The Rain in April

Eric

Chapter 5

DAY 3

Eric opened his eyes slowly, the rain had started but it wasn’t as heavy as he earlier predicted. He could hear the rain drops falling lightly against the glass window of his room. He looked around the room; it was dark, too dark for him to see a thing. He sat up, stretched himself before tracing his bed with his left hand. He stopped almost immediately and roughly traced the bed with his two hands.

Where is she? He asked himself, slowly leaving the bed. He walked gently towards the door so as to avoid hitting something on the floor. From the passage way, Eric could see a dim light in the sitting room. He walked past his daughter, Muteteli’s room into the sitting room. She was there, sitting alone and soaked in tears. He stood there and watched her for some time. She had been like that ever since he told her about the broken peace deal, she was a woman and had every reason to be afraid, but not to this extent. Other women were neither afraid nor worried as she was, but she was stuck in a mourning mood.

“Nana, you can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

He went over to where she was sitting and sat at the table directly facing her.

“I don’t understand you, why are you being so soppy? These people are not your people.” He touched her hands. She looked at him, her eyes were red and tears were oozing from them.

“You remember Ama, the girl that comes here from time to time to take care of the lawn and laundries?” She shook her head and sneezed twice.

“Her father was beaten to death and she was r***d before being taken away by soldiers, people like you,” She pointed to his chest. Eric closed his eyes, he had known Ama since she was little, he knew what the little girl had passed through when her mother died. He had offered her a job to tidy and take care of his compound as well as his laundries, he paid her daily, and one striking thing was that she was a Tutsi.

“Listen, Nana, nothing will happen to Ama, I will personally ensure that.” He stood up and drew her close to him.

“Now, come to bed.” Slowly they walked back into the bedroom.

Eric lay on the bed beside his wife; he could not understand why Nana felt bad about what was going on in the country. The Tutsis were responsible for the death of two Presidents, a good reason why none of them should be trusted, not even Ama.

But do the innocent have to suffer? He asked himself. He looked around in the darkness; he had been ignoring that question ever since he was briefed about a strategy to eliminate the Tutsis by his commander, a Lieutenant Colonel.

But who are the innocent?” He asked himself in a whisper so as not to wake his wife who had just fallen asleep. Obviously no one was innocent to him, they were all guilty one way or the other and this was not the time for him to think twice about what he was going to do. But the question kept lurking in darkness,

What if you are wrong? What if everything was wrong?

He closed his eyes and curled round his wife, her hair smelt of rose mixed with a sweet smelling fragrance. Soon he was fast asleep.