Page 40 of Lau Ahi
“Kuku!”
He waved me off and I sat back, waiting for him to say something ridiculous because it was coming. “You take after me in a lot of ways. Not just in your heritage but in your build and your personality. You think your grandmother didn’t intrigue me? She did. So you’re over here talking about this girl and I see now that you’re curious, my future granddaughter-in-law must be a beauty. Especially if her twin sister is a model.”
I wouldn’t tell a pointless lie since he would see for himself eventually.
“She’s stunning.”
His grin deepened and a laugh that started deep in his belly echoed through the room. “The ancestors and the gods of the island and of the continent have finally heard my prayers. Maybe even the colonizers God had something to do with this as well.”
“You’re going too far.”
He patted my shoulder with a grin, the joy of this moment lighting his eyes. Seeing his happiness released the tightness in the chest from the decision I’d made.
“For this type of miracle to have happened, every god that has ever been praised had to come together to make it happen. Congratulations, Ori. I can’t wait to meet her.”
ASHA
“Wlad.”
I smiled as my dad called medaughterin his native tongue. I was in the white and lavender office that I’d had designed in a small den in my house. I did my best not to bring work home but I wrote my book here and I wanted it to be comfortable. An L-shaped white sectional was situated beneath the window and my desk was closer to the door. The sectional was covered in floral pillows and soft throws. A large portrait of Sasha and me hung over the sectional. It was taken on our twenty-fifth birthday.
“Abo. This isn’t our usual call. What is going on?”
My father was my favorite parent. Truthfully, to me he was my only parent; however my siblings didn’t appreciate it much when I said that.
“Things are getting more complicated than I expected.”
I sat up because my father wasn’t one to admit any type of defeat. And that’s how he sounded. Defeated. As though the measures he’d taken weren’t working and he was now backed up against a wall.
My dad was who people assumed their elected officials were going to be when they made promises they couldn’t keep. He was the type of man who truly cared about people and had the type of power, influence and money that ensured things got done. But it seemed that his home country was doing its abject best to keep the footholds of unrest firmly planted when we needed to be dismantling the oppressive systems that kept so much of our country and continent beneath the boot heels of white supremacy. I’d worked with him on some things and so had Nevaeh but he sounded as though it wasn’t enough.
I’d avoided going to work and the FBI for the last few days, committing to going on Monday at the start of the week. It gaveme time to put everything into perspective and hopefully give me time to settle my nerves when it came to Agent Nakoa.
“I thought things were getting better with the UCCA. After the speeches and the pledges—”
“Those types of things all hinge on people staying true to their word. A man can be fickle when he's promised the world.”
“And you can’t give them the stars?” I was teasing, an attempt to lighten the mood but I knew this situation weighed heavily on him.
“In some ways, yes. But in others, no. Some people want fame, Asha. I’m not one to platform anyone. I’d rather pay to go away. But that’s not what some people want.”
“They want the money and to remain in control.”
I nodded understanding his position. “Yes, which of course is a problem.”
“Sure. They could take the money and keep doing the same things that had the suffering going on for this long.” People were restless because of all the turmoil that was happening along the coast of East Africa. The worry that people would begin to cling to militarist ideals to prevent the issues from reaching Eritrea and taking hold was increasing.
“Precisely. I had to reach out to people who could do things without going through the regular channels.”
I drummed my fingers on my desk propping my feet up on the small stool that sat beneath it. “Thinking outside the box isn’t a bad idea.”
“No, but paying people to do things in one thing. Having them indebted to you on a personal level is another.”
“This sounds ominous.”
“Not ominous, but it is a sacrifice.”
I got that feeling again. The sense that something had already been determined but I endured whatever the decision was. “What’s going on?”
