Cooper's Promise by Timothy Jay Smith

Author:Timothy Jay Smith [Smith, Timothy Jay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781462084104
Publisher: Author Solutions Inc.
Published: 2012-01-18T05:00:00+00:00

10

Cooper dashed out of The Mining Pan like a man in a hurry to get someplace when in fact he had nowhere particular to go, no plan of action, nothing except a promise to save Lulay. But how, with his limited resources of twice-pilfered clothes and zero money? No shoes, either, he remembered as soon as his bare feet hit the sunstricken street. He cursed every step and for a while tried darting between weedy patches, which contained their own dangers. Eventually he alighted on a shady corner to rest his feet while he watched the barefoot Natives slip past him, probably one pair of shoes for every four of them. “Native” meant many things in Langatown: Indians with their holiness to bear, blacks with their subjugation excuses, Arabs with their general antipathies, and handsome boys, many of whom resembled Sadiq with their dark beards and blue eyes and café latte skin.

Sadiq! Suddenly Cooper felt an overwhelming need to see him. It seemed that he must have earned the right by enduring such a hellish night, and he set off for the diamond arcade, navigating Langatown’s tangled streets as fast as he could and sprinting the last stretch when he reached the waterfront.

With his heart pounding and sweat trickling down his sides, as casually as he could Cooper sauntered past al-Basma Diamonds. Mazen was opening the safe inside the shop. Sadiq was nowhere to be seen. Then it dawned on him. It was morning and Sadiq was probably at the hammam. Annoyed at himself for not remembering, Cooper wandered along the waterfront until he found a shady spot where he could pass the time watching cargo be unloaded while waiting for the boy to return.

A white jeep came bouncing out of the bowels of a ship and down a ramp to fall in line with a short convoy of jeeps displaying GlobOil’s distinctive logo: an oil-drenched Earth as sinister as a skull-and-crossbones. A moment later they started to roll forward, two Thick Necks in each jeep, all wearing their uniform sunglasses and khakis and carrying rifles. In the lead vehicle was the oilman with the dandy’s moustache who was giving everything a menacing look. He tossed out the stub of his cigar, which rolled to Cooper’s feet looking like a dog turd, and then they were gone.

His fingers had been absently exploring his vest’s many pockets when they hit a jackpot and unearthed some bank bills secreted away. Amounting to merely pennies, he wondered if the original owner had hidden them there and decided it wasn’t likely. That safari vest would have been picked clean many times over. Lulay had hidden them for him, he was sure of it, and he realized that those filthy notes probably represented most of her savings. What little bit of herself she could buy back from Juma! The pittance would barely buy a snack, which Cooper’s stomach growled for, but he needed to see Sadiq more than he needed to eat and decided to blow his tiny bankroll on the hammam.

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