Diamonds in the Shadow (23 page)

“He made it your job to deal with the diamonds, Mattu,” said Celestine. “Now you must finish it. Find him before he finds us. Take the diamonds to Victor.”

No, thought Mattu. I can't. I won't.

“Do not let him follow you when you leave him,” said Celestine.

But maybe Victor had slid into being American the way Mattu and Celestine and Andre were sliding—at high speed, with no brakes, stunned and gulping but thrilled and cooperative. Maybe Victor had turned over a new leaf and was busily earning money and using a stove and admiring vegetables.

And maybe not.

“If he follows you,” said Celestine, “you cannot come back here. Not ever.”

Jared had been reading up on raw diamonds. For use as jewelry, a rough diamond was cut at angles, which created the facets that glittered. Diamond cutting was difficult
and risky. If you cut wrong, you ended up with diamond dust instead of a valuable gem. Most diamond cutters were in certain cities in Europe, such as Antwerp. Some merchants were in New York. Some traveled back and forth, buying in Africa and selling in America or Europe. Diamond cutters weren't supposed to purchase blood diamonds. If a person wasn't sure about the background of the rough diamonds set in front of him, he wasn't supposed to buy them. An unethical diamond cutter bought good rough diamonds no matter what.

Jared stared at his possible diamond and considered the other thief in their lives.

Brady Wall was in jail. He had not been able to raise money for bail because he had stolen from the only people likely to help him in a pinch. There was talk about whether Emmy Wall would go to jail too. She had not stolen. But she had known.

The Walls didn't have kids. But from his first marriage, Brady had had two children, one a year younger and one a year older than Jared. Church youth groups included a wide range of ages, and when Jared had been in the middle school group, so had both of the Wall kids. They lived with their mom now, and she had remarried and moved away.

If Jared had been a good person, he'd have e-mailed them and said something nice. Like what? In spite of the fact that your dad's a felon who steals from churches and gambles hundreds of thousands of dollars into the ground, I hope you're doing fine and you like your new school.

I'm a thief, he thought. The only difference between me and Brady Wall is, I haven't gotten caught.

He went upstairs to his bedroom. Mattu was in the shower. Mattu could not get over the amount of water that was available to the Finches. He was still impressed by the faucets, and how they never ran out, and how you could have icy cold or burning hot water any time you wanted; how you could press a glass against the fridge door and get ice cubes or frosty water or ice chips. He loved carrying a bottle of water around at school and he loved sipping from the water fountains and he especially loved taking showers.

Jared opened one of the Tupperware containers and dropped his diamond—or haunted bone—into the ashes, popped the lid back on tight, gave the thing a little shake and stepped away.

He was still a thief. But he had put it back.

Since Alake did not talk, she did not pick a name for the puppy.

“It's bad enough having a puppy,” said Mom crossly. “I'm not having a puppy I can't even yell at!”

Mopsy took Alake's face in her hands and turned it toward her. Staring into Alake's eyes, she said, “Name. The. Puppy.”

Alake said nothing.

“How about Jopsy?” said Tay. “I think it's just right for a collie.”

“Here, Jopsy,” said Mom.

The puppy ran right over, not because he knew his name, but because Mom had a dog treat cupped in her hand, left over from when Zipper was alive. It looked like magic.

But maybe puppy love was magic, because Alake's face was bright in a way Mopsy had never expected to see.

The mere thought of finding Victor brought Mattu close to vomiting.

Victor wants to be rich in America, thought Mattu. That's why he needs the diamonds. He wants a house like this, and cars and computers and clothes. Suppose Victor wants these diamonds to pay for more war in Africa? Or what if Victor wants to use the diamond money
against
America? Victor would not care what war he fought. People who liked violence found each other.

But in Africa Victor had been a person taking advantage of war, not a person with convictions and interests and politics. Mattu did not think Victor had ever had a plan for or against America. He had planned only for himself.

Now it was Mattu who needed a plan. A way to get rid of the diamonds that didn't lead to Victor's getting rid of Mattu.

I was a coward once, thought Mattu. We all were. I could have turned Victor in instead of taking the place of some dead boy.

But in fact, nobody could have turned Victor in back at the refugee camp, because Victor just bribed his way past and around and out. Another diamond, another step toward America.

It was a ludicrous position for Mattu to find himself in— heavy with diamonds, desperate to be rid of them, unable to do it.

Mattu stayed in the bathroom until he heard Jared go downstairs. Then he lay down on his bed, the softest bed he had ever known—in fact, the only soft bed he had ever known. After a while he forced himself to look at the Tupperware containers.

Little rocks worth a great deal of money. Mattu knew how many dollars were in a gallon of milk and how many dollars were in a gallon of gasoline, but he had absolutely no idea how many dollars were in an uncut diamond.

A diamond seen through an airport X-ray machine did not cast a shadow. Yet a blood diamond always cast a shadow: the shadow of death.

Wait! thought Mattu, sitting bolt upright. George Neville said Victor might be going to Texas. I've seen Jared Google. I'll Google. Keywords like “Texas” and “refugees.” “Texas” and “refugee aid societies.” “Texas” and “African refugees.” I can find the agency that sponsored Victor.

Wild with excitement, Mattu flipped open his laptop.

Then he sagged in despair. So what if he did find the agency? Only words crossed the Internet. Diamonds had to be carried. There was no getting around the fact that Mattu would have to hand the diamonds in person to the man he least wanted to see in this world.

Mattu was living in a house full of snoops and going to a school where attendance was taken in every class. Texas was half the
country away. How could he get there? And what about the money required for such travel? Not to mention the real difficulty—if Mattu did find Victor, Mattu would die. Victor didn't let people go. Mattu would be buying a safe future for Celestine and Andre, and ironically, for Alake. But what about his own future? The one Daniel's mother had outlined? The one high school was preparing him for?

Mattu prayed to the God the Finches worshiped—almost but not quite the same God Celestine and Andre worshiped.

I want school, he prayed, and that part-time job and the apartment of our own and also to get rid of the diamonds and the past and Victor.

I'm already an American, thought Mattu. In Africa, you pray for one meal. In America, you pray to have it all.

Mopsy yelled upstairs, “Dad rented movies and he's heating chocolate sauce for ice cream. You need a break, Mattu. It's so hard on a person to do homework, don't you think?”

How American, to think schoolwork was hard on a person. Mattu went downstairs for rich, thick vanilla and caramel ice cream with hot chocolate sauce, served in his favorite small, heavy red bowl.

Mrs. Finch ruined everything by opening a can with a disgusting smell. It was not the kind of smell Mrs. Finch normally allowed in her home.

“What is that?” asked Mattu.

“Dog food.” Mrs. Finch spooned some out, put it in a bowl and set the bowl on the floor for Alake's puppy.

Mattu could not puzzle through one more crazy American habit. He fell into the cushions next to Mopsy, and when the movie began, he fell into the action as well, so there was none of him sitting on the couch and all of him inside the film, and he forgot Victor again.

A few feet away, sitting at the kitchen counter, Mrs. Wall and Mrs. Finch talked softly.

Alake sat on the floor next to them, stroking the soft, sweet ears of her puppy. He had a whole separate smell from the dog food, a warm, furry smell. He was exhausted from his big day, and when he finished his supper, he crawled contentedly onto her lap.

“You come to church with me this Sunday, Emmy,” said Mrs. Finch. “Sit beside me. I'll tough it out with you.”

“No. I'm going back to Wisconsin.”

“Wisconsin?
You've lived here twenty years!”

“And now I'm leaving. I can't face people.”

This made sense to Alake. For three years, Alake had been among the people she had wronged, and never once had she faced them. Had never looked up, never spoken. She wondered where Wisconsin was and whether Mrs. Wall could face people there.

Dear God
, prayed Alake,
help Mrs. Wall.

Alake felt God listening.

Her prayer actually traveled to God, and he was glad to hear from her.

Alake looked carefully at Mrs. Wall. Will I be able to see God helping her? Will it be in her eyes?

The puppy whimpered, sensing that Alake's attention was not fully on him. Alake buried her face in his wonderful fur.