Osman

 

Chapter 12

OSMAN

 

Amanta and Jorge, faithful to their word, had invited Irving and Camette to meet the curator. It must be said that Irving was suspicious of their motive. Out of a two-hundred-year old house they had made a very original museum. The atmosphere of the old house matched up very well with the artefacts on display. The entrance was a large black door with the knocker in the form of a fish.

The four went in, and on the other side of the door was the typical courtyard of a colonial house in the tropics. The trees and plants grew in the direction of the sun. A stone pond was home to frogs and insects. Camette and Irving looked at the water. It was very dark and full of aquatic plants.

Amanta pushed open a door on which was pinned the timetable for visiting. The other three followed her. Amanta stopped in front of another door, with the words ‘Chief Curator’, and knocked. A voice from the other side said to enter. The owner of the voice was standing up, looking at a file. He had straight, black hair, skin the copper colour of people who live in the tropics. The most surprising feature was his glasses, the lenses being of an unusual shade of green. The clothes he wore were dark.

“Hello, Ossie, have we caught you at a bad moment?  You did say any day,” Amanta explained.

The man smiled at Amanta and Jorge and returned the folder to its place in the filing cabinet and closed the drawer.

“Ossie, we’ve brought Irving and Camette to see the museum and to meet you,” Amanta said pushing Irving and Camette towards the said Ossie.

“Pleased to meet you,” offered Camette on behalf of both of them.

And then Irving asked, “Is Ossie your real name? It doesn’t sound very tropical.”

“My name is Osman. My parents wanted me to stand out in life and gave me a name they thought would help. My dear Amanta refuses to call me by my full name. She’s always called me Ossie.

Jorge had gone over to the window, “What happened to the collection of shells you had on top of the mantelpiece here?”

“It was too much work just keeping them clean, so I’ve put them away in a box. Let’s show this couple the museum. I hope you won’t be disappointed with our small museum. I know the most important ones in the world and needless to say they have greatly impressed me, by their dedication and patience the treasures of the world have been collected and guarded. Ours, as you can see, is much more modest.”

“It’s you, Ossie, who is modest,” Amanta said in a jocular tone of voice.

“Let’s see the most ancient finds of the island,” said Osman, opening a black door. The showcases were fixed to the walls. There were two more showcases in the middle of the room. The pieces exhibited were engraved stones in terrible condition; utensils made from clay such as a mortar and pestle, primitive plates, and knives. Examples of old  baskets together with old cloth that still retained some of their original colour. The other showcases had weapons that in distant times the different tribes had used when fighting amongst themselves.

“Did they poison the arrows?” asked Irving.

“They put hallucinating drugs so as to get information from their prisoners,” answered Osman.

“So they didn’t as a norm kill their enemies?” enquired Irving again.

“Yes, of course they did. They killed their enemies and then took them out to sea, and threw them to the sacred fire fish, to keep it quiet.”

“There are more things, aren’t there,” said Camette somewhat bored with the conversation.

“There’s a room you will like very much,” said Osman taking Camette by the arm.

This second room aroused the desired effect on Camette. It was what she had been looking for. The room was just as small as the previous one, but the showcases guarded other riches. Chests with gold coins, gold and silver crucifixes incrusted with precious gems. Silver goblets, and cutlery, and jewellery. Heavy gold and silver chains with pendants. Irving and Camette looked at everything in great detail. Each one thinking how they would like to have taken photos; but at the entrance to the room there was a notice announcing that photography was forbidden in case the flash caused an accident. They stopped in front of a showcase, in the centre was a gold chain similar to the belt that Amanta had worn the other night. Camette was about to say something to Irving but he pushed her towards the exit. Amanta and Jorge went up to them.

“Wouldn’t you like to see something else? Ossie knows that Camette likes history. Isn’t that right Ossie? I told him you have an antiques shop,” Amanta said all friendly.

Camette felt an irrational fear, here was this woman who appeared very amiable and trying to make the visit pleasant, yet Camette’s intuition was sending her warning signals. She wants to separate me from Irving. Well, I’m not going to let her succeed, thought Camette, squeezing Irving’s arm as if she were an octopus. Irving was not insensitive to the atmosphere among the small group.

“Here there is an antique map of the island,” Osman said to Camette, “I suppose you’d like to have it in your shop.”

The map was framed between two pieces of glass. It was a type of parchment and appeared as if it had been artificially aged, by the colour and the contents. Irving examined closely looking for the caves and any geographical point he knew.

“It shows a shipwreck on the other side of the island, but hasn’t marked the remains that we saw,” commented Camette.

“What d’you know about shipwrecks?” asked Osman, giving her a green gaze.

“Only what I’ve read in books and magazines,” answered Camette uncomfortably.

“You’ve just spoken about the remains of a wrecked ship. What was it like?”

“It was nothing more than wood.”

“Did you go near?”

“No,” Camette answered abruptly.

Amanta and Jorge began to laugh at Camette and Irving.” They are scaredy cats,” Amanta declared.

Osman didn’t pay Amanta and Jorge attention, he continued talking to Camette, “I am sure that you aren’t afraid under the water. Would you like to come diving with me?”

Amanta and Jorge started to roar with laughter.

“Those two are very animated. Well, you haven’t answered me,” Osman said, staring at Camette.

Irving told him, “Camette isn’t going anywhere without me, so wherever she goes I go too.”

Osman received this piece of news somewhat philosophically, “You’ve got a very protective boyfriend.”

“Yes, he’s rather possessive,” responded Camette.

“What do you know about shipwrecks?” Osman insisted.

“I don’t know any more about them than what I’ve read,” answered Camette.

“I’ll take you diving with me one day. I promise you a new and unique experience.”

Camette presented him with a smile and pushed Irving towards the door. “I don’t want to go diving if the waters are as dirty and turbulent as they were on the day of the festivity and  when we went diving with Amanta and Jorge.”

The curator put a hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Feel afraid, gorgeous?”

Osman’s nearness made Camette feel sick and her stomach began to somersault.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve got to leave. Thank you for showing us the museum,” Irving said.

The curator stood in the doorway while the quartet boarded the four wheel drive and  left. Irving and Camette turned round to wave goodbye. The sun shone directly on the green lenses of his glasses illuminating his face. Amanta spoke and spoke, “He’s a darling, isn’t he?”

“Who?” asked Jorge.

“Osman,” answered Amanta, and turning to the other two, “It was interesting, yes or no?”

“Very,” said Camette.

Irving looked at the back of Jorge’s head. He had very small ears. Liar, thought Irving. “Could you drop us off at the hotel, please?” he asked.

“What’s wrong?” Amanta asked.

Jorge looked at him in the mirror, “Don’t you feel well. If so, you should have told us beforehand and we would have come back sooner.”

“Nothing’s wrong. I want to rest,” Irving answered. Camette held his hand, Amanta and Jorge continued talking about the curator.

“He’s very intelligent and an excellent curator,” Amanta said.

“What Osman doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing. He’s a genius,” added Jorge. They began to reminisce about previous experiences with Osman, but nothing of any great depth.

“Thank you for having taken us to the museum,” Irving said.

“Yes, it’s been very interesting,” commented Camette.

Amanta and Jorge left, and the other two entered the hotel.