Sundown

Chapter Three

The mothers began crying loudly after a sudden silence. But neither me, Yusuf or Ismail could move out of the single bed we shared that is now socked with cold sweats.

"Father!" I heard Aisha's voice and I found the courage to go out to see for myself what has happened.

As I stepped into the living room, I saw my father lying on the floor holding on to his chest as if he is holding on to a bitter cola in his breast pocket and fell asleep doing so and his blood formed a pool flowing out of his back.

"Abubakar, they took mother away with them o!" Aisha tearfully said.

It was at that moment I looked around the room and saw that both Yusuf and Ismail were in the living room too, every one of us fixed our eyes on father's body lying cold on the floor.

Father's second wife, Amina rushed out of the house crying, everyone else crying over Alhaji's body. With no idea how to get my mother back.

While we were there, Yusuf's mother came back with Imam Danjuma and some adults, by now, Farouq and his father were already in our house. Imam asked that the remaining two wives clean my father up of the blood and he joined them in my father's room to wrap him up in a white cloth.

Two adults that followed Imam to our house carried him to the cemetery. The Imam said some prayers and my father's body was dropped inside the hole that was dug up and I was asked to throw in some sand on his body with a shovel after Aisha and my other siblings did the same while the mothers helped the toddlers carry out their rites.

We were led back to the house by the Imam and the adults, the wives were still crying all this time.

While standing outside our house, the Imam expressed his grief for the Tango Family and the a*******n of my mother and prayed Allah shows his mercy to deliver us from the unrest and bring my mother back home safely. He promised to do all he can to make sure my mother returns in one piece.

Honestly, till now, I cannot tell exactly how I feel, I was scared, angry, but most of all I blame my dead father for bringing this upon our family by taking me to that school.

As I stand there in my frozen thoughts, Imam came to me and said "Today, you have become a man overnight and I want you to know that everyone has to live their destiny and it is time for you to start living your destiny, my son".

I bowed my head while he continued "If you want your mother back alive, you have to join the men. The war is calling you to battle son". He patted me on the back and said "Be at the mosque by 7 pm today, I have to officially introduce you". He said and left.

While he walked away, I could not take my eyes off him. The Imam had killed my father. I cannot say a thing until my mother is back safely and it will be too late for me to even say anything because I would have been one of the men by then.

My family had thanked the man who killed my father for burying him. Oh! Shame on my father.