THE REPATRIATION

THE REPATRIATION- Part 2

It was like an el- Nino was about to rain on them; flood down their hard labour, they had achieved over the years on that camp. They had elevated themselves overtime from being zero to a position of security. They could at least satisfy the other basic necessities other than shelter. Some had M-Pesa shops that were fully functioning and profitable, while others had shops that were filled to the brim with goods and were flourishing also.

The men, who were present, did not wait to see more. One by one, they walked out. Though they walked with bravery, each man was working out for the answers to the questions the woman who was wailing asked. But to no avail, their brains were like nailed by a hammer to a wall, preventing their roaming to think and search hard for an answer.

Giving up was not a character of the people in the camp, they looked at their past and noticed one thing. When the war started, it was despair but the remembrance of God and trust in Him secured them to Kenya. They had prayed, and this became their outmost companion when they first heard the news of repatriation. All, women, men and children alike were religious. At the high times of the night they woke up to worship Him. "Help us when we finally arrive at our home, to be safe and provide us food to eat," "Shield us from the shaitan of dividing us on clans and affiliations." Those were the words many uttered during those night prayers.

The arrival of the aeroplane propelled further their confusion, an occurrence that required again guidance from Him. The men, who walked out of the tent where the meeting was being held, went to the mosque to perform the afternoon prayers. Amad included also. It ended after seven minutes and each thereafter fastened their faith to God. Amad was with the tasbih.

Amad, done with the tasbih, walked out to the veranda of the mosque to feel the breeze of the wind for the last time from the camp. He knew that for him, considering he is like an elder, he would be repatriated last with his family.

Amad scanned the camp, it looked beautiful: children playing everywhere and a lot of businesses here and there. His eyes saw the mango tree that he had planted immediately he settled at the camp. That mango tree did flower his history, when their homeland was blazing.

It was the then days back in his country of originality. He was a reputable man with a wide acclaim in the business field. He had numerous shops, handled the charcoal industry and also countable real properties of which some were rental. The turmoil in the country was disastrous to his business and to escape the threat of bankruptcy to his business he choose to flee.

Fresh as a cucumber is that day he lost his wife of his four children. Help! Help! Help! That was the cry the wind echoed loud for people to grasp. A cloud of smoke that engulfed the sky could be seen all over. People were worried, "what is it?" was the question they all asked. They made a choice, like investigators they walked out with an aim to see what was wrong. The firing of the first gunshot stopped them. Each needed not to be told what was going on. They took steps back to assess the situation. The courageous men like soldiers continued forth with their first mission. The rest of the men, women and children took the last resorting option, which was to return back to where they came from. While all this was happening outside, Amad was with his family packing their belongings, readying to run away from the country. When they heard the gunshots from a distance, it was panic at first hand. Amad took charge as the head of the family and told his wife, Hafswa, to take care of his children while he went to check out the situation.

Amad trudged on his town he knew since birth and what he saw was infuriating and deepened vengeance. "How could they?" was the question that pondered on Amad's head. The house of a neighbour, who was his childhood friend was in flames burning to the ground, the town's elder's house was for sure at first robbed of its iron sheets and later on exposed to an inferno. Bodies of people he knew were resting, while others in suffering crying for help. Anger boiled in him, he wanted to catch who did that but nobody or a group was there to be seen. It was a hit and run attack.

What could he do? All he had to do was to think of his family, which he had to protect. He decided to return back to his family instead of worrying about other factors. It was a surprise that ambushed him when he reached at his house. It was torched down and all he could see was soot, everywhere. The wall had changed from white colour to black soot, the tiled floor had too transformed to black soot and burned papers that were light as a jacaranda seed, could be seen being blown by the wind.

Hafswa! Hafswa! Hafswa! He called. No answer. He was in frenzy, where had they gone? Were they killed? Were they kidnapped? What happened to them? As he continued to search for his family, he saw a man that was crouching to the ground. He approached him slowly like a lion hunting for a gazelle, and when he reached him, caught the man by his shirt and raised him up to the ground. With hostility Amad asked the man of the whereabouts of his family and what he had done to them?

"Cool down brother I am your neighbour," said the man.

"Which one are you talking about?" Amad asked.

"The one who held a marriage for his daughter, a month ago,"

"A month ago,"

"Remember the talk of the town wedding; it was the sole one,"

Amad cooled down after such information being told him. The man then introduced himself as Jaad.

"How can I assist you?"Jaad asked.

"My family, I left them here. When the gunshots begun. I came back and they are nowhere."

"I cannot find them, where are they?" Amad asked.

"I cannot assist you there, fifteen people came from this side," Jaad said, pointing to the direction Amad was facing towards.

"They came, torched down houses and kidnapped people," Jaad retorted.

"What! They kidnapped people?"

"Yes, my family too,"