"A banker's draft is all right, isn't it?" That's fine." The receptionist examined the slip of coloured paper briefly before clipping it to her notes....The man thought briefly about the amount of money involved. Taken out of context, it seemed impossible to justify. Still, some things are worth more than money, he thought, and it's not as if I'll be needing it much more...He signed the form in the three spaces indicated with little hand-drawn crosses. When he was done, he passed the clipboard. Mark thought it looked like a broken Y lying on its side.“It’s a warning,” said Aggie. “The most severe there is. That’s the code for mortal danger.” She suddenly felt a bit like sneezing and wondered if she were smelling something irritating.The four of them walked to the threshold of the archway and looked inside. Before them was a vast open courtyard perhaps a hundred meters in width and running east and west as far as the eye could see. Beyond the archway was about twelve meters of sand. “So Kijani is a pretty name. Where’d you get it?”“I picked it a few years ago. It means ‘green’ in Swahili.”“Oh. Your eyes!”“Partly. It was more for me to own my identity.”“I hear you sis.”“What’s wrong with them,” Kijani asked.Lola exhaled. “That’s just Mimi and Tawny. They hateful. Mimi mad cause she had Daddy T and fucked up.”“Oh?”“Yeah. She was flirting with niggas. Let one fuck her too. He found out and put her ass out.”“Damn.”“It’s her own damn fault. She deserved that beating. Now she. 1954)I awoke early in the morning feeling gloriously relaxed and with the still sleeping warm body of Jenny snuggled in next to me, her arm draped over my chest. We had made love for hours the previous evening, relieving tensions and growing ever closer in friendship and intimacy. Jenny finally confessed, as had I, that even if Tom recovered she'd still want to hold onto the love we now clearly felt for each other. Yes, there was still guilt and fear of the future should our relationship ever.