Chapter 4
After dropping the knife back into my bag, I made my way to leave the house. I stepped out of the house gate and the first people I saw, as usual, were Arjun and Faisal. But this time they were not alone, as Arjun's mother and sister, Aanya, were also outside. I stared at how beautiful Aanya looked with the shuku hairstyle she plaited on her Indian hair.
Arjun and Faisal were sitting on the dusty floor in front of their gate while playing Ayo, while Aanya and her mother were about to enter their house compound with plenty nylon bags that they must have gotten from their market shopping.
"Don't play outside this area." Arjun's mother warned them, "The street is not safe."
"Eh, Mama." Arjun nodded while replying 'yes' in Hausa, and Faisal nodded too before they returned to their game.
I shut the gate and this caused Arjun and Faisal to turn to me while Aanya and their mother were walking towards their house gate.
"Miriam!" Arjun shouted my name and this caused his mother and Aanya to turn to me. "Namaste!"
"Namaste, Arjun!" I greeted him back the usual way and turned to his mother and greeted with a smile, "Good afternoon."
"Inna wunni." She greeted back in Hausa before entering her house with Aanya following behind her.
Arjun quickly ran over to me while he left Faisal with the game.
"Miriam." He called me again as he came closer, "Please teach me how to play the ayo game. Faisal keeps cheating me because he knows I don't know how to play it well."
I smiled and played with his silky hair.
"I will teach you but first I have somewhere to go to." I said, "But once I come back I will teach you, okay?"
"Promise, oh? Don't do like last week that you forgot." He pouted.
"I promise." I chuckled before he jumped happily and left. He was such a cute happy kid.
Once he got back to Faisal, I quickly made my way to the one place I could get rid of the knife; River Mansur.
After what felt like a long walk, I finally got to river Mansur. The 'dead' east end of the river. There were two sides of the river; the 'safe' west side of the river and the 'dead' east side of the river.
Nobody ever came to the 'dead' east side. This side of the river was cursed. We thought witches were inside but they weren't, it was just a cursed river and everybody avoided it. We knew if it were witches, just like most nollywood movies taught us, someone would have seen a mami water (mermaid) at a point or the water would have been red. But none of that happened.
Most of the time, it's either someone drowns or someone gets badly injured, if they enter the water. This has happened for many years and that was why people don't come here anymore.
I remember the first time I came here not long after my parents' death, Zainab stopped me from going to fetch water here because of the silly story.
But today, I had to choose this side of the river to throw the knife away because nobody ever came this way. The knife had blood on it and if anyone saw me with it, they'll think I was the secret killer.
The surrounding was filled with bushes and long grasses. I stood in front of where the river was flowing, right in between the bushes. I knew I had to be fast before I get my own bad luck in this side. I opened my bag and brought out the red cloth and held it in my hand. I sighed and was about to make my throw when suddenly,
"What are you doing here?" A voice behind me asked.
This caused me to jump and the cloth dropped the moment I turned around. Fortunately for me, the cloth still covered the knife on the ground.
I couldn't even pick it up again once I looked up to see an unexpected man. It could not be Mallam maitama or even a police man but it had to be.... a military man.
Looking at him few meters ahead of me, it looked like a man-boy in a military uniform. He was quite tall, skinny and dark. The military uniform seemed quite big for him as he was swimming inside it. He also wore the military boonie hat which shadowed his eyes and half of his face but that didn't stop me from seeing his big nose.
I could have been very frightened by his presence, but what scared me more was that the knife cloth was lying in between me and this military man-boy.
"You know you're not supposed to be here." He said again.
"I'm sorry, sir." I said fearfully, bending my knees like I was greeting him.
One thing I've always been taught; was to respect soldiers, especially the ones in Mansur. According to my classmates, they were not ordinary soldiers, they were "soldiers of death".
"You look very familiar," He said while studying me before he smiled, "I think I know you."
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. This was my first time seeing him and never have I been around a military man... boy before.
"You... You're a regular customer at my mother's stand in the market square." He said in recognition while pointing his fingers at me, "Mama Abdul."
I snapped my fingers, knowing who Mama Abdul was. She sold tomatoes and pepper at the market square. But I barely recognize this boy's face, although his mother used to tell me that her son and husband were both in the military.
"And you're the girl that her sister died." He added.
Of course, I thought to myself sarcastically. I was kind of popular among the market women because they all knew about me and Mama's stealing activity and they knew it led to her death. Most times, parents use our story as 'moral lesson' to teacher to teach heir children how to stop stealing.
"Ohh." I mumbled and still tried my best to stop the fear in me.
"What have you come to do?" He asked, "you know you're not supposed to be around here. Someone got killed here yesterday and this isn't a safe area."
"I-I uhmm." I stuttered glancing down at the knife.
His eyes traced my eye direction as he glanced down at the cloth in front of me before he moved forward and said, "This must have fallen from your hand. I can help you-"
I was about trying to pick it up but he was quick enough to bend and pick it up and unfortunately, the knife head popped out of the cloth and there was clearly blood on it.
His expression turned from a nice one to a baffled one as he held the blood stained knife in his hands. I didn't know what to say and I knew I was in trouble. Big trouble.
"You will have to come with me to the police station and explain what this is." He said, looking at the knife.
"I just killed a cow." I said immediately and chuckled nervously, trying to play smart. "You know Christmas is next month and it's good to start preparing now."
He looked at me like I just said the most stupid thing.
"Can I tell you something?" He asked.
I nodded, hoping this will be good.
"Anybody that kills a cow washes the knife immediately after." He said.
And he got me with that one. I couldn't lie again. And I couldn't tell him it was inna Hauwa that was responsible for the blood on the knife.
"Please I am not a killer." I begged immediately, sounding like I was ready to cry, "I have never killed anyone in my life. I swear."
He doesn't respond. He scoffed at me before walking towards me. I was scared for one second until he passed me and walked closer to the river. He bent towards the end and fetched water into his hands and washed the knife with the water. I stood there and watched him in confusion.
After he was done, he stood up and walked in front of me with a smile plastered on his face. To be honest, I kept getting scared each time he smiled.
"I trust you." He said and handed the clean knife in front of me, "Only because the knife is clean. Now take it with you and pretend you never came here."
I couldn't be more grateful. I quickly collected it and said, "You're a very kind person."
"It's alright." He smiled.
I wanted to turn around but I was just a bit curious at the moment.
"Can- can I ask you a question?" I said and raised my finger a little like a student who was asking a teacher a question.
"Go ahead." He smiled still, deeply this time.
"How old are you?" I asked.
He chuckled and looked at me like he knew that was something bothering me.
"18." He said, "I am too young to be in the Nigerian army right?"
I nodded my head.
"Well I am in the army." He said without the smile fading.
I only nodded and was about to turn around but something was bothering me again.
"Can I ask another question?" I asked, expecting the smile to fade but he was still smiling.
He nodded.
"Why are you always smiling?" I asked.
He chuckled again and said, "Because I am a happy man."
"You are a soldier, you're not supposed to be happy." I said, challenging him this time.
"Anyone chooses to be happy." He replied.
"Okay." I nodded slowly.
"Any more questions?" He asked with a grin. I shook my head and made my way to leave.
I put the knife in my bag and started walking off and took few steps away from him. Before I took more steps, I turned to look at him one last time. He looked at me in concern.
"Thank you." I said, being really grateful.
"No wahala." He waved.
I gave a small smile before I turned around and continue walking away wondering what to do with the knife in my bag. I stopped walking again and turned around to see him still standing there and looking at me.
I looked away from him awkwardly and turned around immediately. Before I started walking again, I put my two hands behind my back and held them together on the back of my waist, to cover whatever he knew he was looking at.
I finally walked away, a little faster this time.
I sighed in relief once I was out of sight by the river side. I made my way back home or rather... To teach Arjun how to play ayo.
As I was on my way back, I was replaying in my head what just happened by the river side. And for a second, I just realized nothing bad happened to the soldier after he touched the river water. What a miracle.
I stopped thinking about it and as I looked around my surrounding, I spotted kaka's friend's daughter, Zita, who was also my Catholic Confirmation namesake but people called her amarya, which meant 'bride-to-be' in Hausa. I chose the confirmation name after her because it was a beautiful name and ever since then, she kept calling me her 'namesake'.
She was with her fiancé, Joseph, as they sat on top of his car boot parked in front of her house. They were eating roasted corn at the moment.
They spotted me as well and waved at me. I grinned and waved back at them. I was fond of them because they both attended my church.
"My namesake!" Zita shouted, "Come and join us."
I didn't want to hesitate because she will harass me if I don't join her. She always loved my company and she was one of the most friendly people in the neighborhood. So I just nodded and walked towards them.
"How are you?" Joseph asked while putting a corn to his mouth.
"I'm fine." I said and looked at them both, "How's the wedding preparation going?"
"Quite stressful but it's okay. It's next month and the closer the wedding, the more stressful," Zita said and smiled, "You're coming baa?"
"Definitely. I even have to help kaka with the food since she will be the cook at the reception." I said.
"You don't have to work throughout. Someone else will take over once you're done." She said, "you're my friend and you should have fun with us too."
"I guess so." I mumbled and shrugged.
Joseph whispered something to Zita and she giggled. My eyes glanced at their entwined hands as their other hands had the roasted corn in them. I looked back at them as they seemed happy and in love. I wish I was like them.
"Do you want corn?" Joseph asked, cutting the little silence. I shook my head in response.
"You're missing." Zita said, "this is the sweetest corn I've tasted so-"
She was cut by her younger sister, Ruth, who just ran towards us from no where. She looked troubled.
"Did you guys hear?!" She shouted immediately she got to our spot.
We looked at each other and furrowed our eyebrows in confusion and turned to stare at her with concern.
"You know that Kapoor family, " she said pointing her hands outwards, "that Indian family that lives down the street."
"Yes." I nodded with concerned, "my neighbors."
"Something is happening at their house. Everybody is gathering and everything!" She exploded her hands in the air as she panted, "One of their children got captured by the secret killer and-"
My heart dropped the moment I heard the word capture. I didn't wait wait for to finish as I ran off immediately.
I ran as fast as I could to get to Arjun's house and see what happened. My mind was so concerned about Arjun. Him and his family members were a close family to kaka and I. If something bad happened to them, it bothers us too. I just hope he was not hurt. Neither did Aanya. I couldn't imagine it.
Once I got to our street, I saw a lot of people gathering in front of Arjun's house in a distance. There were two police cars and I saw about three police officers standing in the crowd.
As I got closer to the crowd, another policeman came out of the house, carrying a dead child in his hands. I whimpered and put my hands over my mouth. Not Arjun!
Aanya and her mother followed up behind the policeman and followed him to one of the police cars. Their faces were covered with scarf and I could tell they were in deep pain.
The crowd cried louder when the policeman passed them with Arjun in his hands.
When he passed beside me, the first thing I noticed was the blood mark on Arjun's forehead. I stared at it in shock. There were two straight lines on his forehead like someone was playing with a knife.
The moment the police was about to leave my side, a lollipop dropped from Arjun's clenched fist.
My eyes widened at the sight of it. It was the same lollipop Sanusi was holding yesterday.
Wait. That means... I looked at Arjun's head one more time. It was not two simple marks that were on his forehead. It was number 11. Just like how Sanusi's head had number 13.
One of the police officers picked up the lollipop and studied it. It was a woman, who wore a black long sleeve inner-wear under her police shirt.
"This is the same lollipop as the other two children." She said to a police man that was writing on a small notepad.
I looked at them in surprise. There was another child's death we didn't know about?
"This killer is strange." The policeman said, "He kills during broad daylight, puts numbers on the children's forehead and leaves behind the same piece lollipop."
"He must have a purpose for doing this." The policewoman said in concern as they walked away to enter the other police car.
I stared at them in my shock state. This was just the beginning. It was about time for everybody to realize the town was no longer safe.
I watched the crowd as people take their leave once the two police car starts driving. Most mothers carried their children on their back so that they won't go missing like Arjun. Everyone kept murmuring to each other in fear. Every adult around was holding a child very close to them, making sure they don't lose sight of them.
The only child I saw without an adult was Faisal. He sat beside the gate with hands wrapped around his knees. I quickly rushed to his side and knelt beside him. He was crying.
"Are you okay?" I looked at his body. "Did you get injured anywhere?"
He kept crying and shook his head.
"How did this happen?" I asked.
"We were playing hide and seek outside," He replied without looking at me, "And he went to hide in the bush down the road. And when I found him, he was dead."
If only I stayed back and played ayo with Arjun, this wouldn't have happened. But now it's too late. I broke my last promise with him, I couldn't teach him ayo anymore.
"Did you see anybody else there?" I asked.
He shook his head in response. I nodded my head slowly. There was a short silence as I stayed there and stared at Faisal.
"It's my fault." He sobbed.
I still stared at him, his eyes fixed on the ground with guilt all over his face. This was exactly how I felt about Mama's death. The blame was all on me. Always on me.
I just pulled him closer and hugged him without saying anything.
********
I couldn't move from my bed like I always do when staring outside my room window. This was the only place I found peace, just looking outside my room window. No matter how boring the view may be sometimes, it's just better than nothing.
It was still hard to get Arjun off my chest.
After I left their house, I couldn't do much. Kaka offered to cook dinner and after it was ready, I was still the one that fed Kauna. I couldn't even eat much myself.
Speaking of Kauna, I turned around and noticed she was not in the room. It was already very dark outside and she needed to go to bed.
I stood up from my bed and walked out to the sitting room. Kauna was sitting on the floor and staring at my large framed family photo like it was a tv. She has been silent the whole day and I didn't even have much to say to her either.
I walked up to sit beside her and she turned to look at me the moment I sat down. I stared at the family photo. It was my parents, Mama and I. Mama was a baby then while I was just three years old. I never took any family photo from my former house when we moved to kaduna. Luckily, kaka has always had this family picture in her house and this was the only picture I had to remember Mama and my parents' face. I looked at how I smiled in the picture, just grinning from ear to ear. There was nothing to worry about then. All I had was happiness and I wish I could still be this happy.
"Where are they?" Kauna asked, pointing to the family picture.
"They're all dead." I responded while staring at the picture, then I pointed to me in the picture, "her turn is coming one day."
Kauna just stared at the picture in silence without having to respond to my almost sarcastic last sentence. One thing I noticed was that she kept looking at Mama. I sighed and glanced at the clock to see it was 9:05 pm.
"You have to go to bed now." I tell her.
She nodded and we both stood up and left for the room. I noticed that I hadn't given Kauna her clothes yet and that was why she was still wearing what she wore yesterday. She didn't even ask me about it.
I walked up to the bag lying on the ground opposite my bed. I knelt down, opened it and brought out the clothes.
"These are your clothes." I handed it to her as she stood beside me.
I went through the bag and removed the small grey diary. I turned to hand her the book when I caught a glance at her necklace. She was wearing a brown Catholic scapular of Mary and baby Jesus's picture on it. It seems like it was something she wore all the time but I never noticed.
I looked back at her and held the diary.
"Is this yours?" I asked.
She looked at it and nodded.
"What do you do with it?" I asked.
"Ummah tell me I can improves my English with it." She said.
The moment she said the tell instead of told, I knew she actually needed help with it. Her mother told me she wasn't too good with English and I hadn't noticed it since I've been talking to her, although she doesn't talk much.
I stared at her concerned and nodded before handing her the book.
"You need to change to your pyjamas." I said.
"Pyjamas?" She questioned like she didn't know what I meant.
"Night wear." I said and gestured for something she will understand, "Sleeping clothes. Sleeping gown."
She nodded her head slowly.
I went out of the room and stood in front of the door to let her have her privacy to change into her pyjamas. After few minutes, I walked back into the room and saw she was already tucked in bed.
I stood beside the door and turned to the light switch.
"Do you want the lights on or off?" I asked her.
She laid there and thought for a moment before she said, "On."
"What about the fan?" I asked while staring at the ceiling fan and moving on to the big white switch beside the light switch.
"Off."
We were the opposite. And I wonder what will happen if we slept in the same room. I nodded and decided to leave the switch.
"Goodnight. See you tomorrow." I said.
She just lay there without responding as she stared at me. Well this was my chance to leave. I was about turning around when suddenly, she called my name. For the first time.
"Miriam?" She called.
I stopped as I held the door handle and turned to look at her. She lay there looking at me, a bit scared.
"Do you know when Ummah is coming back?" She asked.
"I wish I knew," I looked at her and shook my head, "but I don't know."
She nodded her head slowly. I gave her a small smile and finally shut the door.
I sighed as I still stand in front of my room, behind the closed door.
Only if I knew when her mother was coming back, things would be easier. Only if I could fast forward time to see where all these would lead to. Only if... Maybe I could just give Kauna away?
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END OF CHAPTER 4