Diamond Boy

Patson struggles to say that he doesn’t have the girazis: he lost them in Marange. The Wife notes that Jamu told them otherwise. As they approach the hospital’s doors, Patson looks around for help—all hope will be lost once they get him out of the hospital. Just then, Dr. Morris, Regis, and two hospital guards stop Commander Jesus, and a police van pulls up outside. Dr. Morris notes that nobody can take Patson out without signing discharge papers, and Patson loudly insists that the Wife isn’t his mother. Standing up out of the wheelchair, he takes his crutches and faces Commander Jesus.

Patson says that Commander Jesus blew off his leg, killed his father, and took over the Marange mines and killed hundreds of miners. Regis catches Patson as Patson begins to fall, and then Regis begins to roll Patson back into the hospital. Patson looks back to see the police arresting Commander Jesus, and Regis explains that Boubacar, who is still looking for Grace, set this up. The nurse settles Patson back into bed, and she and Regis leave Patson alone. Patson tells himself he’s safe: he stood up to Commander Jesus and told the truth. Finally, Patson can stop running.

Patson wakes up when Dr. Morris enters his room with a metal tray. They discuss the Wife, whom Dr. Morris insists is legally still Patson’s guardian—but Patson argues that he never wants to see her again. Dr. Morris agrees to allow Boubacar to sign Patson out of the hospital. Then, Dr. Morris describes what he did to Patson’s leg. He explains that part of the procedure was removing any foreign objects in the wound, and he hands Patson the tray. On it are Patson’s three girazis—and Patson realizes that Arves’s grandmother stitched them into his leg, where nobody would find them. Patson isn’t sure what he’s done to deserve them. He realizes that when Arves’s grandmother told him that all he needed was inside him, she meant he’d need more than the diamonds to survive.

Patson tells Dr. Morris to take the girazis away: he doesn’t want them. He explains briefly how he found them and how his father was shot, and he reiterates that he doesn’t want the diamonds. But Patson also wants to hold them, and he wants what they can do for him. Suddenly, he realizes that the stones are a lot of responsibility—and he’s not ready to take it on yet. Dr. Morris agrees to keep them for a while, and he tells Patson to sleep. A nurse gives Patson a sedative. As Patson drifts off, he thinks of how much pain the girazis in his leg caused him. And he hears his father telling him to not “let the stones become more than you.” His father tells Patson to rest and recover.