[African Diamonds 01.0] The Angolan Clan

by Christopher Lowery

  “You don’t need to apologise to me, it really doesn’t bother me, but I’ll tell you one thing. If Suzie has a thing for you, you are a bloody lucky man, a rare breed. She’s an exceptionally picky woman and you should count your lucky stars. If you feel the need to apologise, then apologise to her, not to me.”

  Adam felt like a complete idiot. I don’t think I can apologise again, I said enough last night. He really couldn’t figure women. Stupid bitches, he had always said. But this time it’s me who’s a stupid prick.

  Nick got up and went into the kitchen. He felt sick to the stomach. The moment was gone and there wouldn’t be another opportunity. I can’t try again. I just don’t have the courage.

  Suzie pulled the Cadillac up in front of an admiring crowd at the BA terminal. They’d managed to get through lunch at the Hard Rock without any further discomfort, mainly thanks to her light hearted banter. She was a clever woman. What an asshole you are, Adam thought to himself again. Well, he had the contract, the million dollars and he’d soon have the diamonds. No time for regrets. He picked up his cases and turned to say goodbye to Suzie.

  “Have a good trip, Adam, and come and see us again. Nick and I would both like that.” She hugged him warmly and kissed him softly on the mouth.

  He whispered in her ear, “I’m really sorry. Sorry for everything.”

  She gave him an affectionate smile. “Rain check, OK?” She went back to sit at the wheel of the enormous car in case it was towed away.

  The two men walked to the entrance of the terminal. Adam had noticed that Nick had seldom spoken and eaten hardly anything at lunch, his burger was virtually untouched when the waiter cleared away the dishes. He seemed to be preoccupied with something. It’s probably my fault, that stupid remark about Suzie. He turned to apologise again.

  Before he could say anything, Nick grabbed his hand and shook it warmly. “Travel safely and I’ll see you either in Geneva or here, when we’ve completed the transaction.”

  “Nick, it’s been a real pleasure, I hope I didn’t bugger it up too badly.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve forgotten it already. By the way, this little health thing, it’s nothing serious. You don’t need to mention it to my partners, they worry about me enough already.”

  “I won’t say a word, but please go to the doctor tomorrow. Better to be…”

  “I know, safe than sorry. I promise to go tomorrow. See you soon, God speed.”

  As Adam walked towards the check-in counters, Nick took from his wallet a well-thumbed, creased photograph, the colours faded with age. It showed a young woman in a blue halter top and shorts, standing in the shallow surf on Clifton Beach, her lovely blue eyes smiling at the camera, and at him.

  Sitting in his first class seat with a glass of champagne, Adam read and re-read the contract. Even though he knew it by heart, he had trouble registering the words. He couldn’t get Suzie out of his mind. I still don’t get it, he thought. What does she want with me?

  SEVENTY-TWO

  January, 2008

  Durban, South Africa

  The whole family was in the garden of Hanny and Rachel’s house. It was Saturday, the day after Adam’s return and he’d slept for twelve hours. He’d come straight from the airport to his parents’ house to spend the weekend with them. He came out to a blazing hot day and a blazing hot barbecue. The kids were playing in the pool and the adults were sipping fruit punch on the terrace. Adam greeted everyone in a relaxed fashion. He felt comfortable, he’d gotten his deal under control. His parents would be proud of him.

  He sat on the terrace with the others and his sister, Catrine, brought him a glass of punch. “Thanks, Catty, just what I need. Cheers everyone.” He sipped the delicious, cool mixture.

  Rachel came to sit beside him. “Welcome home, dear. How did it go in the States?”

  He kissed her on the cheek. “Couldn’t have been better, mom. Whilst I was there I met another IDD partner and we agreed on the last details and signed the final contract. I’ve already transferred the escrow money, so we’re in business.”

  “That’s wonderful, Adam. Your father will be proud of you. We’ll talk about it when the family’s gone.”

  The afternoon was an enjoyable break for Adam after the stressful visit with Nick and Suzie. His aunt Josie was there with her brood. She was a lot of fun. They played with the kids in the pool and Tom, Birgitta’s husband, organised a game of cricket on the lawn. The South Africans were crazy about cricket, the children even more so.

  “Goodbye folks, see you soon.” Josie drove her family off at last, waving back at the house.

  Rachel walked back up the driveway with Adam. “Let’s go sit with your father and you can tell us about your trip.”

  Hanny was sitting on the terrace, smoking a cheroot. His leg was bothering him and he no longer joined in the games with the children. “How’s my boy, everything in good shape?”

  “Hang on, dad, I’ll just get something to show you.” Adam went up to his room and brought the signed contract, the documents given to him by Laurent, and his presentation case.

  He opened up the case, revealing the twenty diamonds he’d selected the previous month.

  “Just look at these, mom. I know you’re still madly in love with dad, but you’ll be crazy about these fabulous gems as well, I guarantee it.

  “Oh, my!” Rachel had seen many impressive diamonds in her life, but nothing like this brilliant display. “Now I see what you’ve been talking about. They’re absolutely stunning.”

  He handed over his magnifying lens and his father looked closely at several of the stones. “Incredible!” He shook his head. “I’ve never seen such perfect clarity and colour in my whole life. You could easily increase your price, nobody has stones like these.”

  “Too late, dad, my customers are already biting at the bit. And I don’t want to get the reputation of being a price hitcher.” Despite his reply, Adam was mentally kicking himself for not going for better prices. Hanny was right, he’d never seen better stones in his life.

  He produced the documents he’d received from Laurent. A certificate of ownership from IDD, an authorisation to carry the diamonds on their behalf and the VAT and other documents for the customs post at the airports, en route to visit his customers in the US and UK.

  “Everything seems absolutely professional, son. That’s usually a very good sign.”

  “And here’s the final contract. Your idea about the funds was brilliant. I transferred the escrow money by fax from Florida. Everything went as smooth as clockwork. It’s a done deal.” He handed the contract to his father.

  “Whose is the signature for IDD? I can’t read it.” He gave the contract back to Adam.

  “It’s another partner I met in Florida. I think there are four of them altogether. I met Laurent and Charlie in Geneva, and in Miami I met the guy who signed the contract, Nick Martinez. He’s the diamond expert who’s been processing their stones for the last thirty years. He’s a really nice guy, lives in Florida. But you won’t believe it, he’s originally from Joburg.”

  Adam was looking at the contract in his hand, intent on getting his story right. He failed to notice his mother’s shocked expression at the mention of Nick’s name. His father remained impassive, somehow controlling his astonishment at hearing this name from the distant past.

  Rachel gave a gasp and Hanny took her hand. “Are you all right dear?” To Adam, he said, “Your mother’s been a bit off colour this week, son. I’ll just take her in for a lie-down. I’ll be back in a moment and we can continue.”

  “Are you sure you’re all right, mom?” Adam was concerned, his mother was never sick.

  “I’ve probably been overdoing it at the hospice. Don’t worry, I’m fine.” She pulled herself up and went inside with Hanny. Adam realised that his parents were getting on in life.

  His father came back a little while later. “Right, let’s have all the gory details.”

  Rachel begged off supper that e
vening and stayed in her room. The two men opened a bottle of Merlot and sat outside, nibbling at some of the leftovers from the barbecue. They talked a lot about Adam’s business. Hanny was very interested in the IDD partners, especially Nick Martinez. Adam gave him an abbreviated version of his trip to Miami, saying that he’d had a call to invite him down when he was in New York. He mentioned that Nick spoke with a soft accent. “I would never have guessed he was from Joburg, his accent’s got lost in his travels, that’s for sure.” He told his father what he knew about the man, which wasn’t much, but it was enough for Hanny.

  It was after ten when Adam said goodnight and went upstairs to his room. Hanny went into his office. After a short while, he emerged and went to their bedroom. It was in darkness. Rachel was in her armchair by the window, looking out at the harbour lights.

  “How are you feeling, my love?” He saw that she had been crying. She looked worn out.

  “Darling, I suppose it’s not possible that this is an incredible coincidence? That there’s another Nick Martinez in the world, a different man altogether, not the man that I knew?”

  “Well, if you answer me two questions, we’ll know for sure.”

  “What questions?”

  “First, did he attend Witwatersrand and obtain a BSc in mining engineering?”

  She didn’t reply, just nodded.

  “And was he Director of Diamond Mining Operations at the Imperial Diamond Exploration Company, in Joburg?”

  She took his hands and looked him in the eyes. “It’s him, it’s the same Nick. Where did you find all this out?”

  “I cheated. I looked up IDD on Google and found the directors. Charlie Bishop, FCA, BSc, and Nick Martinez GIA, BSc, from UK and Joburg respectively. Added to what Adam told us, there’s no doubt it’s the same man. The problem is, what do we do about it now?”

  “Oh, Hanny, this is all my fault. I should have known that it would come out somehow. Now everyone will find out about my sordid past, the unmarried mother, saved by a Prince Charming. Adam is thirty-three and he has to learn that the father he has always known isn’t really his father. I’m so terribly sorry.” She burst into tears, shaking her head from side to side.

  “After Greg’s death, I thought we’d, you’d suffered as much as any parent could cope with. Now, because of my stupidity, Adam and the whole family are going to have to go through another awful trauma. And a man I loved and thought I’d forgotten has suddenly reappeared in our lives. I just don’t know what to do, what to say, to try to put things right.”

  Hanny put his arm around her shoulders. He kissed her wet face and stroked her hair back in place. “Now then, Rachel, please stop crying. We have to talk sensibly about this and it’s not going to be easy if you’re blowing your nose every two minutes.”

  When the tears had stopped flowing the two of them sat side by side, holding hands like young lovers. They talked the matter through backwards and forwards. Hanny confirmed that Nick had left Joburg and had never been back. He’d lived in Geneva and Florida and elsewhere. It seemed that he had done very well for himself over all these years. He was one of the owners of the fabulous Angolan diamonds and Adam was doing business with him.

  He had to be told. Somehow they would have to explain it to him and to the family as well. Hanny insisted that they would understand, even sympathise with Rachel’s unfortunate situation, it had happened over thirty years ago. It didn’t change anything today, the family wouldn’t fall apart because of this. But that wasn’t the problem, the problem was Adam.

  After an hour’s talking, Rachel made her decision. “I have to tell him myself, it’s the only way. He’s my son and Nick is his real father. You’ve always been the best father he could have wished for, but I have to tell him about Nick. He’s met him, he’s doing business with him and he doesn’t know who he is. I’ve got to face up to it, there’s no other way.”

  They held each other in bed as they had done for the last thirty-three years. Now that Rachel had taken her decision she felt relieved. She had a good night’s sleep, but Hanny didn’t sleep so well. He lay awake, thinking about his own son, Greg, taken from him at the age of twenty-six, in a tragic, senseless accident. Now, his adopted son, whom he loved as his own, was about to find out that he wasn’t his real father. That he’d been lied to for all these years. Was he now going to lose his only remaining son? Then there was Nick. He knew that Rachel had never really forgotten about him. His whole family life was under threat and there was nothing he could do about it. He dreaded finding out what tomorrow would bring.

  When Rachel came down the next morning, Adam was already having breakfast. He had vowed to lose the couple of pounds he’d gained travelling, so he was eating fruit and yoghourt. She declined anything to eat and poured herself a mug of coffee.

  “I hope you’re feeling better, mom?” He was concerned that his mother had missed supper and gone to bed early. He couldn’t remember her ever doing that.

  “I’m perfectly fine, don’t worry. I was a bit tired last night, having all the family over for the day. I think I’ll take a few days off from the hospice. But don’t worry, I’m really fine.”

  They sat talking quietly over their coffee and Rachel summoned up all her courage. She said, under her breath, I can’t put it off for ever. Now’s the best time, it always is.

  “Come and walk a little in the garden with me. There’s something I need to tell you.”

  He looked worriedly at her, but said nothing, took her by the hand and helped her up. They walked across the lawn together, arm in arm.

  “It’s about something that happened a long time ago, Adam, before you were born.”

  SEVENTY-THREE

  January, 2008

  Cape Town, South Africa

  Adam was sitting at a café on the Waterfront in Cape Town. He had a double whisky in front of him. It was six o’ clock in the evening of Monday, 21st January, a very hot day. He had flown down the previous night and checked in to the Raleigh Hotel, right on the harbour, but he hadn’t slept a wink that night.

  After the conversation with his mother, he had walked from the house to Durban harbour, about two kilometres. He had no idea where he was going, his head was spinning and he felt sick and frightened. He walked along the waterside for what seemed like hours, trying to make sense of the story she had recounted. It had hit him like a bombshell. Hanny wasn’t his father. For thirty-three years he’d been another man’s son. His real father had left his pregnant fiancée and had never been seen again, until, by some Machiavellian stroke of fate, his son had gone to visit him in Miami. My real father. I’m doing a multi-million dollar deal with my own father.

  I’m really just a bastard, he told himself. If Hanny hadn’t taken pity on mother, I wouldn’t have a father.

  Rachel had told him that she and Nick had been very much in love. They were together for a year and were to be married, but they had a falling out. It was to do with apartheid. Maybe, he thought. Or maybe he just didn’t want to have a kid. Maybe he knew Rachel was pregnant. Maybe he’d walked out on both of them.

  The other thing was that Catrine and Birgitta were not his sisters and Greg had not even been his half-brother. He recalled the time they had talked about it when he was a child. Greg had said that he wasn’t really their brother. He must have known. Maybe everyone knows. Maybe I’m the only person who didn’t know. That’s why he’d always felt inferior to his brother, because he was. Greg had made him feel it too, and now that he was no longer there, he would never be able to ask him, to find out if that was the reason for their incompatibility.

  Adam felt like throwing himself into the harbour. He was in a state of despair. He didn’t realise it but tears were rolling down his cheeks. If anyone had seen him they would have taken him for a crazy person. He was talking to himself and crying. He was a crazy person.

  After trying to walk away the nightmare, he had gone back to the house and booked a flight that evening to Cape Town. He came out to the ter
race where his parents were sitting. “I need to get away for a few days. This is just like a bad dream, I need time to sort it out.”

  Hanny tried desperately to comfort him. “Adam, whatever happened, whatever you think, you are my son. I married your mother because I loved her and I still do. And I love you in the same way. You are my son, not somebody else’s, mine. I was lucky enough to have two sons but now I still have one, and that’s you, Adam. And I’m proud of you and I always will be. I can’t change what has happened but I love you and I always have, always will.”

  “So why did nobody tell me then, dad? Why was I left to find out like this? To go to Miami and do a deal with a sixty-five year old guy who turns out to be my own father. You couldn’t write this script if you tried. It’s just too bloody ridiculous.”

  Rachel’s heart was breaking. She didn’t know what to do or say. First Nick, now Adam, she thought. I’ve estranged them both. Oh my God.

  Hanny tried again. “We didn’t tell anyone, Adam. Neither your brother nor your sisters knew. Auntie Jodie was the only person in the world who knew about your mother’s pregnancy. We never imagined in our wildest dreams that this would come out, even less that you would meet Nick. We made a mistake and we’re deeply sorry for it. But we tried to do the best for you. If anyone else had known, your life might have been a misery, you would have felt…I don’t know how you would have felt, but we didn’t want to take that risk. I wanted to be your father, it wasn’t forced on me and I’m happy that I took the decision to marry your mother. Not through pity, but for love, love for her, and for her unborn child.”

  Adam realised that further talk was futile. He said, “I’ve booked on a flight to Cape Town. I’m leaving in a few hours, I don’t know how long for. I’ll send you a text message when I find a hotel, I need to get away and straighten out my head.”

  He had walked into the Raleigh Hotel at eight o’ clock and was lucky enough to find a single room, moderately priced. It was high season, so Cape Town was frenetic. The hotels and restaurants were overflowing with tourists from every part of the world. He tried to lose himself in the crowds, dined alone in the hotel, had a drink and went to bed. He didn’t sleep.