When Love Finds a Home (31 page)

"While we talk a truck
comes with two men. We are surprised. Trucks do not come so late. The big man with
scar"—he drew his finger horizontally across his chin—"he tells us he
needs men for two maybe three weeks to go to Floresville and he promises us
much money. We all go. To work that long is good and to make that much
money." He held his hands up as if in prayer.

"Where's
Floresville?" she asked.

He drew a little circle on the
table and pointed at it. "It is a little hamlet maybe eighteen kilometers
to the south of here. Soldier Man said there was much farming there and I think
this is what we will be doing. However, when we arrive we were put inside a
very big building with no windows. There are men who do nothing but walk around
with guns watching us. When Roach sees these men he gets scared, but the man
who hired us tells us these guns are for security. Then he says if the guns
bother us, he will take us back to city and hire men who are not afraid. We
only work at night with many other men I did not know. Men like us." He
gestured to his shabby clothes.

"They live on the streets
too," Rona clarified.

"Yes. We work with the
men, but we cannot talk to them. All night, many trucks come and go. When they
come we unload boxes from this side of the building," he explained and
placed his right hand on the table. "Before they leave we must load box from
this side of the building." He used his left hand to indicate the opposite
side.

"What was in the
boxes?" she asked.

He turned his hands palms up.
"We did not know. All we knew was the boxes on the trucks that came in
were very, very heavy. The boxes that went out were not so heavy." Rona
started to speak, but he held up a hand and stopped her. "There is more I
must tell you."

"Okay." She sat back
with her coffee.

"We only worked at night.
During the day we were taken to an empty house where we slept on bedrolls on
the floor. One day Soldier Man tells us he is going to leave, because he thinks
we are working for drug men and he does not want to do this. If police find
them, we will all go to jail. No Talk Willie agrees. That night when truck
comes to take us back to the building to work, Soldier Man tells the men that
he and No Talk wants not to work anymore. The man says he will take them back
to city."

Rona was dying to ask
questions, but Malcolm pressed on.

"I too think about
leaving, but I was greedy for the money they say they will pay us." He
stopped and shook his head sadly. "I never learn. I am always greedy for
money."

"What happened?"
Rona prompted, unable to remain silent any longer.

"The truck takes us to
building and the man asks if we also wish to leave. I almost say yes, but I am
very greedy, only Soldier Man and No Talk Willie leave. When the truck comes
back in the morning to get us, one of the men is wearing Solider Man's
medal." His hands began to shake so badly he had to set his coffee cup down.

Rona took his hands as tears
began to roll down his haggard face. "What happened then, Malcolm?"

"The man with the medal
had blood on his pants."

"Are you sure it was
blood?" Rona asked as her gut clenched.

He nodded vigorously. "I
know what blood looks like. I have seen much blood."

"I believe you." She
handed him a napkin to dry his tears. "What happened next?"

"After that I get very
scared. I think something bad happened and these men did not take Soldier Man
and No Talk back to city. When they take us back to house in the morning, I
tell others what I think happened. Harper hits me very hard and tells to me
keep quiet. As soon as we get our money we will leave, but I do not think they
will pay us. I wait until everyone is asleep and I sneak away. I walk through
fields for many days taking food wherever I can find it, until I make it back
here to the city. I feel safe again. Then people tell me a big man with a scar
on his chin is asking for me. I am afraid these men will find me. I try to find
you, but you are gone. I am very scared."

Rona squeezed his hand.
"You don't have to be scared. We'll figure out something. Do you think you
could find your way back to this building where you worked?"

His eyes grew round.
"Yes, I watched the road very closely, but I do not wish to go back
there."

She shook her head. "I
don't want you to go back, but if you could tell the police where it was, they
could arrest these men."

Malcolm fingered his grizzled
beard as he lowered his head. "I cannot go to see the police."

"Why not?"

"If I do, it is me they
will put in jail."

"No, they won't. You
didn't know you were doing anything illegal and when you started to suspect
something was wrong, you left."

"The police look for me
for many years, now. I did a bad thing many years ago."

Domingo started toward them
with the coffeepot, but Rona shook her head to stop him. He gave an elaborate
shrug and went back to reading his paper.

"What did you do,
Malcolm?"

He folded his massive hands on
the table. "I came to this country thirty years ago, when I was a young
man."

"How old are you?"
Rona asked.

"I am fifty-two, I
think," he added with a frown.

Rona tried to hide her shock.
He looked much older. She had assumed he was closer to seventy. "I'm
sorry, I interrupted you. Please finish your story."

He nodded slightly. "I
was at the university and a white man came. This man, Mr. Douglas, told me he
would pay me much money if I would come to America and learn to play
basketball. I think this man is daft to want to pay me so much money." He
pointed to his head. "I tell him yes, but only if my sister Njeri can come
with me. We were alone, our parents were dead." He smiled and glanced at
Rona. "My sister Njeri is one year younger but much smarter than me. She
says Kepha—" He stopped. "That is my real name Kepha Ooko."

Stunned, Rona didn't know what
to say, so she simply nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Njeri says I am greedy
to want so much money." He opened his hands. "She was correct. I read
about American cars that go very fast and many things that I could never have
in Kenya. Njeri did not want to come to America. I tell her I am the man and
she will do what I say. That was very big mistake." He shook his head
sadly.

"What happened?"

"I did not learn to play
basketball like the white man wanted. I could not bounce the ball and run.
Although I practice many hours, I could not learn." He gave a great sigh.
"I wanted to be a teacher of art. When I could not learn basketball Mr.
Douglas told me I must leave. I asked for my money. He laughed at me and told
me I had no money. I must get a job and work. Then he called me a very bad name
and I hurt him. I hit him very hard, many times. There was much blood and he
said the police would get me. I ran home. Njeri told me I must turn myself in,
but I could not. I ran away," he whispered as tears filled his eyes again.
"I left little Njeri alone."

"Malcolm—or Kepha—"
Rona began.

"I am Malcolm now,"
he told her.

She nodded. "Okay,
Malcolm, this man, Mr. Douglas, cheated you and was trying to scare you. I
don't think the police are looking for you." She tried to convince him to
go to the police but he wouldn't listen. Finally, she gave up and tried a
different approach. "Will you tell me how to get there? I can call the
police and leave an anonymous tip. I'll call them from a pay phone and they
won't know who I am."

"What about the big man
with the scar? He will find me."

Rona looked at him. Even if
the police followed up on the tip and raided the place, they wouldn't catch
everyone involved. If those trucks were coming and going, then obviously there
was someone on the other end of their route. She knew there was only one
solution for Malcolm. "I think you're going to have to leave San
Antonio." The fear in his eyes hurt her. "I'll help you," she
promised. "I have a job. I can help you go somewhere else. Where do you
want to go?"

He fingered his beard again.
"I want to find Njeri," he replied.

She nodded. "Okay. Where
does she live? I'll buy you a bus ticket tonight."

"I do not know where she
is. I never talked to her after I ran away. I was too ashamed."

Rona tried to keep the shock
out of her voice. "You don't know where your sister is?"

"No."

"You've not talked to her
in thirty years."

"That is true. All I have
is this."

He reached beneath the many
sweaters he was wearing and pulled out a cheap plastic kid's purse. As he slid
back the zipper, Rona saw the faded image of Strawberry Shortcake. From the
purse, he carefully extracted a worn piece of paper. With infinite care, he
unfolded it and smoothed it out before handing it to her.

It looked like a photocopy of
a newspaper article stating that Professor Njeri Ooko was leaving Columbia
University to return to her native homeland of Kenya.

Rona stared at the article.
How could she possibly find this woman if she was living in Kenya? She had no
idea where to start.

"You are very smart like Njeri.
With this"—he pointed to the paper—"you can find her?" His eyes
searched her face, pleading.

"How did you get
this?" she asked, holding up the paper.

"At the library, a very
nice woman taught me to use the Internet. Everyday, I would go and search for
my Njeri. This is all I ever find."

Rona searched the article
again. There was no date to indicate when the article had been published. She
handed it back to him and watched as he carefully refolded it before placing it
back inside the small purse.

"You will find her for
me?" he asked as he hid the purse beneath the bulk of sweaters.

"I don't know how, but
we'll find her," she promised. She felt horrible for lying to him. How
could she possibly find his sister? The brilliant smile on his face only made her
feel worse.

The yellowed Nehi clock behind
the counter indicated it was a little after eight. Surprised by the amount of
time that had slipped away, she stood up.

"Wait here. I need to
make a phone call." She wanted to let Tammy know she would be home late.
As she walked toward the front, she realized that it was well beyond closing
time for Domingo. She apologized for keeping him.

He stopped reading long enough
to wave off her apology. "I live in the back," he said. "I'm
always home."

"Can I borrow your
phone?"

He nodded, pointed to it and
went back to his paper.

She dialed Anna's number. When
there was no answer, she hung up before the machine could kick on. She tried to
decide what to do. Malcolm had to be kept somewhere safe. It wouldn't be easy
for a man as tall as Malcolm was to go unnoticed. If the man with the scar was
still looking for him, he would be searching the streets. For now, she needed
to find him a safe place to stay while she searched for his sister.

Chapter Thirty-three

An hour later, Rona and
Malcolm were in a cheap motel room located at the edge of downtown. She had
rented the room under her name while Malcolm remained hidden outside. As tall
as he was, he would be certain to be remembered if anyone came around asking
about him.

"I'll try to find you
something better tomorrow," she promised as she looked around the dingy
room.

He poked the bed with his
finger. "This is a very good bed. I will be fine. When will you find my
sister?"

"I don't know," she
admitted as she searched for a delicate way to say what she needed to tell him.
"Malcolm, we need to change the way you look."

He smiled a wide smile.
"You give me a disguise, like on the television."

She laughed. "I don't
know if I could do a disguise, but I think we can change the way you look by
cutting your hair and shaving off your beard."

He looked horrified.
"Then my face will get cold."

"You won't have to worry
about being cold anymore. I'm going to help you." Somehow, she added to
herself.

After making him promise he
wouldn't leave the room for any reason, Rona headed home. By the time she
arrived, it was after eleven. Tired to the bone, she checked the answering
machine, hoping Anna had called and left a message. The electronic voice
advised her there were no new messages. She went upstairs and knocked softly on
Tammy's door.

Tammy opened the door right
away, still fully dressed. "Are you just coming in?" she asked.

Rona smiled. "Yes,
Mother, and how long have you been home? You weren't home when I called
earlier." The deep pink that tinted Tammy's cheeks gratified her. "I
need to talk to you."

Tammy nodded and followed her
downstairs.

They sat at the kitchen table
while Rona quickly repeated Malcolm's story. When she reached the point about
the man returning wearing Soldier Man's Purple Heart, tears formed in Tammy's
eyes. "Did you know him?" Rona asked.