In that area you ran King Solornoes Mines. Brother Davis is here to work as
hard as he can and gc) as far as his potential will let him. No argument
there. Bear down on the brother.s
You!re positively fnghtenmg- Matlock spoke with a lightness he did not
feel.
“Not at all. just pragmatic… rve got some lastminute preparations to look
after. See you later.” Wil. liams bailed a passing student and walked
through the crowd toward the staircase.
Come on, Mr Matlock. rll show you the new alIterations.* Johnny led Matlock
into what used to be Alpha Deles common room.
In the see. of dark faces, Matlock saw a minimum of
THE MATLOCK PAPER 202
guarded, hostile looks. There were, perhaps, less overt greetings than he
might expect outside on the campus, but by and large, his presence was
accepted. He thought fDr a moment that if the brothers knew why he had come,
the inhabitants of Lumumba, Hall might turn on him angrily. He was the only
white person
dMV6
Ile alterations in the common room were drastic. Gone were the wide
moldings of dark wood, the thick oak window seats beneath the huge
cathedral windows, the solid, heavy furniture with the dark red leather.
Instead, the room was transformed Into something else entirely. The arched
windows were no longer. They were now squared at the top, bordered by
jet-black dowels an inch or two in diameter, which loolred like long,
rectangular slits. Spreading out from the windows into the walls was a
textured pattern of tiny wooden bamboo strips shellacked to a high polish.
This same wall covering was duplicated on the ceilmg, thousands of highly
glossed reeds converging towards the center. In the middle of the ceiling
was a large circle~ perhaps three feet in width, in which there was placed
a thick pane of rippled glass. Beyond the glass shone a bright yellowish
white light, its flood diffused in ripples over the room. What furniture he
could see through the mass of bodies was not really furniture at all. There
were various low-cut slabs of thick wood in diffming shapes on short
legs-these Matlock assumed were tables. Instead of chairs, there were
dozens of pillows in vibrant colors scattered about the edge of the Walls.
it didet take Matlock long to realize the effect
Alpha Delta Plifs common room had been transformed brilliantly into the
replica of a large thatched
io2 Robert Ludlum
African hut Even to the point of the blazing eqt=tDrial sun streaming
through the enclosures vent to the Ades.
“This is remarkablel Really remarkable. It must have taken months.”
‘Almost a year and a half,” Johnny said. “lirs very comfortable, very
relaxing. Did you know that lots of top designers are going in for this
sort of thing now? I mean the back-to-nature look. Ifs very functional and
easy to maintain.”
“That sounds dangerously like an apology. You doi* have to apologize. It’s
terrific.”
‘%, rm not apologizing” Johnny retreated from his explanation. “Adam says
theres a certain majesty in the primitive. A very proud heritage
“Adam’s right Only hes not the first person to make that observation.”
“Please doi* put us down, Mr. Matlock. . .
Matlock looked at Johnny over the rim of his cup of Swahili punch. Oh,
Christ, he thought, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
The high-ceflinged chapter room of Alpha Delta Phi had been carved out of
the cellars at the farthest end of the fraternity house. It had been built
shortly after the turn of the century when impressive alumm had poured
impressive sums into such hobbies as secret societies and debutante
cotillions. Such activities promulgated and propagandized a way of life,
yet assuredly kept it selective.
Thousands of starched young men had been initiated in this chapel-like
enclosure, whispering the secret pledges, exchanging the unfamiliar
handshakes explained to them by stem-faced older children, vowing
THE MATUXX PAPER 203
till death to keep the selected faith. And afterward, getting drunk and
vomiting in comers.
Matlock thought these thoughts as he watched the Mau Mau ritual unfold
before him,. It was no less childish, no less absurd than the preceding
scenes in this rooni, he considered. Perhaps the physical aspects –the
simulated physical aspects.-were more brutal in what they conveyed, but
then the roots of the cereInOmy were not based in the delicate steps of a
cotflfton~s pavanne but, instead, in harsh, animal-like pleas to primitive
gods. Pleas for strength and survival. Not . ns for continued exclusivity.
The tribal rite itself was a series of unintelligible chants, each one
growing in intensity, over the body of a black student–obviously the
youngest brother in Lumumba Hall-stretched out on the concrete floor, naked
except for a red loincloth strapped around his waist and legs, covering his
genitals. ‘ At the finish of each chant, signifying the end of one canto
and the commencement of the succeeding song, the boys body was raised above
the crowd by four extremely tall Students, themselves naked to the waist,
wearing jetblack dance belts, their legs encased in spirals of rawhide
strips. The room was lighted by dozens of thick candles mounted on stands,
causing shadows to dance across the upper walls and the ceding Adding to
this theatrical effect was the fact that the five active participants in
the ritual had their skins covered with oil, their faces streaked in
diabolical patterns. As the singt[kg grew wilder, the young boys rigid body
was thro” higher and higher until it left the hands of its four supporters,
returning split seconds later into the outstretched arm. Each time the
black body with the red loincloth was flung into the air, the crowd re-
w4 Robed Ludium
spo.ded with growing volumes of gattural shouts.
And then Matlodic, who had been watching with a degree of detachment,
suddenly found hunself frightened. Frightened for the small Negro whose
stif~ oiled body was being flung into air with such abandon. For two
additional blacks, dressed like the others, had joined the four in the
center of the floor. However, instead of helping toss the now soaring
figure, the two blaclm crouched between the rectangular foursomebeneath the
body-and withdrew long-bladed knives, ti
one in each hand. Once in their squatting post ons, they sbetched out their
arm so that the blades were held upright, as rigid, as stiff as the body
above them Each time the small Negro descended, the four blades Inched
closer to the falling flesh. One dip, one oily miscalculation on the part of
Just one of the fim blacJm, and the ritual would end in death for the small
student In murder.
Matlock, feeling that the ritual had gone as far as he could allow, began
scanning the crowd for Adam Williams. He saw him in front, on the edge of
the circle, and started pushing his way toward him He was stopped–quietly
but firmly-by the blacks around him. He looked angrily at a Negro who held
his arm. ne black didn’t acknowledge Ins stam, he was hypnotized by the
action now taking place in the center of the room.
Matlock saw why instantly For the body of the small boy was now being spun,
alternately face up and face down with each elevation. The danger of error
was increased tenfold. Matlock grabbed the hand on his arm, twisted it
inward, and flung it off him. He looked once more in the direction of Adam
Williams.
He wasn’t there. He was nowhere in sightl Matlock stood still, undecided.
If he raised his voice between
T= MATLOCK PAP20K WS
the crowd’s roaring crescendos, it was entirely possible that he might cause
a break in the concentration of those handling the body. He couldnt risk
that, and yet he couldnt allow the dangerous absurdity to continue.
Suddenly Matlock felt another hand, this one on his shoulder. He turned and
saw the face of Adam Wil~ hams behind him. It startled him. Had some
primitive tribal signal been transmitted to Williams? The black: radical
gestured with his head for Matlock to follow him through the shouting crowd
to the outer edge of the circle. William spoke between the roam
OYou look worried. Doet be.”
*Lookl This craVs gone far enoughl That kid could be killedl’
‘No chance. The brothers have rehearsed for months…. les really the most
simplistic of the Mau Mau rites. The symbolism is fundamental. … See? The
chII&s eyes remain open. First to the sky, then facing the blades. He is
constantly aware-every gecond-that his life is in the hands of his brother
warnom. He cannot, he must not show fear To do so would betray his peers.
Betray the confidence he must place in their hands–as they will someday
place their lives in his hands.”
“Ies childish, dangerous dupidity, and you know itl” cut in MatlocIL ‘Now,
rm telling you, Williams, you put a stop to it or I willl”
“Of course,* continued the black radical, as if Mat.
lock had not spoken, -there are anthropologists who