by M J Dees
“Sounds like a dilemma.”
“Papadopolous has had to resign from the society, so I can’t imagine him sticking his neck out for me. But to be honest, it wouldn’t bother me if I get a ‘no’. I don’t feel like I’ve got the energy to immerse myself in an unknown subject.”
“But can they get away with not honouring a contract?”
“In my case it is very easy. I never meet a deadline. I’d like to give up with this contract work altogether, David, and write whatever I want.”
“Well, if you can afford to...”
“That’s the problem, we can’t,” Annabel chipped in.
“I’ve only got a bit in the bank at the moment,” Jim admitted.
“And we have insurance and rent to pay,” said Annabel.
“We’ve given notice in this place,” Jim added. “October 1st. We are dreading the winter.”
“And Thomas scammed us out of money, tell him, Jim.”
“Oh, it would almost be funny if it wasn’t distressing,” Jim recounted the entire affair yet another time. “Thomas has admitted everything to Garcia, and yet he still refuses to pay anything. At least Garcia knows I reported him and wasn’t trying to protect a non-Unity member.”
“So what will happen?”
“I had to report it to the police, and the officer gave me a pitying look, as if I should know not to do deals with non-Unity members. The police say he has previous convictions and, according to the grapevine, has drunk the money already.”
“And now?”
“It goes to the prosecuting attorney’s office, but that won’t get my money back. I’ll have to sue to get that.”
*
“It’s so good to see you again, Elijah. What have you been doing with yourself?”
“Nothing, I’m bored silly, Jim. I exist in between hope and despair. You know what the problem with this country is?”
Annabel and Jim shook their heads.
“We expect someone to come along and save us.”
“Emily, the librarian is leaving the country,” said Jim.
“That’s what I mean,” said Elijah. “We have this emigrant mentality, returning to the lands of our forefathers. We hope for deliverance from abroad.”
“I don’t think she enjoyed living here, anyway.”
“Have you noticed?” Elijah began. “That it’s not so much about Unity anymore? They started talking about awakening and then about revolution, now they talk about a total state like it’s bloody total football or something.”
“With Roberts as the captain of the team of the people,” Jim laughed.
“You laugh, but Andersen said in a speech the other day that they will not tolerate any other party,” Elijah sighed. “But enough about this nonsense. Tell me about your work.”
“I’ve been writing reviews, they may accept some of them.”
“To Logan and Alex.” Elizabeth Lopez raised her glass.
“Logan and Alex,” Annabel, Jim, and the rest of the guests echoed.
“Why are you going, Logan?” asked Jim “If you don’t mind me asking. Lawyer, teacher, author, they haven’t asked you to leave. Why are you going?”
“I don’t have any choice, Jim. I have to get my family out, start a fresh life.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I am going into retail. I’ve found a partner with the experience and I’m putting up the capital.”
“How are you going to get the money out?”
“It’s already there, mate. I like business; I have a talent for it. Between you and me, Jim, I’ve never felt at home here. As a child of immigrants, I never felt they made us feel welcome.”
“But your life is here,” Jim sighed. “The Cohens have emigrated, and they complain that they’ve exchanged nationalism for narrowness. Sure, it’s great for capitalists...”
“Do you not understand, Jim? The boycott on this place is tight. Roberts will maintain Unity’s hold on the country with rationing, wage caps, inflation. Perhaps this country will survive the winter, but after that there will be unimaginable bloody chaos.”
“Why do you think?”
“Because after Roberts and his party collapse, there is no fallback position because they have destroyed everything. There is no organisation left. They have dissolved all other parties.”
“Oh, God, Logan. I’m not sure how we will survive this thing. You, Ben, Elijah, you can all earn a living here or there. You’re much more practical than I am. All I can do is lecture, and then on subjects no-one wants elsewhere. I don’t have any skills to take abroad. I’ll die here.”
“Shit, Jim, I’m sorry. Things aren’t that bad, I just get carried away sometimes.”
“No, you’re right.”
“No, listen, Jim. You’ve got your property at least, eh?”
“I have some pleasant news on that front. Another financier, his name is Lee this time. But I’ve had a tax demand on top of the life insurance and the interest on the money for the drains, and we are expecting the university to cut our salaries.”
Jim walked to the window and watched the rain on the glass.
“It’s so humid,” he continued. “The grass and thistles are knee high.”
He turned back to Logan.
“I can’t blame you. Elijah and Isa want to go too.”
“What about your writing, Jim?”
“I’m writing reviews, but I don’t know if or when they will publish them. I had an offer from Papadopolous but I’ve put him in a position where he’s unlikely to see the contract through.”
*
“Happy Birthday, Annabel!”
They were all there, Ben and Mila Kumar, the Harrises, Jon and Jenny Li, Charlotte and David. Olivia was very excited. There would probably be tears before bedtime.
After they had cut the cake, Henry Harris sought Jim, who told him what Logan had said about the collapse of Roberts and Unity.
“I predict a long life for Roberts,” said Henry. “He and Unity won’t last forever, but I think they’ll last longer than the winter.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I can’t. But I’ll tell you something for free. The global South is used to dictators and totalitarian regimes, but not the North. It’s in the southern psyche, it’s a southern form of Government but it doesn’t happen in the North and that is why it won’t last here.”
“I hope you’re right, Henry,” said Jim, beckoning Ben Kumar over. “Hey, Ben, Henry here says he doesn’t think Roberts and Unity will last. What do you think, Ben?”
“I don’t know, Jim.” Ben’s tone was solemn.
“What’s up, Ben?”
“Mila’s brother died yesterday.”
“Oh Jesus, Ben, you shouldn’t have come.”
“It’s okay. It’s taking Mila’s mind off things.”
“What happened?”
“He was visiting with his wife when he fell ill. Monkey flu, died in hospital.”
“Monkey flu? Still? Wasn’t he vaccinated? What about his wife?”
“Apparently it’s another new variant. She’s with her family.”
“Jesus, Ben, he wasn’t much older than me.”
“Twenty-nine.”
Chapter Sixteen – 19 years 3 months before the collapse
The lecture theatre was stiflingly hot. Jim wiped sweat from his brow with his handkerchief and consulted his notes.
“For example,” he continued. “A few centuries ago, our cuisine consisted mostly of dishes crafted from local ingredients and served with simple sauces to enhance the flavour. The growth and expansion to other parts of the world brought with it other food traditions of strong spices and herbs. Immigrants have brought into the country many of these dishes, which are now national favourites. Although the cooking traditions and styles have largely remained the same, over the years the food and drink have changed because of the growth of commercial eateries. People have less time to cook as they spend more time at work and school.�
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At the end of the lecture, the students shuffled out, but Abigail Lopez lingered and walked over to the lectern as he disconnected his stretch from the projector.
“Are you going to tell me that suggesting foreigners have improved our cultural history will cost me my professorship?” Jim asked.
“I like you, Professor Smith,” said Abigail. “I would not report you.”
“Don’t you coordinate the university’s student wing of Unity?”
“Something like that. I came to say goodbye. I’ve got a scholarship for another university and, given the economic situation, it seemed the best thing to do was to move. I just wanted you to know that I appreciated your tuition, Professor Smith.”
This took Jim aback.
“Well, thank you, Abigail. It’s very nice of you to say so.”
Abigail smiled, turned, and walked away.
“Abigail?”
She stopped and turned. Jim approached her.
“Listen,” he said in a low voice. “May I offer you some advice, for what it’s worth?”
She nodded.
“Less politics and more scholarship. Don’t give up so much of yourself to this cause. No-one can ever know what the future may bring. You understand me? My advice places me in your hands. I wish you well.”
Jim looked embarrassed and already regretted his impetuosity. Abigail smiled again.
“May I return to you for advice, Professor Smith?”
“Please do.”
Jim watched her leave and imagined that she and thousands of other supporters of the party had become disappointed long ago. He hoped it would not last much longer. The threat of arrests, interruption of long-distance travel, searches, the constant propaganda, the possibility of capital punishment.
Devi interrupted his thoughts by entering the lecture theatre.
“Jim! I’m glad I caught you,” he said striding over to the lectern where his voice dropped almost to a whisper “Jim, we all know this business cannot last and it’s almost the end of the term but you know this greeting thing that the Unity bods are so fond of?”
Jim nodded his head. He knew what was coming.
“There is talk of the greeting being made obligatory within ‘places of service’,” he continued. “But it’s expected that people will use the greeting elsewhere to avoid suspicion of a hostile attitude to Unity.”
“Yes.” Jim waited for Devi to get to the point.
“The thing is, Jim, that people have noticed that you greet people with a small nod of the head.”
“Well, that’s how they greet me.”
“That may be so, Jim, but the feeling is that senior members of staff should set an example. Just something for you to think about, eh?”
Jim thanked Devi as he left and turned to his stretch, which was vibrating. It was a message from Garcia.
Thomas says he was drinking with Unity members. The attorney’s office has abandoned proceedings.
Jim closed the message, secretly pleased with the outcome. He hadn’t wanted to get drawn into something when he wouldn’t get anything back, anyway. The justice system was only interested in punishment, not in reparation. Jim wondered whether it would have been different if he had been a member of Unity rather than Thomas being the one with friends.
As Jim walked back to the maglev, his stretch vibrated again. This time it was a call from Annabel.
“Clark has agreed to share our drainage,” she sounded upbeat for a change. “He has to go through our property anyway, so we can do the water and electricity at the same time. Isn’t that wonderful news?”
“Yes, at least it will add to the value of the property.”
Jim wasn’t as upbeat as Annabel, though. He knew he had to find the money for the life insurance by the end of August and didn’t know how he could find the money for the mains connections’ too.
“Clark has invited us to the roof raising ceremony,” Annabel continued. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Okay. See you there.”
When Jim arrived at the property, he met Annabel and Olivia and they went next door together, where they found Clark covered in sweat with his shirt open, a pickaxe and a shovel in his hands and a knotted handkerchief on his head.
“Your wife tells me you were in the military,” Clark said, wiping his hand on his shirt before extending it for Jim to shake.
“I was. I’m a humanities professor now,” said Jim. “And what do you do, Mr Clark?”
“Call me Sebastian. I’m a tax inspector, but I took a bullet in the military. Look at this,” he pulled aside his shirt to reveal a scar. “It went through a lung, but they can do wonders these days. I spent six years in the forces.”
“You haven’t been showing them your scar, have you, Seb?” A middle-aged woman came round from the back of the house, followed by two teenagers.
“This is my wife, Ella, my daughter, Avery, and my son, Aiden,” Sebastian continued. “We live a simple life, but we are happy.”
Jim believed him, and he envied his happiness. While Annabel talked with Ella, Jim chatted with Sebastian. Avery and Aiden played with Olivia.
“How is your own house project coming along, Smith?” Sebastian asked.
Jim sighed and shook his head.
“Call me Jim. To be honest with you, Sebastian, it’s one disappointment after another. I have an acquaintance trying to fix me up with a financier, but so far I’ve had no luck.”
“These are challenging times, Jim.”
“Challenging yes, Sebastian, but also ridiculous. Garcia said he had found a bank manager willing to lend to me, but the ‘manager’ turned out to be a junior clerk and the department head almost laughed at us. It was humiliating.”
“And to think we served the likes of them.”
“Annabel is taking things hard, this property is the only thing keeping her going.”
*
“Is that you, Jim?” Annabel shouted from the living room as soon as he entered the flat.
“Yes, darling.”
She met him in the hall.
“Sam Patel is here,” she said.
“What?”
“He’s on the sofa.”
Jim rushed through to the living room to see if it was true and found Lewis, as Annabel had promised, and sat on the sofa.
“Sam!”
“Jim, it’s so good to see you.”
“Where have you been? What happened?”
“They made me sign a document promising I would be silent about everything.” Sam took his glasses off and cleaned them with a handkerchief.
“Are you okay?” Jim sat down on the sofa next to Sam.
“They called me a spectacle hound and made me crawl around on all fours to get my food.”
“Who did?”
“They kept us in some kind of camp, Jim.”
“Who did?”
“Unity. They called it a re-education centre. I guess they must have decided they re-educated me because they let me go. What did I miss?”
“Things are dreadful, Sam. Our friend’s husband worked for the post office. They dismissed him for not giving the Unity greeting.”
Sam sighed.
“I have a confession to make, Jim. I came to ask you a favour.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“It’ll sound odd, but the daughter of my dentist has just passed her school exams, and I wondered whether I could point her in your direction for some vocational guidance?”
“What does she want to do?”
“She wants to be an anthropologist.”
“Oh, jeez, I don’t know, Matt. They’ve moved the institute and removed Robinson to, I don’t know where. If she’s not a Unity member, they won’t admit her.”
“I thought as much, but I promised I’d ask.”
“Look, Sam. Why don’t you have her apply? It’s questionable that they’ll allow her to study, but there’s no harm in trying.”
“Okay, I’ll tell her dad. Sounds ro
ugh up there at the uni.”
“Popadolpolous sent me a dissertation of a student of his. He can’t publish it anymore because she’s an immigrant. I wrote it for a collection he was putting together, but Zhang won’t allow it.”
“Jeez. How is your case against him getting along?”
“Have still not heard anything. Anyway, her parents have emigrated and she will study abroad. They’ve now retired Elijah Brown too.”
“But how about you and Annabel? How are you dealing with everything?”
“It’s all depressing, Matt. I’ve had this stomach ache I can’t seem to shift.”
“You think it’s stress?”
“Perhaps.” Jim checked to see that Annabel was still in the kitchen making drinks. “Annabel is suffering, though. She has decent days and terrible days, but on the whole she’s been taking everything pretty badly. How about you?”
“One day at a time, Jim. One day at a time.”
*
“She doesn’t seem as big as I remember,” said Annabel.
“She’s the same size, she hasn’t shrunk,” said Camila Harris as Olivia stroked the white fluffy angora cat.
“She’s gorgeous.”
“How’s the research coming along?” Henry Harris asked Jim before turning to address Annabel and Camila. “I’ve been bumping into Jim at the library more of late.”
“Library?” Camila was surprised. “I thought they digitised everything long ago.”
“Sometimes there’s no substitute for the actual thing,” said Jim. Then to Henry, “It’s going well, I just doubt that anyone will publish any of it.”
“Well, like I told you before, I don’t think Roberts will go anywhere in a hurry.”
Jim beckoned Henry out of Annabel’s earshot.
“He might change some of his aims,” Henry continued. “But I don’t think anyone will overthrow him.”
“Perhaps the country wants nothing better than Roberts,” Jim mused.
“What are you doing skulking over there,” Camila admonished. “Come here and talk to us. I was just telling Annabel about what a tough time it is for lawyers these days.”
