Beside the termite eaten window
I sit.
‘Kai! Zafin rincabe.. This heat is just too much
Why are my legs shaking… but why
I thought i was prepared for this paper
Why are we even writing our physics paper today
when other schools have closed down?
A’a Allah
See question number one o
Kai! What will I do now… five questions in Number one alone
Ubangiji ya taimake ni,
My God I will look up to the hills
From whence comes my help but from you’…
Vroooooom Vrooom Vroooom
I lift up my head
From my ink stained paper…. curious
Then I see them
All of them
‘What are all these trucks doing outside our gate
And who are all these people coming into our school?
What! Am i seeing well’?
BOKO HARAM!!!!
BOKO HARAM!!!!……Allah, abin da ke wakana !!!
Our roof explodes in a second..GBOAAAAAAA!!!
‘Taimako!! Taimako.!!!… help!!! help!!!
*Commotion* * sporadic gunshots*
Mummy! Mummy! My Mummy!!!
Please don’t kill us…
Kai….HALIMA!! HALIMA!!!. my twin sister
Ina ka!! Ina ka!!! where is my Halima’??
The door slams shut and the world shuts out on us
Inside this cramped airless bus
We journey to our fate unknown
The air is stuffy; I can hardly breathe
My eyes are wet and hurting…I’m sure it must be swollen
I look around
Tears everywhere
Swollen fears in the air
We hold on to one another
‘Please where is my sister’?? HALIMA! HALIMA!!
Why did this people capture us?
Are they going to rape then kill us for rituals
Like what happened in Ibadan?
The bus stops abruptly
Terror grips us afresh
Like iron pegs,….those types I normally use to hold my clothes on the line
‘What’s going to happen now’?
I hug Mariam tightly; she shivers hysterically
They open the door and begin to drag us out like dogs
Screaming deliriously
‘Wofaye mata!! Useless girls!!! Traitors!!!
Haka ku ma kuna so ku nemi ilimi… so you all want to be educated
That is an unforgivable sin… you hear me! UNFORGIVABLE!!
Wannan unforgivable zunubi..
Wallahi Tallahi Allah cannot forgive you
Za mu karantar da ka wata …..we will teach you a lesson aya ba za a manta da koyaushe…
you will not forget in a hurry’….HAHAHAHAHA
I hold on to Mariam, as we trudge the forest floors
The owls and crows bid us welcome with hoots and wails
Proclaiming our woe and
we start crying all over again
Then they began to hit our buttocks with their hands and guns
One pulled my left breast… I wince in pain..holding my stomach
My period draweth nigh
This pain blinds my vision
The demon laughs… the others join in too
A dreadful laughter that send boiling shivers down my spine
He kicks me in my buttocks as i tumble
Helplessly on the thick forest floor
More roaring laughter…
Mariam’s tears drench my uniform …she tries to help me up
He slaps us with both hands… obviously amused
Then I wipe my tears and
I look him straight in the eye
A flash of surprise on his veiled face
He slaps me again and pushes me once more and the last thing i remember
A hand dragging my frail body on the ground
along a narrow turn away from my friend Mariam and my wailing sisters
I open my eyes now
He is on-top of me
Smiling
His breath on my face _a putrid mist of gin and Indian hemp
Chokes my being
He fiercely ravages my body; I close my eyes
Slowly
Silently
absorbing this soul tearing pain
He yanks my hair
and spits on me, demanding that I watch him
And I look him deep in the eye
My insides trembling
A tear below
My blood trickles slowly
onto the thirsty earth
I am soiled; ….yes i know….
But my eyes remain dry
ba na jin tsoron…my fears are all gone
Thanks Olulu 🙂
Thank you too Adeife.