A Matter of Justice and Other Stories

By Ron West

Here are stories of resilience and the ability to triumph in the face of adversity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662486043

Book preview

cover.jpg

A Matter of Justice and Other Stories

Ron West

Copyright © 2022 Ron West

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-8603-6 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-8604-3 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

A Matter of Justice

The Illusion of Justice

A Delicate Omen

The Homecoming

The Sun in the Window

Masquerade

On the Road to Flores

The House Next Door

The Unpolished Stone

The Crossing

The Train

To Make a Friend

About the Author

A Matter of Justice

The old man paused to rest on a sharp pinnacle of land overlooking the ancient, dusty, and, to many, colorless city of Ouarzazate. Colorless to them, he thought, because they do not understand the rich past, the strategic importance, or the aesthetic beauty which had always held a special attraction to him. From where he was seated, he could look one way over the vast emptiness that would eventually become the Sahara. And in the opposite direction, one could see the snowcapped peaks of the Atlas Mountains, from which flows the life-bearing streams, bringing nourishment to the narrow fertile valleys that jutted abruptly into the brown empty desert like velvet serpents.

While life to Ahmed Benari was not boring (at least he didn't consider it so), to many it might be perceived as being monotonous. For more than twenty years, he had lived in a small hut in a residential encampment just outside the walls of Ouarzazate, and nearly every day for twenty years, he had made his way up the track into the mountains to gather wood—the wood he would then load carefully on the back of his donkey, Omar, and slowly return back down the steep mountainside. Usually he would stop a time or two to rest, either at the stream that bubbled with cool clear water or here at his pinnacle and just watch the city far below or the trucks running up and down the Mohammed V Highway. Once down the mountain, Ahmed would ordinarily take his load of wood to the souk inside the city to sell to the city's residents, but if he preferred, he could just throw it on the pile behind his hut to sell later.

As the sun began to drop below the western mountain peaks, a cool breeze picked up causing Ahmed to pull his djellaba more tightly around himself. It also pulled him from his state of daydreaming to the realization that he should be starting out if he hoped to get his load of wood home before dark. He could not travel as fast as he used to neither could Omar, so together, they began to make their way down the rocky trail.

Half way down the mountain, Ahmed was inadvertently drawn to a quiet whimpering sound a short distance from the trail.

Who's there? Ahmed whispered cautiously. He stopped to listen so quickly that the donkey ran his nose into the man's back. Omar jerked his head to one side and lowered his ears in disgust.

Who's there? Ahmed repeated. There was another noise, nearly inaudible, from behind some large rocks a few yards from the trail. The man approached gingerly and then carefully lifted a small undernourished puppy from its hiding place.

Where did you come from, little one? Ahmed asked. The puppy's eyes watched his rescuer apprehensively. His body shook with fright. Ahmed held the puppy until he stopped shaking and then set him gently on the ground. The puppy did not move. "Are you lost?' Ahmed inquired.

Picking up the lead rope attached to Omar, Ahmed began to lead the way down the mountainside once more. The puppy started to follow but in its weakened condition quickly began to fall behind. Finally, he sat down in the middle of the trail and cried for help.

Ahmed wondered for a moment if he should bother and then stopped the donkey and went back to redeem the helpless creature. Graciously, he carried it back and placed it atop the load of wood, where it rode contentedly the remainder of the journey home.

By late summer, the little puppy, which was now named Rick (from some character Ahmed had seen in the cinema), had grown into a plump-bouncing ball of energy. He was an intelligent animal, despite his questionable pedigree, and possessed a loyalty for his master that was absolute. Everywhere that Ahmed went he had a constant companion, whether it be in the city on business, at the market, or the daily wood-gathering trips. They were seldom seen apart.

One fall day a few weeks later, Ahmed led Omar up the road toward the mountains like so many times before. Rick followed, yelping and chasing shadows, butterflies, or anything else that attracted his fancy. However, halfway into the deep canyon where the track began to climb steeply, something was not the same. A truck was parked crosswise in the middle of the road, and a man holding a rifle arose from his reclining position as Ahmed approached.

Halt! he barked out. Where do you think you are going?

Just up to the mountain to gather wood as I always do, Ahmed answered meekly.

Well, I'm afraid you won't be going up this way anymore, the man said.

Further up the road, near the base of the high canyon walls, Ahmed could see more trucks and men working, apparently preparing to build something. But I won't go far, he protested. Just a short distance away there is a trail that leads up the mountainside. That is all.

No. This land now belongs to the Consolidated Processing Company, and you will not be allowed to pass. You will have to find another way.

But I am just a poor wood seller, trying to survive—

We don't give a damn who you are. We don't care about selling wood. We are building a date-processing plant which is much more important than how you make a living. So stay off our land and don't bother us again.

Insha' Allah, Ahmed said and slowly turned to go. If it is the will of Allah.

Over the ensuing weeks and months, Ahmed gradually adapted to the new order in his daily routine. The Consolidated Processing Company built large metal buildings and hired people from Ouarzazate to work inside them. But most annoyingly was the high-wire fence built completely around their property. It was this fence with its guard stationed at the gate across the road who always reminded Ahmed that he was no longer allowed on the road. He took it personally. It was as if he had been disgraced and humiliated.

Ahmed did, however, continue to gather wood as before. It took him an hour longer to reach the same area, and the steeper climb immediately began to take its toll on his aging body. But he managed. He also picked up some new habits which may have caused some who saw him to think that he had lost his mind. First, he began to teach his dog to react to a heavy canvas strap. Every morning after reaching their wood-gathering area, Rick would fasten his teeth into the strap, which was secured to a wooden post, and pull, not timidly, but with vengeance.

After doing so for several minutes, the dog was rewarded with a piece of dried meat and the affection of his master. The second thing that may have seemed a bit strange was Ahmed's rock pile. Each day after carefully stacking the day's acquisition of wood on Omar's back, Ahmed would carry three or four large stones to the edge of the cliff overlooking the deep gorge and throw them atop the heap. Slowly, day by day, the pyramid of stones began to grow.

Talk around town began to circulate that Ahmed was a couple of camels short of a full caravan. Some of his so-called friends no longer found time to have anything to do with him, thinking that he must be losing his mind. One day, a cousin met him on the trail home from gathering wood and attempted to find the reason for Ahmed's rash behavior.

Cousin, why do you continue to do these things that make people think you are crazy? he asked. Besides, you are getting too old to be climbing the mountains every day for wood. You can now live comfortably for the rest of your days without one more stick of wood. Look at that miserable little load on your donkey. It's hardly worth the time you've wasted to get it.

Ahmed looked at the few sticks of wood on Omar's back. It was true that in recent weeks the loads had become much smaller, not only because of his own ill health but because of the aging of the donkey also. It doesn't matter, Ahmed responded thoughtfully. It is as I have always done and shall continue to do until I die.

But people are saying you are losing your mind, and I'm not so sure that they are wrong. With your talk about closing down the packing plant, and your crazy antics with that dog, and your rock pile… He shook his head pitifully. I've even heard that it is a dam you are building up there on top of the mountain. In Allah's name, what good would a dam be on top of a mountain?

Ahmed smiled. It's all right. Let them talk. It's just that they don't understand. Someday soon it will all make sense to them, and they'll say, ‘Guess old Ahmed wasn't as crazy as we all thought.' But until then, I can't explain. You'll just have to be patient and take my word for it.

Ahmed's cousin walked slowly away, as fully bewildered as he had been when he came. Ahmed seemed all right, he thought, but then why would he keep doing things for which there seemed no logical reason? Maybe the poor old man was crazy after all, but then he didn't want to think that way so dismissed it from his mind. He would have to just wait and see.

As time passed, people gradually forgot about Ahmed and his strange trips to the mountain. His friends continued to speak to him with the same respect as they always had. Those who are not his friends came to accept the presence of a lesser creature without having to acknowledge it. They mistakenly believed, because of their own misunderstanding, that they somehow existed on some higher level.

Ahmed's trips up the mountain continued as long as he was physically able to do so. When the journey became too strenuous to accomplish every day, he would make the trip when he felt like it and then rest a day