We Fight! (On Hold)

Chapter 1

Uyai

My Story Begins Here.

Oct 6, 1962

Mosquitoes. They were all around me, piercing into my skin with no mercy. I cried and cried, flailing my arms about to get them to stop, but they just continued to bite me. I could hear a cricket and a frog somewhere in the distance, the sound was very disturbing to my ears. Somewhere to the east, a gushing river was breaking the silence of the night, but all I could see was the forest and the black starless sky, a lone moon in its vast emptiness.

I didn't know where I was. All I remembered were people dragging my uncle away and him yelling at me to run away. I did as I was commanded, immediately running as fast as my little legs could carry me. Hearing angry voices and heavy footsteps behind me, I didn't dare stop running or even try looking back. Of course, I had no idea where I was running to, but I continued to bend under branches and leap over bushes as though my life depended on it. It probably did.

At some point which I couldn't particularly remember, a hidden beer can buried partly into the ground, snagged my right foot and made me trip. I tried to pick myself up, but my feet cried in exhaustion and pain.

I must have fallen asleep, waking up hungry but seeing only the green walls of the forest  I realized I ran into. Too tired to make my way back home, even though I probably wouldn't find my way back if I tried, I stayed where I was and cried for attention. But the crickets, frogs and owls continued their chants, mocking me.

A lot of useless tears later, weeds started crunching under someone's feet. I looked up to see a beautiful woman staring down at me with a confused grin on her lips.

"What could you possibly be doing out here, all alone in the forest, at this time?"

I didn't know who she was, but at this point, I couldn't care any less. She had found me.

"I don't...I don't know" I answered truthfully.

She squeezed her face, worry suddenly settling on her eyes. She had bronze coloured skin, and her dark, thick hair was packed into a small bun at the nape of her neck.

"Where is your Eka and Ete (mother and father)?"

"What?" I said, unsure if I had heard her right.

She looked around the forest, dropping the grocery bag she was carrying. Her eyes finally rested on me again, and I could clearly see the worry in them.

"Your father and mother, where are they?"

"I don't know...I've never met them. I stay with my uncle who brought me to Nigeria with him, but I don't know how I got here or where he is...please help me"

Tears began to fall from my eyes again, but I swiped at them angrily with the back of my palms. Cautiously, she came closer to me and held me.

"Oh, Ima (love), don't cry now" she cooed.

She ran her fingers up and down my frail body comfortingly, and I buried my face into her arms.

"Chai! see the mosquito bites on your body, you will get very sick" She said.

"I do not know where I am or the way back to my uncle, please help me"

I looked up at her, while she studied me. She was obviously debating within herself, trying to make a decision. She couldn't possibly leave me here though, I would attach myself to her legs if I had to.

She looked around the forest again, her chocolate brown eyes, shaped like a cat's, frantically searched about. I wondered what on earth she could possibly be looking for.

"The animals would eat you up alive if you stayed here any longer" She whispered.

She sounded like she was trying to convince herself, rather than to inform me of the many ways I could die out here. Finally, she gave me a small smile.

"It's okay Ima (love). Come, stand up, usuk usuk (carefully). Come with me"

She tried to help me up on my feet, but I was having a severe headache from crying so much, and my body ached all over.

"It's okay. I would carry you"

She lifted me up from under my arms and placed my body on her side, holding me with her hand under my thighs. At six and of a tiny physique, I was light enough for her to carry.

I wrapped my arms around her neck and buried my face into her shoulder blades, nuzzling into her to borrow some of her warmth. She smelled nice, like purple water lilies. She stooped and picked the grocery bag with her left hand, holding me with her right hand only.

Her uneven steps crunched the weeds again, a soft lullaby to me. I should have wondered where she was taking me, but somehow, I trusted her. She was the one who had found me when I thought I was lost and alone, so of course, she must be a good person.

I lulled off to sleep in the arms of a woman I just met, and whom I knew nothing about. In the arms of a woman whose skin was a stark contrast to my own.

Black, white, whatever, I was tired.

*****
Chai! ~ A sort of exclamation

A/n
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