From the Diary of Maribelle Tate:
So we saved his life. But at what cost?
Then they chuck him in the back of a truck and off they go under armed escort. Guarded by a small army, to be honest. And he’ll be on the first private flight out of Kenya, headed for the land of the free. But he won’t be free.
Could it have gone down any other way? Was it inevitable that he’d get caught? Was it a done deal before I even got here?
Judith keeps giving me these sideways “conspiratorial” glances. Reminding me of our plan, I guess. Like I need reminding. This too shall pass, I can almost hear her saying.
So we’re going to set him free. Okay. It’s the best we can do. But then what? Where can he go? Where are we supposed to take him in America? Are we supposed to rent him an apartment? The only place he could ever be at home is here, in Africa. And how in the hell could we ever get him back here? I doubt we could find an airline willing to sell him a ticket.
Was he at home here, anyway? Come on, Maribelle, be honest. Wasn’t everything here trying to kill him? Those lions sure did. And the hyenas. And the Warumbi would have, if they’d ever been able to work up the nerve. Yeah, truth is, I wonder if he could ever belong anywhere. But here he is, anyway, world.
It’s not his fault. None of it. He didn’t ask for this. No, there’s nobody to blame but the people who made him. The Natarajans. They have to be held accountable for what they did. The world has to be shown, has to see with its several billion eyes, what these people did, and see why it’s so wrong. They brought something to life that should never have been. Now the world gets to decide what to do about it. I hope they throw the book at them. The whole book of international law. But BM is the one who is going to pay the most for the Natarajan’s crime. It’s not fair. It breaks my heart.
At least the Natarajans can be prosecuted now. That’s the one and only good thing to come from all of this. We’re bringing the smoking gun back with us. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit A. Just don’t put your fingers inside the cage. He bites.
Yeah, justice will be served and all that. But it doesn’t make me feel any better about things.
I’m thinking of BM right now. What’s going through HIS head, I wonder? I can guess. I ask myself how I would feel in his situation. I’d be scared. Angry and confused, but most of all scared.
What’s done is done. They’ve taken him away.
I don’t know what comes next.
