by David Layton
Karl announced that he was going to take a nap. He said this without knowing where he’d be sleeping, and Abraham stood up with his father to escort him to his bedroom. Aaron was tired too. It had already been a very long day, a very long few days, in fact, and darkness had set in, but Petra wanted him to go to the beach. Ana gave them towels and told them the moon would guide them to the water.
They walked along a path leading toward the sea, the two of them once more alone. They’d found her grandfather and his family.
“I hope you aren’t planning on ever doing something like this again,” he said.
“Not likely. We’ll be able to visit here, don’t you think?” asked Petra.
“Do you want to come back?”
“Don’t you? It’s pretty amazing here.”
“I guess it is.”
The beach they found was a thin stretch of white sand shaded with a few palm trees. They took a few tentative steps into the dark water, their toes searching for unwanted stones and rocks, but the bottom was sandy. This time they weren’t trying to rescue anyone, and they gently floated out in the water, not talking but not keeping their distance either.
When they returned to the house, Karl had taken a seat on the patio, as if he owned the place, as if he’d lived there all his life.
“Where is my jacket?” Karl shivered from non-existent cold.
“You don’t have a jacket, Grandpa.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t need one here.”
Karl was quick to accept Petra’s reply and returned to his Spanish newspaper, which he’d propped in front of him. Placid and oddly content, he was a Dominican citizen who would, Aaron knew, remain here with his son until his last days.
Aaron and Petra found seats on the patio beside Karl, who soon put aside his newspaper, and the three of them watched in companionable silence as the moon shone on Isabel de Torres and the dark waters beneath.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’D LIKE TO THANK THE ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL for their generous support, and HarperCollins for their exceptional patience. The keen editorial insights of Jennifer Lambert, Gillian Stern, Jane Warren and Patrick Crean were all instrumental in making this book happen. Once on the page, Allyson Latta’s keen eye made sure every word was accounted for. I’d also like to thank my agent, Sam Hiyate, for going well beyond the call of duty. The assistance provided by the Embassy of Haiti in London is also very much appreciated. Thanks as well to my brother, Max, and, as always, my mother, Aviva.
While entirely a work of fiction, this book is based on true historical events. For insight into those times, I am indebted to Marion A. Kaplan’s Dominican Haven: The Jewish Refugee Settlement in Sosua, 1940–1945 and Josef David Eichen’s Sosua: From Refuge to Paradise.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Award-winning writer DAVID LAYTON has had short fiction and articles published and anthologized in various literary journals, newspapers and magazines including Penguin, Exile, The Daily Telegraph, Condé Nast Traveler and The Globe and Mail. He is the author of the memoir Motion Sickness, which was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award, and the bestselling novel The Bird Factory. David Layton teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto and is the course director for Backstage IFOA, part of Toronto’s International Festival of Authors.
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CREDITS
COVER PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
COVER DESIGN: MICHEL VRANA
COPYRIGHT
The Dictator
Copyright © 2017 by David Layton.
All rights reserved under all applicable International Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Patrick Crean Editions, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
FIRST EDITION
EPub Edition: May 2017 EPub ISBN: 9781443451321
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