Read Links for Free Online Page A

Af-Laawe is quite friendly with a brother-in-law of his, who is StrongmanSouth’s deputy. Ours is an incestuous community, and the man has protectors all over the place.”
    â€œWhat are his links to Caloosha?”
    â€œI wouldn’t know, to be honest.”
    The youths inside the vehicle were becoming fidgety, and looked out anxiously in the direction from which they expected the Major to appear. The one with the cast pointed out that as a highly placed officer often entrusted with dangerous missions, the Major ought to know that it wasn’t safe for them to remain stationary in one place for such a long time.
    â€œWe’ll give him another minute,” the driver said.
    â€œAnd then we’ll go,” the youth insisted.
    No sooner had the driver turned the key in the ignition than they saw the Major with his escort, carrying something in a plastic bag. Cursing under his breath, he appeared still very edgy as he entered the vehicle. The engine started and the vehicle moved.

3.
    â€œWHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?” THE DRIVER PUFFED HUNGRILY ON THE cigarette he had lit in a moody silence.
    â€œWe had to break the safe,” the Major explained, “because the woman couldn’t find her key. Apparently her old man had taken it with him.”
    â€œThe movement is broke and we need to raise funds from the usual sources, our clansmen in the U.S., am I right?”
    The Major was on the point of accusing the driver of divulging a secret to a nonclansman, but then his face took on the expression of a man deciding to put aside his differences with another for the sake of peace. Surprisingly, he lapsed into a friendlier mood, even smiling, if a little uneasily. Maybe he had retold himself Voltaire’s admonition while breaking the safe, and had come around to the view that it wasn’t wise to make unnecessary enemies. He turned to face Jeebleh, and asked, “Have you ever met StrongmanSouth?”
    â€œNo.”
    The Major said, with an odd mix of fear and pride. “I know StrongmanSouth very well.”
    â€œWhat’s he like?” Jeebleh asked.
    â€œThe man is raving mad.”
    Jeebleh remained silent and sullen. He had no idea what to expect or where their conversation might lead.
    â€œAnd you know what?” the Major went on.
    â€˜What?”
    â€œFor his breakfast, he eats cakes of soap.”
    Jeebleh wanted to remain silent, but couldn’t help himself. “Why in God’s name would he do that?”
    â€œTo prove that he’s tough!”
    Jeebleh caught a glimpse of the Major’s rage rising and felt he might explode any minute; he looked at the driver, hoping he would step in to calm things. And it appeared as if he might do just that, but then he seemed to change his mind, and he too remained quiet.
    The Major was now raving. “I’ve known StrongmanSouth for what he is for years—a lunatic with a madcap notion of what he can achieve. I served under him in the Ogaden War. I know him to be a pushover, and that’s why I am not afraid of him. In fact, he’s no trouble at all. Never mind the myth that’s been built around his name by his clansmen and supporters.” He threw his cigarette butt out of the window, and turned to Jeebleh as if expecting him to applaud. “He invaded our territory, conquered it. His ragtag militiamen rape our women, his clansmen have helped themselves to our farms. He’s turned our ancestral land into an extension of his power game, and we’re part of his bargaining strategy when the different interest groups come to the national reconciliation tables to set up an all-inclusive government. I keep telling my men that no one is able to rule over a people if they’re prepared to fight. We’re ready to kill, we’re ready to die until our ancestral territories are back in our hands.”
    When the Major fell silent, the relief was not just Jeebleh’s. They felt it all