War Horns, Chapter Six(6). ~ a book by Naa Takia I do not wish to get out of bed today, though I couldn’t and didn’t sleep a wink last night. My thoughts never seemed to drift away from the events about to unravel. My heart never seemed to stop screaming elections! I actually dreaded morning because today is the day. Today has borne the day a new President will be elected across the country; Today is the day Blengo votes. Dragging myself painfully out of bed, I realized I was the last to get out of bed. Outside, was full of excitement. Men were waiting patiently to cast their votes and women, were seen hurriedly going about their household activities so they have all the time to visit the polling stations. Mother looked beautiful today, she wore her hair braided neatly and her wrapper was clean and pressed. I was shocked when she said she was going to vote and so was father. According to them, they were not going to allow the wrong person to win the elections; not at all. Yaw had already left home to the various stations I think, he wouldn’t miss the opportunity to watch the event live. It looked as though I was the only one to be left on the compound. Children however were either carried and tossed on their mothers back or left at home to be cared for. The sun was all smiles today and the weather was beautiful. It promised to be a peaceful and drama free day. After mother had left with father I sat outside my compound watched on as more people walked on to cast their votes looking all excited especially the younger ones who had just turned 18years. They chatted on and on about whom they were going to vote for. From where I sat, I imagined what was going on that particular moment, I wanted to get there myself but I had been instructed to stay at home. I never understood why nobody bothered when Yaw went out but always had a fit if I was out for just some minutes… Mother would never take it kindly if I left home without her permission and without her knowing where I was going to. Now that our school was on holidays, one would expect my mum to be a little bit considerate, but no; she expects you to work harder than usual and spend more time at home. If she had her own way, I’m sure she would never want me to step out of the house. Mother will always tell me “Young lady you are growing up and so should your way of thinking, very soon you will be married and have your very own children then you would understand why I do what I do.” I found it a little bit awkward when mother spoke to me about marriage and child birth. She never ceased to narrate and re-narrate the story of my birth to me. She would say… “lolo, I had you when everybody thought I could no longer have a child. Your father had wanted all males. He claimed women were trouble and would rather not have any in his home. Oh how scared I was when you landed a female, I dreaded the worst, because my marriage with your father was on the rocks. We quarrelled every night and fought like equals, it was your grandmother who told me that you would bring peace and love to our family. It was a shocking sight when your father held you in his arms and smiled. You had been born well and indeed brought love and happiness back into our lives, that is why we called you Lolo” The number of times mother had retold this story was countless, I hated to hear it again and again. Still sitting outside my compound, I lifted my eyes to see Kwabena, my Kwabena coming toward my direction. It was obvious he wasn’t going to vote since he was just months older than me. I felt a rush of adrenaline through me. Something screamed in me, something kept telling me to hide. Part of me wanted to see and speak to him, but I couldn’t! I just couldn’t. I got up and raced frantically inside the house right into the room. I was amazed how I was sweating, and breathing hard. I tried to relax and think of what to do when I found Kwabena inside my house. Seconds after there was a knock on my door, which I deliberately ignored and not until the third knock that I went outside pretending to have no idea who it was. “Good day Lolo, how are you? Kwabena asked I very well wanted to answer; in fact I wanted to scream but there was a very huge lump in my throat that instead of answering the question, I found myself smiling sheepishly at him. I just couldn’t speak, it was as though my tongue had been cut or I had swallowed it. I stood smiling while he looked on expecting me to say something. When I finally spoke, I sounded more of a bleat, than my voice. “Auntie Mansa sent me with a message for your mother. Is she home? He asked again “No, she’s not. She went with father to vote, but I will give her your message when she comes back” I smiled again “Please tell her my mother would like to see her during the day as soon as she can” Having said this Kwabena turned away making his way out of the compound. I felt my cheeks burn up as I watched him go. As soon as he left the compound, I also raced out of the compound to watch him again. I stood for more than minutes I think; just watching him till he disappeared after which I sat down again and told myself how messed up I was. I had made a complete full of myself and I felt so silly. Some people were through with their votes and all headed home, from where I sat I could hear them speaking and chatting happily. Everything seemed to be going in order, no bad news have been heard so far. I still watched on as more men and women passed by and noticed a familiar figure; it was none other than our dear Musa. I wondered how and why he had managed to cast his vote due to his continues drinking. Surprisingly enough, he didn’t seem drunk today and walking beside him were Panyin and Kakra, the only twins in Blengo. The two girls couldn’t help but notice the same too. Musa: Why are you girls looking at me with such evil eyes? I do not think I have wronged you, or have I? Panyin: Hmm, not really. You haven’t wronged us at all; we were just a little bit surprised seeing you today. Musa replied annoyingly “when have you girls ever bothered to look at me? Let alone be surprised at seeing me. Huh? And why are you surprised to see me? Kakra “since you are always drunk, we are surprised to see that you of all people are not swaying today. In short you are balanced….” “Yes oo, so surprising you are not drunk. I wonder what changed today. Did you by chance step into church? Panyin teased. I continued to listen and watch as three of them argued. “Oh so you are the devils who always want me to drink? I can now see that I was been possessed by your evil and foul spirits. No wonder some communities kill twins as soon as they are born. You girls are evil and I can see you are happy when I am a drunkard. You see delight in me been the laughing stock of this town. I am now aware of whom my enemies are; and there I was thinking it was within my family. My poor grandmother; I thought she was the one. Thank God, the garlic I hanged in my room last night is working, and it has led me straight to my foes. “Can you imagine such rubbish? So you are now calling us witches because we noticed a change in your appearance and spoke about it? Look at you! You are as thin as sugar cane, what would we possibly have against you and frankly speaking, don’t you think if we were witches we would settle for something bigger? And not a thin and worn out strand of life like you. Panyin do you hear this man? Hahahahaha, I can’t help but to laugh. “Witches, ooo witches of Blengo” he hooted. “You are laughing at me being thin. Have you ever asked yourself why you both remain short in spite of all the food you consume? You girls have chewed lots and lots are meat; human meat and set you are as short as midgets. I am now guessing you were responsible for all the deaths in this town; the pregnant women, the innocent children and all those who died. Today, al thanks to my garlic I had uncovered a great secret which I will gladly share with everyone; Blengo witches. Snapped Musa angrily Kakra replied “Look Musa, be very careful what you say okay? You should watch your tongue. Why are you abusing us this early morning? What wrong did we do to you? You are talking about abuse? Who abused who first? Wasn’t it your loud mouth sister? I’m sure she always has the greater chunk of the human meat, no wonder she has such a loud and sharp tongue. You should speak to her. Panyin unable to contain her anger burst out again “Foolish man, who even allowed this mad man to vote? What opinion would you possibly have on our economy? You should have been thrown somewhere. How can you cast a vote when you mind is in total “scatterbrain”? You miserable drunkard “I have voted, is that your problem? I have cast my vote which they say is my power. And you know what? I will vote and vote, again and again” Shouted Musa. “You see how shallow minded you are? How can you think of voting again when you have already voted? Don’t you know it is a crime punishable by law? People like you should be caught and put behind bars or better still dropped in a mental hospital because that is where you belong; with the mad people. And oh, why do you think your nail was marked; for decoration? You are such an idiot. “Oh come on, there is a special solvent to get rid of this ink on my nail. I can easily remove it and get back there to vote as many times as I can. “It is obvious now; you are not only a drunkard but also a madman roaming our streets. How could you possibly be thinking about such silly and naïve things? It shows how uneducated you are and my sister and I will no longer argue with you, Kakra lets go. Having said this, the sisters walked on leaving Musa to continue raining insults on them. From where I sat, they passed me by without even looking in my direction. I doubt they even noticed me, considering how mad and angry they were at Musa. He walked on and stopped when he got to me. “Lolo, how are you today? You look very pretty, eeeii Lolo; pretty pretty Lolo. Have you already voted? He asked me “No, I haven’t. I’m not eligible…I replied “Not eligible? What do you mean by you are not eligible? Aren’t you eighteen yet? How old are you Lolo? Musa asked again “Well I’m fourteen, I replied looking down and wishing he was gone already. “What? You can’t be serious, are you that young? I must say you do not look your age at all, considering how matured you body looks. You look ripe for marriage. What do they feed you with? Musa asked again This time I didn’t pay any attention to him. He rattled on and on till he got tired and walked on, whistling as he went occasionally turning back to look at whatever he was looking at. I was glad to be rid of him yet I still pitied him. Musa wasn’t that old I heard but his drinking habit has aged him a great deal to the extent of even affecting his thinking. He needed help but what help? I found myself deep in thoughts that I did not notice when mother and father got to me. “And why are you sitting out here, thinking about yourself? Have you already done your house chores? Have you prepared lunch? Mother asked angrily I raced into the house and could hear mother talking angrily to father. “You see why I get angry at your daughter? Instead of doing what she is supposed to do, she sits here looking into space and idles around waiting to be told what to do. These children of yours will not kill me. “Oh so they are now my children errhh? When they do something wrong they become my children right? Father asked “Of course they are your children, whose children are they if they aren’t yours? Tell me, dear husband? Mother asked and walked off into the room. CHAPTER SEVEN(7) TO BE CONTINUED 19/06/13
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:42:49 +0000
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