Chapter 6

Dad came under surveillance off and on for the next year or so. They would park down the street and follow him to see where he was going. Usually they got bored of it and went after someone else.

The two practices flourished especially the poor, except that being poor meant that they could not pay. The in-town clinic was not now paying enough. This was not because less money was coming in but that dad had hired more doctors and got them to administer to the sick for a salary. The overhead had eaten into the money we had earned from the diamonds and by this time, all the smaller stones had been sold and only the finished 157 and the 93 carat stones were left.

On February the sixth of 52 we were all rocked by the news that King George VI had died. Dad took it harder than the rest of us because he knew how the monarch had held his country together during the war and was well loved by almost everybody. The entire country went into mourning for they all respected the crown.

When the diamond money was getting low we decided to go to Antwerp to sell the remaining two diamonds. This would be a family outing and in the spring of 53 we would sail from Cape Town South Africa and head for Belgium. All the family was going and passports had to be procured by dad as well as substitute doctors to take over his practice in his absence. We packed and sent ahead by truck most of our luggage and flew to Cape Town.

There was a fight soon after we landed. Dad wanted to make our trip worth while. He wanted to rent a car and find some more 'pretty stones' so that the enterprise would be even more profitable.

I was three years old and looked four. Mom was to stay in the capital and shop with the rest of our family while we spent three or four days ensuring the success of the clinic. Lusa, now ten, wanted to go with us and considered me her husband in all matters. Dad was still dad and the males ruled the roost in our country. Mom didn't say so but she made it known that it was done with her approval. Eventually dad had his way but would have to pay for it later one way or another.

With gasoline still rationed I pushed the car much faster than it would normally go when the engine set just above idle. This allowed our meagre supplies to be stretched even further. We bought food and stayed in a tent to keep our presence unknown. It was fun to go camping and who would begrudge a father and son doing so?

In a decidedly rural area we were travelling along a side road when we saw a young girl in the field not any older than ten running around a figure on the ground. I could sense great urgency, fright, worry and from the other pain.

"Dad, stop! There's a problem." Looking closer I saw that there was a birth taking place but something was wrong.

"What is it Shawn?"

"Birthing difficulties. Let's get your bag and see if we can help."

Dad stopped the car as close as we could to the woman but we were more than a quarter mile away. I got our blanket and dad got his bag. We raced to the woman but I was too small to go fast enough so I just levitated both of us and dad seemed to struggle for a moment until he understood what was happening.

"Next time warn me. You have flown before but I haven't."

"Sorry dad. I will try next time."

We came to a wide deep ditch and we stayed level and went right across. We would have lost a lot of time going down and up the sides, never mind the trickle of a stream at the bottom. When we got near the woman I said, "Make your feet run dad," and I lowered him to the Earth and finished the last little bit on foot.

I had not been too intelligent here and kicked myself mentally. The young woman had seen the last part of our flight. In her state she could be mistaken I thought. I said in Bantu, "We are doctors," to the girl. The woman was so distraught that she didn't even know we were here. The baby had the umbilical cord around his neck and would strangle soon and possibly take his mother with him. I explained to dad and put the woman out.

Using my hands I was able to push the baby back in a bit and then took my small hands and arms and pushed the baby in even further. The young woman became hysterical and wanted us out of the way so she could continue helping. Dad held her back so I could continue. Since I could see what I was doing it was a fairly easy matter of moving the cord. The baby was still getting oxygenated blood but the placenta had started to pull away from the uterine wall and blood was coming out of the dilated vagina.

I shifted the woman and placed the folded blanket under her and turned her the other way and was able to get the blanket so that it would protect the newborn when he arrived. The dress was pulled up in a similar fashion as I did this so we would have the maximum amount of room to work.

Dad moved forward and looked at the emerging head and felt the woman's abdomen. "Shawn wake her up so she can push." The girl was going to interfere again and I just locked her leg muscles to leave dad free. She cried in Bantu for us to leave the woman alone.

I said, "The baby had the cord around his neck and both baby and mother would die." The girl did not really hear us in her state of mind.

The woman came around and gave an immediate push to her baby. She saw us then and became so frightened that she tried to get away from some of the hated white men. I spoke into her mind, "We are doctors and trying to help you. Push when I say and the child will be fine."

She still tried to get away and I used my phantom fingers to make an invisible barrier so that she could not slide off the blanket. She did push though and because of the pain, shoved the fear onto the back burner. Dad did the work now and assisted in getting the child into this cruel world. He spoke to the woman and told her everything was going to be fine, I guess it was his tone of voice, for she calmed a bit and started to fear us less.

When the baby came out he was given the first lesson in this world, pain! He gave a great cry for one as small as he was and I could see that he would be all right. Dad did his own checks and saw that the child would have no lasting problems if you discounted the hard life he would soon join. Dad took one of his haemostats and cut off the flow of blood through the cord then took another and placed it close to the child's navel. His lancet made short work of the cord. Blood spurted out but only a little. Taking some line from his bag he wrapped it around the end of the baby's side of the umbilical cord. With that securely in place he removed the haemostat.

Soon the placenta was ejected and Dad stood up and took a step to present the mother with her child. She had lost most of her fear now and dad talked to her as he would any worried woman. He was waiting to find out if there would be any haemorrhaging. I did an in-depth analysis and saw that things were coming along nicely.

When all this was done I noticed the younger girl quiet for the first time. I said to her, "In a moment I want you to come closer and look at the baby's neck. You will see the mark around his neck and a slightly bluer complexion to his face. Then look at the bruised cord." Now I released the lock and prepared to set it again.

"Dad, the mother has stopped bleeding but not enough yet to walk back to her village. There was too much trauma on the placenta and the uterine wall."

"Ok I guess I will have to carry her." Dad paused to think of everything that must be done and then said, "Lead the way with the girl and I will follow."

Dad put his dirty instruments away in a clean cloth and then placed this in his bag. We left the placenta where it lay. If these people had any ceremony or rituals they could just come and get it. The blanket was wrapped around the woman and child and I helped dad pick up the woman to his chest. The bag was my responsibility and I held it in one hand and reached up to that of the young woman. She looked at the hand then thought of the offer. She was used to taking care of children so her habits helped make her decision. She held the hand of the strange little boy as she led us to the small hamlet almost a mile away.

Dad would have been tired out by then, except that I took most of the woman's weight. He talked about the proposed name of the boy the name of the village and many other things to get the woman to relax more.

I talked to the girl too. She talked first about her father and uncles then about everything she knew — it would have been difficult to stop her if I needed to.

Around the bend in the road we finally saw a thick perimeter of thorns surrounding a few small huts. Anana ran ahead and by the time we made it to the perimeter we found ourselves confronted with two old women and six sickly youngsters. Dad explained quickly and wanted to put the woman down in her own home. One of the old women led the way and dad carefully settled the new mother onto the bed with the newborn. Dad told the old woman that he was a doctor and that the woman and baby would be fine. Then he said, "I would like to wash up. Is there any water here for that.

The water turned out to be from the stream we passed and looking into it I saw Escherichia Coli but this was not unusual. Turning to the people I looked into one of their intestinal tracts and found bleeding and evidence of diarrhoea. "Dad, we better boil this water. There is a strain of E. Coli here that is haemorrhaging the epithelial cells in their intestines."

Dad looked at me in one of his looks and asked the old woman about the young children and the old folks being sick and dying. The woman was shocked but said a child died two days ago and an old man the day before.

Dad put some tincture of iodine in the water and waited till we could use it to wash. My arms and hands were the worst because of how far I had to reach into the woman to free the cord. When we were more or less clean we just shook our arms to get the water off.

"What are we going to do about these people dad. They will survive but not all of them. They need clean water and a way to treat the diarrhoea."

"Then a well would be the best. Can your 'eye' find a good place for a well?"

Instead of answering, I looked into the ground and found many bands of water. I walked out of the village and looked at the landscape. Animals were all over the place and their droppings too. This may have been the cause of the outbreak in the first place. Finding a piece of high ground I looked beneath it and saw a fairly thick band of water. It was 23 feet down and 15 feet beneath the eight-foot hill I was on.

From my position I told dad, "This is fairly good. The water should be plentiful and nothing will drain in from the land. We need rock to shore the walls up and a barrier to keep the animals and children away."

Dad looked around and saw little wood but saw an old hut outside the thorn barrier that might work to protect the well.

I returned to the village and saw dad had got a line formed and was examining the people. It was the first time most had ever seen a doctor. He had gone into a hut previously and found another old man suffering from dehydration and thought of all the people he had seen die of this simple malady. Most of the adults in Africa thought that diarrhoea was normal and the usual method was to restrict liquid intake. Dad had been trying a method of his own and it seemed to work well.

With no men in the village at the time, dad ordered honey and any sweets be brought, along with salt. There were a few large pots and dad immediately set me for the water because the villagers were too weak to fill them. With the stronger members sent to scrounge rare fuel I took one pot and filled it with water when nobody was looking. The second one made it back to the village along with the first without anybody seeing exactly how the transportation happened.

The pots were put on the fuel we already had and started. As the wood came in it was added until the water started to boil but this took almost two hours. The tired men at this time came back from their fields and crops to find a strange white man and a boy in their village. They were quite upset till the women villagers told them what had happened.

Dad gave his short explanation and said when all were back he would give the full details. Just as the water was boiling, dad started his watch so the water would boil for 30 minutes and kill any harmful bacteria.

With the last man entered the village dad started explaining about disease and how it spreads. Diarrhoea was explained again and, as both he and I expected, the people did not believe him. The pots were taken off and their food prepared a little later than usual. I sneaked off and got our tent and supplies and brought them into the village after locking our car. It was not clean here and both animal and human stools could be seen around the back of all huts. Two thin dogs ran about and looked to be adding to the problems as well.

At the end of the line of patients a father was helping his boy of three while his mother tried to keep him away from us. Dad talked to each of them to allay their fears. A lion had mauled the boy and if it weren't for the intervention of the villagers the boy would now be dead. From the description it looked like a rogue lion who was now too old to take down fast game and who had resorted to the very feared but easily caught humans. Already an old man had died and numerous cattle had been either killed or injured by this wily animal.

Chiamaka, a tall strong native with a large scar on his left cheek, asked dad about all the things he had heard from the young girl. Dad replied, "My son is just small for his age and is really almost a man now. He is in training to be a doctor now and has completed many of his studies. The mother needed a small hand to help the baby but mine was too large. It could have worked but there would be a lot more pain, trauma and blood."

I walked out the gate and surveyed the surrounding land. Animal faeces were all around. I set the tent where it was cleanest, after using my fingers to remove most of the contamination. They would take the cattle into the protected village at night to keep the large cats away. I was not worried that any cat, even the rogue, bothering us. Coming back into the village, I saw dad talking to the family of the mauled boy. In reality he was talking to everybody because everybody was close-by and listening intently. This time he talked about the need for a source of clean water not infected with manure or even dirty feet tracking dung to the well, where the rain would wash the substance into the water they drank.

He talked about whole villages almost being wiped out. Then he went into the symptoms of bloody stools, very dark urine, even delirium. The points he made the most were what the villagers understood from what they were now confronted with in reality.

We shared some of their food and in turn gave ours to the village. I saw dad thinking I could do some hunting but was reluctant to broach the subject because I had never really witnessed an animal die. Many people had come close to that state but none died while in our offices. The one I saw in security still haunted me when I slept. This would change in time I knew. On occasion I thought of the sport of hunting and did not find it objectionable if it were to feed some people like now. The fact that we couldn't explain my abilities was the only thing keeping me from doing it.

With the boiling water now cool dad did some measuring and added the salt and sugar to the proportions he found worked best. The next thing he did was take a cup and give it to me to drink. It was not that great tasting but still drinkable. The children were all given some and their parents told about its dosage. I was pretty sure the contents of the two pots would be used as dad asked but it would still take a little more encouragement for the adults to make more.

With the people mainly sick they could not afford to stay up late so we retired early. When everybody was asleep I used my powers to scrape the top of the small hill and start a large hole in the ground. Stones were separated and placed on clean soil for use in the walls of the well. Many more would be needed and all of them had to be clean of faecal matter.

I did a reasonable amount of work so that we would only be remembered for helping and not magic. When the village awoke we were too and when they came out to work in their fields and allow the cattle to graze they found the small nearby hill denuded and much shorter. Dad and I put on a little dirt as camouflage and awaited the arrival of the farmers.

Chiamaka walked up first at saw our dirty hands and clothing and asked, "What is it that you are doing here?"

"You people need clean water and it has to be closer to the village," dad said. "We know that there is water under this hill and only the height of three tall men deep into the ground." The men talked amongst themselves then two went out and two stayed to help us do the job. Rope, baskets and shovels came to help us. Our own small shovel from the car looked very puny to me. It was to have done the work we had already accomplished.

Dad and I worked harder this time because we had to use our own muscles more often. As the hole got deeper water started seeping in and the men became happy. Soon the hole was widened and then I took my turn. The wet mud came out in the baskets and I helped them a little to make the task easier. Stones, I found were stacked along one edge and the hole got deeper. Soon it became a losing proposition as the soil kept falling around the edges and I had to hold the sides in as I went deeper again. At 16 feet below the normal ground level I started using the stones and called for more. The men would throw them down with large splashes that would cover me with mud and water.

With the walls almost six feet high, I left the pit and the small pile of rocks I was standing on. I was very tired and the men were very amazed at the amount of work I had been able to do. I looked four but dad said I was older and most thought me much older from my speech, mannerisms and strength.

The men had much more difficulty finishing the next third than I had but by then the time to eat supper. We broke for a while and ate the meal the women prepared then went back to work for a few more hours. When we stopped for the day there was at least another days work to do but dad and I had our own mission to finish and get back to Cape Town before our ship sailed.

That night Ellema or 'milking a cow', the excited young girl we first noted came to me and asked if I would like to sleep with her.

I held her face in my small hands and said, "You are a desirable woman but I already have a woman who would get angry at me if I accepted your offer."

She had not thought about that possibility and felt crushed at the way she had left herself exposed like this. I said, "Ellema, I will be gone tomorrow and you will probably never see me again. It is much better to end this way than if we become attached first." She left with a defeated feeling and I was happy that I did not make any more personal ties to complicate my life.

The next morning dad and I prepared for an early start and the men and women coming out of the village went right to work on the well and dad just took out some paper and drew the plans for the completion of the project. Chiamaka walked with us to our car. He saw us off with many thanks for saving the woman and child and possibly the children too. Dad gave him another very short spiel about hygiene and we left feeling good inside.

An hour and a half later we were parked close to the river running over the submerged pipe and I started looking for more stones. This time with more experience I was able to get 37 stones of 10 carat or more. The largest this time was only 60 but would be quite valuable anyway. With little time left we headed back. We came into Carnarvan and found a small campsite with a falls. We were able to get relatively clean for the first time in days.

Late the next day we made it back to Cape Town with all the stones rough cut. I had experimented and found I could turn one stone against another and polish the stones as the lathe did. Some of dad's copper pence were used to hold the diamond dust to finish the job. Many were small because of the flaws that precluded the larger stones.

Mom greeted us at the door and hurriedly ordered us out of our clothing and into a bath. I had only a chance to kiss each of the women before being unceremoniously stripped then scrubbed.

We both came out pink and were quickly dressed to go out. Mom had been dying to try out a restaurant she had heard about across town. Meanwhile, Japera had cleaned the inside of the car of dust and we all got in for our new experience. A place was found to park close by and when we went to enter we saw the small sign on the door saying 'Whites Only'. Mom was heartbroken but refused to enter now. Across the road was a small park and there too the fountains listed what colour was to drink at each.

We headed back to the hotel and ordered a meal sent up to our room. As we ate dad told of our adventures. Mom was very proud of us and said so. When it came to the girl coming onto me, Lusa's hand squeezed tightly until she heard dad's reply. Then I got a smile that would have lit the room. It was the last night in the city and we basically had no place to go as a mixed family. Dad returned the car to the agency and sold the camping equipment back to the place he bought it from.

The ship had pulled in a day earlier but was unloading passengers and taking on supplies and cargo for the trip north. The room was left and our luggage was kept at the hotel till we called for it later. Dad and I had seen little of Cape Town and all of us walked through the parks. We ate from vendors and were constantly reminded of the differences the colour of a person's skin would make.

At 3 in the afternoon we could come aboard the ship and dad got in a taxi to take him to the hotel to pick up our bags. Forty-five minutes later he pulled up and he hired a porter to carry our luggage aboard. An officer looked at our papers and told us where our room was. Mom organised the placement of clothing and we were soon able to wander the ship.

Dad at all times had the diamonds on his person and I could see his mind working on the pros and cons of using the purser's safe. At the moment he still wanted to keep them because none of the women had seen them yet. They had done enough bugging but dad wanted to tease them a bit.

Japera, Lusa and I went to see the pool. Mom and dad went to make a courtesy call to the ship's physician. It was always nice to know that there was another doctor around in case of emergencies.

Later in the day Lusa and I went swimming and watched over by Japera as mom and dad got some private time alone. Some of the older passengers were from Africa and were quite put out that a black or actually a mixed race girl was swimming in their pool. The fact that they did not go into the water was completely irrelevant. The looks were not lost on Japera or Lusa but I kept them there so it would not look like we were forced out. During our play I called Japera "mother." This had the effect of some of the old women almost having heart attacks. I still had my platinum blond hair and a fair complexion. Japera had quite a bit of backbone from seeing how we treated bigots and got into the spirit of it and called Lusa 'daughter' and me 'son'.

Not all of the ship was so biased. The ship was of British registry and most people were not as bad, not that they were good either. This did not stop many of the males on board from looking at Japera and Lusa with lust in their eyes. Many even saw me the same way. This was not different than how it had always been all my life. Just because I was on a ship with new people did not mean that this would stop.

Dad and mom had gone back to being reacquainted again and I took my girls to lunch. We walked to the main dining room and I sat my girls as a gentleman should and the waiter came over looking at Japera for her order. He was surprised to find me doing the ordering in Afrikaans and in both English and French depending on the type of food. Lusa hung her head but not as a gesture of meekness but a way to hide her smile at the man's consternation.

I talked to Japera in many languages audibly and then gave her the words to say back about my diction being fair but not perfect. By the end of the meal nobody would have been able to honestly say that my ladies were uneducated louts from the savannah.

During the meal a combo had come on and started to play some light jazz for us. As we left our seats, the music stopped for a short break with some light applause. I felt a new way to rub some noses that stuck too far into the stratosphere. Stopping beside the musicians I asked, "Hello. My name is Shawn Boz. This lady beside me is Japera and this vivacious lady is Lusa, Japera's daughter."

The four musicians had stopped at the unexpectedness of the conversation and said hello to us. I asked, "Since you gentlemen are going for a well deserved break, would you allow Lusa to entertain the audience at the piano?"

Here Lusa was frightened. For the last three and a half years she had learned music and had only performed before the family. Japera had helped me make the bigots feel bad with their level of education being far beneath ours. Now they could hear Lusa's talent as it really was without my assistance.

The musicians were not sure so I reached into my pant's pocket and pulled out a five pound note and it quickly disappeared. This was quite a bit of money for these men. The tall Scottish accented man took the hesitant Lusa over to the piano and sat her down. "Don't worry about the people. You will do fine. Just think of the music you love and let it flow from the heart. I am sorry sweetie but we only have a little bit of sheet music here with us."

Lusa tried to get her fears under control and shook her head. She sat more comfortably and then flexed her hands. I looked into her mind and tried to quell any doubts and allow her to concentrate on her music. She started with Bach and then went to a nice piece by Mozart. With the audience clapping and my inaudible accolades she performed better and better. Sergei Prokofiev came next with a few of his études. As her last piece ended mom and dad came in and clapped hardest of all at the ten and half year old girl doing so well at her first public performance.

The musicians talked to her and suggestions were made until she was the centre of four other musicians. The drummer having switched to a violin that he usually brought to his performances. There seemed to be magic in the air as I seated Japera close to her child and mom and dad came to sit with us. Lusa seemed to glow and the musicians brought out talent that I did not even know she had.

After four pieces Lusa was getting tired but didn't want to leave. Rather than have her start making mistakes I stood up and took her to our table to a thunderous applause from the audience. The adults kissed her and I openly hugged her because I did not want to have too many tongues start wagging.

The jazz musicians had to play classical for the rest of their performance. They smiled or nodded their heads on occasion but usually at Lusa. She was shy but really basked in all the notoriety this brought her.

We listened till the end and dad sent them something to soothe their throats in-between pieces.

That night in bed Lusa was beside herself and could not sleep. It was good that I did not need very much. Later I made tender love to her and this was enough for her to relax and finally go to sleep.

We awoke late the next day and had a late breakfast. The old folks did not like the coloureds on the ship but backed off when Lusa and Japera walked around with their heads held high. Every once in a while someone would stop us and say how they loved Lusa's performance. It is kind of hard to argue with success.

The navies of the world knew it was bad to have sailors with idle hands so found numerous jobs for them. The owners of the ships thought the same for their passengers and went to great lengths to find interesting things to do. Swimming, shuffleboard, bingo and art appreciation were only some of the many things offered. Dad went to the stern and shot trap for a while to relieve the tedium and I found I was propositioned through mom of course to pose for some women. When I agreed, even more people signed up for the course. Some were men that took a sudden interest in painting if it included a young boy they considered beautiful. Women too had the same ideas.

Lusa had a small talent and I made sure she got to paint me too. There was talk of removing her until I stated that we were a pair, either both of us or none. I posed for almost four hours with only one break. When the sitting was finished I walked around and saw most of the pieces. Some were fairly good and it made me feel good inside to know I had inspired someone that much.

With the room almost empty I took an empty easel and put a stretched and prepared canvas on it. In twenty minutes I had Lusa, a tanned wood nymph stepping into a forest pool with only a random placing of her hands protecting her pubis. Just before I was finished the teacher came in and stared in awe. She did not interfere and my strokes were quick and sure. The tones were mostly dark with the sun shining through the trees and highlighting Lusa's beautiful features.