Spoor. Deon Meyer
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Só skryf sy in haar kop, met die wete dat niks op papier sal kom nie.
Môreoggend sal sy vir Barend ’n regte brief skryf. Sy sal vir hom sê dat sy hom vir eers nie gaan bel nie. Hy moet haar asseblief tyd gee, sodat sy haar voete kan vind. Maar hulle kan korrespondeer, sy sal elke keer terugskryf.
Dat sy hom reeds vergewe het. Dat sy vir hom oneindiglik lief is.
8
(25 Augustus 2009. Dinsdag.)
Dieselfde karakterlose, vaagweg neerdrukkende onderhoudkamer, hierdie keer met vier mense: Die vrolike mev. Nkosi, ’n swart man wat homself net as “Ben” voorgestel het, en agter teen die muur twee ongeïdentifiseerde toeskouers, ’n baie vet Indiër en ’n wit vrou in haar vyftigs.
“Ek moet sê, die klaring was ’n bietjie van ’n verrassing,” wend Milla haarself versigtig na die gemoedelikheid van mev. Nkosi.
“Understood,” sê Ben, wat vir Milla aan Shakespeare laat dink, een van Julius Caesar se “lean and hungry men”. “Unavoidable. Giving notice would defeat the purpose. Undermine the credence.” Sinne wat soos soldate marsjeer.
“Maar die goeie nuus is, jy het die kortlys gemaak,” sê mev. Nkosi. “Die pos is net soos ek dit vir jou beskryf het. En nou kan ons vir jou ’n bietjie meer vertel. ”
“It’s for a government agency. A very important one. Are you willing to work for the government?” vra Ben.
“Yes, I … May I ask which other people you spoke to? About me?”
“Usually, we take a look at your body of work as a journalist. Talk to previous employers and colleagues. Your case was different. Spoke to your ex-husband. A former schoolteacher. Former lecturer. You passed. Flying colours.”
Sy wil vra watter onderwyser, want op Wellington was daar konserwatiewe Broederbonders …
“Now. The job. For a State Department. Secrecy is essential. The major factor here: You won’t be able to talk about your work. The real work. You will have to lie. To your friends. Your family. All the time. It can be a strain.”
“Aan die begin, eintlik net aan die begin,” sê mev. Nkosi paaiend. “ ’n Mens raak gewoond daaraan.”
“Of course, you will be trained. To manage. But perhaps this is not what you had in mind at all.”
“It’s … I had no idea …”
“Ons verstaan, dit is skielik, dit is onverwags. Moenie bekommer nie, jy sal baie tyd hê om na te dink. Maar as jy op hierdie oomblik voel dit is iets wat jy glad nie sal wil doen nie …”
“Nee,” sê Milla Strachan. “Ek … Dit klink … opwindend.”
* * *
(27 Augustus 2009. Donderdag.)
Rajhev Rajkumar ken vir Janina Mentz goed. Hy weet hoe om haar guns te wen.
“About the Report Squad appointment …”
“Yes?”
“This one, I think, was the strongest candidate,” sê hy en tik met ’n vingernael op ’n lêer.
“Why?”
“She’s intelligent, little bit flustered, but Ben can be difficult. She’s politically almost neutral, with a liberal background. Living on her own. And, of course, she can start on the first, which is a bonus.”
“She has no real applicable experience.”
“None of them had. As you know, it’s a blessing in disguise. No bad habits, no media ideology.”
“Mmm …”
Rajkumar wag geduldig, want hy weet Mentz het die volle transkripsies gelees. Hy weet watter paragrawe die deurslag sal gee.
Personnel interview: Vacant position – Report Squad
Transcription: M. Strachan, interviewed by B.B. and J.N.
Date and time: 25 August 2009. 10:30
BB: Will you receive alimony?
MS: No.
BB: Why not? Surely, you deserve it. And your husband is a wealthy man.
MS: Taking money from him would be an acknowledgement of dependency. And submissiveness. Weakness. I am not weak.
“Yes,” sê Janina Mentz oplaas, “appoint her.”
* * *
(1 September 2009. Dinsdag.)
Veertien stoele in die opleidingslokaal, ’n kateder voor, maar sy en die induksiebeampte sit langs mekaar. Sy stem draal, sy gesig ’n frons van erns. “Your primary cover is what you tell your family, and your friends. In your case, your primary cover is News This Week. It is a publication that actually exists, it is produced by the government’s Department of Communication, distributed to Ministers and Directors General and their staff. So you tell people that you work there, that you scan the print and electronic media daily for grass-roots level news from Limpopo and Mpumalanga, your focus section. And that you write a weekly page on this in the newsletter. You should know, the Government really cares, they actually want to know these things. And you should also study the actual newsletter every week, so that you know its contents. Now, it is essential for a cover to have aspirational aspects, so you can also tell people that you hope to move on to one of the bigger sections one day, like the Western Cape, and perhaps become the assistant editor in a few years’ time.”
Milla wonder waarom sy nie maar fiktief hoër kan mik nie, na die redakteurspos.
* * *
Net voor middagete ontmoet sy haar nuwe baas, mev. Killian, die bestuurder van die Report Squad, soos die induksiebeampte dit noem. Milla herken haar, sy was met die laaste onderhoud een van dié wat stil teen die muur gesit het, die een wat goedig lyk, soos iemand se ouma. Daar is net tyd vir haastige handdrukke met haar ander kollegas – die skouspelagtige Jessica, wilde rooi hare en ’n manjifieke boesem, en twee bleskop-omies wie se name te vinnig verbykom.
Sy besef sy is te deftig aangetrek, want Jessica dra ’n ou, oorgroot trui en denim, een van die ooms ’n krawat saam met ’n blokpatroon-kortmoutrui.
* * *
(2 September 2009. Woensdag.)
Janina Mentz staar lank na die berig in Die Burger, onder die opskrif Nuwe vrae oor wapens.
Dan