they knew all along

A Story by mercy

this story is about finding out about your father in the weirdest condition possible and it is undone yet to be continued.

The hatred in their eyes was evident. If an opportunity rose we were sure we’d be chunks of meat lying around. Their hands seemed to ache for human blood. Their three heads were cast downwards facing the ground. I bet they were praying quietly for the opportunity to arise. Their leader stood four steps in front of them and seemed to be having an inner battle within.

“Say your last prayers… all of you” he shouted

Reality hit us harder than we expected. Today might be our last days on this planet. The young men started jumping up and down and running around looking for rocks to sharpen their already sharp weapons.” This one will save me time “Ilira heard one saying

“Wait, I haven’t finished say your last prayers for the food….” He finished with a hint of humor in his voice. We heaved a sigh of relief. The three young men (partners in crime) threw their weapons on the ground. This each of them hoped will be a physical quantifier of how enraged they were. Their thirst for hot new blood was real. It was not that evident but now it seemed like that is all they wanted.

The leader of the gang then barked the names of the three boys at a go. It sounded as if their names consisted of only one letter. The youngest of them all was pushed forward and the others laughed as they knew the task he was about to undertake would be humiliating. He as we later discovered was supposed to entertain the leader as he ate. He was a tall bulky man. He would easily pass as a regular gym member but we were in some remote unknown area in northern Uganda. This could not be true. His hands spelled the word death. His hands seemed enough to uproot a tree without help and it would take less than three minutes.

This meant that no soul could think of defying his orders. The youngest boy, Ori looked like he was trying to dance. He danced as if he needed to use the bathroom urgently. His dancing skills were in a sorry state. His facial expression was even worse it seemed as if someone had poured cold water on him on a cold day. This moment in time was awesome. I know am supposed to be scared after being taken away from our offices yesterday. This was just hilarious away from our boring lives this was the funniest scenario we have seen in a really long time. The worst part is that you could not laugh. It almost felt like holding a sneeze you know.

The other two boys, Eri and Iro were on the ground dying with laughter. Tears were streaming down their faces. These were tears of joy. At least they found something else that gave them joy apart from seeing blood spill on the ground. This made the leader belt out laughter that made one feel as if the whole earth was shaking. All of us plus the ones who were laughing stopped and we were praying this would not trigger an earthquake or another natural calamity.

He then cleared his throat. If this was his form of attracting our attention, he sure did. All of us were scarred for life and terrified. A little more laughter and I would pee on my pants. “I am your father…” he said. The rest I could not hear. They all seemed so far and all I could hear was blubbering of voices from a far distance. There I was sent by these big shot organizations to capture this man. This man had butchered a huge number of women and children. Yet He has the guts to tell or lie to me that I am his flesh and blood. This was impossible my brain froze. I could not think. I always wanted to know my father but not in this way. I picked up the conversation when he called me by my tribe name that was my to-go-to-the-grave with secret. I never even remembered mentioning it at any point of my life. This would have been a jackpot to earn back trust from all those previous boyfriends who claimed I was too distant. This was an awakening moment for me. I was sent to track down a man who the international community thirsted for his blood. He was wanted not even alive but dead as the blood on his head was too much. This was too much to take in. Everything became blurry and my world became dark. I tried moving but my limbs were so heavy. I tried shouting but my voice bailed out on me. At first the voices seemed distant and then my world became plain and peaceful. No feelings, no motion or movement of time. I wished my world remained like this forever.

*to be continued *