BAMAKO - Aribert Raphael (red queen ebook TXT) 📗

to make the changes she wanted and that she would need my support to grow into our union.”
“I see. Well, it brings me back to my suggestion. Do you remember I mentioned the word ‘courtship’ to you once before? And it seems you didn’t heed my words.”
“But, isn’t that what I’m doing right now?—courting her.”
“If you mean pursuing her is the way you view courtship, then you’re off tracks completely, my friend.”
“What am I supposed to do then? Present Monsieur Flaubert with a thousand goats and the deed of my practice? Or is that not enough?”
Mohammed smiled at the thought of a thousand goats being brought in to the reception hall of the Meridien hotel. “No I don’t think that would do it—even if you had a thousand goats to bring before him.” He chuckled.
“So tell me what can I do?”
“I’ve never had the opportunity to court a white woman before, and a Jewish one at that, so I’ll only suggest a couple things. In the first place, I think you need to tell Monsieur Flaubert why you don’t think a union is possible—because you don’t know the ways to make it possible, and see what he says. The other thing you should do, and that as soon as you can, is to go see Talya alone and tell her that you wish to court her and try to ‘adapt’ your ways, and see how she reacts. I bet she’ll welcome you with open arms.”
“Or she’ll kick me out?”
“That’s a strong possibility, knowing her, but somehow I don’t think so. I think she’ll want to know a lot more about you and your life, so that she can better understand why marriage between the two of you has become your prime objective in life.”
“That’s not my prime objective in life,” Hassan retorted with resentment.
“Oh no? Why then do you want to keep Talya close to you? Why couldn’t you let her be with who she wants to be? Like the way you’re reacting when she wants to evade you and protect Hjamal.”
“Oh, you’ve seen her doing it then? How could she do that? And she did it again this afternoon when we were in his office. I tell you she admires the man. Even Monsieur Flaubert noticed it and he warned her about how dangerous the man could be.”
“Monsieur Flaubert is absolutely right. The man could be very dangerous. Yet I have to admit I have some respect for him now that I know what he’s planning to do. Although I don’t particularly care for the way he’s done things to get where he is.”
“You? You say you have respect for this man. I thought you hated him. What made you change your mind?”
“I got a call from the ambassador a few minutes ago.”
“Wow! News does travel fast around here.”
“He had to call me, because this is as much a political complication as it is a justice problem. Rasheed has presumably gone back to Mali, and I needed to know if we were going to track down a thief or a murderer. And you know the difference it makes under our laws.”
“So what else did he say about Hjamal?”
“See how you are?—you can’t let go of an idea once you have it in your head.”
“And what’s that?” Hassan riveted his eyes on Mohammed.
“You’re jealous. You can’t wait for someone to find a flaw in Hjamal’s character or a mistake he may have made, so you could come down on him like the wrath of Allah. That’s a dangerous trait, very dangerous indeed, because I could see the day when you would strike Talya, blaming her for looking at another man.”
“I wouldn’t. Never!” Hassan denied strenuously.
“No? Then tell me how did you feel when you came out of Hjamal’s office this afternoon? Didn’t you want to reprimand her somehow for admiring what the man is proposing to do?”
“Yes, yes, of course I did. But I didn’t want to hurt her. I wanted to kiss her to make her understand she’s mine and no one else’s.” Instantly, when Hassan realized what he had said, he was confounded. He couldn’t explain the dreadful feeling of anger and hatred that ran through his being. Had Hjamal being there on the terrace, he would have pushed him off the balcony.
“Exactly,” Mohammed said, shaking his head. “You need to hold on to the only thought that counts in moments like these. You need to remind yourself that Talya probably loves you and that admiring a man has nothing to do with what she feels for you.”
“And what happens when she’ll come back for the Sabodala project? What am I going to do then? How can I ignore the fact that she’ll be with Hjamal day after day? I can’t Mohammed, I can’t.”
“If you love her the way you should, with trust in your heart, you will, and if you can’t, it will be the end of your courtship. That’s all I can tell you.”
101
Talya was zipping her black skirt when she heard a knock at the door. I should put the ‘do not disturb’ sign on the knob—I can’t even dress in peace now.
“Who is it?” She pulled the shirt over her head. God, I’ll be glad when tomorrow night comes. She opened the door without waiting for an answer.
“Hassan!” she said, letting him in, “I thought you were getting ready to go down and meet James,” when she saw that he hadn’t changed his clothes.
“No, not yet, I need to talk to you.” Here comes the storm I was dreading this afternoon.
“Okay, let’s sit down then—”
However, before she had a chance to make her way to the living room, Hassan grabbed her by the arm a questioning look in his eyes. “Talya?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Do you love me?”
“No, Hassan, I don’t love you, I adore you. Does that answer your question?”
Her mocking eyes didn’t leave any doubt in Hassan’s mind that Talya was playing games with his feelings. Nonetheless, he asked, “Then why are you acting the way you do with Hjamal? You feel something for the man, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. I appreciate him. He may be a misguided maniac, and an egotistical, obsessive man (to put it mildly), but I can’t help admiring what he’s done or what he’s planning to do in Sabodala.”
“And I hate his guts.”
“Well, now that we’ve made a clean breast of our feelings toward Mr. Hjamal, can you go and get dressed.”
“No, not yet, I need to know one more thing before we go and meet Monsieur Flaubert.”
“And what’s that?”
“Will you marry me?”
“I … I don’t know.”
Then, all of a sudden, Hassan turned on his heels and left Talya without another word. God, please help me.
102
They reached the terrace restaurant by the pool at nearly seven o’clock. James was waiting for Hassan and Talya at the bar, a drink in hand. He turned toward them when they came down the long flagstone steps.
“Hello, you two!” He waved at the two of them. “Let’s get a table before this place gets too busy. What would you like to drink, Talya? Hassan?”
“I’ll have a glass of Chablis, thanks….” Talya was looking around her to see if Samir, or Mohammed perhaps, were already sitting somewhere near the beach.
“Just an orange juice for me, thank you,” Hassan said, watching Talya.
James ordered the drinks and they went to sit at the same table they had occupied at lunch.
The wind was up as it was on most nights. The lampoons, dangling from the bamboo rafters beneath the overhanging thatch, were swinging fiercely at every gust. The tree trunk, encased in the cement floor, served as a single supporting foot to each table, and the wrought-iron chairs were heavy enough to withstand any blowing from a windy night. Unless for a tidal wave crashing the place, Talya didn’t think they had anything to worry by way of furniture flying about.
Once they were sitting in front of their drinks, James said, “I bet you’re anxious to know what I wanted to talk to you about, aren’t you, Hassan?”
“A little, yes, I must admit, I am curious.”
“I’ll put it as delicately as I know how. And by the way, I don’t want to hear a peep out of you, Talya.” James looked at her, waiting for her to jump in. She didn’t say the word he was expecting to hear. She just smiled and Hassan grinned.
“As I was saying, I am going to put this as delicately as I can, Hassan. Are you in love with Talya?” That was as delicately as he could?
“But—” Hassan smiled and shook his head at hearing another ‘but’ from Talya.
“Talya!” James exclaimed, admonishing her interruption. “Well, are you?” he insisted, looking at Hassan fixedly.
“I expected the question because it has become obvious to everyone, I suppose, that we have very strong feeling for each other and—”
“I’m not talking about ‘strong feelings’. I’m talking about loving her. Do you?”
“James, I’m surprised at your intrusion….” Talya gawked at her boss.
He held her gaze meaningfully. “When two of my employees are getting involved in the most awkward, if not dangerous circumstances, I don’t think a little intrusion from me is going to do any harm.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.” Watch your mouth, Talya.
“You have to understand something; I’m extremely concerned about your future.” James peered into Talya’s eyes as if to make sure his words hit the mark. “We’ve made plans this morning, and to carry out these plans we need to have you with your feet firmly planted on the ground. I can’t have you running the show with your head in the clouds.”
“Don’t you think I haven’t thought about that? This afternoon you mentioned something I hadn’t expected. You said you wanted me to come back and head these projects—” Her voice faltered. Talya was hurt more than she would ever want to admit. “Good God, don’t you know by now, that I wouldn’t let anything distract me from doing my job? Believe me; I have no intention of blowing my chances here just because I’m infatuated with someone.”
“Under normal circumstances, I’d say yes, you would. But this is different. You’re not in Vancouver in a nice, comfortable office. You’re at the edge of the Sahara for God’s sake. And you’re involved with a Muslim man. I’m sorry, Hassan. This is not meant to be derogatory. I just need Talya to face facts.” Hassan bent his head and made no reply.
“Me, face facts? You want me to face facts?” Talya cried out in utmost disbelief. “Why don’t you ask Hassan to face facts?” She had enough of this. “I think I will have dinner in my room! I need to go and face facts.” At that, she got up, leaving her companions blurting out some sort of apologies, and went back to her apartment.
Hassan wanted to run after the woman he loved, but he couldn’t—not in front of James. That would have been out of place. It would have demonstrated to his ‘new employer’ that he had no restraint when it came to pursuing Talya.
As they watched her marching back up the