01-04-2019, 11:42 AM
"Of all the fetishes I have, worry beads are not one of them," she replied. "I'll be wanting those back. And I'll see Lady Maria before we discuss whatever you want with us, thank you."
"I did not expect you to be American," Igazi said when he heard her voice.
"I didn't expect to be a great-grandmother before thirty. It just sort of worked out that way. I'll see her now."
Igazi stood closer and looked down to shout in her face.
"I will decide when you see her! You will obey me or..."
"Or what," Helena interrupted, speaking Rwanda. "You'll kill us? You could have had your men shoot me back on the savannah if that's what you wanted. No, you need something, or why go to all this trouble? And you know that whatever you DO need, I won't do it if she dies. So quit the blustering; nothing happens until I see her." She looked around. "Also, it's been a long drive; so, we just shit anywhere around here? Or..."
Igazi pointed to a covered bench with a hole in it surrounded by mosquito netting. A corresponding hole in the ground was below the hole in the bench. A torn-up newspaper on the bench was the only suggestion of anything for wiping. A bowl of water for washing after sat in front of the bench. Helena looked at the setup for a few seconds.
"Well, I'd have preferred an issue of Cosmo," she said as she walked over to the bench and stepped inside the netting, all the men in the compound yard looking at her as she dropped the short pants and underwear she wore. "Enjoy the show, boys."
* * *
Maria was sleeping peacefully on a cot inside a wooden shack. Her lips were dry and beginning to crack from thirst.
"Best I been able to do for 'er is a spoonful of water now and then," the Englishman explained as the two guards with AK-47s stood outside the hut, guns pointed at Helena. "She really needs to eat or drink something soon."
Helena nodded. "I can wake her." She turned toward the men with the AKs. "I'm going to wake her up now."
She stepped over to Maria's side, bent down, and whispered in her ear.
*"Xypna kai nah emay atromitos, mou diesngoni."*
Maria's eyes fluttered open. She remembered the men pulling her from the helicopter wreckage and tying her up. She remembered seeing Stavro fighting off three men before a fourth came from behind and hit him with the butt of his rifle, then seeing them all start kicking him on the ground before the bag went over her head and everything faded away.
"Great-Grandmama," Maria said calmly in Italian. "Where are we?" Helena responded in the same language.
"We're in the camp of the men who took you, my dear. You've been asleep for two days. You need food and water, Maria. I need to go do something for their leader, and then they'll let you go."
Maria nodded. "But what about La Contessa?" She'd been Helena's maid for so long that she was still getting used to calling her anything else.
"Stavro is fine," Helena responded. "He's back at the embassy in the city waiting for you."
"You have ignored my question, Great-Grandmama. They'll let me go when you do this thing they want. When do they let you go?"
Helena smiled a little bit. She'd instructed Maria to be fearless upon waking, so she supposed she'd asked for that. She sat on the cot next to Maria and hugged her.
"I don't know, Dear One. I'm not certain they will. That's why I need you to be strong. If anything happens to me, you'll be Contessa, and San Finzione will be looking to you for guidance." Maria nodded.
"They will most probably kill you when you have done what they want," she said calmly as the Englishman brought her a bowl of water and some food on a plastic tray that looked like it had been stolen from a cafeteria somewhere.
"Maria, honey. Propappou told me something long ago that I now fully understand: You kill for your children, you die for your grandchildren." Helena stood up and kissed Maria on the forehead. "You'll be ok. Stavro is waiting for you back at the embassy." The girl nodded as her great-grandmother and the Englishmen left the shack and the guards returned.
"Ok, Vinnie Jones," Helena said, remembering the name of the actor whose image she associated with him. "Let's go see what your master wants."
"I did not expect you to be American," Igazi said when he heard her voice.
"I didn't expect to be a great-grandmother before thirty. It just sort of worked out that way. I'll see her now."
Igazi stood closer and looked down to shout in her face.
"I will decide when you see her! You will obey me or..."
"Or what," Helena interrupted, speaking Rwanda. "You'll kill us? You could have had your men shoot me back on the savannah if that's what you wanted. No, you need something, or why go to all this trouble? And you know that whatever you DO need, I won't do it if she dies. So quit the blustering; nothing happens until I see her." She looked around. "Also, it's been a long drive; so, we just shit anywhere around here? Or..."
Igazi pointed to a covered bench with a hole in it surrounded by mosquito netting. A corresponding hole in the ground was below the hole in the bench. A torn-up newspaper on the bench was the only suggestion of anything for wiping. A bowl of water for washing after sat in front of the bench. Helena looked at the setup for a few seconds.
"Well, I'd have preferred an issue of Cosmo," she said as she walked over to the bench and stepped inside the netting, all the men in the compound yard looking at her as she dropped the short pants and underwear she wore. "Enjoy the show, boys."
* * *
Maria was sleeping peacefully on a cot inside a wooden shack. Her lips were dry and beginning to crack from thirst.
"Best I been able to do for 'er is a spoonful of water now and then," the Englishman explained as the two guards with AK-47s stood outside the hut, guns pointed at Helena. "She really needs to eat or drink something soon."
Helena nodded. "I can wake her." She turned toward the men with the AKs. "I'm going to wake her up now."
She stepped over to Maria's side, bent down, and whispered in her ear.
*"Xypna kai nah emay atromitos, mou diesngoni."*
Maria's eyes fluttered open. She remembered the men pulling her from the helicopter wreckage and tying her up. She remembered seeing Stavro fighting off three men before a fourth came from behind and hit him with the butt of his rifle, then seeing them all start kicking him on the ground before the bag went over her head and everything faded away.
"Great-Grandmama," Maria said calmly in Italian. "Where are we?" Helena responded in the same language.
"We're in the camp of the men who took you, my dear. You've been asleep for two days. You need food and water, Maria. I need to go do something for their leader, and then they'll let you go."
Maria nodded. "But what about La Contessa?" She'd been Helena's maid for so long that she was still getting used to calling her anything else.
"Stavro is fine," Helena responded. "He's back at the embassy in the city waiting for you."
"You have ignored my question, Great-Grandmama. They'll let me go when you do this thing they want. When do they let you go?"
Helena smiled a little bit. She'd instructed Maria to be fearless upon waking, so she supposed she'd asked for that. She sat on the cot next to Maria and hugged her.
"I don't know, Dear One. I'm not certain they will. That's why I need you to be strong. If anything happens to me, you'll be Contessa, and San Finzione will be looking to you for guidance." Maria nodded.
"They will most probably kill you when you have done what they want," she said calmly as the Englishman brought her a bowl of water and some food on a plastic tray that looked like it had been stolen from a cafeteria somewhere.
"Maria, honey. Propappou told me something long ago that I now fully understand: You kill for your children, you die for your grandchildren." Helena stood up and kissed Maria on the forehead. "You'll be ok. Stavro is waiting for you back at the embassy." The girl nodded as her great-grandmother and the Englishmen left the shack and the guards returned.
"Ok, Vinnie Jones," Helena said, remembering the name of the actor whose image she associated with him. "Let's go see what your master wants."
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