Diamond Boy

The army arrives suddenly when helicopters swoop over the hills and begin firing on miners. Arves and Patson run with the others until they find Chipo and Kamba by the fence. They all slip under and race for Gwejana Rock—but soldiers appear from all sides, including over the top of the hill. The teens and the surviving miners are surrounded. For hours, the soldiers force the miners to sit in lines inside the fence. Patson worries about his father and Grace while Chipo tries to hide that she’s female. Jamu is absent, as he didn’t come to the mines today. Eventually, even more soldiers arrive in jeeps and begin forcing a few miners to unload heavy crates. More miners then roll out a second barbed-wire fence and put together the army’s camp.

Finally, a jeep pulls up outside the fence. The passenger is a man in silver sunglasses, carrying multiple weapons. Arves insults the “Big Cheese” in a whisper as the soldier stops in front of the miners and introduces himself as Commander Jesus. He asks for the miners’ permits, and since they don’t have any, he accuses them of stealing from Zimbabwe. He’s here to implement Operation No Return, which will end illegal mining—and stop people from “stealing” from President Mugabe. The driver then pulls Uncle James and Musi from the jeep. They’re both bloody, and Musi appears to be unconscious. Commander Jesus announces that Banda Hill is now called Mai Mujuru, after General Mujuru’s wife. He prompts Banda to say that the mine belongs to the government, and they must all hand over any stones they’ve found.

Commander Jesus asks “who wants to be forgiven first,” and when nobody says anything, he nods to two soldiers. The soldiers hack down some branches from a thorn tree and lay the branches down. Arves tells Patson to tell Kamba to keep his head down as the soldiers grab a few miners, throw them on the long thorns, and beat them with sticks. The nightmare continues into the night as trucks arrive bearing miners from Mafukose and PaMbada. Patson dozes while Arves, who hasn’t taken his antiretroviral medication or eaten all day, has turned gray and sleeps deeply. Patson jerks awake to people talking about the carnage and the mass graves.

Patson begins to crawl toward Uncle James, hoping he knows something about his father. He shakes Musi awake, and Musi angrily shares that the army took over Kondozi farm; Prisca, Kuda, Jamu, and Grace were kicked out to the sheds. When Patson shakes Uncle James awake and asks about his father, James can only talk about how Commander Jesus took his girazi and his mine, and how his ancestors are angry with him. He knows nothing about Patson’s father.