Sundown

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Yankari Community Boy’s College is a rich kid’s dream. It just shows that you have a stake in politics in the nearest future, but for now, it is a fortress for the Tango family ‘for we shall not be made soldiers against the government’.

The principal of the school came out to receive my dad at the gate to show us around and later discuss the fees to be paid. After all said and done between both men, I will be starting at Jss1 since I already have a primary education which by the way I will say was distorted, but my dad was advised to start Yusuf and Ismail in a primary school

My dad tried to convince the principal that the lessons taught in the mosque already substituted for Primary education and that Yusuf and Ismail should start with me, but the principal said at least a year spent in Primary school should be enough for the other two boys.

Believe me, I started school that same day and I did not like it at all. Honestly, it was hardly religious here against what Imam Danjuma expects from a good Muslim. I tried not to make a big deal out of the whole situation, eventually, my dad will agree the change is not good and besides, he will soon need me on the farm anyway. It is just a matter of time before everything goes back to how it was…so I thought.

After a month in school we wrote the continuous assessment test and today, we will be getting the results from the test. It was a different atmosphere in school, everyone was tensed as if their next breath of fresh air depends on the result. What is wrong with people?

Corper David our class teacher walked in with our answers marked sheets and started calling names. You should have seen the look on my classmates' faces.

“Abubakar Tango” corper David called

“Yes sir” I replied, got up from my seat and moved towards him. “See me after school is over today, okay?”

I looked at him for some seconds and said “Yes sir."

My mind started going in circles, what does he want from me? I did well in the test, scoring 9/10.  By the time the school was over for the day, I carried my nylon bag of two exercise books and approached his table.

He looked up and said “Abu, you are here, very good”

see, the first rule with me is that I don’t like people calling me Abu. That made me frown a little.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes sir”

“Okay, I noticed you don’t talk to anybody in class or the school. You are always by yourself during breaks, you don’t play ball with the other boys. Is everything alright at home? Or you just don’t like the school?”

Now how does one answer this type of question? “nothing is wrong, I like the school”.

“What do you like to do then, it’s like you don’t like playing ball,” he said.

“I play ball, it’s just that I don’t know anybody in the school and me….” I faded out because I cannot explain what I feel. The true answer is that I don’t like the school, I don’t like corper David, he is a bad person, he goes about sleeping with married women in the school, I have caught him with Hajia Monsurat behind the boy’s toilet before, they did not see me looking.

“Try and mix up with the rest okay. You are a brilliant boy and I know you can make friends if you want to.”

“Okay, sir”. I left the school to join my father on the farm and on my way, I passed by the Mosque and saw Imam Danjuma sitting outside. He started beckoning at me to come to him.

“How are you?”

“Fine sir”

“I was beginning to think you guys have moved from this community. How are your father and your siblings? Are you now so busy on the farm that you no longer come to study in the mosque again?”

“No sir, I now attend Yakari Boy’s College and my siblings attend its primary school, that’s why?”

“Ahusubillahi!" Your father took you to Secondary school?! A true Muslim should not be found in places like that. I will talk to your father. But you see me on your way back from school tomorrow. You hear me?”

“Yes sir. Thank you, sir” He continued to mumble his surprise as I walked away.

Imam Danjuma is my getaway ticket from that God-forsaken school. Finally, Allah’s plan will be fulfilled.

                                                              ***********

At 5:30 am the following morning, I heard a chant of a group of people that sounded like men by my window. It sounded aggressive and disturbing. I was scared. I heard my dad open the door from his room towards the sitting room and went to peep through the window to see what was going on, but I bet he did not see much since it was still dark outside. He then came to our room and told us to stay inside and not leave our room, by then Yusuf and Ismail were already awake and I could hear Aisha when my dad went to her room too.

My mom and the other wives joined my dad in the sitting room and they made sure the entrance was safe and valuables are properly hidden in case it was armed robbers. But not too long after then, Imam Danjuma knocked on our door and asked to speak with my father privately.

We all knew this was not a usual visit, it was too early, to say the least. My father stepped outside the house with him and later came back inside and was talking with my mother, by then, we already knew we were safe after seeing the Imam, so we were in the sitting room with our mothers with Amina still sleeping on Aisha’s lap.

My father entered with a disturbing look on his face and called my mother aside to whisper something to her. She glanced at me as she listens to my father and I think I heard her say “Let us remove him from that place now o.”

“Stop shouting woman, I will see what I can do, but as for today, none of the boys is going to school until I have some answers to what is going on in this community,” my father said.

And just like an ocean wave rolling backwards, the chanting faded off and my father said

"Abubakar, you will not be going to school today. Apart from the girls, all my sons are to join me on the farm nothing later than 7 o'clock this morning. You hear me?!"

I Ismail and Yusuf chorused "Yes sir".

After our breakfast, the three sons of Alhaji Tango marched towards Tango tomatoes farm when suddenly we heard fast footsteps behind us. We turned to look behind us and there were three men with two appearing to be in their late twenties and a very young boy around my age with a gun on their shoulder.

One of the three men moved closer to us "Hey! Stop there! Danduruwa! where are you going?"

I answered, "To our farm".

"Where is your farm?".

I pointed towards the direction of our farm "Down there".

"Ehen. What is your name?"

"Abubakar Tango" I replied.

Then the one about my age range said "He is the one the father took to Yankari Community College to escape".

The first guy suddenly got agitated and forcefully held me by the hand "Oya, take us to that your father that thinks white man school should take the place of Allah. "All of you march forward!" and he pushed me forward towards our farm.

I cannot deny I was afraid, I have never seen this level of violence except when a chicken or cow is being killed by people who are not our kins. I began to think of the best way to handle this. For sure they are going to harm my father, So I planned something once we are close to the farm. Oh! by the way, Yusuf already peed himself immediately he saw men with guns. I would have too if I did not see my age mate carrying a gun.

As we approached the farm, I began to cry out loudly to summon the attention of other farmers around my father's farm and the first guy that approached us landed a slap at the back of my neck. "keep quiet!" he shouted at me, but I kept crying.

My father ran towards us and began to ask the men what we have done wrong and the guy that slapped me said "He has done wrong because you are his father. He has a coward for a father. I will make an example of you to other families. Nobody! Should take their children to a white man's school. It is an abomination to Allah and your family is a disgrace!"

Farouq's father, Alhaji Ali and some other farmers around came from their farms to intercede for us, but things only got intense until Imam Danjuma was quickly called to settle the matter. As the men left, my dad took us back home and none of us went back to the farm for that day.

Nothing else was said in our neighbourhood throughout, people kept coming to our house for an update of the story and my father kept recounting with the anger that somehow did not surface when he saw those men with guns beating me up.

At about 9 pm, Five men knocked our front door down and shouted "Alhaji Tango Come out now if you don't want to bury your family!"

I was awake but unable to move on the bed, Ismail was holding on to my shoulder with cold hands when suddenly I heard a gunshot in our living room.