Page 27 of Risk It All
“Ms. Madeleine.” A young, lean black man steps from behind a tree.
“Bastu.” She shakes his hand and introduces me.
“We go to the mine, through the trees here and then we will get on the trail above.” He points with his machete up a steep slope.
“We'll follow you,” Madeleine says.
“But we must be quiet.” Bastu looks at me. I nod letting him know I understand. I begin to understand Madeleine's concerns. The man seems to know what he's doing, but he's young and a bit skittish, which can be a dangerous combination when trouble occurs.
I'm no stranger to hard work, but the next few hours challenge my body beyond what I'd ever experienced before, as we trudge through the jungle in dizzying heat. Bastu's idea of a trail is barely wide enough for a man. I suspect the trails were made by animals, not humans. Occasionally, Bastu stops abruptly, holds his arm up to silence us as he listens. Most times, after a few moments, we continue on. Twice though, he had us move deeper into the jungle to hide. I never heard or saw anything suspicious, but I'm not about to question Bastu.
Several hours later, we stop near a ridge and Bastu points. I look down to a large area cleared of trees marked with pits and dozens of trenches. I see people in the area, but we're too far away to make them out.
“Are we stopping here?” I ask in a low voice.
Bastu nods. I take off my pack and pull out binoculars. Holding them to my eyes, I focus on the scene below. I hear a click of a camera next to me and turn to see Madeleine taking my picture.
“Are you including me in your story?”
She shrugs. “Maybe.”
“What will you write about last night?”
She flashes a grin. “Ah Max, there are no words for last night.”
I smile. In that moment, I wish we were somewhere else where I can spend time with Madeleine in a less dangerous and serious atmosphere. But since I can't, I turn my attention back to the mine.
When the binoculars focus on the activity, I swear under my breath as I see dozens of children shoveling and picking in the trenches. Others are carrying buckets that look nearly as big as they are. Chisara comes to mind, and the other children suffering from the effects of hard labor, abuse, and toxins.
“All this for cell phones and electronic games,” I murmur. I'm a part of this and it sickens me. I thought I'd avoided this type of exploitation by having my devices built in the United States. It wasn't easy because it's difficult to compete with the companies that have their devices built in China. But I'd found a niche market willing to pay the extra, and it jump-started my business, which now includes several companies in different industries.
“Can we move closer?” I ask.
“We go up.” Bastu points along the ridge.
“It won't get us much closer,” Madeleine says. “But you'll get a better view.”
I put away the binoculars and follow Madeleine and Bastu up along the edge of the ridge. We walk much longer than I anticipated before we came to another ridge overlooking the mine. Madeleine is right in that we aren't any closer, but I get a better view of the whole operation.
“We should eat something,” Madeleine says.
But I'm preoccupied, working to get a sense of how the mine runs. What's the process involved in getting the minerals out of the ground? Do they sift them here or take them somewhere else? I buy my tech components from Digitechnik, but does Digitechnik buy directly from the mine? How many middlemen are there?
“Max.” Madeleine's hand pats my arm. “You should eat and drink some more water.”
I nod, but what I really want is to run down and give my water and food to the children.
“Hey.” This time Madeleine presses her palm to my cheek. I turn and can see in her eyes that she understands the torrent of feelings running through me. “You'll help them. It just won't be right now.”
“I know, it's just . . .”
She nods. “Eat. We'll be heading back soon and then you'll be able to make a plan to help them. But you can't help them if you die of dehydration.”
“Right.” I sit next to Madeleine and Bastu to eat.
I'd barely gotten down two bites when Bastu says, “We should go, I don't like the sounds of the jungle.”
“Not yet.” I want more time to observe and understand how the mine operates.
“We're off the trail. Can we wait here until the sounds settle?” Madeleine asks.
Bastu shrugs, but his eyes dart around in worry. “We'll have to wait longer.”
“Then we'll wait,” Madeleine said.
I’m grateful that Madeleine is able to talk Bastu into waiting, although I hope I haven’t but us in danger.
