After the Monsoon by Robert Karjel

Author:Robert Karjel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-05-11T16:00:00+00:00

28

“It’s just a game,” said Carl-Adam without looking at Jenny, as he sat slumped in his corner. “Just a game.”

“I still think we can trust him,” she said. They were back to arguing about the negotiator, whether their hopes were rational or irrational.

“Fine. I’d say they found some random guy who speaks decent English,” Carl-Adam snorted, still not looking at her.

In the back room, the late afternoon brought some relief, as the worst of the heat began to die down. Jenny got up to give Sebastian a drink, while Alexandra read her daily ration of novel.

“I don’t know,” said Carl-Adam, after a moment. The question of trusting the negotiator hung like sticky flypaper between them. “But Scandinavian Capital will help . . . They have people.”

“Those greedy trolls, won’t they do the bare minimum? You were like that yourself. Everything was about mine and yours, and what was written in ink. Never a penny more.”

“They . . .”

“No, Carl, they won’t. Despite all the money you made for them. They used you for years—we’ve talked about this a thousand times. You always thought you were next, but then they picked someone else, never made you partner. And now that you’ve quit your job—it’s over.”

Carl-Adam replied with a shrug. Was he disagreeing, or simply resigned? Jenny didn’t care anymore. She filled the bottle from the bucket for Sebastian.

“That negotiator you think so highly of says Darwiish still wants ten million,” Carl-Adam began again, after a moment.

Jenny coaxed Sebastian, lifting his head and getting him to drink.

“What if we could get it down to seven.”

What Sebastian couldn’t finish, she poured back into the bucket.

“Seven million dollars,” repeated Carl-Adam. Alexandra made a dog-ear and put down her book.

“The house back home and the yacht,” continued Carl-Adam.

“Whether they’re worth seven million?” Jenny asked with forced calm.

“Six, guaranteed.”

“And how exactly would they get sold?” Jenny touched the last half-empty compartment of Sebastian’s pills. She got another shrug in response. Her fingers trembling with anger, she flattened the plastic of every little empty bubble.

It was Friday, the only day of the week they could reliably keep track of. The guards delayed their khat-chewing by an hour, abstaining while a few gathered for simple Friday prayers over at the other house. Jenny couldn’t see much, only that the men who usually stayed in the outer room disappeared, sometimes followed by a quiet call and what sounded like perfunctory prayers.

Then silence. It was the same thing every week: for about an hour, no one kept an eye on the family. But escape wasn’t much of a temptation, not with the landscape around them shimmering in the heat. It was the time of day when Jenny had the hardest time resisting the urge to drink all the water in the bucket, and when Sebastian mostly lay gasping.

Later on Friday afternoons, there was always a shift in the mood, and the guards found excuses for being with the family. There was expectation in the air. They searched for things supposedly hidden or tried to make jokes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.