Behold the Dreamers

Jende is driving Clark back from Washington, D.C. They are cruising across the Delaware Memorial Bridge and entering New Jersey when Clark asks Jende to tell him about Limbe. Jende smiles and a nostalgic lilt enters his voice. He tells Clark about the sign that welcomes people: “Welcome to Limbe, the Town of Friendship.” It’s a sign that, along with the smell of the ocean breeze, makes people happy to be there. Jende describes Limbe as a small town, but one “made of magic, an OPEC city” with a “national refinery on one side of the shore, fishermen with their nets on the other side.” People in Limbe lead simple lives, Jende says, but they enjoy their lives.

Clark describes this as “fascinating,” while reopening his laptop. Jende goes on to say that Limbe “is the best town in Africa,” and that Vince once told him that “it’s the type of town he wants to live in.” Clark is unsurprised by this and asks when Vince told Jende this. Jende says that Vince mentioned it two nights ago, when he was driving Vince back to Columbia after he had dinner with Mighty and Cindy.

Clark asks Jende why he’s in America if Limbe is so beautiful. Jende says that everyone wants to be in America. Clark is unconvinced, leaving Jende to think about “what to say without saying too much.” Jende says that his country “is no good” and that, if he had stayed, he “would have become nothing” and “would have remained nothing.” He feared that Liomi would grow up to be poor like him, just as Jende was poor like his father, Pa Jonga. In America, Jende knows that he can “become a respectable man” and that his son can become respectable, too.

Clark takes a call in which he explains in ten seconds why someone shouldn’t be fired for something. He then asks why Jende couldn’t achieve respectability in his own country. Jende’s voice drops “ten decibels lower” as he explains that, to be somebody in Limbe, you have to be born in a family with money. Jende’s voice escalates again when he contrasts this condition with life in America, where someone like Obama, who didn’t come from the nation’s elite, is trying to become president of the United States.

Clark picks up a buzzing phone and says something to someone named Phil about being unsure about what Tom, the CEO, is thinking. He says that the company can’t continue doing the same things, expecting different results. Clark is worried about their “superficial short-term fixes” coming back to haunt them. He expresses concern that their lives, careers, and reputations will be compromised. He takes a deep breath while listening again, then laughs and agrees to a round of golf sometime soon. Clark declines another offer from Phil, saying it’s not his “cup of tea,” but that he’ll probably beg Phil for “her number” when he finds himself “on the verge of an explosion.”

Clark places other calls, including one to Paris during which Jende overhears him speaking “mediocre French,” which he praises as “very good French” at the end of Clark’s call. Clark says that he lived in Paris for a year while he was studying at Stanford and, when Jende registers ignorance, he explains that Stanford is “a college.” Jende notes that the school has a good football team. When Clark says that he originally comes from Evanston, Illinois, Jende recalls that his cousin, Winston, lived in Illinois for a few months, but he called home all the time complaining about the cold. Jende says that he thinks Winston joined the army so that he could move to a warm place. Clark chuckles at the supposed logic and wistfully recalls his childhood in Illinois. He says that his sister, Ceci, is thinking of moving back there.

Thinking of Ceci, Clark calls her. He leaves a voicemail message in which he notes how busy he’s been at work and that he insists that Ceci go to Mexico for their father’s eightieth birthday. Clark says he’ll pay for everything and promises that he’ll try to pick up the next time Ceci calls, though email or text is always better for him. He throws his head back after hanging up and closes his eyes. He then asks  Jende if he had a job back home. Jende says that he worked for Limbe Urban Council. When Clark asks if this was “a good job,” Jende says that there aren’t really good jobs or bad jobs in his home country. The problem is that the job offered him no solid future, not even a sure way to marry Neni.

Clark doesn’t understand. Poor people marry all the time. Jende explains that, in Cameroon, “not everyone can marry the person that they want.” Neni’s father, for instance, refused to allow him and Neni to marry because he wanted her to find someone with money who would give him money whenever he asked for it. Though Jende acknowledges that people do elope and live together before marriage in Cameroon, he wanted to do things the right way and pay Neni’s bride-price, which included livestock, cloth, bags of rice, bottles of wine, and an envelope of cash containing twice the sum that Neni’s father demanded. After Jende’s family handed over the bride-price to Neni’s family, the relatives sang and danced together, and then he and Neni were married. He says that the payment of the bride-price means more to him than his marriage certificate.

Clark says that he hopes Neni’s “worth it.” Jende insists that he has “the best wife in the whole world.” Clark then asks if Jende thinks that America is better than Cameroon. Jende insists that it’s a “million times” better, proven by the fact that he’s driving such a nice car and that Clark is talking to him as if he’s “somebody.” He’s also sitting in the driver’s seat, “feeling as if [he’s] somebody.”

While flipping through some loose papers from a folder, Clark asks how Jende could afford to buy a plane ticket to the U.S. if he was so poor. Jende explains that Winston helped with that. Clark recalls that Winston is an associate at Dustin, Connors, and Solomon—a Wall Street firm. Clark then wonders how Winston arrived in the U.S.; Jende says that Winston “won the green card lottery” and then joined the army. When Jende begins to explain how Winston “used the money” from the G.I. Bill to attend law school, Clark stops him, remembering that Frank told him Winston’s story.

Clark’s phone buzzes again. He speaks to someone about someone else going to Arizona and then hangs up and dials another number. He’s calling Vince to say that Cindy just called to tell Clark that Vince is turning down “the Skadden internship offer” to spend a month on a reservation in Arizona. He asks if Vince can’t just go there after the internship. He asks Vince to call him back or come to his office so that they can talk. He directs Vince to call Leah and check his calendar, saying it’s important that he talk to his parents before making “major decisions.”

Clark hangs up the phone and sighs deeply, muttering about how “unbelievable” his son is. Jende longs to tell him that he’s sorry about Vince and that “nothing could be harder than a disobedient son.” Clark then calls Frank, asking if he can arrange for an internship for Vince at Dustin, Connors, and Solomon. When he ends the call, he tells Jende that he’s glad that he understands that he’s been given a “great opportunity.” Jende nods and says that he thanks God every day for the opportunity. He says that anything is possible for an American. He hopes that, one day, Liomi will grow up to be “a great man” like Clark.