[2016] Rubbing Stones

by Nancy Burkey

  The woman laughed and exchanged glances with the older man.

  Katura stepped back and almost pulled the man off his stool, but she was instantly free. She stood facing them, angry at having been grabbed but mostly angry at her own naiveté. How could she possibly not have known that the MDC were armed? What else had Zuka’s father lied about?

  “Look, dear,” the woman had said, “this isn’t a place for you.” She spoke quietly, tenderly, her manner at odds with her severe appearance. “Why would they drag you along?”

  “They didn’t. I’m here because I want to be.”

  “Oh,” the woman said, “and what is it you want to do for us? We might be able use your kind of spunk.”

  Katura sighed. “I’m not here for your cause. I have my own.” She turned to leave.

  “Interesting.”

  Katura didn’t like her condescending tone.

  “Then maybe we could help you.”

  “I don’t think so. It’s your cause that has my brother in jail, and your party does nothing to stop it. You know full well that the ZANU killed that police chief, and yet my brother—Tafadzwa, his name is Tafadzwa—is dragged in to take the rap so—”

  “Look, girl, you can’t talk to her like that,” the bearded man said. “This is political, not personal. It’s too bad about your brother, but we have a lot more important fires to put out than your family problems. There’s a whole country here that—”

  He stopped when the older man raised his hand, palm out. Everybody waited for him to speak.

  “It’s always personal,” he said. “At least, it starts out that way. When we forget that part—the part about her brother, your sister, someone else’s mother—that’s when we forget why we’re here. You keep it personal, young lady, because that’s all that really matters.”

  Katura shifted from one foot to the other. She looked at the woman, who smiled but made no attempt to break the silence. The old man lifted his head and stared into Katura’s eyes.

  “Good luck with your brother.”

  Katura had wanted to hear more from this man. She wanted to know what could be done, if her brother was safe, if he would be released. This man seemed to know so much more than he said. But it was clear that he’d finished with her, that she’d been dismissed. Low conversations sprang up around her. The group had returned to their own business and closed her out.

  Now she looked around for the old man, didn’t see him.

  “I hope I wasn’t rude the other night,” she said. The woman smiled.

  “Not rude, just outspoken. But I’ll tell you again, this is no place for a young girl to be. This is the second time I’ve had to save you from one of these bastards.”

  “And I appreciate it.” She reached out her hand. “I’m Katura.”

  The woman shook it and nodded. No name given.

  “It’s the least I could do. Now, why do you want directions to Mana Pools?”

  “It’s where they’ve gone, to plan how to get my oldest brother released. I need to be there. Japera needs—”

  “You can’t go there. It’s too dangerous. Anyway, I’m sure you won’t find them there.” The woman looked down at the table and took in a deep breath.

  “I’ll find them. I have to. Thabani might mess up again, might get Japera in trouble. I have to…” She stopped, the woman was starring at her.

  “You don’t know.” The woman scooted her seat back and got up. “You need to see something.” She walked over to the bar and whispered to the bartender. He glanced Katura’s way, then handed the woman a newspaper from behind the bar.

  “It’s all working out so far.”

  She recognized the voice and turned slowly in its direction. No sudden, attention-grabbing moves. Changa was seated just a few feet away. He was facing away from her, drinking a beer.

  “But I’ve got to get back now, work to do.” He scooted back his chair.

  Katura rose. He would pass right by her table on his way out. She moved quickly to the bar, stood so that the woman blocked Changa’s view of her.

  “Just don’t let Zuka see this again. He’s upset enough about his friends.” The woman opened the paper and handed it to Katura—then sat on a stool. She was now in full view.

  Suddenly there was a commotion in the back. Two guys were standing at a table and yelling.

  “Hey, knock it off back there,” the bartender called out.

  The man who had let Katura in and several others started moving toward the back. They blocked Changa’s exit, but only for a moment.

  Katura grabbed the paper and nodded toward a small hallway behind the bar. “Be right back. She ducked into the women’s bathroom, relieved to find the window open. She popped out the screen, jumped down into the alleyway below, and ran.

  She was almost back to the field when she stopped to catch her breath. She pulled the newspaper out of her pocket and slipped into the doorway of a closed shop. A sentence into the article she realized it wasn’t about the arrest at all. The story described a government raid on rebels—traitors, it called them—at Mana Pools. A massacre of more than three hundred. No one got out alive.

  She stood perfectly still for a few seconds. She staggered onto the street, then found herself running, running desperately back toward the field as fast as she could move. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. Japera and Thabani dead? She let out a moan as she rounded the corner, then stopped. Why go back? Who was Changa, anyway? She had no idea now what side he was on or what his real purpose was. Her mind was racing, trying to put things together.

  She sat down under the trees near the field. She could hear the kids playing. She lay down in the grass. Think. You’re missing something. Suddenly she sat up. This didn’t make sense, the timing was off—the woman had said Zuka was upset about his friends. She must have meant these friends, the MDC. Katura pulled the paper back out of her pocket and looked at the date. The raid had been three days before she even got to Victoria Falls. Japera was still alive, or in any case wasn’t at the massacre. The plan had been to unite with the rebels at Mana Pools—at least, that’s what Zuka had said. He said they’d be able to help. But the massacre had already happened and Zuka knew about it.

  A soccer ball came rolling into the trees just as a white van rounded the corner and stopped across the street. She hopped up, grabbed the ball and came running toward the field.

  “My throw in!” She tossed it in to the feet of the player nearest her.

  “Hey, what the—”

  “Sorry, guys, my ride’s here. Gotta go.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Jane finished going through her bag for the second time. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, just anything that might be useful. Coming up empty, she stuffed the bag under her cot as Michael burst through the door, startling both her and Jake.

  “It’s a hostage exchange.” His energy was palpable. “Japera says they’re close, real close. This should all be over soon.” He threw his jacket on the bed, grabbed the last piece of bread on Jake’s nightstand, and stuffed it into his mouth.

  Jake stared at his brother. Michael looked from him to his mother and back.

  “This is great news. Didn’t you hear me? It’s almost over. How come you guys aren’t more excited?”

  “Tell me everything he told you.” She knew Japera had gone into his hut and Thabani was just finishing up rounds before getting Zuka for the next shift. She’d kept her conversation with Thabani light tonight, not wanting him to back away from her after having been so vulnerable the day before. She didn’t want to scare him off before her next move.

  Michael sat down across from them and let out a sigh. “It’s simple. They’re making the U.S. embassy negotiate with the police. They’re going to exchange us for Japera’s brother.”

  “Where’s his brother?” Jake asked.

  “In some jail.”

  “No big surprise,” Jake said. “These guys aren’t exactly boy scouts.”

  “No, Jake, you
don’t get it. His brother’s totally innocent but he’s being blamed for killing some police officer. It’s dangerous in their jails, he might not make it out. Japera’s really worried about him.”

  “The guy out there with a gun is a devoted family man? Mom, help me out here, Michael’s–-”

  “You’d do the same for me, wouldn’t you, Jake? If I—”

  “If you killed a cop? Would I take people hostage and risk their lives?” Jake slapped his forehead. “Oh, no, I got that wrong. Lives aren’t just at risk. Or did you forget? Baruti and—”

  “Japera didn’t shoot anybody, Jake.”

  “Yet.”

  “Boys, stop. We need to focus.” Jane started to pace but kept an eye on the window. “Michael, what makes Japera think the embassy will go along with this?”

  “He thought Rick was a U.S. senator, that the embassy will want to help them out for a trade.”

  “So that’s why they took us.” Jake seemed to relax.

  “Thought?” Jane turned to face him. “What’s he think now?”

  Jake sat up. “You told him Rick wasn’t—”

  “No, of course not.” Michael said without looking at him. “I mean, I started to. I don’t know what I was thinking. But he didn’t really get it.”

  “What exactly did you tell him?” Jane shot Jake a look to quiet him. If Michael felt defensive he might distort his report.

  Jake glared at his brother but kept silent.

  “We were just talking—like regular talking, just about our families. I started to explain the difference between the U.S. Senate and the state legislature and right in the middle of it I realized…” He lifted a water bottle to his mouth.

  “Michael.” Jane sat down across from him. “What was Japera’s reaction?”

  Michael took a long swig and swallowed, he took his time to answer. “He got worried, I mean the look on his face—”

  “Great, he figured out we weren’t important enough to get his brother out of jail.” Jake slammed his book down on the nightstand. “Now we’re totally f— ”

  “Jake.” She glared at him, then turned back to Michael.

  “No, not like that, Mom.” He spoke softly. “Like he was worried about us, about me.”

  Jane put her hand up to stop Jake’s next comment. “You said he didn’t get it.”

  “I back-tracked fast. Told him they were really basically the same thing, that Rick’s an important government politician.” Michael glanced up at the ceiling. “I mean, was.”

  “And then what, Michael?”

  “I told him it wouldn’t matter to the embassy. Anyway, it doesn’t seem to. That guy that delivers supplies? Changa? He’s like their middleman. He told Zuka everything is going well. Japera says the exchange is about to happen.”

  “So why’s Zuka involved?”

  “I don’t know.” He sat back a moment. “He was the one who brought Japera’s brother to the rally where the cop got shot. I guess he feels like it’s his fault the brother was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the whole mistaken identity thing happened. He probably feels guilty.”

  She nodded. But Zuka sure didn’t act like a guy who felt guilty. In fact, just the opposite. She patted Michael on the knee.

  “Good work, honey.”

  Jane continued to go sequentially through their bags. She knew she should move quickly through Rick’s—she had work to do—but despite her intentions, she brought his shirt up to her face, the one on top, the one he’d worn the day before they were taken. She rubbed the fabric over her cheek. His scent, so familiar, so comforting and alive, still permeated the cloth. With a deep breath she took it in, let herself remember just for a second his touch, his essence. She looked around, making sure the boys hadn’t seen her. She folded the shirt back up neatly and replaced it in the bag.

  She felt the corners of Rick’s bag and found the keys to their Acura, presumably still parked in a long-term lot at San Francisco Airport. She dropped them in the side pouch of her own bag. Always room for optimism. She pulled out the shaving kit and searched its contents. No luck. With post 9/11 airport security, he must have left his Swiss Army knife at home. She took out Rick’s anti-malarial pills and added them to the boys’ supply and moved on to the boys’ bags. Near the bottom of Michael’s duffle she found a small package.

  “Hey, that’s private.” Michael grabbed the package out of her hand.

  “Michael?”

  He shrugged his shoulders and opened the small box, taking out a necklace with a carved onyx jaguar in the center. He turned to block his brother’s view of the gift.

  “Probably for Caitlin.” Jake didn’t look up from his book. “He just doesn’t learn.”

  Michael closed up the duffle. “There’s nothing in there that’s of help, Mom—just clothes and my toothbrush.”

  She was about to insist on checking for herself when they heard a soft rap on the door. She signaled for the boys to be quiet and walked over to the window. Thabani stood alone. She looked at her watch. Zuka should have relieved him over an hour ago.

  “Paul’s leg looks bad,” he said. “Can you take a look?”

  Jane slowly descended the wooden stairs of Paul’s hut and wiped her hands dry on her jeans. She gazed at the stars for a few minutes before she realized that Thabani sat alone on the picnic table just a few yards from her. It was now hours after he should have awakened Zuka.

  “I need different medicine.”

  He stared at her without responding.

  “The Keflex isn’t holding him.”

  “Then clean the wound better.” He turned away and scanned the periphery of their camp.

  “Look, you saw his leg.” She tried to keep the anger out of her voice. “The skin’s inflamed and swollen a good six inches from the wound, it’s tight and hot. He’s developing a raging cellulitis and it’s going to become systemic soon if we don’t take care of it quickly.”

  He continued to stare off.

  “Thabani, you have to listen to me.” She walked around to face him directly. “The medicine I have isn’t good enough. At home he’d be on IV antibiotics. Maybe if you can get me a few things we can turn this around, but—”

  “I heard you.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he stared into her eyes before he looked away again.

  She waited for more.

  Nothing.

  She sat down across from him. “What about that guy who brings food—Changa, I think? If I make a list, could you give it to him? I’ll list several choices of medicine. I don’t know what he can find around here. I also need clean bandages and sterile saline.”

  Silence.

  “It’s clean water.”

  “I know what it is, Jane.”

  She bit her lower lip. “Sorry.”

  “I just don’t know what I can do.”

  She searched his face closely. He looked pained by his words.

  “I’m sure you’ll do what you can.”

  They sat in silence for several minutes. He made no move to get Zuka, just stared out into the distance. He seemed on the verge of saying something. She waited.

  “Thabani?” she said finally.

  He didn’t respond, didn’t look at her.

  “Thabani, what if the embassy doesn’t care? What’ll happen to us?”

  Nothing.

  She rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m just not sure how much the embassy or the State Department is going to risk. It’s complicated, even for a senator.”

  Thabani turned his head slowly and stared at her.

  “Oh, God.” She closed her eyes and held her breath. “Japera?”

  He nodded.

  “Does Zuka know?”

  No response.

  “It’s not too late. You could turn this around.”

  He laughed. “Murder’s not well tolerated in this country. Unless it’s done by the government.”

  “But it wasn’t you, Thabani.” The light from her hut let her see the side
of his face. His jaw muscles were tightening, grinding his back teeth. “You never fired your gun.”

  She watched him look over toward Paul’s hut, now dark. She knew Paul was making himself the most expendable of the group, but if she guessed right, another death would be one too many for Thabani. She watched his face. That was it—Paul’s worsening condition was the last straw for him. He knew exactly what was at risk.

  Thabani turned to face her.

  “I’d make sure you got out,” she said, “you and your cousin. I’d tell them the truth, what role you played. I’d make sure they understood.”

  “But why?”

  She smiled and nodded toward her hut. “You’re not that much older than my boys, not even ten years older. I bet you’ve got a mother worried about you somewhere, family worried about that boy in jail. My boys would do the same thing if they were in your shoes. Look, I know your intentions were good, but things didn’t go as planned and it’s only getting worse. Let me help you out of this.”

  She heard a distant motor. The truck was approaching. She reached into her pants leg pocket and took out a pen and scrap of paper. She wrote down the supplies she needed and handed it to him.

  “Give this to Changa, we’ll figure out the rest after he’s gone.”

  He stared at the list, then stuffed it in his shirt pocket. He looked over at the hut where his cousin slept.

  “Japera, too,” she said. “I don’t know what will happen to Zuka. After all, he’s committed—”

  “Of course.”

  “But you and Japera are different. We need to focus on getting everyone out safe. You and I can figure it out, Thabani, we can make it happen.” She waited until he was looking at her again. “You can trust me on this.”

  He looked steadily into her eyes, then nodded slowly.

  “I know.”

  “Where’s Zuka?” Changa jumped down from the cab and headed for the back of the truck.