Now Kelvin sat the twins close to me as I began to fulfil my promise to them. I asked them a lot of questions about school and their friends, their answers just kept me laughing. Susan was not in sight, she must have retired back into the kitchen or wherever. Kelvin sat close to the twins who were now disconnected from self. I didn't know if my story would be narrative , tragedy or whatever form literature would call it when I tell it.
The white preachers as they called brought a lot of belief system and way of life to our country where they believed the inhabitants were illiterates. They came with so much love and a warm attitude. They taught us new things we never knew and even corrected us on things we taught we knew. Things were more clearer as men became audacious to do new things and our senses were able to distinguish between good and evil because the white men said it mattered a lot.
Some lived within the people, while others lived outside and came frequently to speak to the elderly men in our communities. As time went on, the frequency increased and increased until it was commensurate to free nationalization for every white man. On one occasion of their militarizing meetings, they held they would own up our lands to make it more prolific and protected; but this time our elders disagreed and showed signs of stubbornness to what rightly belonged to us ;and before we knew what was happening, a war erupted.
While our strongest fighters used cutlass and hoes which were less appalling than the ammunitions called 'guns' .This little destroyer took down lives at the instance; men died before they could even lift up their cutlasses to attack or defend. Many went into hiding especially families and clans. A few wondered confusedly around trying to avoid the hit of what they called ' the White men's devil ' .Straight bullets took many lives of women who ran into the open fire in search of their missing children and also a lot of children's blood split as they ran out to join what they had assumed was a general play day for both father, mother and the White men. My relatives and family friends located a hiding niche as we watched the wickedness that another could inflect on his brother. They called us their 'brothers with a different color, watching all these; I could not really define who a 'brother was any more. The situated aggravated as our people were captured and taken into a hiding place which comprised of men,women and children counting only but a few men below twenties, only God knew how they were able to fathom their age range. Next they would take the elderly man from thirty to forty and the withdrawal continued.
No matter how my people tried to fight back. it became obvious that we were loosing; days passed , weeks ;and soon the pain of starvation started to set in. I remember not eating for two days and i couldn't hear my name until i was patted on the shoulder by my father to gain his attention. The men had come up with a plan on how we would strategically go in search for food. The plan seemed brilliant to elders but not to me. I and some other younger children were expected to sneak out at the late hours and raid the central store of which belonged to a few traders in our tent. We were mandated to return with at least three tubers of yam each ; i wondered how i was going to carry one tuber when i could barely walk.
We set off when the cloud and moon had gone in, the darkness engulfed the atmosphere nothing made a sound ,even our heart beats seemed it stooped. Holding each other at the back as we tiptoed, arrival was fast. Tobe who lead the team instructed us to pick the size he could carry; i turned to my best friend francis and asked him if he had the strength to carry the three required number? .He got instigated as if i had asked him for his dinner later. He lamented about how weak his bones were and how he almost fell on our way having missed a step.
In the process of our yam selection, we had noises and movements that sounded like those of the White preachers , there was a great panic as they moved their torches from place to place. Some ran , some wanted to stay others tried to find a hiding place. Tobe called out my mane and ordered everyone to run. We started running with the yams like bandits from a robbery; they chased and it was not long before they caught Francis who was running to secure a place to hide. I was brushed down by one of those devils who looked me in the face and dragged me along ...
'It was a good thing you came in search of food, you will make a good merchandize'...he exclaimed.
As they moved us ahead of themselves i wondered what a merchandize was? as i was just about to become one.