A Trojan Affair by Michael Smorenburg

Author:Michael Smorenburg [Smorenburg, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literary Geopolitical Thriller
ISBN: 9780620625760
Publisher: Qunard Publishing
Published: 2014-10-07T22:00:00+00:00

“You look after your grandfather,” JJ told Dawie. From his wallet he peeled a sizeable wad of notes, folded them and then surreptitiously slipped them to Dawie so the ragtag band of curious followers couldn’t see. “I want you to buy a mobile phone with that and some airtime. I’ll give you my number and email—you have computers at school—so we’ll stay in touch. Your grandfather is going to need special attention. I am going to arrange that he gets properly assessed at the clinic on a regular basis. And, Dawie… there is some serious business going on here; I need you to be my agent.”

The boy was beaming—deputized as an agent, he seemed to have grown vast in stature, taller and walking like a giant next to one.

“You know who my father is?” he asked Dawie.

“Ja Baas.”

“When we’re alone you can call me JJ,” he said, and the boy looked abashed.

“Ja Baas… JJ,” Dawie responded coyly.

All right… it will take some getting used to… JJ reminded himself as the formal respects beyond the cities were still ingrained. “My father is a very good man,” he explained. “He sometimes seems angry, and as a policeman he is always suspicious—he is paid to be suspicious.”

“Ja Baas… JJ.”

JJ looked at the last few stragglers still nosing around close by and they read his meaning; they fell back half a dozen paces, out of earshot. “And I love my father like you love your grandfather… But a father can be wrong, I can still love him and know that he is wrong.”

“Ja…”

“I don’t want to hurt my father in any way. I don’t want to embarrass my mother in front of the volk.” He paused to let it sink in. “But there is a little trouble coming that will put me against my Pa and others. This can’t be helped. But the longer you and I… the longer we can keep this secret, the smaller the trouble, and the happier everyone will be.”

“Ja Baas… JJ, I understand,” the boy said with nodding resolve.

JJ opened the car and began to rummage in his bag for something. He found the package and held it as he spoke.

“I need you to control the others. Like your grandfather, you will become the clan leader one day, and this is where your leadership begins. Here, today.”

He handed the package over to Dawie.

“Dankie Baas…” He hesitated and repeated it with much effort, “Dankie…” The Baas’ name resisted leaving his lips without its respectful title, “…JJ.”

They were alone after all, he thought, just as the Baas said it should be.

JJ squeezed his shoulder like a friend, surveyed up and down the road as if to check for prying eyes and stooped down into the bucket seat. The door shut with a precise thunk and the muscular engine barked into life.

The other kids startled and shot back several paces. Dawie stood his ground. He had never seen such a machine close up and his heart matched the beat of its engine.

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