The Wretched Ones Of The Earth

A story about an African soldier and his life at the battlefield of the "whiteman's war"

THE WRETCHED ONES OF THE EARTH.
Epilogue
If one day when you were not looking, a man comes and takes your farmhouse or your kraal,and he begins doing all the things a good man should not do;sells all the yams in your barns without leaving any for planting;boils your eggs as soon as they have been laid and does not spare one for a single hen to hatch;gives great feasts to all his family and all his friends,with your lambs and calves;and generally carries on in such a way that your heart hurts as though it is falling into your bowels every time you look on;and yet you are not able to do anything for many many years,but then one day,thanks to Allah,you get your farmhouse or your kraal back,what then do you do?
So from the first day,you too begin to kill or sell what is left of your miserable cows,sheep and chickens?...
AMA ATA AIDOO

CHAPTER 1
I love the smell of fresh dew in the morning,the green herbs and rhubarbs intermix their essence to create an intoxicating yet so pleasant a scent, I could smell it for a lifetime. Music of the bush; patters of birds flying above the Wawa trees,melodious hums of bees as they industriously go about their morning affairs, Ei!...i almost forgot the chatterings of the "rough" monkeys playing in the trees. I see father signaling me to be focused. Yes the reason why we came this morning to the bush, a duiker.It has appeared and is moving leisurely, oblivious of the instrument of death father has pointing at it. "Boom!" Birds fly away and little rodents scurry to hide in their tiny holes. The duiker lies there with life draining out of it and the wide grin on father's face tells of the satisfaction he finds in the murder he's just commited.'Meewuo!...you still lie there?...Ato Kobina Yawson!...bring the "krabasaa"..' I hurry to hand him the little sac. He takes out a blade and after muttering some incantations, digs it into the creatures throat.The deed has been done.'Here you go' he says as he slings the beast around my neck and collects his little sac. 'Ei...agyidifo a moaba!...even killing a beast is a sin too..?...what will you make a taboo next?...spitting?' He says to me when i squirm as the blood of the duiker descends down my spine. "Not all believers are vegetarians papa" i say in rebuttal. I know it's because of me that he hunts in addition to his farming activities. Going to Achimota to the teachers school is expensive. The letter said I am to pay 80 shillings but father has only 20. The sale of this duiker will help us get the rest."Agya but you could have borrowed some money from Agya Nkwantabisa?...instead of killing this animal" I ask him while recalling a sermon by Rev. Damon about all creatures been equal, man and beasts alike. "Listen to me Ato...first a man borrows and then he begs...and the ancestors forbid that I Ntow Yawson, be a beggar...the ancestors make a way where man sees a dead end" he replied all the while peering into the skies. I thought the ancestors lived in the trees and dolls made by Kusi the carver, i muttered mockingly.We reached the market square and the market queens and the women were bustling here and there. Fresh fish from the Coast, salt from as far as Daboya"momet) bi...yeesss!" They screamed here and there. We passed them by and turned a few inquisitive heads who could simply not avert their gaze from the spectacle that hovered around my neck like a deer for an Abokyire Festival. Soon we got to the residence of the whitemen. Father had procured a white client the day before who had agreed to pay 70 shillings for a duiker for they were quite rare. "Kudmoning master" father greeted when Dr. James Oates appeared. Father always spoke a fantacised form of the whiteman's language that always tickled me. "If bling the...the......Ato woka wansan s3n?.... aha! dwiker" father exclaimed with such seriousness which sent the doctor and myself laughing. The doctor muttered something about us being funny and paid my father the agreed sum. He called for his houseboy to come for the beast as we made our way out of his home. They say my mother died as I took my first breath as a live human. Father never speaks of her but I know he misses her. I can always tell from how his eyes glisten with unshed tears every time I ask of her, that his memories of her are too profound. It has always been me and him and next week this time, i'll be on my way to Achimota leaving him alone. It is a hard thing for me but at least one day, as a teacher, i can take good care of him. That night, death crept stealthily into our hut and stole father's soul. Father's funeral was short. It was attended by a few neighbours but not his family for they still held a grudge at father for marrying "a girl that was not from these parts". A week later, I signed up for the "service" and soon was going to fight the whiteman's war overseas. I hope father would be proud when I return and receive the "big" money and "big" house and "big" job the whiteman has promised...until then, "look alive!" Officer Seth's orders shatter my trip down memory lane and bring me back to reality at the frontline as the German forces approach. "Make sure you don't die !!!" I hear Officer Seth repeat mockingly above the artillery shells and rapid fire...I hold tightly onto my gun!.....

By:owusu f michael