A chill drags up my spine. “And what’s that?”
“In short?” Bes cuts in. “He plans to embrace his racism rather than conceal it.”
Jesus Christ.Just what the world needs: another racist in power—one unafraid to boast it.
I open my mouth to say as much but slam it shut, biting the words off before they can begin. When I let my thoughts spew out of me, unchecked, my anger always wins. And I don’t want to end up at the business end of a gun again—or worse, be forcedto pull the trigger myself. I cannot let my emotions drive this conversation.
Though I’m still intent on leaving, I want—noneed—to understand what’s at stake. Not just for me and my country, but for the world.
“I’m not sure the model of the Jim Crow laws is transferable,” I explain. “Black Americans are already poor and oppressed because of slavery. The Jim Crow laws were meant to keep them that way. Hitler has no corrupt system to fall back on.”
Cec pipes up again beside me. “He does, however, have the years of oppression. It’s why he’s building his own system, and why he’s likely to take more drastic measures to execute his vision. What you experienced today is merely a fraction of what the new German Reich is capable of outside their own borders.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. We barely made it out alive today; the next drastic measure would undoubtedly involve our deaths. Or worse.
“Why are you telling me all this? Why ask me these questions?”
Bes meets my eye in the rear view mirror atop the dashboard. “Because we need you to understand that you’re in real danger. This is not some frivolous search for lost artifacts with your tita. And, given what we’ve learned tonight, it appears it never was. The God Men and the Nazis are some of the worst humanity has to offer—”
“If they evenarehuman,” Cec mutters.
Whatever the hell that means.
“—and if they’re prepared to exert this much effort into obtaining the Amulet of Amun, then there might be more to it than its monetary or historical value. There’s even a chance it does what the God Men claim it can.”
Wouldn’t that be something, I think, allowing my curiosity to surface for a moment.
That same curiosity shifts, though, in wondering how the three of them came by all this information, including details about Hitler’s plans. The same way Cec knew about the secret meetings between the German dictator and Hirohito back at the museum.
I refuse to ask them outright, though. Not when I plan never to see them again after tonight. I’ll go all the way to Greenland if I have to—anything to escape Egypt without notice.
Bes continues, “But what you need to understand most is: everything Cec and I do from this moment on until we reach the Dolomites is for your safety, as well as the protection of the amulet.”
I swallow, the amulet twitching against my chest. “Well, that’s…”
“Comforting?” Cec offers.
“I was going to say ominous.”
“I wouldn’t trust us a lick, either,” Cec admits. “You know nothing about us, nor our intentions. But, for now, you’re going to have to find a way to follow our lead.”
“Glad to see I have options,” I mutter, already working to devise how I’ll slip away from the three of them.
Silence weighs heavy in the car. Wiping the beaded sweat from my brow, I eye my companions with apprehension. I strongly believe people are predictably and painfully unobservant, their motives clear from the get-go. It’s how I’ve managed to get away with nearly everything in my life. Except with Nonna—I swear the woman is one of the few people in the world with a working third eye.
Right now, though, I’m dealing with people who have a much better grasp on what’s going on than I do. Pierre is the only true adult I’ve met here who isn’t a fascist. And though Bes and Cec claim they care about my safety and that of the amulet, they know far more than any one person should, and I don’t trust it.
They’ve also kept me alive at this point, and under Nonna’s direction.
On the increasing chance that I won’t be able to escape from them, I endeavor to gain a deeper introspection on all this. It’s proving impossible. I’m used to traveling to new and strange places without having to deal in much of the politics of things. But, from the sound of it, it’s more than a change in a few policies. If Bes and Cec are correct about the Third Reich, a lot of blood will be shed in the coming years. And on the heels of a war that nearly destroyed life as we knew it.
It would be hell on earth.
In truth, though, I’m not sure how that’s my concern. What can one person do to change the course of the future of an entire country, much less the world? Better I head home and forget any of this ever happened.
I tell myself it’ll be easy to slip the amulet into one of their pockets, sneak onto the first boat out of here, and never think about them again.
Can I even escape Egypt without Bes and Cec, though? They’re the only reason I’ve made it this far. Can I wholly justify completely abandoning the amulet either, on the chance it’ll end up in the hands of the Third Reich? And without finding out whether it can do what it claims?
