The Farming Of Bones

Doctor Javier approaches Amabelle during a checkup for Rosalinda and says she must leave immediately, that she could be killed if she stays. He has two trucks ready and a plan to make it seem like they are headed to Mass, not Haiti. Amabelle is unsure if she can trust Señora Valencia to save her if she stays, so she packs and hides a bag just in case. Under the guise of searching for a missing Papi, Amabelle goes to Sebastien to tell him she thinks they should leave with Doctor Javier. He is angry with her for being too trusting of Papi, Señor Pico, and Señora Valencia. Sebastien says they should defer to Kongo about what to do. They walk over to where Kongo and Yves are sitting, and Kongo reveals that Papi had been to visit him earlier that morning. He had offered to put a cross with Joël’s name on it on Joël’s grave. Kongo refused, saying “no more crosses on my boy’s back” (144). Ultimately, however, Kongo left the conversation feeling “understood” (145). This upsets Yves, who thinks it was a “masquerade” and that Kongo should have killed Papi (145). Sebastien then broaches the subject of leaving for Haiti. Yves says he is staying and, due to his age, Kongo says the same. Kongo blesses Sebastian and Amabelle and they prepare to return to Haiti.

Amabelle returns to Papi’s house to find that Papi is still missing. Señora Valencia is sitting in the gallery watching for Papi when Señorita Beatriz shows up. Señorita Beatriz mentions Mimi leaving for the border, so Amabelle feigns surprise. Señorita Beatriz then also reveals that she doesn’t like Señor Pico because of his rampant nationalism and narcissism. She expresses a want to “escape,” whereas Señora Valencia announces that she “will never leave here” (151). They see some military vehicles speed by and rush down to the road to watch. The dust overcomes Señora Valencia and Amabelle notices blood on the back of Señora Valencia’s dress. Señorita Beatriz and Amabelle help Señora Valencia back to bed, at which point Señora Valencia begs Amabelle to stay with her until she feels better. Amabelle refuses under the pretense that she needs to search for a “remedy” (152). Papi returns with a cross with Joël’s name carved on it. An altercation then breaks out on the street below their house between the military and the cane workers. Señor Pico demands the cane workers kneel and renounce their weapons. As he’s yelling, Doña Eva arrives and begs him to help release Doctor Javier, who has just been arrested. Señor Pico waves her off as the soldiers start to use the trucks to run over the cane workers. Amabelle tries to help one of the crushed workers; Señor Pico yells at her to get out of the way. She runs to the field where she hid her bag and watches as they seize and tie Unèl and throw him and the remaining cane workers in the back of a truck. Señor Pico dismisses the trucks, which are now full of prisoners, and heads up to the house.

Amabelle sneaks through the cane to Kongo’s, where he tells her Sebastien and Mimi were part of the group arrested at the church. He surmises that they are now either dead or in prison. Amabelle decides to go to the border by herself. Kongo gives her directions. Before she leaves, she goes to Don Gilbert and Doña Sabine’s to talk to Yves. When she arrives, the house is empty of the guards and Haitians that bustled about there a few days before. Félice opens the door and asks about the altercation between the military men and the cane workers. Doña Sabine then yells at Félice for letting people in, stating that they have no idea who they can trust. Amabelle finds Yves and he agrees to join her on the escape to the border. They ask Félice to go but she refuses, saying she wants to watch over Kongo. They arm themselves and set out for Haiti.

Amabelle and Yves hear an oxcart coming down the road and hide. The oxcart gets stuck and they watch from the bushes as the men try to get the cart moving again. While they are yelling at the oxen a disfigured female corpse falls out of the back of the cart and goes rolling down the hill by them. It’s clear the men are killing Haitians unceremoniously at this point and Yves and Amabelle acknowledge their good luck in remaining alive. Later in the day, they run into a group of traveling Haitians. The travelers they meet tell horror stories of where they’ve come from and what they’ve survived. Amabelle meets another woman who is searching for her missing lover. One crippled traveler, Tibon, talks about how Haiti has “forsaken” them, forcing them to live in a country where they are unwanted (178).