49

“Look at the size of the cock on the boy, it’s not mine,” Johann said bitterly, spitting in a corner of the room. Olga glared at him.

“Of course, it’s not yours,” Anja retorted bitterly. She was tired but not of the birthing process. Her arm ached where Johann had earlier twisted the joint in an attempt to subdue her but she eagerly reached up to hold the baby Olga was holding out to her. He was clean and beautiful, eyes already open, staring with beautiful gray eyes at his mother. He smiled at her. Anja loved him immediately, he hadn’t cried once.

“Whose eyes are those?” Johann asked with distrust.

“My mother’s,” was Anja’s response as she gently settled the baby to her breast. Nathaniel’s lips attached to her bud and he suckled hungrily.

Johann snorted and spat. “Put that baby in a whorehouse like his mother and he will fetch a handsome price with that cock of his.”

“If you are going to spit and say nothing all day, Johann, maybe you should go back to the pub and drink like you always do.”

He didn’t waste any time before he snared and left. Anja didn’t watch him go, she only cared about her son who was smiling at her, holding her nipple with his toothless gum. She cooed at him.

“He is a handsome boy,” Olga said. She finished cleaning Anja up and came to sit beside the young mother. She watched as Anja played with her baby’s hair. “Is he Johann’s son?”

Anja’s eyes widened at the accusation. “Of course he is! You think I’ve been with any other man besides my husband?”

Olga saw the tears brimming in her eyes. “I did not mean to…”

“I have been with Johann in good times and now the bad times are upon us and he has left me, he is practically married to Fredrick now and to whiskey and Fredrick's ideologies, he is no longer the man I married, he has lost himself. I don’t recognize him anymore, Olga.”

Olga touched her soft blonde hair like a mother. “I am sorry, Anja, dear. I will go prepare something for you to eat now, you need your energy.”

Anja nodded and continued to nurse her son. He soon became her whole world, he replaced the bitterness Johann’s misery caused, his laughter made the dark clouds of sadness disperse, and when he cried she moved heaven and earth to make him smile. Johann hated his son. It was for the sake of greener opportunities for his family that he moved to the wasteland of Gabore, a land that had promised diamonds and riches, a land of milk and honey. He considered Nathaniel a stroke of bad luck because he arrived at a point in his life when he had nothing. He looked at the boy every day, saw his failure, and hated him. More than once he considered smothering the boy to see if his life would return to normal but every time he knew he couldn’t. Instead, he went back to the pub every morning to listen to Fredrick talk. The nobleman spoke of his future exploits once the government gave the go-ahead for mining. But that approval wouldn’t come until four years later. After much deliberation and the exchange of money and power permission was finally granted.

Every diamond hunters, those of whom still had enough money to buy tools did so immediately and began to hunt for their treasures. Every morning men went out in their rough work clothes digging the hard earth for the gems. They dug and dug day and night. At night every day, the men came back dirty, sweaty and tired, longing only for food and sleep. Johann was not among these men – he wasn’t the only one, there were others hopeless like him and they met together at the pub to drink. Fredrick no longer frequented the pub, word on the street was he had men helping him dig his selected piece of land. Fredrick had caught everyone’s attention with the piece of land he chose, it was the only marshland with river bodies infested with crocodiles but according to Fredrick, the more the danger the bigger the diamonds. No one knew why a man as intelligent as he would choose such a desolate place. But unknown to anyone, Fredrick hadn't just chosen the place without prior knowledge of the riches beneath the soft muddy soil and the white sands edging the beach.

The next year when Nathaniel turned 4 those words proved true. Fredrick’s land unearthed the biggest diamond ever found, larger than the biggest one found in South Africa. He was not just some rumored nobleman anymore he was now the owner of the biggest diamond in Gabore. That was enough to add more prestige to his name. Johann heard the news of his success and turned even worse. He barely went back to the boarding house so he didn’t know Anja was struggling to pay their rent. Between taking care of 4-year-old and mending clothes she was beginning to get weary. Eventually, she had to focus full-time on her son. Olga was merciful to her, she let her keep the room but she had to work for food, which meant that from time to time Anja had to help Olga clean up the occupied rooms and take care of the kitchen. While she worked the little boy, Nathaniel, spent his days in the dining room in the house listening to the stories the miners had to tell and he was a bright little boy, absorbing the stories intelligently. He sat on the laps of the young and old, they soon became his fathers, teaching him what his father could not teach him.

Then one day Johann returned to the boarding house angry. He wanted to join the men in the wastelands seeking diamonds so he came home looking for money to buy his supplies.

“What money do you have saved here, Johann?!” Anja demanded angrily. In front of her with his face buried in her apron was Nathaniel crying because Johann was on a rampage overturning everything they owned – clothes, furniture, bags…anything he could put his hands on.

“You whore! Where are you keeping them? Give me the money, I know you have them. Where do you get them to buy the clothes for the bastard?”

“He is not a bastard and you would know that if you haven’t been drooling over that man, Fredrick, lusting after his wealth. Go make some money of your own, Johann, what I have is for my son!”

In a fit of rage, Johann hit her across the face. She fell protecting Nathaniel as she did. The boy was shaking and crying uncontrollably. Without even a glance at his son Johann bent and pulled Anja’s apron to reveal her hidden pocket and took the money he found there.

“Maybe you should go out there and make some more money, whore yourself if you have to, you are used to it anyway.”