فصل 04

Chapter four

The Voodoo Man

A big lorry drove past Kee’s house. It was going very fast and it made a lot of noise. Before Conway built the new town, Kee’s village was a quiet place. There were only a few small cars. Now big lorries went past every five minutes, carrying things for the new buildings. Kee was a very unhappy old man. He was sitting in his small house, looking out into the garden.

Another big lorry went past the window.

He heard the sound of a car coming down the road. The car stopped near the house, and a woman got out.

She was young and well dressed. She walked up to the gate at the end of Kee’s garden and waited. Kee saw her and went out of the house, down the wooden steps and into the garden.

‘Hello,’ she said, looking at the old man. ‘Can I come in?’

‘Yes, of course,’ answered Kee. ‘What can I do for you?’

The woman opened the gate and came up to Kee. ‘My name is Karen Jackson,’ she said, ‘Dr Jackson. I’m an American. I’m working at the big hospital in Port au Prince, and I’m doing some work for my book.’

‘I see,’ said Kee. ‘But why do you want to talk to me?’

‘I’m writing a book about voodoo,’ she said. ‘Everyone here talks about you. They all say you are the best houngan in Haiti. They say you are a very strong and good houngan, and that you always help people.’

Kee smiled. ‘I try to help good people,’ he said. ‘Come into the house, Dr Jackson. Let me get you a drink and we can talk.’

Kee and Karen went into the house and began to talk. Karen told him about her life and her work, and why she was in Haiti. Kee told her about his life and talked for a long time about the old Haiti and the people he remembered.

‘Everything is changing,’ he said. ‘When I was a young man, we lived with our families. We worked in the coffee fields. We helped each other. Friends were more important than money. People were good and kind. But everything is different now. Business people come from America and Europe and start banks and big companies. All the young men go to Port au Prince. They leave their villages and their families. They think about money all the time. They don’t think about people.’

‘Yes, I know,’ said Karen. ‘It’s happening in America too. But you can always find good people if you look for them.’

‘I know,’ said Kee, smiling. ‘You don’t have to go back yet, do you?’

‘No, not yet. Why?’

‘There’s something that I want to show you. It’s a hill outside the village. I often go there when I’m unhappy, or when I want to think. It’s a graveyard, but it’s very beautiful there, when the warm wind blows the leaves of the coconut trees.’