Chapter Thirty-Five
MISUNDERSTANDINGSMatua drove a brand-new utility vehicle from a run-down garage behind his house. It sat on the grass like a shiny cherry clinging to a child’s handmade cake. Ika watched him almost wipe out the chimney breast before claiming the driver’s seat. He drove them to the camp with Phoenix fretting in the back seat. She’d convinced the men she needed to see the refugees before the police arrived and assure them of her good intentions. She just didn’t know how to explain it in words.
A police cordon blocked the gate to the camp and a guard refused them access. Matua set up a convoluted barrage of political complaints about the British crown’s unlawful occupation of New Zealand. He distracted the officer guarding the entrance while Phoenix sneaked through the b
