The Illegal

Rocco Calder is at the Clarkson Academy for the Gifted. He pulls John out of class to speak with him. He reveals that his office is bugged, so the prime minister knows Keita will be in his office at noon on June 21. He wants Keita to keep the meeting, and Calder will honor his agreement to grant Keita permission to remain in the country. He wants John there to videotape what happens. John agrees.

Keita feels strong before the 10-miler now that his diabetes is under control. Billy Deeds, the racist heckler who beat him in the half-marathon, is present, but Keita believes he can beat Deeds this time. Keita runs with the USB stick strapped to his back, wrapped in plastic. He does well in the race and is the front-runner. Around mile five, a group of police officers on motorcycles pull up as though ready to arrest Keita. Mitch begs them not to interfere with the race and to wait at the finish line. Keita finally breaks free of Deeds, but a Kenyan runner overtakes Keita, so he finishes in second place. This gives him just enough money to save Charity. He crosses the finish line and keeps running right past the immigration police waiting with handcuffs. He runs straight through oncoming traffic to escape the police cars chasing him, making his way directly to Rocco Calder’s office.

Keita immediately hands over the USB stick, and Calder signs and gives him his paperwork. Almost immediately, Geoffrey enters the office along with Saunders, displaying his pistol. Geoffrey demands the USB stick and the paperwork Calder just signed. Calder boldly denies them, asking Geoffrey what is going on. Saunders shoots Calder in the shoulder to show they are serious. Calder reveals that he knows what Wellington did in Bombay Booty and about the scheme to identify and deport Illegals. Just as Saunders is about to kill Calder, Hamm bursts into the room. Hamm lunges for Saunders and is shot in the process. Then Wellington enters the room and scolds Geoffrey, saying, “You have buggered this up royally” (373). The prime minister tells Calder he is going to be killed, as are Keita and Hamm. As Saunders aims at Calder, Hamm throws a paperweight at him. Saunders turns and shoots Hamm again, this time in the stomach. Just as he is about to finish Hamm off, Candace appears and fires a shot at Saunders. She announces that Wellington and Geoffrey are under arrest.

John reveals that he videotaped the whole scene from inside the closet. Candace takes the USB stick from Geoffrey. June enters and tells Calder that he must make an immediate call to save Viola Hill and Charity Ali. She already placed one call on his behalf, and Amnesty International is helping to secure their safety. Calder makes the call.

Charity Ali graduates with a master’s degree from Harvard and moves to Clarkson, where Keita is living with Staff Sergeant Candace Freixa. Ivernia, who is living independently, helps finance a bakery for Keita. He names it Patisserie Chez Yoyo. Keita is now a Freedom State citizen, and he and Candace train with the Freedom State Olympic team. Charity and Keita both volunteer with an organization that helps undocumented refugees. Graeme Wellington and Geoffrey are imprisoned for decades. Rocco Calder is now the prime minister.

Viola is “proclaimed best investigative news reporter of the year” (380). Though a year has passed, Viola is still working on the Yvette Peters story. She cannot figure out how Yvette was deported. She finds Darlene, who is living in Buttersby and studying to become an accountant. Viola interviews Darlene and uses her information to find the man who took Yvette away in the private security van. Viola also finds the man who put Yvette on the airplane, who explains that Yvette’s deportation was ordered directly by the prime minister’s office and therefore has no paper trail.

Viola researches Lula DiStefano’s heritage but cannot find any record of her citizenship. Lula agrees to an interview with Viola. The two women see Candace and Keita on television, competing for spots on the Olympic team. Lula asks why Keita and Candace don’t visit her anymore. She is offended by Viola’s response and starts to strangle Viola. Viola punches her hard to get Lula to stop.

Viola then asks about Yvette Peters. She knows it was Lula, not the prime minister, who had Yvette deported. Viola asks why Lula framed Wellington. Lula says creating a situation where he had to deal with the fallout of a deported and killed teenager was the only way to negotiate for better conditions for AfricTown. She says she deserves “a fucking Nobel Peace Prize” for her actions and explains how she planned and orchestrated Yvette’s deportation (385). After the interview, Viola publishes an article titled “AfricTown Queen Admits to Deporting Prostitute. […] Never admitted as citizen, holding fraudulent passport, Lula DiStefano sent teen to death in Zantoroland” (386). When police arrive in AfricTown to arrest her, Lula has already “disappeared—and [is] never found” (387).