We Fight! (On Hold)

Chapter 2

Uyai

Oct 6 1962

I woke up to muffled arguments. Feeling my surroundings with my fingers, I noticed I was on a bed with a soft fabric spread over it. I also noticed my body looked shiny and felt sticky in a way, an ointment must have been rubbed on me.

I sat up slowly, definitely feeling stronger than I had been at the forest, and the cloth I was covered with fell down to my waist.

"Ekaete, I know our situation, your situation, but you can't just go around picking children!" A strange voice shouted from a room opposite the one I was in.

"Don't you use that against me, she could have died Etim, the wild animals would have torn her apart by nightfall if I hadn't picked her up. What did you expect me to do? Leave her and have her death on my conscience?!"

I recognized the voice of the woman that had helped me, and realized they were arguing about me. Against my better judgement, I got up from the bed. Finding my way through the dark, I trudged gently towards the room, holding the cloth tightly against my chest. The cold hard floor chilled my feet because I had no shoes on, but I wiggled my toes in an attempt to adjust to the temperature. When I got to the door, they didn't notice me, so I leaned behind the door post.

"Maybe it would have been better if you had left her alone" the same male voice muttered.

"Etim! How can you say something like that?"

"Was it not also her people that made us suffer ehn? Treated us like slaves in our own land"

"Ayy, But would we punish her for what her people did then? She is but just a child, she had nothing to do with everything they did. But you would leave her to die painfully for something she knew nothing about? Shame on you!"

"Ekaete..." The man warned in a low tone.

"Then you are as much a monster as they are" The woman concluded, abruptly raising and dropping her arms in frustration.

"Mind your tongue! Okay then, now you have helped her, and brought her here. What do you plan on doing after that?"

"I thought we would cross that bridge together" she said quietly.

"Oh, see how smart you are. Ekaete, you don't know what to do with her, and soon, news would spread. What do you think the neighbours would say when they learn we have an mbakara (a white) child in our house?"

"I really do not care what they say. I stopped caring a long time ago. Their words are as meaningless to me as the stone in my shoe and so should it be to you as well!"

The man stomped towards the door angrily, and I shuffled further into the shadows to avoid being seen. The woman stalked after him, her arms outstretched.

"Etim, Ima mmi (my love), please don't walk away"

The man stopped abruptly and lowered his head, sighing loudly. He turned and shook his head in defeat. He held the woman's face in his palms and kissed the top of her head.

"I just need to think Ekaete, you have brought trouble into this house whether you want to believe it or not..."

"We have not been blessed with a child of our own Ima mmi, but what if this is God's test before the blessing? She may seem to be trouble but she has done nothing like her people have done. Why wouldn't we help her? We don't know, maybe if we do, God would help us"

The man stared at her for a long time and finally pulled her close to him, embracing her tightly. His eyes looked distant with the soft glow from the lightbulbs in the room.