The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2009

F O C U S O N F S F I C T I O N O N THE R OAD TO C APE T OWN 34 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 e had to use special tactics,” the driver said. He rested a thin, hairy arm on the steering wheel and turned to me as he talked, rubbing his Adam’s apple. It stuck out from his throat like a walnut. “At first they fooled us. They sent the women out in front like they were going to market. We didn’t think any- thing of it. Then after the women passed, they opened up.” The truck hummed along the road. The country was wide open and drying up as we headed east. Birds wheeled high in the air above the brown hills. “They got a few of us, but we wiped them out,” he continued. “We never made that mistake again. The next time we saw the women coming, we opened up on them.” He grinned, remembering it. He kept his eyes high and out of the sun as he talked. “Man, we blasted them to pieces. Ha! They never tried that again. And it kept the roads clear for a while, too.” Little shacks lined the empty road. Naked children herded ducks, chasing them through the dust with long, thin sticks. The road shot through the horizon ahead of us and into a mirage. “Oh, the pay was good! I wanted to go back in ’64,” he said. “But by the time I got to Joburg, the recruiters were finished.” He spat out the window, then bent over and pulled out a tin canteen from below the seat. “Whiskey,” he said. “Want some?” I shook my head. Winking, he unscrewed the cap and took a drink. I took out my map. Some cows were crossing the road ahead of us. Cursing softly, the driver shifted gears andma- neuvered to avoid them. A N A MERICAN HITCHHIKER TRAVELS THROUGH THE MORAL DARKNESS OF APARTHEID . B Y R ICHARD S. S ACKS “ W A Foreign Service officer since 1989, Richard S. Sacks served in Mexico City, Casablanca, Hanoi, Seoul and Panama, before becoming deputy and acting director of the Pakistan/Bangladesh office in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, a post he held until July 2008. He completed a year of national security studies at the Na- tional War College in June. Prior to joining the Service, he was a wire service newsman for The Associated Press and a reporter for The Middlesex News , a suburban Boston daily. In 1991, he co-authored Paraguay: The Per- sonalist Legacy (Westview Press). Mr. Sacks and his wife, Aida, live in McLean, Va., with their three children. This story won fourth place in the Journal ’s 2009 For- eign Service fiction contest.