The Seersucker Whipsaw (18 page)

Then each of them got up and gave his appraisal of the situation and how the new moves and proposals would affect his territory. There were the mumblers, the precise and crisp, the ramblers, the droners, the would-be comedians, and those who were too shy to say much of anything.

It was quite a talk session. It lasted two hours and Shartelle and I sat through all of it. It couldn't have been nicer if someone had spoken in English.

Chapter

13

There were only six of us at the meeting held in Chief Akomolo's office. The guests had departed in polite haste as soon as the last speaker sat down. I presumed that they went home. There were no offices to go back to, no secretaries waiting with stacks of mail to be signed. All government business closed at two every afternoon. Years ago the British had decided that it was too hot to work in the afternoons, so regular hours were eight to two on weekdays; eight to twelve on Saturdays. None of the Albertian ministers objected.

Akomolo sat behind his desk. The rest of us sprawled in low chairs and couches, groggy from the heat, the huge meal, and the speech marathon. The Albertians had shucked their robe-like outer garments and Shartelle, Jenaro and myself were down to shirtsleeves. The shirts were soaked with sweat. It was stifling in the small office. A ceiling fan turned slowly and creaked as it turned. Additional refrigeration was supplied by two oscillating floor fans that blew the air around some. A few strips of flypaper which hung here and there had a fair catch.

Behind his desk, Chief Akomolo arranged some papers, shifting them into neat piles, and then stowing them away in the desk drawers which he kept opening and closing. He talked as he worked:

“We are here, gentlemen, primarily for the benefit of Mr. Shartelle and Mr. Upshaw, to discuss the basic strategy and issues of the campaign. I must say that I stress the word ‘basic' because we can merely touch upon what we consider the key issues.”

He stopped opening and closing his desk drawers, took off his gold-rimmed eyeglasses, and wiped them clean with a handkerchief. He held them up to the light arm's length and squinted to see whether they were clean enough. They were. He put them back on.

While he was doing all that he said: “Dr. Diokadu, would you outline the major issues for our two guests?”

Diokadu was seated on a couch next to Chief Dekko who sat perfectly still, his huge bare forearms resting on his knees, his eyes fixed on the floor. Diokadu thought momentarily and said: “Unemployment, that's first. Agricultural prices and development, that's two. Education, three, and four, medical services. The fifth would be industrialization, but that is scarcely an issue. None opposes it.”

“Transport,” Chief Dekko said, still staring at the floor. “We are a highly mobile country with an infant transport system.”

“Transport,” Diokadu agreed.

No one spoke. The silence grew as Chief Akomolo gazed down at a spot on his desk between his arms that rested on the borders of the leather-edged blotter. Then he looked up and gazed at the ceiling for a while where the ornamental fan spun uselessly. “And peace,” he said. “Peace among our regions and resolvement of our tribal differences. Peace, too, in the world. That must be our recurring theme.”

Dekko looked up from his favorite spot on the floor and smiled. “A war in Vietnam does not concern the villager who cannot feed his family because he can find no work.”

“We cannot ignore the responsibility that independence entails,” Akomolo said firmly. “We cannot turn our back on the world and isolate ourselves selfishly. The door has been opened; the invitation has been extended. We would be derelict if we did not accept it.”

“It won't win any votes,” Jimmy Jenaro said. “Everybody's for peace.”

Before Akomolo could speak, Dekko smiled again and said: “Do we really have so much to contribute to world peace? Are we so wise—or strong? A weak man seldom ends a market brawl.”

Akomolo came back with: “A man who ignores his neighbors should not complain of loneliness.” I thought that must have lost a little in translation.

The battle of old saws threatened to continue, but Shartelle rose quickly, walked across the room, and leaned against the wall, his arms folded, a slight smile on his face. By standing, he assumed the role of moderator. The faces in the room turned towards him. I wondered how many times in how many rooms he had done the same thing.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “I think you have pretty well established the major domestic issues—unemployment, agriculture, education, health and transportation. Seems to me you're differing only in the shade of emphasis that you think should be placed on Albertia's role in the councils of the world.” He paused, reached into a vest pocket and took out a black, twisty cigar. He lighted it, puffed a couple of times, and continued: “I think that'll work itself out during the campaign. If it looks like more emphasis on world affairs is needed, we'll just shift gears. At least it seems that you're agreed within the party, so that's the big thing. But in all those principal issues you mentioned, it seemed to me that there was just one thing missing.” Shartelle paused and puffed on his cigar some more.

“Taxes,” he said. “Now in my experience, taxes can be the trickiest issue of all.”

That started it: a fifteen-minute lively debate on taxes which I didn't bother to follow. I wasn't going to take sides on whether the tax on petty traders should be raised or lowered. If they decided to tax the oil companies, I was automatically for it, so that precluded much personal interest. They could soak the rich, too, I decided. The only trouble with that was that the wealthy passed the tax laws and they weren't going to legislate themselves into the poorhouse. So it would be the small farmer, the worker, the petty-trader, the people like Ojo our gardener, who would pay for the trips to the United Nations, the peace missions to Hanoi, and the cocktail parties on Government House lawn after the dawn of independence. Ojo wouldn't like the tax program whatever it was.

After taxes, the discussion continued in general for another half-hour. Dr. Diokadu sketched out the issues in more detail for us, joined by Akomolo and Dekko. Jimmy Jenaro said little. Shartelle and I listened, asking an occasional question now and then. Whenever the discussion threatened to go abroad, Shartelle steered it back with an adroit phrase, a skillful comment. It was nice to watch him work.

Finally, Chief Akomolo said: “I have decided to ask Dr. Diokadu and Chief Jenaro to work with you closely in any capacity which you may wish, Mr. Shartelle. Our discussion for today, however, must come to an end. I think it has proved most fruitful.”

“It has to us, I'd say, sir,” Shartelle said. “Now I know it's been a mighty long day already, but I'd sure like to invite these two gentlemen over to our house to continue this for a little while. We've got only six weeks for this campaign and there's lots of planning and plotting to be done yet. I'm sorry to ask you this, Chief Jenaro and Dr. Diokadu, but it needs to be done.”

“Of course,” Akomolo said. “Are you free?” he asked the pair. They nodded. “Chief Dekko and
I
would like to join you,” Akomolo said, “but we have some quite pressing party business to attend to.”

“That's most understandable,” Shartelle said.

We were all standing now. The Albertians, with the exception of Jenaro, were slipping their robes over their heads. The rest of us got into our jackets. The close office had grown hotter and it smelled a little like a locker room. Chief Dekko stretched mightily. “Mr. Shartelle, I would like to see you and Mr. Upshaw tomorrow. Will that be possible?”

“We've been asked to Government House at ten o'clock,” Shartelle said.

“Then perhaps at 11:30. I will drop by your place.”

Since Diokadu and Jenaro had their own cars, they agreed to meet us at our house in a half-hour. We said goodbye to Chief Akomolo and Dekko and walked out into the hot, bright late afternoon. We found our driver, William, asleep behind the wheel, and Shartelle gently shook him.

“Reckon we can go home now, William.”

“Yes, Mastah,” the driver said. He backed the car out of its slot, and went out the gate past the two cops and turned towards the center of town. If the Western Albertian government closed down at two in the afternoon, the rest of the country didn't. The streets were jammed, and we were stuck five minutes at one crossroads waiting for a herd of rack-ribbed cattle to be driven across by the clubs of the drovers.

“Those are the sorriest looking critters I ever did see,” Shartelle said. “Boy, they ain't even canners or cutters.”

“Look at those horns, though,” I said. “Must be about the same breadth as the Texas longhorns.”

“That's a fact,” he agreed. “Wonder if those drovers are going to hoorah it up a little tonight in the local saloon? Five hundred miles they walk 'em, old Chief Akomolo told us. They're just plain gristle.”

The cattle passed and William sped us home. We got rid of our coats as soon as we got inside. Samuel the cook, and Charles the steward, were on hand to hang them up. “I serve tea now, Mastah,” Samuel said.

“You want any tea, Pete?”

“I think it's the form.”

“Okay. Tea.”

It was cooler inside the wide-eaved house. A breeze blew through the folding doors that led to the front porch. The ceiling fan turned at a brisk clip and I noticed that it could be regulated to go even faster. We sank back in the Ministry of Works chairs and waited for the tea.

“What do you think of Jenaro?” Shartelle asked.

“He seems to know his way around.”

“We start making use of it this afternoon.”

“How about Diokadu?” I asked.

“He'll do. He's got the facts and figures in his head, or in that pile of papers he's always got tucked under his arm. He's a real professor, ain't he?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, we'll soon see. When I throw it out, if they don't light on it like a duck on a June bug, we may as well take the next plane back.”

“That rough?”

“You see that crowd at lunch.”

“Saw and heard.”

“Not much help there. Those boys have had their hand in the honeypot so long they think that bees don't sting. But that Dekko's all right. He's got the look about him. You only see that look a few times in your life.”

“What look?”

“The winner's look,” Shartelle said.

Samuel brought in the tea tray and set it down on a low, round table.

“Thank you,” I said. “Shall I pour and one lump or two?”

“Two,” Shartelle said. I dropped in two lumps and handed the cup to him. “You like tea?” he asked.

“I'm used to it.”

“Think we could get old Samuel to drop a couple of ice cubes into it? If we've got to have it, boy, I'd sure admire to have it iced up a little.”

“I'll see what I can do tomorrow. It'll take careful explanation.”

I could hear the Jaguar shift down into second as it slowed for our driveway. Jenaro, big dark shades over his eyes and a checked cotton cap on the back of his head, threw a little gravel as he braked the car to a stop in front of the door. He jumped out and came in.

“How jolly, chaps, I'm just in time for tea,” he said.

“You don't have to,” I said.

“Good, I'll pass.” He slumped into an arm chair, took off his glasses and hat and placed them on the floor. “Diokadu will be here in a minute,” he said. “He had to stop by his office to pick up some papers.”

We talked idly for a few minutes until Dr. Diokadu arrived, a fat sheaf of papers under one arm. He seemed to be as hurried and preoccupied as usual. He accepted a cup of tea, and when he was seated Shartelle began. There was no deference in his voice now. He was mapping a campaign, much like a general outlining a battle. It was his idea, his plan, and it was also his responsibility.

“The first thing. How many speeches have you got Akomolo booked for. You or Doc?”

It may have been the first time that Dr. Diokadu ever had been called Doc, but it didn't seem to bother him. He produced a notebook that was tucked away in his file. “Three a day, every day between Monday and election eve.”

“Could he speak more often?” Shartelle asked. “I mean could he find more audiences?”

“He could if he could get to them,” Jenaro said.

“Start booking him at every crossroads and general store, wherever he can find five people or five thousand. How's his health—I mean can he take twelve, even fifteen speeches a day? They won't all be long ones.”

“He's in good health,” Dr. Diokadu said. “He takes excellent care of himself.”

“Okay,” Shartelle said. “Now Jimmy. I need two helicopters. Where're the closest ones—and I don't mean London.”

Jenaro thought for a moment. Then he snapped his fingers. “The oil company has two.”