an awful sewer stench. It is dark and dirty. People stand in their makeshift doorways, cautiously taking in the rare sight of a stranger on their street. Tourists don’t come here.
At the back of the alley is a small shack with ritualistic animal carcasses and chachkis hanging over the door. Smoke from the small fire within seeps out the door and cracks in the wall giving a misty hue to the scant light in this dark sparse place. They enter.
In the corner of the room in dark shadow on the floor is a round middle aged woman in a mix of tribal wear and western style clothing, her head is wrapped in cloth piled on her head, some of her teeth are missing but her face is kind, her eyes are deep set and otherworldly. She is barefoot and wearing shells that drape on the remnants of a loose fitting t-shirt over her loose chest. Fahamu.
Rhadi speaks to her, “Fahamu, tunataka msaada wako. We want your help.”
She steps into the muted light and studies the men. She passes Rhadi over to take a closer look at Jalil. He speaks the words Rhadi taught him on the way there which say he wants to buy good fortune, “Nataka kununua bahati nzuri.”
Fahamu takes one of many small bowls from the floor. It has a light colored powder in it. She brings it over to him and spouts, “Ni aina gani? Unataka nini? What kind? What do you want?”
Crippled without enough language, Rhadi answers for him, “Nimeona mzimu nyeupe katika ndoto yangu na mimi lazima kupata wake. He has seen a white ghost in his dream and he must find her.”
She shakes her head. “Mimi wala kufanya hivyo. I don’t do that.”
Jalil takes his phone from his pocket and shows her a picture of Aliya. “I am looking for her. She is my...”
Rhadi, “Yeye mahitaji ya albino. Yeye mahitaji ya tiba. He needs the albino. He needs the cure.”
#
Rhadi, “Ni ni nafasi yake ya pekee ya kuishi. Yeye kulipa. It is his only chance to live. He will pay you.”
“Mimi wala kufanya hivyo. Je, wewe kujaribu kupata mimi kuuawa? I don’t do that. Are you trying to get me killed?”
Rhadi pushes, “Nani anafanya? Who does?”
She looks away to her potions, as if looking for an escape an end to this threat. She moves quickly, so fast, the others aren’t sure what she is diving for. She takes a jar and pours some of its contents into her hand. She comes at Jalil strong, Rhadi almost stops her to protect him, but she more quickly blows blue powder into his face.
Jalil squints, coughs, and puts his hand on his knife, ready to draw. Rhadi puts himself between them.
“Je, wewe kuweka juu yake? What did you put on him?”
“Ukweli. Truth.”
Fahamu comes up close to Jalil. She is short compared to Jalil, but she still exudes big power. She stares in his eyes. “Kuna ni kifo. Kuna roho. Giza. Mimi tu kuona giza. Wewe ... Wewe wamewaua wengi. There is death. There is the ghost. Darkness. I only see darkness. You...You have killed many. She shrinks in fear of what she sees in Jalil’s eyes.”
“Tell me where to find her.”
Rhadi tells Jalil to, “Give her your watch.”
He takes it off his wrist and tries to hand it to her. She won’t take it, but instead points at Jalil’s phone. Jalil gives her the phone.
She relents, trembling. Anything to make him leave. “Kuna ni mchawi giza zamani mwamba kubwa zaidi ya mto wafu. Mahali giza sana. Jina lake ni Bui Bui. Yeye huwanasa vizuka huko katika mtandao wake na anatumia wao wa kutibu VVU. Sasa, wewe ni vizuka kwangu. Wewe ulikuwa kamwe hapa. There is a dark sorcerer past the great rock beyond the dead river. A very dark place. His name is Bui Bui. He catches the ghosts there in his web and uses them to cure the HIV. Now, you are ghosts to me. You were never here.”
Rhadi leads Jalil out of the hut. She swipes branches she’s bundled into a broom wiping the air, pushing away the darkness, clearing the room, clearing the energy.
A few steps down the road, Jalil asks, “What did you say to her?”
A small poorly dressed barefoot child runs up to them and puts Jalil’s phone in Rhadi’s hand and runs away.
“What did she see in your eyes?”
Jalil looks away.
“There is a chance Aliya is alive.”
“What is Bui Bui?”
“Bui Bui is Spider. He’s a witch doctor. Fahuma says he has her.”
“What is VVU?”
Rhadi hesitates. He slows his pace and finally stops walking entirely. Jalil stops and turns to him with full attention. Rhadi doesn’t want to tell him this but he does any way, “VVU is HIV. Some people infected with HIV believe they can be cured if they have sex with an albino. Aliya may be a sex slave.”
“What!”
“It is horrific, but there is a greater chance she is alive. She would bring more money for a longer time if they could keep selling her body as a cure, rather than sell her off in pieces.�
��
“You knew this? You knew they did this?”
“I didn’t want to think it out loud. This is our best hope for her being alive if Bui Bui has her. She would bring more money as a foreign albino, and also as a virgin.”
Jalil shoots him an icy look.
“She told me. I wanted her. She told me she was saving herself.” He can’t believe he is speaking like this. He didn’t know how to tell him this. The father of the woman he is in love with. It comes out matter-of-factly, but fast. As Rhadi ’d been harboring it. It’s a relief for him to let it out. Even the punch is a relief. It hurts less than holding it in.
Jalil punches him fast and hard, intentionally building on the remnants of the bruise already there, a bruise which he doesn’t know was given to him by Kennen after Saba Saba. Rhadi recovers, slowly.
“Let’s go.”
Rhadi walks away, pawing his sore jaw. Jalil follows, rubbing his hand.
29
Dead River
July 19 (later)
A majestic sun shines high in the sky full of gold and heavy with the heat it blares down on their backs. The waters are low, thirsty for the rains. Rhadi fills a pliable water container with a filter he had in his satchel at the river’s edge. As the water seeps through to potable, he rubs his jaw and studies his reflection in the surface. It’s swollen where he took the new hit. “You have a strong punch. Aliya said you were Special Forces.”
Jalil glares at him. “If I was, it was a long time ago. And it wouldn’t be something we’d talk about.”
“We should. I should know who I am walking into a room with. I should know if you could lose it and cut someone open.”
“I haven’t...yet.”
“Will you?”
“I might.”
Jalil darts another intimidating glance at him, a warning, and then starts walking downstream. Rhadi follows lagging slightly behind.
#
Hours into their journey, Rhadi barters with an old fisherman, naked but for the shorts on his lower extremity, a thin and poor character, the lines on his face and the scars on his hands reveal his hard long life. How much to carry them on his small rickety boat? He is resistant at first, but Rhadi trades him his sunglasses, which he heartily accepts and sports with zeal. In another life this man could be a star in Hollywood. They push off and are 20 yards out when Creepy Man comes running to the shore, calling after them. “Mr. Scott!” His voice echoes across the water and is nearly lost to the vast expanse around them.
They look to the shore. Jalil recognizes him. “Stop. Go back.”
Rhadi motions to the Fisherman to stay on course.
“Wait. He’s the man who was following Aliya.” Jalil adds.
“Something isn’t right.” Rhadi studies the trees and bush. “He is not alone.”
Jalil looks back at the man on the shore. He sees motion and hints of other men in the bush behind Creepy Man. Something in the fishing net catches his eye. There is albino hair woven into the net. He touches it, drawn to remember a day many years ago when he was holding a restless toddler, trying to keep her still, playing patty-cake and peek-a-boo, while Tamika corn-rowed her reddish-blonde African hair.
Fisherman speaks, bringing him back to the present, “Ni inanileta bahati.”
Rhadi translates, “He says it brings him luck.”
Jalil pulls his hand away, looking at the man who is partly responsible and looking again at the strands, believing they may be the very same hair he helped Tamika braid in an earlier life in LA.
They glide deeper into the vacant wilderness.
#
Hours later, the river is dried up in front of them, so the boat can go no further. They pull off to the side. Rhadi gives the Fisherman a push off and he drifts back the way they came. He watches them walk on, still wearing the sunglasses.
Rhadi walks in front of Jalil, keeping some distance between them, on this dried up riverbed. Hours have passed but the sun is so big it doesn’t appear to have moved and its rays don’t relent. They are sweating.
Jalil sees Aliya’s standing in the brush on the side of the river, looking alive as ever. Just standing there fresh, but somber. He walks toward her, astounded. “Aliya?” He can’t believe it. He wipes his eyes. She is gone.
“What? You see something?”
Jalil shakes his head. Rhadi takes a swig from the water bottle and hands it to Jalil. Jalil comes closer and accepts it.
They come upon the hard bend in the river, deeper into the uncivilized part of the country than they’ve been. There is a group of people in indigenous dress at a hut, keeping in the shadows for shade. They watch the strangers.
#
Jalil and Rhadi approach a dark cave-like hut, half dug into the earth. Broken tree brush makes for the walls. There are drums playing. A ritual is underway within. As they close in, Jalil draws his knife.
Akida’s police SUV descends seemingly out of nowhere. He has three armed officers with him. Jalil puts the knife in his pocket.
Jalil asks, “What are you doing here?”
“Nous avons eu un appel de votre ambassade. Quelqu'un ne veut pas une autre disparition américaine ici. We got a call from your embassy. Someone doesn’t want another American disappearing here.” Akida takes Jalil’s knife. “Vous auriez dû me dire à propos de votre ligne de travail. Ils ne veulent pas vous courir perdent dans notre pays. Surtout quelqu'un avec votre reputation. You should have told me about your line of work. They don’t want you running around lose in our country. Especially someone with your reputation.” He orders his men, “Hoja! Move!”
Rhadi and Jalil stand back and watch as the police barge into the hut, one goes around the back. A hunter and an HIV client run from the hut. The Officers catch them and bring them into custody.
Akida goes into the hut and comes out with an albino woman, draped with a blanket, her face is hidden. Jalil is hopeful. She raises her head into the light to see, to believe that she is free. She squints at the light. Jalil sees she is not Aliya and runs inside.
#
Jalil looks frantically around the room. There is no one here, only ghosts, only albino body parts and chachkis made from albino persons strung up around the hut. He examines each. The little hands and feet are too small to have been hers. Another arm is too masculine and sun damaged. None of these belong to his daughter, but each did belong to someone. He holds the severed hand of a toddler gently in his palm. The weight of it brings him to his knees. The wet ground seeps into his pant legs. Blood wet. The soil is drenched. He looks at the ground where women and children were shackled, raped and butchered. He finds a bowl and collects the drenched earth with his bare hands. Rhadi looks on from the doorway, tears swell in his eyes.
Jalil holds the bowl close to him as he steps out of the hut and approaches Akida. He offers it to Akida. “Où puis-je avoir cette testé pour l'ADN? Where can I have this tested for DNA?”
Akida is in disbelief. He softly takes the bowl in one hand and places his other on Jalil’s shoulder.
They are boarding the vehicle. Jalil is still standing there. He looks at the Albino woman in shock in a blanket in the back of the truck.
Rhadi gets out of the truck. “Come.”
Jalil just keeps looking around.
Akida signals two of his men to get Jalil and bring him.
They each take an arm. Jalil resists.
“M. Scott, vous devez venir. Mr. Scott, you must come.”
“Leave me. I must find her. This is the closest I’ve gotten.” Jalil breaks free. Akida’s men chase him down a few yards away and cuff him. They bring him back to the truck and as they load him into it, Akida explains, “Je dois suivre ces orders. I have to follow these orders.”
30
Captured
July 20
In the back of the police station, the Hunter is in a chair with his hands bound behind him. Akida is there with one of his men questioning him. Jalil is in the hall outside with Rhadi, seeing a
nd hearing what he can through the doorway. Akida holds a picture of Aliya in front of the Hunter’s face. The man is worn out. He turns his head away in silence then it lulls low back and forth like a pendulum as he utters, “Mimi siwezi kusema.” Rhadi, “I cannot say.” He translates this and continues conveying each utterance of the interrogation in a soft voice.
Akida prompts him, “You must.”
The Hunter continues, as does Rhadi, “Bui Bui has cursed me. My children will die if I tell you anything.”
“Practicing witchcraft is illegal. I will bring him in and you can press charges. Then he can’t hurt anyone.” Rhadi translates Akida’s words.
“You think prison can hold his magic?” The Hunter’s eyes widen.
“He scares you. I see that. We will find him, put him in prison with or without your help. What you tell me now will determine if you are in prison with him or on the other side of the wall.”
Tears stream down the Hunter’s face. He is terrified. “We didn’t want to do this. We had no choice.”
“There were more of you? How many? Then what happened?”
With each word out of Rhadi’s mouth, Jalil’s greatest nightmare is realized.
#
We captured her out in the woods and brought her to Bui Bui. His name suits him because he does look like a spider. He was looking for an American zeru-zeru for a special customer who would pay top dollar for her. I stayed to help deliver her to the buyer so my crew gets paid, but we all couldn’t wait around for this. I held her to the ground.
Bui Bui, a thin dark elderly man dressed in ritual robe, charms and feathers is shaking a rattle over her and chanting.
Rhadi translates, “...So he had me hold her down and he took the machete and cut…”
Bui Bui raises the machete and it comes down on the girl’s albino hair, drawing blood...
Akida’s deputy escorts Hunter to a cell, past Jalil, who can’t move. If he moves he will reach over and snap the Hunter’s neck. Jalil rises and takes a bold step toward him, in his face, looking him in the eye, looking for answers. Akida steps toward them. The deputy pulls the fragile Hunter away and locks him in a cell.