LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

Redskins game.’

      Jackson pulled a face. ‘Why does everyone say they’re talking about football when they don’t want to say what they were really talking about?’

      President Woods winked at his son as he popped a peanut in his mouth. ‘Okay, I was actually telling Cooper he needs to look after himself.’

      ‘He’s right, Coop.’

      Not wanting to get into it with Jackson, Cooper picked up a small framed photo of the president standing next to Captain Beau Neill. ‘I haven’t seen this before.’

      Woods moved round to look at which of the numerous photographs sitting on the mahogany cabinet Cooper had picked up. He gave a small laugh. ‘That’s the day your Uncle Beau became Captain. He had to go and see the promotion board, but he’d been staying with me and he’d left his jacket at the base. My car wouldn’t start, so I had to get my next door neighbor to give him a lift on the back of his Harley to get there in time, and you know how much Beau hates bikes… They were good times.’

      There was a knock on the door.

      ‘Yes?’

      A young woman, with a quiet demeanour and hair scraped back too tight, entered. Said,

      ‘Mr. President, they’re waiting for you downstairs. Senator Walmsley’s call is due in seven minutes.’

      ‘Thanks, I’ll be with you in a moment.’

      John Woods waited for the woman to leave the room, always liking to create a discernible divide between his private and public life. ‘Jackson, I’ll see you tonight. Coop, will you still be around later?’

      Cooper gave a small nod. ‘I don’t think so, sir, so I’ll see you around.’

16

      In the wet steaming air, near where the muddy brown waters of the Congo River ran deep, Papa Bemba stood over the mounds of unmarked red clay graves. It was best this way. Best for the possessed to remain without a name. To die alone. Unmourned. Unseen. Far away from the living.

      Emmanuel had started to ask questions, when there should have been none to ask. Shown concern where there was no place for his scrutiny. And though he’d been warned, his asinine tongue had plagued his words. Voicing his opinion against what he’d learned. Then driven on by an injudicious spirit, and demons which had taken over his mind, Emmanuel had tried to direct others to his way of thinking.

      When the illness had struck Emmanuel he’d known it was just. Unlike the others, his illness had been one where repentance and payment were not enough. He’d needed to be an example, to show the villagers how unwise it had been to question Papa Bemba.

      Then afterwards, Emmanuel’s family had come to speak to him, asking him the whereabouts of their son. The whereabouts of his body. Wanting to give him a burial he didn’t deserve. But Papa Bemba hadn’t told them because he hadn’t known. Though once he’d thought about it, it seemed so clear. Emmanuel was obviously walking amongst them. Part of the living dead. Because how else had his body disappeared from the hut? Emmanuel had gone. Risen up to walk again. And it was obvious to him that with the power of wicked prayer, Emmanuel’s family had brought him back from the dead – getting him to walk with evil once more. But his family had paid the price. A heavy price. And the sorcery had been burnt out from them just like the others.

      ‘Papa Bemba are you ready to go?’

      He nodded, turning towards the voice of Lumumba, a worthy man, who’d worked for him for six years.

      ‘I am. What time is it?’

      ‘Nearly four o clock. Shall I take you to them?’

      Papa Bemba stayed silent for a moment. Although his certainty in his calling was irrefutable, and he would continue to follow the path set out before him, there was a lot of work to be done.

      Smiling and using Lumumba’s arm to guide him across the uneven ground, Papa Bemba spoke. ‘No, I want to rest, I need to think more about Emmanuel. The others can wait.’

      Lumumba sounded uneasy, something Papa Bemba picked up on.

      ‘Are you sure?’

      Papa Bemba laughed, tapping the man on his arm. ‘Quite. But do not trouble yourself my friend, for their time amongst us is at a close. My mission is to subjugate sorcerers, and those who wish to block my path. I realize the only way to overcome the darkness is by the blood of the suffering, and with your help, I will pick them off one by one.’

17

      ‘Goddamn it…! Goddamn it…! Is this how it’s going to be?’ John Woods swept the phone off the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, taking with it the gold rimmed white china cup half filled with bad tasting coffee. Landed on the cream foot-rug left over from the Obama administration.

      ‘I thought Senator Walmsley was on board?’

      ‘He was.’

      Woods, ignoring his tension headache, stared at Edward ‘Teddy’ Adleman, his chief of staff and a trusted friend who’d been part of the last administration.

      ‘Then if he was,’ replied Woods, ‘why the hell isn’t he now? He knows we were going to give him what he wanted on the main immigration bill, as well as on some of the smaller points. Jesus, short of blood, I’m giving him everything he asked for. Now all of a sudden he’s backing out on our reforms.’

      ‘Mr. President, it’s not just Senator Walmsley.’

      ‘What are the numbers now?’

      ‘Nothing’s changed since yesterday.’

      ‘Bullshit. Shall I tell you exactly what’s changed since yesterday…? Around about three hundred people in this country including kids have been shot in murders or assaults, suicides and suicide attempts, as well shooting accidents, all since we had our last conversation. So don’t give me the line about nothing having changed, Teddy… Now give me the numbers.’

      ‘Okay like we discussed yesterday two thirds of Republicans are aiming to block, as well as a number of moderate democrats. We gotta face it: there’s no way we’re going to gather up enough bipartisan support on these new measures.’

      ‘Jesus Christ, what is wrong with these people?’

      Adleman, a tall, dignified Afro-American, shook his head solemnly. ‘Come on, John, you know how it is.’

      ‘I do, but every day I keep having hope that someone up on Capitol Hill will eventually decide to do the right goddamn thing. That they’ll wake up and realize they have a responsibility to the country. What about any of the senators who backed health care? Have you tried them? There must be some of them who are open to negotiation on this?’

      ‘You got to face it John, they’re not happy with you. You got a hostile senate and you know what you’re offering on immigration won’t even tempt them to read the new gun control proposals. They’re not interested. A lot of people see your immigration policies as too liberal. They want less immigrants, not more. You’re not going to be able to bargain for these gun reform unless you completely change your ethos on the Immigration and Naturalization Act. Right now we have one of the biggest divides in this country that’s been seen for a long time.’

      Woods shook his head. ‘I won’t accept there’s nothing that can be done.’

      ‘It might be different if we were talking about Homeland issues, but the way things are you haven’t really got anything to give them. Nothing that they want. They’re not going to budge. And the pressure they’re getting from the NRA, along with other pro-gun groups… Well, I’d say that’s the main reason you’re not going to get the votes. You know as well as I do there’s a climate of fear in this country, people want

Скачать книгу