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‘A couple of days ago,’ he replies.
‘And how have you been?’
He shrugs. Talking, feelings, that was never his thing.
She sits for a long time, watching him. She is so much older than he, yet thinks he has seen and experienced much more than she ever will. People who don’t know him mistake his self-containment for loneliness. ‘Okay. I should know better than to even ask. I’m going to get dressed for di
She slides a key across. ‘I keep them in the sideboard.’
He opens the sideboard and removes a pair of tablas. These were gifted to him by his guru in Jamaica. Since his first visit to the school, he’d spent hours learning the tabla, the various taals, and had often accompanied his guru in his performances. His guru had been right. He hadn’t found what he was seeking in tabla, but the drums provided an escape.
He takes out a soft cloth and polishes the wooden shell of the sidda and then repeats the polishing on the brass of the dagga. He adjusts the tension ropes on the sides of the drums and cleans them carefully. He takes a basalt stone and polishes the black spots, the syahi, on the drums slowly and rhythmically.
Cass observes from her bedroom. She doesn’t understand his fascination for Indian drums. As a child, he wasn’t musically inclined. Zeb puts away the drums when she emerges ten minutes later, dressed to the nines, and they make their way to the apartment next door.
Rory opens the door with a flourish. ‘Hello, Aunt Cassie, I helped Mom make di
‘You’ve trained me well, Rory. I would never dare say your di
Rory squirms and shuffles and then sticks his chin out. ‘He shouldn’t have let himself in, Aunt Cassie. I could have called the cops, and then it would have been a bigger scene.’
Lauren comes along with a tall dark-haired man. ‘Rory, shush. We all know how well you watch over Cassie’s apartment. Zeb, this is my husband, Co
The man has a firm grip as he shakes Zeb’s hand.
Co
He opens a bottle of wine and makes small talk as they sit around the living room. Lauren says she’s expecting Co
His sister enters just as Lauren finishes her apologies. A
Rory jumps up with a squeal and flings himself into her arms. He rips at the paper on the gift she has brought him and squeals even louder when he finds a pair of baseball batting gloves in the box.
Co
Co
Over di
‘Just Zeb,’ Zeb replies. ‘A few.’
‘Must have been fun. Did you kill a lot of enemies?’
A
‘What?’ she says on seeing Zeb’s slight smile. ‘I guess you don’t agree. Wait, I forgot. You make your living from wars, don’t you?’
Zeb shakes his head. ‘Wars are destructive and horrible. I don’t disagree.’ He says nothing more.
A
Rory, his Xbox war games instincts aroused, doesn’t give up. ‘Well, Zeb, if you didn’t like war, you’d have quit being a soldier, right? Aunt Cassie says you’re rolling in dough, so it’s not as if you need to work.’
The noise drops, and all eyes swivel to Zeb.
‘War isn’t only about killing or destroying. It can be about protecting and defending, too.’
‘That’s bullshit,’ A
‘You may be right, ma’am. I’m just a paid grunt and follow orders.’
‘Oh, you can do better than that! Maybe you do like war,’ she exclaims.
‘It pays my wages, ma’am,’ replies Zeb, with the slightest trace of a smile.
She’s not sure if he’s genuinely avoiding an argument or pulling her leg. Lauren interrupts their conversation by serving Rory’s favorite dessert, chocolate cake, knocking Rory out of the conversation and into many minutes of ecstatic eating. Later they adjourn to the living room, and over coffee, Co
Zeb shrugs. ‘Nope, but then I’ve been out of the country and haven’t been tracking politics.’
‘Hardinger is a key party fund-raiser, has proximity to the President because of his fund-raising activities, yet is scum. His family business, Alchemy Holdings, is into mining and minerals trading. It’s an old, established business, held privately, that was started by the Senator’s grandfather. The business has mines in Australia, Central and South America, and Africa. They mine and trade diamonds, aluminum, copper, tin, you name it.’
Zeb keeps silent, not sure where this is going.
Co
‘I have also been looking into Alchemy’s ethical practices at the mines they own in South America and Africa. I have reason to believe the work practices are exploitative.’
Zeb shrugs. ‘I don’t see what’s so new or earthshaking about this. Big businesses have been lobbying politicians since time and politics began, and business practices in South America and Africa aren’t the same as ours. They’ve always exploited their workers.’
Co
A
‘That’s what I’m working on currently.’ Co