A Collection of Short Stories
Tales-from-the-Other-Side-2015 Tales-from-the-Other-Side-2015
Olisaeloka Onyekaonwu Jibril After making certain the machine guns would not disappoint, Abu Danjuma walked determinedly out of the armory. Beside him was his assistant commander, the lanky Umar, who was notorious for severing his victims’ testicles before pulling the trigger. The two walked out of the bungalow, into the large open field hidden in the heart of the forest, to examine the vehicles that would be used to carry out the crusade. “You look disturbed, sah,” Umar said. Abu Danjuma gave a wan smile. “Do I?” “Yes, sah.” “I’m not.” “It will go fine, sah. You have never failed. Tonight we will prove our faithfulness to Allah.” “I do not worry about failure,” Abu said. “I only worry that there will not be enough people to kill.” *** The first time Baba woke me up in the middle of the night was the day a scorpion stung my younger brother, Salim. Baba would later take a lantern and start a midnight hunt in the house for scorpions. He found none. When I went outside to know what was happening, I saw my brother, stripped waist down, his buttocks glistening, oily. Mother was rubbing something on his behind and he was screaming as though he was being circumcised a second time. That was three years ago. The second time Baba woke me up from sleep at midnight was today. My eyes snapped open and I found myself gazing upwards into the horrified face of Baba. “Get up, Jibril, get up now!” he instructed in panic. His breath smelt like cow dung. 53
Jibril Olisaeloka Onyekaonwu I groaned and started rolling on the mat. I felt a sense of freedom, something unusual. Normally, if I moved on the mat at night, my body would make contact with Salim who always shared the mat with me. But not now. Salim was nowhere in the room and . . . A thunderous slap on the back of my neck stunned me to wakefulness, and sent me staggering to my feet. I blurted out, “Sannu Baba.” Instead of an answer, Baba gripped my wrist and yanked me towards the direction of the room’s door. “ka yi gudu!” he said. “Run! Run and don’t look back!” I didn’t run and I kept looking at him with my blurred sight; he seemed to have three heads and I wasn’t sure the voice I heard was his. “RUN!” he shouted. My heart skipped. I’m not sure I would have ran had I not heard the spine-breaking snap of a gunshot, had Baba not slumped on the ground, a blank look overtaking his scared eyes in a jiffy. *** There was pandemonium in the village. There were cracks of gunfire here and there and everybody was running. Some were diving into bushes, others were falling to bullets. Children were crying, and, as though they too were mourning the chaos, the cows began to moo. The goats would not stop bleating. In the distance, I saw houses burning. The gunshots were becoming louder now, closer. I stood in the night, dazed, clueless of what to do. I had no idea where Mother was and Salim seemed to have vanished to Allah-knows-where. I thought of dashing for the nearest bush but my legs wouldn’t move. My bones seemed to have become steel. Then I heard it: the unpleasant hum of engines coming from the direction of the road that led to the market, the 54 Tales from the Other Side
- Page 11 and 12: Angels of Redemption Hymar David An
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- Page 91 and 92: Sour Kisses Jennifer Emelife
- Page 93 and 94: Sour Kisses Jennifer Chinenye Emeli
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Jibril<br />
Olisaeloka Onyekaonwu<br />
I groaned and started rolling on the mat. I felt a sense <strong>of</strong> freedom, something unusual.<br />
Normally, if I moved on the mat at night, my body would make contact with Salim who always<br />
shared the mat with me. But not now. Salim was nowhere in the room and . . . A thunderous<br />
slap on the back <strong>of</strong> my neck stunned me to wakefulness, and sent me staggering to my feet.<br />
I blurted out, “Sannu Baba.”<br />
Instead <strong>of</strong> an answer, Baba gripped my wrist and yanked me towards the direction <strong>of</strong> the<br />
room’s door. “ka yi gudu!” he said. “Run! Run and don’t look back!”<br />
I didn’t run and I kept looking at him with my blurred sight; he seemed to have three heads<br />
and I wasn’t sure the voice I heard was his.<br />
“RUN!” he shouted.<br />
My heart skipped. I’m not sure I would have ran had I not heard the spine-breaking snap <strong>of</strong><br />
a gunshot, had Baba not slumped on the ground, a blank look overtaking his scared eyes in<br />
a jiffy.<br />
***<br />
There was pandemonium in the village. There were cracks <strong>of</strong> gunfire here and there and<br />
everybody was running. Some were diving into bushes, others were falling to bullets. Children<br />
were crying, and, as though they too were mourning the chaos, the cows began to moo.<br />
The goats would not stop bleating. In the distance, I saw houses burning. The gunshots were<br />
becoming louder now, closer.<br />
I stood in the night, dazed, clueless <strong>of</strong> what to do. I had no idea where Mother was and Salim<br />
seemed to have vanished to Allah-knows-where. I thought <strong>of</strong> dashing for the nearest bush<br />
but my legs wouldn’t move. My bones seemed to have become steel. Then I heard it: the<br />
unpleasant hum <strong>of</strong> engines coming from the direction <strong>of</strong> the road that led to the market, the<br />
54<br />
Tales from the Other Side
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