فصل 09

Chapter nine

Voodoo Law

A few weeks later Kee was in the garden outside his house. The village was quiet and there were no lorries or cars. It was early evening and Kee was giving the chickens some food as the sun went down. He heard a car coming along the road. He stopped and looked up. Karen Jackson stopped the car outside the gate and got out. Kee went over to meet her.

‘Karen!’ he said. ‘Come in. It’s very nice to see you again.’

‘Thank you,’ she said.

They went into the house, and Kee gave her a drink. They sat down and talked for a short time.

‘Is something wrong?’ asked Kee. ‘You look worried, unhappy.’

‘Yes. Yes, I am,’ said Karen. ‘That’s why I’m here. I want to ask you something.’

‘Yes, what is it?’

‘Well, there’s someone in the hospital who is very sick. We don’t know what to do. Can you come to the hospital and help us?’

Kee laughed. ‘American doctors don’t usually ask old men for help.’

Karen said, ‘I know, but you’re not an ordinary old man. You’re different.’

‘All right. I’ll come. But I don’t know if I can help.’

‘You’re very kind. When can you come?’ asked Karen.

‘Now, if you want. I’m not doing anything important.’

‘Thank you,’ said Karen. ‘You’re very kind. I’ve got a car. I can take you there.’

Karen and Kee drove out of the small village, down the road, and soon came to the houses of the new town. They passed the hill, but she did not turn to look at the graveyard. There were a lot of lorries at the side of the road. Karen looked at the names on the side of the lorries - Conway Construction.

‘They’re building a lot more houses here too, aren’t they?’ said Karen.

‘They were,’ said Kee.

They did not talk any more on the way to the hospital. When they arrived, Karen drove into the doctors’ car park and stopped the car. She got out and came round to open Kee’s door. Then they walked up to the front door of the large hospital. The glass doors opened and they went in. As they walked through the hospital, Kee noticed the strange smell, the clean white walls, and the. big glass doors. When they came to the desk, the nurse said ‘hello’ to Karen. She went round the desk to look in a book.

‘Room 473,’ she said, looking at Kee. ‘It’s this way.’ They walked to the lift and went up to the fourth floor. The doors opened, and Karen took Kee to the room. There was a small window in the door of the room.

Karen stopped. ‘Look!’ she said. Kee looked through the small window into the room. There were no tables or chairs in the room, and there were no other windows. Next to the wall there was a bed.

Kee looked at the man in the bed. It was Conway. He was wearing a big white coat, and he was screaming. While Kee was looking at the man, Karen explained. ‘His name is Conway, James Conway. It’s strange. When I came to Haiti, we were on the same plane. He sat next to me. He wanted to start a business and make money. I didn’t like him very much, I can tell you, but he wasn’t mad. Look at him now. He’s mad, and we don’t know why. He doesn’t talk to anyone and he starts screaming when he hears a telephone or a bell ringing. He’s afraid of sleeping too, and we can’t do anything for him. Some of the nurses are saying he’s like that because of voodoo.’

‘Perhaps the nurses are right,’ said Kee. Then he thought for a moment, and began to smile.

‘Can you help him?’ asked Karen.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Kee, ‘I’m not a doctor. But perhaps he’s happy here. He has a big place to live in, with lots of rooms. People come and clean the rooms and bring him food. He doesn’t have to work, and he’s got a lot of money in the bank. Perhaps he has everything he wants.’

Karen looked at the old man and for a moment she saw something cold and frightening in his smiling eyes.