Africa (Complete)

Chapter Twenty-Two

In the morning, the hatch opened and a rope ladder was tossed into the pit. Standing at the top were two armed guards yelling at him.

"Wake up, slave. Don't make me come down there and get you," one of the guards shouted. Kam rose to his feet and immediately grimaced in pain as his muscles were stiff and bruised. Every step of the ladder caused him excruciating pain, but he tried not to let the guards see. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction. Smelling like bad breath, pungent body odor, and day-old piss, Kam stood in the warm morning sun.

"Come on, slave, you have work to do."

Despite his circumstances, Kam never felt defeated. He knew one day he would get out, and every moment that passed was one step closer to that day. Using the opportunity to gain intel, he looked around and studied the terrain, operations, routines, weaknesses... anything he could later use to his advantage. He caught a glimpse of a very large muscular man brooding about on his morning stroll. He wore a special kind of garb and had several guards following him. Kam had remembered him from his first day. He was their leader.

Forced to pick up his pace, Kam was reunited with his group. He was so hungry and dehydrated that he thought he was going to pass out. His body had become a shell of his former self as he had lost a lot of weight, mostly muscle mass. He was now down to 146 pounds. Having been denied dinner the night before and breakfast the following morning, he considered taking his chances on sneaking a few handfuls of berries.

Fighting off a severe headache, Kam sluggishly worked through to lunch.

"You look like hell," Ukari said. "But you smell worse than you look."

"Thanks, you don't look and smell too great yourself," he teased back.

Ukari leaned in and spoke in a whisper. "Next time when you eat the fruit, you can't chew. Just swallow."

"Now you tell me."

"I thought you were smart."

"Apparently not," Kam replied. "What else should I know?"

"You should learn to speak their language. That is your language now."

"Can you teach me?"

"I can teach you, but we have to keep it a secret."

"Why are you helping me now?" Kam asked.

"You are a very naïve and you will get yourself killed."

"Thanks," Kam said. "Is there anything I can give you in return?"

"You can tell me about America."

"I hate to break it to you, but America is gone. The meteors destroyed everything on Earth, accept Africa. Did you know that?"

"No. What is a meteor?"

"It's a rock from the sky," Kam said, demonstrating with his hands. "They came down and smashed into everything. They must have heated up the planet causing the polar ice caps to melt... wait, do you know what the polar ice caps are?"

"No."

"You know Earth, right? It's a ball," he said, demonstrating on his fist. "We are somewhere here on the ball, which is called the equator. It sticks up and is closest to the sun than other parts of the planet. That's why it's hot here. The top and the bottom are further away from the sun so it gets very cold — so cold that these areas are covered in snow and ice. That's why they are called ice caps. You know what snow and ice are, right?"

"I've only heard about them, but never seen them before."

"Well, ice is just a solid form of water so once those polar ice caps melt, the water level of all the oceans around the world rise, and in some cases rise higher than the land. So the land is now underwater."

"America is under water?"

"I'm not sure, but from what I'm told, a lot of the country is now underwater."

"What about Europe?" Ukari asked. "Is it underwater too?"

"I believe so. Africa used to be this big," he said, holding out the palm of his hand. "But now, it is likely only this big. Congo is on the coast now. Fortunately, it has large mountains which are higher than the water so it prevents it from flooding. All the survivors all over the world are here. Look around. Most of us are not African."

"You have brown skin like me." Ukari said.

"Yes, my ancestors are from Africa — they lived here at some point in the past. It's a long story. I'll tell you what I know about slavery in America tonight."

The sun set around 9:00 p.m. and the slaves worked until 8:00. At night, Kam finally was able to wash up and clean his clothes. It was a treat to be able to converse with someone. He looked forward to it every night. Ukari would teach him French, and in return he would teach her about the world. She was smart, but was from a small village where she didn't have the same opportunity to develop her education.

Kam had spent countless days in the fields, seen some horrible human-rights violations, and spent all day wishing he were somewhere else. After spending months alongside these people, he had gotten to know several of them — learning about their history and where they were from. It was something to look forward to at the end of a long day. There were no shortage of people and each one of them had a trove of stories. It was like his own form of entertainment, like settling into a good TV show before bed.

For the next several months, Kam devoted every night to speaking with Ukari.

"Tell me about your family," Kam asked. "I want to know about your mother and father and your siblings."

"My mother is a Tutsi from the African Great Lakes Region. At thirteen, she was raped. At fourteen, her tribe forced her into a marriage with this same man who raped her. He continued to abuse her as well as the child they had together.

"One day, my mother had enough. She left him and moved with her child to Likasi, which is a city with a population of roughly 400,000. She had no money and did not know anyone. She was sold into slavery where she worked as a prostitute until she was in her early twenties. Her child was taken and was never seen again. She then met a man, my father, and eventually they got married.

"In 1998, the Second Congo War broke out. The government of DRC ordered the genocide of all Tutsi people in Congo. My mother and father took their children and went into hiding, but they were found. We ended up in this prison camp. I was just a small child. I have never known a life of freedom. I have been raped more times than I can count. I have given birth three separate times, the first time when I was fifteen. All of the babies have been taken from me and I have never seen them. I have been beaten and tortured, forced to sleep on cold concrete, went days without food and water, seen friends and family murdered. Every day is a fight for survival.

"After everything I have been through, I did not lose my faith in God. Through God's grace, I am still here. I am here for a higher purpose. God is good. Through his grace all is possible."

Kam wiped his tears and hugged Ukari. "Thank you for sharing your story with me, Ukari. You are an amazing woman. Your strength and courage are beyond what I thought was humanly possible. You've had an unbelievably hard life, but the sun will rise and shine again. Like you said, we must not give up hope. I will make it my life mission to not only get you out of this hell, but also allow you to get justice on those who wronged you."