The Struggles of Lamine

chapter 11

The prison's walls loomed high, a stark reminder of how far things had unraveled. Lamine and Aïssata passed through the security checks, their faces set with determination. Inside the visitation room, they saw Mamadou and Awa sitting behind the glass, looking thinner and wearier than Lamine had ever seen them. The sight made his heart clench, but he pushed the feeling aside. Today, he needed answers.

Mamadou's eyes met Lamine's with a mixture of resignation and something else-perhaps relief. He picked up the phone on his side of the glass, and Lamine followed suit.

"Why are you here?" Mamadou asked, his voice rough from the days inside.

Lamine's grip tightened around the phone. "I need to know the truth about my past. Who my real mother is, why you adopted me, and what you've been hiding all these years. No more lies."

Awa glanced at Mamadou, then looked away, as if the weight of the secrets was too much to bear. Mamadou exhaled slowly, his gaze turning inward, as if pulling memories from a dark corner of his mind.

"When you were born, no one at the hospital knew anything about your mother," Mamadou began, his voice low. "They thought she'd just left you behind, no records, no name. But I couldn't accept that. I used every connection I had, tracked down leads, searched through places that were supposed to be forgotten. And eventually, I found her."

Lamine's breath caught. He pressed the phone closer to his ear. "What did she say?"

Mamadou's expression softened, as if recalling a moment long past. "She told me that their home wasn't safe for you, Lamine. That there were people who would come after you if they knew where you were. She never told me why, but she begged me to take you and raise you as my own. To shield you from whatever danger she was trying to keep at bay."

Aïssata leaned in, listening intently. "Did she say who those people were?"

Mamadou shook his head. "No, she was too afraid. I thought if I kept you hidden, if I made sure no one knew about the truth, it would be enough. But the past has a way of catching up, no matter how deeply you try to bury it."

Lamine felt the weight of Mamadou's words settle on him. His mother had sacrificed her connection with him to keep him safe, and Mamadou had continued that mission-even if it meant keeping Lamine in the dark. But that still left questions unanswered, and he wasn't ready to let go of the anger that simmered inside him.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this sooner?" Lamine's voice trembled with frustration. "Why did you make me believe all those lies?"

Mamadou's eyes flashed with pain. "Because I thought it was the only way to keep you from going down a path that could get you killed, Lamine. I didn't want you looking for a past that your mother died trying to keep hidden."

---

After the visit, Aïssata and Lamine drove in silence, processing the new information. When they arrived at their next stop-Ndiaye's hiding place-Lamine's emotions boiled over.

They barged into her small room, and Lamine's voice was tight with accusation. "Why did you plant that birth certificate, Ndiaye? The one with the name 'Lamine Doucouré'?"

Ndiaye sat down heavily, the weariness in her face deepening. "Because I needed you to keep questioning everything, to keep searching. I thought that if you believed there was more to your story, you'd stay away from Mamadou. I knew the risks, but I thought it was better than what Mamadou had planned for you."

Aïssata's expression darkened. "So all of this, it was just another manipulation?"

Ndiaye met her gaze, unflinching. "It was a mistake, but I did it to protect you both. I thought if you knew how dangerous your real past was, you'd be more careful. But I never imagined it would come to this."

Lamine felt a mixture of rage and exhaustion settle into his bones. He had more pieces of the puzzle now, but they only led to more questions. And through it all, the shadows of his mother's warning lingered in his mind.

Aïssata placed a hand on his arm, grounding him. "We'll find out the rest, Lamine. Whatever she was afraid of, we'll face it together."

---

The chapter ends with Lamine and Aïssata leaving Ndiaye's hiding place, each of them struggling with the weight of their new knowledge. As they drive away, a sense of unease hangs over them-an understanding that the secrets of the past are only beginning to unravel.