There is a Land (A Libète Limyè Mystery) (43 page)

— Then keep it to yourself.

— Libète–

— Don’t say it!

The fear was changing her into something she was not.

— We will be safe, but aren’t now. If something happens, look for Dieudonné. If we get separated, go to Dieudonné. You hear? Tuck that name away. We’ll meet up there. But no matter what–
no matter what
–do not tell anyone who you really are, or where you come from.
Anyone.
It will endanger you. It will endanger them.

— Go to Dieudonné, she repeated.

The engines were growing closer.

— We need water, Dimanche said. Go to the river. It should be that way. Take your bag with you, fill up all our bottles. I’ll keep watch.

— Dakò. Her mind lingered on what had just been said.
Dieudonné
.

— Libète–

She paused to look at him. I would do anything for you, he said. Anything.

A tear slipped down her cheek. She knew this was the closest he could come to saying he loved her. With all the feelings coursing through her, she didn’t know what to say back. She turned toward the river, and he reached to tug at her bag’s hanging strap.

— Whatever happens, don’t lose hope. His eyes felt as if they were boring into her. The end of hope is the end of us all, he said.

She nodded and rushed down the quiet path toward the river alone.

Libète lies sweating on the jail’s floor, her mind set on hate.

Cinéus and Wilnor keep watch with their dog on a nearby shaded boulder. She knows their voices well, their cackling. They discuss their reward for trapping her, how they will spend the money. Their dreams are quite small. They want to return home to open a butcher’s shop in Gonaïves.

— You hear that, ti fi? Cinéus calls to her. You’re our future!

There is singing now, two women’s voices, and the sound rises up the hill. Libète rolls over, squints through the wall’s cracks. It’s Magdala with Délira, and her baby. Magdala carries a basket on her head.

What are they doing?

— Hey, you two. Yeah, you! Let us in the jail. We need to give the prisoner some food.

— No. No visitors. Cinéus threw a stick, and his dog coursed after it.

— Aw, come on. Aren’t you men? You don’t have to be cruel to do your jobs. She has a long journey ahead of her! Let her at least have a full stomach before she goes.

The dog dropped the stick before Wilnor, and he patted the animal’s head. He looked to Cinéus, who shrugged. Wilnor got down from their boulder and hustled over.

— It’s the least we can do, said Cinéus. You can fatten this calf today for our fattened calves tomorrow. He snickered as Wilnor came over and inspected the basket. Magdala didn’t understand the joke and scowled anyway.

The lock came off the door. Libète cringed at the light. She sat up and dusted herself off. The door swung open, and Magdala swooped in. She gave Libète the most powerful of embraces despite the blood soaked into Libète’s shirt. My dear, my dear, my dear.

— Give her the food and get going, Wilnor said.

— Bite your tongue, Magdala snapped. If this is good-bye, at least give us a few moments.

— Whatever. He locked the door behind them and left.

Délira looked very tense, even more so than Libète. She approached Libète and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

— Sophia, take off your clothes, Magdala said.

— What?

— Take them off. Your headscarf too. Délira had already handed her baby to Magdala and was following the same instructions.

— What are you both doing?

— They’re coming for you, but we won’t let them have you.

— Why?

— Ah! What a silly question. Because we love you.

— Youn ede lòt, Délira said. One helping another. This is my thanks. For delivering me, for saving him.

Libète put her leaden limbs into action and began to swap her clothes. I’m sorry they’re a mess, Libète said. Délira nodded warily and put them on anyway.

When the clothes were switched, Magdala handed Delivrans to Libète. Libète didn’t feel good about using him as a prop in the deception, and certainly not when she was ailing and likely contagious.

— It’s the only way, Délira said, answering Libète’s concerns. She wrapped Libète’s headscarf about her own head. He’ll be back in my arms soon enough.

— Ah, the
transfòmasyon!
Magdala remarked. It’s complete!

Libète’s eyes watered as she looked at Délira. You are so incredibly brave, Libète said. As soon as they realize the ruse, we’ll have problems.

— Of course. But we will deal. Délira, lay on the ground and face away. Ah, that looks perfect. Sophia, hold the baby close. And hide your face; act like you’ve been crying.

Magdala breathed deep and forced a smile. Guard! she called. We’re done!

Libète and Magdala rushed over the hill, taking a back route to reach Janel’s home. Libète felt the babe cooing in her arms. Such an immense responsibility wrapped in such a small body.

— Janel must be made to know what you discovered about Dorsinus–about the Sosyete and their involvement with these, these miners! She spit. Rapists is what they are!

— How did you know I’d been taken? It dawned on her. Félix reached you?

— In the middle of the night.

— He’s safe, then?

— For now, as far as I know. He told me how you gave yourself up to protect him. He escaped as soon as he could. He woke me wildly, like one possessed. Said he needed to talk to others.

— And you’re here already? To rescue me?

— At first, I was paralyzed. I didn’t know what to do. I’ve never been very brave, you know. But I thought of you. Saving Délira. Helping Jeune. Protecting Félix. You remind me of my father. He was a good man. She dabbed at her eyes. A very good man.

Libète reached out to touch her. Tell me about him. I need inspiration to face what’s coming our way.

— He’s a hard subject. She sighed, collecting her thoughts. Whenever we were crushed by life–maybe a bad crop, maybe a dead baby–he would say, ‘The end of hope is the end of us all.’ And so we would hope, and pray.

— He said that, did he?

— And he stood up for what was good. There were endless dark days, as far back as I remember. We weren’t always from this place. He and my mother, they chose to come here. To raise the consciousness of the people. But the opposition, it was strong.

First the
chef de section
and
tontons macoutes
. Then the military. Then the paramilitaries. Oh! This mountain has suffered. He would say, ‘We are seeds, fallen on the ground. If we go through our days laying ourselves down for others, we’ll see a big harvest. A big one. Nothing can stop such seeds from growing into strong trees.’ He heard the old preacher who used to come through here say that, and he planted it right in his heart. For me, he’d always say, ‘I love you.’ Many fathers wouldn’t say things like that so openly. To my brother, he had to phrase it differently. He was a man, after all. ‘I’d do anything for you,’ he told my brother.

Libète stilled. What happened to him?

— Men with guns came. When I was about your age, thereabouts. I ran, but he stood his ground, along with my mother, to keep them from pursuing me. ‘Peace!’ he shouted. ‘Peace! Aren’t we brothers?’ The men with guns, they hit him. Brought him to his knees in front of her. I hid. I watched. Until I couldn’t.

Her eyes watered. When faced with evil in those men, he and my mother gave themselves up. He was loved by most everyone. But there were always divides in the community. Hardship sucks away generosity. But his death, it changed things.

It was terrible for a long while, it really was. Crops stayed bad year after year. So many left the mountain to try to survive in the city. I moved in with a man to get by. He was bad. He left me when Félix was a baby. And my brother, my
marassa
, my twin–he was lost to the city too. Never heard from again.

— You had a twin?

— I did. But you know what? After all that heartache, Hearts United formed. The organization, it was the harvest collected from my father and mother’s planting. My parents had dreamed of a unified community ever since they came here. The Good Lord takes evil and uses it for good. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it time and again.

— And what about a man, oh, what did he call him? Libète asked herself. The man who convinced him to wait?

Magdala was confused. Who do you mean? A man?

— Robert! That’s it! Do you know a man by the name of Robert, living here in Foche?

— Why, that’s old Jeune’s name. But nobody calls him that anymore.

The color from Libète’s face slipped away. Magdala. I have a very important question for you. Your brother–was he named Dimanche?

— My brother? No.

Libète paused, sighed. It felt like a revealing curtain had been pulled back halfway and then dropped.

— But my father, yes.

Libète’s eyes widened. She shifted Delivrans and his swaddling to her other arm.

—
Cheri, what in the world is the matter?

— What is his name? Your brother’s true name?

— Why, Marcel. Marcel Dieudonné.

With tears in her eyes, Libète spoke. My dear friend, I know what became of your brother.

Libète returns from the river. Her pack is full of water bottles positioned carefully so as to let the frightened pigeon rest on top.

It was hard to find her way back. New lances of lightning slashed across the sky, making shadows shift and slide. The thunder that followed was a series of delayed explosions, paralyzing in their strength. The fear encroached on her.

She heard the same unnatural sounds as before, but closer now. They were like the dirt bike, but lower.

The motors cut. Dogs barked.

It dawned on her.
Dimanche knew they would find him! He wanted me far off!

Libète saw flashlights sweeping over the woods. She ran.

I have to save him! I have to–

She lost a shoe –
no time to stop! –
up and down, tripping on roots, stubbing a toe. She threw out the bottles of water–they weighed her down, made too much noise. She wanted to scream but kept it in. When she was half a football pitch away, she slowed.

It was already too late. The dogs’ barking stopped. The lights rested. They had found Dimanche.

She crept closer. She heard orders, mostly clipped, and two men in fatigues left their ATVs and kept Dimanche on the ground. They searched his bag and his person. They collected his gun –
why didn’t he shoot them? –
and bound Dimanche. Had the fight left him entirely?

And then Libète saw. Maxine came forward out of the dark and shined a blinding light in Dimanche’s face. Where is she? Maxine asked.

He didn’t respond. She kicked him in the stomach, and Libète cradled her own as if she had received the blow. Dimanche gasped.

— Talk. I’m tempted to let my dogs eat you. After what you did to poor Remus back in Jacmel . . .

She kicked him again. They’re hungry, she said. One dog gave a sharp bark, almost as if in agreement.

— I told Libète to run. To leave me, he wheezed. To get across the border. Maxine looked at his splinted ankle. She stepped on it, and he screamed.