Gregory Roberts - The Mountain Shadow

I was confused, but I was mostly confused when I talked to Karla. I didn’t know if she was telling me something intimate about her and Ranjit, or talking about us. If she was talking about Ranjit, I didn’t want to know.

‘Big storm,’ I said.

She looked back at me quickly.

‘It was because of me, wasn’t it?’

‘What was because of you?’

She shook her head, and then stared at me again, her green eyes the only bright things left in the grey-sky world.

‘What Ranjit talked to you about,’ she said, suddenly determined and clear. ‘He’s worried about me, I know. But the fact is, he’s the one who needs help, not me. He’s the one in danger.’

She stared into my eyes, trying to read my thoughts. I was reading what looked like pure and honest concern for her husband. It hurt more, somehow, than Concannon’s club.

‘What do you want, Karla?’

She frowned, let her eyes fall from mine, and then raised them to stare at me again.

‘I want you to help him,’ she said, almost as if it were an admission of guilt. ‘I’d like him to stay alive, for a few more months, and that’s not a sure thing.’

‘A few months ?’

‘Years would be acceptable, but a few months are essential.’

‘Essential for what?’

She looked at me, trying out emotional responses, before relaxing in a smile.

‘My peace of mind,’ she said, not telling me anything.

‘He’s a big boy, Karla, with a big bank account.’

‘I’m serious.’

I stared back at her for a moment, and then smiled my way into a soft laugh.

‘You’re something, Karla. You’re really something.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘All that stuff, this morning, asking me if I came up here because of you, just to throw me off the track, because you came up here to ask me to help Ranjit.’

‘Do you think I’m lying to you?’

‘Talking about keeping Ranjit alive for a few months, is the same as talking about him being dead in a few months. It’s pretty cute, Karla.’

‘You think I’m manipulating you?’

‘It wouldn’t be the first time.’

‘That’s not -’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said, not smiling. ‘It never did. I love you.’

She tried to speak, but I put my fingers across her lips.

‘I’ll ask around, about Ranjit.’

Thunder silenced her reply: thunder rumbling into blasts, shaking the forest trees.

‘I gotta go,’ I said, ‘if I’m gonna beat that storm back to the city. I have to make sure that Lisa’s okay.’

I turned to leave, but she held my wrist. It was the tattooed hand: the hand covered with a tracery of words.

‘Let me ride with you,’ she said.

I hesitated. Instinct flinched.

‘Just that,’ she said. ‘Let me ride back to town with you.’

‘Okay. Okay.’

We collected our things and made the rounds of the students, saying our goodbyes.

The students liked Karla. Everyone liked Karla, even when they didn’t want to understand her.

At the edge of the mesa, Idriss and Silvano came to say goodbye. Silvano still had the rifle slung over his shoulder.

‘No hard feelings, Silvano,’ I said, offering my hand.

He spat on the ground.

Nice , I thought. Okay, rise above .

‘Your name, Silvano, means forest.’

‘And what if it does?’ he demanded, his jaw jutting on the words.

‘I know it,’ I smiled, ‘because an Italian friend of mine changed his name from Silvano, to Forest. Forest Marconi. And I remember thinking that it’s a beautiful name, in both languages.’

‘What?’ Silvano frowned.

‘I’m just saying, I have a friend, whose name is Silvano, and I like him very much. I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I hope you’ll accept my apology.’

‘Well, yes, of course,’ Silvano agreed quickly, reaching out to accept my hand.

There was no contest in it, and the young Italian smiled at me for the first time.

‘You speak Italian?’ he asked.

‘I can swear, if it’s required.’

Idriss laughed.

‘You must come back, Lin!’ he demanded. ‘You must hear my little talk on the animal nature, and the human nature. You’ll get a kick out of it. Maybe two kicks!’

Lightning forked a cobra-strike through the black clouds. The teacher’s face and body were illuminated for an instant with blue-silver light.

‘I’d like that,’ I replied, when the flashes of lightning had passed. ‘I’ll make sure to bring my animal nature along.’

‘You’re always most welcome.’

Abdullah, Karla and I made our way down the slopes, clinging to one another from time to time on slippery paths.

At the gravel parking area, Abdullah used the phone. Waiting for him, I looked around at the brooding sky.

‘We might not make it before the storm. It might hit us on the highway.’

‘With any luck,’ she grinned. ‘Say, that was a pretty fast turnaround back there with Silvano.’

‘He’s okay. It was my fault. I’ve got a lot on my mind.’

‘Fuck you, Lin. Why do you do that?’

‘What?’

‘Allude to things on your mind, but then never tell anyone what they are.’

‘That’s a glass house you’re throwing stones at,’ I replied, but she was right, again, and I knew it.

I wanted to tell her. It was all upside down. Lisa and I were lost. Ranjit was attracting bombers. I was leaving the Sanjay Company. Wars had started between gangs and within them, and the only safe place in the city was somewhere else.

‘You should leave town for a while, Karla. I should, too.’

‘Not a chance of that yet, Shantaram,’ she laughed, and walked over to the small shop to talk with the attendant.

Abdullah returned and spoke softly, his head close to mine.

‘Sanjay has paid everyone,’ he said. ‘There will be no trouble. But it is as I expected. I must go north to the brothers in Delhi for at least a week. I must go tonight.’

‘A week?’

‘Not a day less, out of the city.’

‘I’m coming with you. You’ve got enemies in Delhi.’

‘I have enemies everywhere,’ he said softly, lowering his eyes. ‘As I have friends. You cannot come with me. You will leave for Sri Lanka, and complete your mission there, while this matter of the shooting at Leopold’s is resolved.’

‘Slow down, brother. I’m quitting the Sanjay Company, remember?’

‘I told that to Sanjay, and -’

‘You what?’

‘I told Sanjay that you want to leave.’

‘It should’ve been me who told him,’ I said, quietly angry.

‘I know, I know,’ he replied. ‘But I have to leave for Delhi, tonight. I will not be there, when you tell Sanjay, and that would be too dangerous without me. I decided to do it now, to see if his reaction presents any danger to you.’

‘Did it?’

‘Yes, and no. He was surprised, and very angry, but then he calmed down enough to say that if you complete this last mission for the Company, he will allow you to leave. What do you think, Lin?’

‘That’s all he said?’

‘He also said that if you had any family here, they would already be dead.’

‘And?’

‘And that he will throw you to the dogs, very happily, when your mission is completed.’

‘Is that it?’

‘All but the cursing. He is a foul-mouthed man, and he will die cursing, Inshallah .’

‘When do they want me to leave?’

‘Tomorrow morning,’ he sighed. ‘You take the train to Madras. Then you will leave by cargo ship, for Trincomalee. Company men will be waiting at VT station tomorrow morning, at seven. They will have all of your tickets and instructions.’