The covenant - James A. Michener [564]
Maria van Doorn: 'They are the children of sin, and God must despise them.' Johanna Krause: 'They are mongrels.'
But then he heard his own voice: 'They're ... a reminder of our fathers' transgressions.'
He was sorely tempted to follow Dr. Adams' advice and terminate the investigation, for he knew that if the facts became public, the sins of his ancestors must surface; but to evade his responsibilities would be craven, so he decided to plow ahead.
He was about to voice his decision when he saw, shimmering in air, that decorated page of the ancient Bible on which the data of his family were inscribed, and on it in blazing letters stood that second entry, the one that was never discussed in his family: Son Adam van Doorn born 1 November 1655. Generations of Van Doorns had tried to ignore that cryptic passage, avoiding the question of who the boy's mother could have been. And there was the later entry: 'Petronella'but with no statement as to whom she had married. Always the Van Doorns had suspected that they were related to Coloureds; always they had submerged this truth. Now the gossip-whispers were about to rampage, and Detleef was sick with shame.
But he was the Commissioner on Racial Affairs, he was the chairman of this Race Classification Board, with a duty to perform. In a voice scarcely more than a whisper he said, 'Clearly the child Petra has contaminated blood from both the Van Valck and the Van Doorn lines. Clearly she must be classified as Coloured.'
Van Valck shuddered: 'All along I thought it was Mrs. Albertyn who carried the fatal strain.'
'What in hell do you men mean?' Dr. Adams exploded. 'Words like contaminated and fatal strain?
'We mean the defilement of Afrikaner blood,' Detleef whispered. 'We have all been defiled this day.'
From the moment the date 1694 was mentioned, Dr. Adams had started doing calculations and now produced his results: 'At least eight, and possibly more, generations separate the slave Bezel Muhammad from our little girl . . .'
'She's not my little girl,' Mr. van Valck interrupted. 'She's a Coloured trying to penetrate our community.'
'Eight generations would mean that back in the 1694 period she would have had no fewer than two hundred and fifty-six potential ancestors in existence. And because two of them were Coloured'
'More,' Detleef interrupted. 'You're forgetting Rooi van Valck.'
I was just coming to Rooi. By the way, Van Valck, from which of his wives were you descended? Don't bother to answer. Whichever it was, Petra's your cousin.'
Leopold leaped from his chair, and would have assaulted the dentist had not Van Doorn intervened. 'Gentlemen, sit down. We have a vote to take. The evidence against this girl is overwhelming. Do I hear a motion to declare her Coloured?'
I so move,' Van Valck said firmly. 'Do I hear a second?'
Dr. Adams stared at his fingernails, trying to guess how he would be evaluated a decade from now when this movement for racial purity became a mania and some ill-spirited neighbor denounced him.
'Dr. Adams, do I hear a second?'
'Not from me.'
'Please, we must conduct this meeting in orderly fashion.'
'Then I move that you two men vote to declare your cousin Petra Albertyn white, for I am certain that she's as white as any of the three of us.'
'I second the original motion,' Detleef said, his blood raging and his mind taking note of this man Adams. He would be dealt with later. The medical commission should look into that man's credentials.
'Moved and seconded that this commission finds the girl Petra Albertyn Coloured.'
'No!' Adams called in a loud voice.
'The vote was not called for,' Detleef said, trying to control his anger. 'Now I ask for the vote.'
'Ja,' Van Valck cried. Van Doorn did the same, then looked at Dr. Adams, who was again studying his fingernails. 'And you, Adams?'
'Record it that I was ashamed in the sight of God to vote upon such a motion. That I refused to condemn your cousin Petra.' He rose and started to leave the room, but Detleef intercepted him.
'Please! It's of major importance that we start this procedure