Klaas

Klass is the story about the legendary Antiguan hero, who organized the biggest slave revolt in Antigua's history. It chronicles his life in the thriving Ashanti Empire to his brutal enslavement.

He watched her intensely, trying to figure out the language that her somber eyes spoke. She was from the western part of the the Songhay kingdom, her rich dark hue and delicate marks on her right chin told him that she was probably a young bride from the Bambara peoples. 

The first 30 moons she could barely keep her food down between crying and the sickness. The only time he saw her smile was when a full-bodied Fulani woman named Oumou offered to breastfeed her newborn with the ancient eyes. Oumou and she joked about being being slaves to one another. Funny joke, being that we were all on-board of a ship headed to the land of the strange pale men. He had overheard that her name was Sera. . She was from a place called Ngor, land of the Legbu. She and her husband were still relishing on new marriage-hood and Sera had just given birth when the pale gunmen came into Ngor and carried her husband off. The others later told her that he died with his spear in his hand. They attempted to comfort her, “You married a warrior Sera, don't cry! He died with honor”. Her eyes told Klaas that she much rather had married a bad warrior, one who kept his life.

Today was different. Sera's white teeth glowed against her earthy complexion and those long slim legs sang a song familiar to Klaas. He couldn’t put his finger on it, her face seemed to be at odds with such a somber dance. He knew he had seen it before but he couldn’t remember what this one meant. Was it a dance for marriage? Maybe she was reliving her past life, the life before this ship of death. Or was it a dance for newly attained womanhood like his sister had danced before he was captured. His mind began wandering off and he started to forget about the young girl with coal black eyes. He thought about Pape, his father's father and the man he had been next in line to succeed. His mother had been so proud when he finished his initiation. She had already began to look for a girl to be his wife. Klaas was not amused. Mothers are intelligent , but they do not know what aspect of a woman makes their sons' heart pump. He began thinking about the women of his village, all beautiful but some more beautiful than the next. Petite and firm to voluptuous and juicy. Klaas loved women like he loved his mangoes, unconditionally. He began humming a song from his childhood about the women of Ashanti.

He almost chuckled, remembering his days on the little boats, singing songs about women he had only touched in his dreams. He thought silently about the future of his clan. How would he ever keep his family's name going if he was in the middle of the ocean surrounded by sorrow. He looked up at the lovely dancer, she came to him and kissed his feet. Peace and blessings on your journey, she said in mumbled Twi. “And to you on yours” he replied. She smiled and continued dancing, this time, faster and with more energy. Old ladies with kohl lined lips called to her, she resisted them. They mumbled among themselves. They were all receiving their 1 hour of sunlight meant to give the slaves energy for their new occupations. He assumed they were warning her to keep herself still. The white men didn’t like to see too much culture, too much culture meant too much energy. Too much energy was too much strength. The young girl bowed . An older woman stood up and grabbed her by the wrists. He wanted to interfere but he knew that this was woman's business and a man only knows but so much. He chewed on his chewing stick, Watching the beautiful angel of the night whisper into the older woman's ear. The older woman nodded as in agreement with what the young girl had said and in one swift motion, the beautiful enchantress gracefully danced across the side of the ship into the omniscient black mouth of the ocean.. No splash was made but the shrieks of the others startled the red necked crewman and Klaas was grabbed by 3 large men as he attempted to jump over board after her. He glanced in the water, he would swear for years that he could see the long kinky black hair of Yemaja swaying in the ocean's crust. There was undoubtedly 7 white doves flying above the water. The young girl's dance was for forgiveness and Mama Yemaja, mother of the fishes and mankind had forgave.

Author's Note

I'm still in the editing process but I would really love to get feedback on what I have so far. It's just a small portion to introduce the main character.

Reviews

[miss_shanita]

Wow. What a powerful piece. Rich in culture and the descriptions are great. Perhaps you can tell us more about Klass's physical character. What did Sera physically see when she saw him......why did she gravitate to him.....did he physically look familiar? Those little things stuck out in my mind.....but in no way does it take away from the rich culture and power of the story. I was hooked from the intro.... I cant wait to read more. Is this part of a book or just a short story? I want to follow it. I love your voice....you captured so much without "over explaining".