The Red Clay: Part Thirteen ©

Hali sat on his bed in the dorm when his roommate Greg walked in with a bag slung over his shoulder.
He greeted Hali and told him he didn’t think he would be back yet then asked him how his summer off was back home?

Hali told him it was nice spending time with his grandmother.
She was the only family he had left since his father was killed in Vietnam while helping a wounded man getting into a helicopter.
His mother didn’t take his death to well and drank herself to her own grave but his grandmother was always there and she meant the world to him.

She was more than just a grandmother; she was his mother, father and family tree.
She told him stories about his grandfather and great grandfather, stories of sacrifice, war, pain, love and survival.
He learned that he came from a long line of healers and warriors, men and women who were not afraid to live, or die, as long as it was on their terms
.
She told him he had family that walked down halls with Kings and Queens.
He didn’t know how much of what she told him was true and how much was exaggeration but she had never lied to him before and he believed what she told him.
She always told him that he was special and was blessed by his ancestors.
After what happened in the desert he didn’t think he was blessed if fact it was more like cursed.

At the end of last semester Jo Ann left him for some Law Student with a fancy car and then he almost gets killed in what could have only been described as a massacre where everyone involved got killed, him being the only survivor besides some crazy old man who he now thinks might have been the most dangerous person in the room that day the way he killed that biker without batting an eye.
Then at the end of it all, he becomes the police’s prime suspect in the whole incident.

He told Greg he had a quiet time back home with his grandmother.

In the morning when he got up he decided that he would go and buy the books he needed from the university commissary.
Books were expensive for this final term and he suspected it would cost him at least a thousand dollars for the books he needed unless he could find some used ones.

It was a bright sunny morning as he walked down the street towards the university.
A beautiful day for a walk he thought as he stepped on the street to cross over when a woman’s scream stopped him in his tracks then he had to jump back as a bicycle almost ran him over.
The person on the bike stopped and asked him if he was ok, to which he said he was and that it was entirely his fault for stepping onto the street without looking first.

She took her helmet off and long curly black hair flowed out from under it draping over her shoulders.
She asked him if he was sure he didn’t need any help because if he did she could call for help on her cell phone.

He told he was fine, just a little shook up from the close call and her beauty.
She blushed a bit then told him she was happy she didn’t hit him then put her helmet back on and bid him goodbye, she didn’t want to be late for work then took off on the bike down the street once more.
He stood there watching her bike down the street when it donned on him that he didn’t ask her for her name.
But then again why should he and why should she tell him?

Hali first went to the cafeteria for breakfast when he got to the main building because he knew the commissary wouldn’t be open until 10am.
After reading the morning paper with breakfast he looked at his watch and saw that he had enough time for one more coffee before they opened so he got up for a refill of his cup.
How could he forget to ask her for her name he thought, you don’t always get a chance to meet someone you really like even if it’s the first time you meet her?
Just by looking at her and the concern she showed for him he knew he wanted to know more about her.
He bet his grandmother would like her to but first he had to find her again.

Finishing his coffee he got up and walked to the commissary stopping at the desk first to look if there were any used books for sale that last term’s students might have posted on the bulletin board before he committed himself to new ones..
He wrote down the phone number for a book he saw there that he will need then rang the bell on the desk to summon a clerk so he could get the prices of the other books he will need.

As he stood there reading a pamphlet he picked up, a voice asked him if he needed any help and he look at the familiar voice to see the girl that was riding the bike on the other side of the desk.
He told her that it seems that he did need help after all and they both laughed .
She had a beautiful smile and dark brown eyes.
Hali passed her the paper and told her that he was looking for the books on it for this semester and needed to know their cost and if they were available.
She read the book titles on the list and told him it looked like he was a medical student.
The books on his list were expensive, even if he bought the one from the ad he would still need a thousand dollars for these but if he only bought the ones he needed now she could keep her eyes open if any of the other ones came up cheaper used.
He told her that sounded like a good plan and told her which books he needed now.

While she was looking at the availability of the books he needed Hali looked at the smock she was wearing and there was a name tag on it that said her name was Adalia.
She found the two books he needed now and wrote him a receipt then took his name to call him if she got any word on used textbooks.

Hali paid her for the books and was putting his change away as she bagged the books.
He wanted to ask her out for lunch but he was kind of shy and backed out but thanked her for her help.
As he turned to leave Adalia asked him if he wanted to have lunch later.
He was pleasantly surprised but happy she asked and told her he would be happy to but he would be even happier if she let him treat her to lunch.
She smiled back at him and accepted.

Maggie showed Jonas into a room on the second floor that was supposed to be the best room in the house and was decorated with the best the San Francisco catalogues had to offer.
She ran her hands up his back and could feel his muscles tighten up as her hands stopped on his shoulders before she raised his jacket and slipped it off his back then hung it on the back of a high back chair.
He turned to face her and she stepped up to him then kissed his lips.

His heart started beating faster, this was a new sensation for him and he liked it.
In fact he roughly pulled her tighter to him then pushed his tongue in her mouth kissing her deeply as his lust grew inside of him.

Her nails dug into his scalp as she was getting absorbed by his desires making her blood start to boil and the juices flowing as she got more and more excited.
He had never been this aggressive with her before, pushing away from him she started undoing the buttons on his shirt and pulled it out of his pants then off him, tossing it on the chair.
She started kissing his chest then ran her tongue over his nipple.
As she kissed downward she stopped looked but it was not there, the scar he got in a knife fight.

Belle showed a customer to the door then walked back to her office at the end of the hall and sat down at her desk when a voice caught her attention from a shadow in the corner of the room.
He stepped out of the shadows and told her that he got her message then asked her why she summoned him back.
Belle stood up and walked up to him, reaching up she touched his features with her hand; he looked nothing like his mother.
A cold chill went through her body as she recognized his father in him.

She told him to sit down then preceded to tell him about Jonas upstairs in the room and about whom Jonas’ his father was.
What he had done to her when she was younger.
Cindy knocked on the door just then and told her that she just let out her customer and only Maggie was left with………it was then Cindy noticed the man sitting with Belle in the office and stopped talking as she stared at him.

Belle told her to lock up and to take the rest of the night off.
Cindy pried her eyes away from the man sitting in the chair and bid Belle goodnight but before she left the room, she hesitated for a second at the door to take one last look at him before she disappeared.

Belle got up and went to the cupboard and came out with a bottle of brandy and two glasses, which she filled with the amber liquid.
She handed him a glass, one for her and they both took a long drink, him finishing his.
She poured more into his glass and as he put it to his lips once more she told him he had a job to do and it was a delicate job that will take patience and some restraint.
She had waited twenty years for an opportunity like this to arise and didn’t want to make any mistakes.

He took the full glass and shot back the contents glass then put it in front of her to fill once more and asked here what she wanted him to do.
As she filled the glass she told him he was to fulfill his destiny.

Maggie’s moans could be heard through the door as Jonas pushed in and out of her with a steady rhythm, driving her deeper into the stuffed mattress with every thrust.
Her legs had crawled up the sides of his body to take as much of him inside her as he had to offer and he had plenty to offer.
It was never like this before and she craved for more of him, more of his hunger for her.

She pushed at him to roll over on his back then mounted him and started to ride him, feeling his hardness deeper inside than anyone had been before.
His hands crushed her breasts as his thumbs passed over her hard nipples sending waves of pleasure through her body from the inside out.
They were so lost in their lust they didn’t notice the door open or the man who stepped into the room behind them.
“Hello brother” the man said.

They all stood at the peer, Ada kissed Hali for what may be the last time as she was preparing to set sail for Spain to live with Isabella and her husband in Diego’s family’s estate near Madrid.
She stood there looking at Thilivhali, her beautiful son, the son of the first man she ever loved.
She looked at Dakarai and told him to watch out for Hali and kissed him to.
Dakarai bowed his head and told her that he will always watch out for his brother and keep him safe for her, as she had done for him for his mother.

Then to Baba she told him to watch the both of her sons and she would hold him responsible if anything was to happen to either one of them.
He told her he would treat them like if they were his own sons and in some ways they were.
Ada smiled and kissed Baba on the cheek then walked back to Hali and hugged him one last time before she walked up the gangplank to the awaiting ship.

Maggie stopped at the sound of the voice behind her then looked back to see who it was and her mouth dropped in shock as she turned to stare at the man beneath her.
Jumping out of the bed she grabbed a robe and held it in front of her just as Belle stepped into the room.

Jonas lay on the bed looking up at what can only be described as his reflection standing at the door, the man could have been his identical twin.
Slowly he got off the bed and asked what was going on all the time keeping his eyes on his reflection standing at the door

Belle told Maggie to get out of the room but Maggie lingered to long for Bell’s liking then grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out then told her to disappear if she knew what was good for her.
She came back in and looked Jonas in the eyes then with venom in her voice she told him that he was now going to pay for his father’s sins and started for the door but as she was leaving the room Belle told him to make it look like and accident then to change into Jonas’ clothes.
He smiled at Belle and closed the door behind her then he started towards Jonas.

Jonas’ heart was racing as was his mind, this was a life and death situation and he realized that just at this moment.
Raising his hands he told him that they could talk this over but a hard punch over his heart had him bent over gasping for air as his twin stepped up behind him and started choking what life Jonas had inside him.

Jonas couldn’t get any oxygen to his lungs and his struggling to loosen the forearm crushing his windpipe was futile.
He was starting to get weaker as his life began to flash before his eyes.
Just then he was a child once more hiding in the closet peeking out the crack of the door in his parents bedroom.

His father walked in and began arguing with his mother.
She was yelling at him and he was laughing at her until she got angry and slapped him across the face.
His father grabbed her by the neck with both his hands and held her like that until she went limp in his arms and then let her fall to the floor in a heap where she lay motionless.

He saw himself running out of the closet to his mother’s side on the floor but his father grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from her.
He hit his father with his small fists but then lights exploded everywhere in his head as his father hit him and knocking him unconscious.
He woke up next on a ship heading for England.

Belle stood outside the door in the hallway trying to listen to what was happening in the room when there was a loud crash and then she heard the sound of boots thrashing along the floor, then silence.
Thirty minutes later the door opened and he stepped out all dressed up and proper.
Belle stood there staring at him then reached up and touched the features of his face.
She said he was perfect and he would fool them all.
He stared down at her but his thoughts drifted off into the near future when he will see his father again.
She told him to follow her into her office to talk a few things over.

Hali stood at the pier until he could no longer see the sails of the ship in the distant sky then turned to head off back to the hacienda with Dakarai and Baba.
He had a lot to do within the next few months, one of which was to sell the plantation and make sure the workers were all taken care of.
He had no desire to stay here even though it held so many fond memories and some he wished he could forget.

He had a paper giving him power of attorney in all matters relating to the plantation so there would be no problem from any officials about him trying to sell their holdings.
In the morning he would go down to the sugar exchange and see about finding a buyer.

When morning came he had some fruits for breakfast and then took a horse and rode to the town to register his paperwork at city hall.
When he got there he gave the clerk the papers and after reading them he told Hali that he had to get his supervisor to accept these papers and walk out to the back office.

After a few moments the clerk came back and told him his supervisor would be right with him then left the office.
Hali assumed he must have gone for lunch because it was getting close to that time.

A man came out of the back office smiling and holding Hali’s papers in his hand.
He stood at the desk and told Hali that he was sorry but he couldn’t accept these papers unless Don Diego himself came here and presented them to him, besides that a slave was not allowed to own land.

Hali’s anger started to build up and told him that he wasn’t a slave, never was, never will be.
He was the son of Don Diego and as his son he had all the rights to claim his father’s holdings.

Just then the clerk returned with a dozen soldiers and surrounded Hali in the office.
The supervisor told him that he was NOT Diego’s son but the bastard son of a concubine his master took pleasure in.
Hali lost his temper and struck at the clerk but was stopped by the soldiers.
He told the supervisor that he would send a letter to Spain and have him dealt with.
The clerk laughed at Hali and told him that Spain was a long way off and a slave could not send letters anywhere especially if he were chained up.
Just then all went black.

Hali’s eyes opened to the burning sun.
He tried to block it with his hands but found them restrained to a belt around his waist; his legs were shackled also and he couldn’t stand up.
Pushing with his legs he managed to prop himself up against a wall and looked around his immediate surroundings.
He was in the stockade, held as a prisoner with the other slaves kept there that the soldiers owned to do their dirty work that needed to be done around the town.
For the first time in his life Hali felt hopeless and alone.

A few hours passed before three soldiers came by and dragged him off the ground then tied him to a post.
They told him that their commander wanted to welcome him to his new home then tore the back of his shirt open exposing his strong back to the blazing sun.
The sergeant came back with a long whip and started whipping Hali.

Each stroke of the thin whip sliced Hali’s back sending pain as panic rushing to his brain.
Every stroke cut into his sense of freedom and fair play, what Diego had taught him from the time he was born.
The lashes pounded into his brain until all went blank once more.

The whip cracked once more and her screams filled the room.
Jonas loved the power he felt when he held someone’s life in his hands especially when it was that of a woman.
A woman for him was no more than an object for his pleasure and he had never indulged his pleasure as much as he did in England when he was there.
They will never forget his works of art in White chapel and he knew those prostitutes loved every minute of his company.
If the constables hadn’t almost caught him that one night he may have stayed in London a little longer but he had to get back to work so maybe it was a good thing he was almost caught.

There weren’t as many prostitutes here as there were in London but there were some that were game enough to come home with him if the price were right, not that he ever needed to pay them
He walked around and lifted her head by the hair to look at her face.
She begged him to let her go and she wouldn’t tell anyone.
Jonas told her she wouldn’t tell anyone anyhow.

Just then there was a knock on the heavy door leading to the cellar.
Jonas asked who it was and a servant said that a messenger brought word saying that master Jonas has returned from Georgia and will be home in a few hours.
A few hours were plenty of time for him to finish what he had started.

When his eyes opened next he was laying on his side next to a running steam.
Was this all a dream he thought and tried to move but a sharp pain starting from his back made his mid spin out of control?
Dakarai voice came to him and told him to be still and lay there so that the medicine on his back could start working, then the world around him went black once more.

Hali woke up to the suns rays again and this time he was in a jungle resting on a bed of large leaves for his bed.
He rolled a to his side and could still feel the pain on his back but it wasn’t as bad as it was the first time.
Baba saw him wake up and went to him.
Hali asked Baba where they were and what happened to the soldiers.
Was it all a bad dream?

Baba told him that word was brought to them at the hacienda that he had been taken as a prisoner so that the Government officials could steal his plantation from him and keep it for themselves.
Wt was all part of a plan by one of the other plantation owners who hated Diego and his family for the way they treated their slaves.

Baba and Dakarai came in the middle of the night and found him hanging from a whipping pole.
They cut him down and ran off with him to the jungle without anyone knowing that he was missing and didn’t until morning.
They did come after them as the saw from their hiding place but the jungle was their back yard and no one could find them in there so they hide among the fields next to a stream for a couple of days.

A couple of days Hali thought!
He asked how long had he been unconscious.
Baba told him two weeks.
After his back healed a little they carried him across the border into Haiti where they are now.
Hali asked Baba where Dakarai was and was told that he had gone to a nearby village to get some food for them.

Jonas washed the blood off his hands then started up the stairs and unlocked the door to the cellar.
When he swung it open his son was standing there waiting.
He asked him what he was doing there and the next thing he knew Jonas Jr. hit him in the head sending him rolling to the bottom of the stairs.

Violent hands picked him up and threw him against the wall hard then he slipped back to the ground.
His son walked to the wall and took down a sabre then walked back to where his father was now getting back up to his feet.

Jonas sent his son to Georgia to toughen him up a bit but he didn’t think he would come back an animal like this, he didn’t recognize his son anymore.
Where was the coward that refused to even defend himself?
Maybe what they say is true that an apple doesn’t fall away from the tree.

Standing before his son he held up his hands trying to plead with his son to leave him be but Jonas Jr. swung the sabre cutting off both his hands showering the room with blood.
Jonas’ brain screamed or was it his own voice he heard as he stared at the two fresh stumps where his hands once were.
Jonas fell to his knees as his blood pooled all around him.
In a small corner of his brain Jonas was finally proud of his son

Jonas Jr. walked behind his father, bent down and whispered something into his ear, then with one hand held him by the hair and the brought down the sabre with the other cutting his head off then turning it for his brain to see his body before tossing it on the floor.
It made a hollow sound as it bounced across the room before he watched it roll under the bed.

Cindy came down in the morning and went to see Belle at her office.
When she walked in she found Belle laying on the floor dead with her eyes still wide open, her head twisted in a funny way.
She began to scream and ran upstairs to find Maggie but what she found in Maggie’s room was Maggie’s last customer lying there naked and dead.
She ran outside in the street screaming murder as people rushed to her aid and then inside to find what she herself just discovered moments earlier.

Cindy and Tommy were the only people that attended Belle’s funeral.

Maggie lay in her bed waiting for him to come back and he didn’t make her wait long, he opened the door and walked in.
He was wearing new clean clothes, not that it made any difference, he took them off as soon as he got in and she could see how excited he was when he took them off..

They made love like starving animals most of the night before he finally passed out.
She lay there with her head on his chest passing her hand over his chest admiring his perfect skin.
Not a single blemish or scar on him that she could see.

Walker