Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Nellie had the feeling that someone was following her. They were walking through the parking lot of the Archives building. She glanced over her shoulder. She was right but relaxed immediately. It was only that guy Lester. "Please, young lady," he said to Nellie, "will you come with me?" Nellie stopped, turned, looked him over. She'd been so tired from all the driving that she hadn't taken much notice of him earlier. Tall, muscular, in a short–sleeved shirt that fit him very nicely. And that Jamaican accent, so cool. Pretty fine, Nellie thought. "I'm busy at the moment," she said, and nodded toward Dan and Amy. "But"— she smiled, tilted her head, and blinked slowly —"maybe later?"

第九章内莉觉得有人在跟踪她。 他们正穿过档案馆大楼的停车场。 她回头瞥了一眼。 她是对的，但马上放松了。 只有那个叫莱斯特的人。 “小姐，”他对耐莉说，“请你跟我来好吗？”耐莉停下来，转过身来，打量着他。 她一直在开车，太累了，所以之前没有太注意他。 身材高大，肌肉发达，穿着一件非常合身的短袖衬衫。 还有那牙买加口音，太酷了。 很好，内利想。 “我现在很忙，”她说着，朝丹和艾米点了点头。 “但是”——她微笑着，歪着头，慢慢地眨着眼睛——“也许以后再说吧？”

Standing off to the side with Amy, Dan mimed putting a finger down his throat. "I'm afraid it has to be now," he said firmly. Nellie frowned. "I said later, but I think I'm changing my mind." He held up his hands and took a step back. "Hey, ease up, sister. You just need to come with me because somebody wants to talk to you." Nellie frowned. Who could that possibly be? If it were McIntyre, or— or the other guy, they would just call or e–mail, they wouldn't send a message through someone else…. She tried to disguise her puzzlement by talking tough. "If they want to talk to me, they can talk to me right here, like you are," she said. "I'm not going with someone I don't know to talk to someone else I don't know when I don't know where I'm going or— most important— why." Lester was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Yah, I get that you're nervous. How about this. I'll take you to the street. You can check it out. There are people all around, you can see that it's safe. You stand outside the house and she'll come

丹和艾米站在一边，假装把手指伸进喉咙。 “恐怕现在是时候了，”他坚定地说。 内莉皱起了眉头。“我说过晚一点，但我想我要改变主意了。” 他举起双手，向后退了一步。 “嘿，放松点，姐姐。你只要跟我来，因为有人想跟你说话。” 内莉皱起了眉头。那会是谁呢？ 如果是麦金太尔，或者其他的人，他们只会打电话或者发邮件，他们不会通过其他人....发送信息 她试图用强硬的语气来掩饰她的困惑。 “如果他们想和我说话，他们可以在这里和我说话，就像你一样，”她说。 “我不会和一个我不认识的人一起去和另一个我不认识的人说话，我不知道我要去哪里，最重要的是，我不知道为什么。” 雷斯脱沉默了一会儿。 然后他说：“是的，我知道你很紧张。 这个怎么样？我带你去街上。 你可以去看看。周围都是人，看得出来很安全。 你站在房子外面，她会来的

out to talk to you. She's old, but that much she can do. Okay?" Nellie pointed her chin at Dan and Amy. "I don't go anywhere without them." Lester shrugged. "She didn't say anything about other people. It's fine with me." They set out with Lester leading the way. He turned off the big avenue onto a smaller street. As he had promised, there were still plenty of people around. After a couple of blocks, he stopped in front of a small bungalow that had once been painted pink but was now faded to a weak shade of tan. He led them up the shallow concrete steps to the front porch. "You wait here," he said. He opened the screen door and went inside. They heard him call out, "Granma? A dawta here to you." Dan and Amy looked startled. "Daughter—?" Dan said. "Patois," Nellie said. "Jamaicans speak standard English to tourists but patois to each other. 'Dawta' means 'daughter,' but it can also mean 'woman,' especially a younger woman. So he said

出来和你谈谈。她老了，但她能做的就这么多。 没事吧?”内莉用下巴指着丹和艾米。 “不带它们我哪儿都不去。” 莱斯特耸了耸肩。“她没有说任何关于其他人的事。 对我来说很好。”他们由雷斯脱带路出发了。 他从大路转到一条小街上。 正如他所承诺的，周围仍然有很多人。 走了几个街区后，他在一间小平房前停了下来，那间平房曾经被漆成粉红色，但现在已经褪成了淡褐色。 他领着他们走上低矮的水泥台阶，来到前廊。 “你在这儿等着，”他说。他打开纱门走了进去。 他们听见他喊道：“奶奶？ 向你致敬。”丹和艾米看起来很吃惊。 “女儿?”丹说。“乡巴佬，”耐莉说。 “牙买加人对游客说标准英语，但彼此之间说土语。 “Dawta”的意思是“女儿”，但它也可以表示“女人”，尤其是年轻女性。 所以他说

something like, 'a young woman here to see you.'" "How do you know all that?" Amy demanded. "I have Jamaican friends in Boston," Nellie said. "I used to go to reggae clubs with them." It was the truth, but Amy didn't look entirely convinced. "What is your problem?" Nellie said with an impatient flap of her hand. "It's not like I could learn every language in the world just to spy on you guys! And even if I was going to try, do you think Jamaican patois would be high on the list?" No reply, of course. Amy, always scared of her own shadow… who'd have thought she could be so stubborn? The door opened. Standing there was a very old woman, bony, dark–skinned and gray–haired, wearing glasses. She looked at Nellie, expressionless, and nodded. Then she flicked a glance at Dan and finally at Amy. Her eyes lit up. "Ha!" she said. All three of them jumped. "Look pon Grace!" the old woman said to Amy,

比如，“一位年轻女士要见您。”“你是怎么知道这些的？”艾米要求。 “我在波士顿有牙买加朋友，”内莉说。 “我曾经和他们一起去雷鬼俱乐部。” 这是事实，但艾米似乎并不完全相信。 “你怎么了？”内莉不耐烦地挥了一下手说。 “我不可能为了监视你们而学会世界上所有的语言！”即使我要试一试，你认为牙买加方言会名列前茅吗？”当然没有回复。 艾米，总是害怕自己的影子，谁能想到她会如此固执？ 门开了。站在那里的是一个很老的女人，骨瘦如柴，皮肤黝黑，头发灰白，戴着一副眼镜。 她面无表情地看着内利，点了点头。 然后她瞥了丹一眼，最后又瞥了艾米一眼。 她的眼睛亮了起来。“哈！”她说。 他们三个都跳了起来。“看看格蕾丝！”老妇人对艾米说，

and laughed heartily. Nellie was now thoroughly confused. Lester had wanted her to come with him, but now the old woman seemed to recognize Amy. What was going on? "Me shoulda know." The woman shook her head, still smiling. "You fayva Grace a whole heap. Dem eyes, uh–huh, yes." Amy cleared her throat. "You— you knew my grandmother?" "Jah know, dat is one fine lady. How she do now?" It was Dan who answered. "Our grandmother died," he said. "In August." The light faded from the woman's eyes. "Hush, bwoy. I so sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I nebah know." Awkward silence. "It's okay," Nellie said at last. It wasn't, but what were you supposed to say at a time like this? "Yes," the woman said. "Is her time. Nobody

然后开怀大笑。耐莉现在完全糊涂了。 雷斯脱本来要她跟他一起去的，可是现在老太太似乎认出了艾美。 发生了什么事？“我应该知道的。” 女人摇了摇头，仍然面带微笑。 “你对格雷斯的评价太高了。 他们的眼睛，嗯哼，是的。”艾米清了清嗓子。 “你——你认识我的祖母？”“你知道，那是一位好太太。 她现在怎么样了？”是丹接的电话。 “我们的祖母去世了，”他说。 “八月”。女人眼中的光芒消失了。 “嘘,bwoy。我很抱歉。对不起，对不起，对不起。 我不知道。”尴尬的沉默。 “没关系，”内莉最后说。 没错，但在这种时候你该说什么呢？ “是的，”女人说。是她的时候了。 没有人

cyant do nothin' when is their time." A pause. "My name Alice— you to call me Miss Alice." "I'm Nellie, and this is Dan and Amy." "I am surprise, seein' Grace's girl there," Miss Alice said. "But you is de one I waitin' on." She jerked her chin at Nellie. "Me? But how— I didn't— you couldn't—" "Grace. She say you gwine come one day, tell me to look out for you." "She told you that? When?" Miss Alice wrinkled her forehead. "She here when… twenty year ago? Maybe goin' on for twenty–five now." Nellie turned toward the porch steps. "Okay, we're out of here," she said. "I don't know what your game is, Miss Alice, but I know for sure that the truth isn't part of it. I wasn't even born then, and I didn't meet Grace until this year." Miss Alice scowled. "Ease up, dawta. You always so rude to them who is older than you?" Nellie felt like a little kid, getting scolded like that. She hesitated, trying to decide on a response.

当时机成熟时，他们什么也不做。” 一个暂停。“我叫爱丽丝——你可以叫我爱丽丝小姐。” “我是内莉，这是丹和艾米。” 爱丽丝小姐说：“看到格蕾丝的女儿在那儿，我很吃惊。” “但你是我等待的人。” 她朝内利扬起下巴。 “我?可是怎么——我没有——你不能——”“格蕾丝。 她说有一天你会来，让我照顾你。” “她告诉你的？”当?”爱丽丝小姐皱起了眉头。 “她是……二十年前来的？” 也许现在已经25岁了。” 内莉转向门廊的台阶。 “好吧，我们走了，”她说。 “我不知道你在玩什么把戏，爱丽丝小姐，但我知道实话跟你没关系。 那时我还没出生，直到今年我才认识格蕾丝。” 爱丽丝小姐皱起了眉头。“放松点，老兄。 你对比你大的人总是那么粗鲁吗？”内莉觉得自己像个小孩，被那样骂。 她犹豫了一下，试图决定如何回答。