THE LAND OF THE DEEP

The River

CHILIOMA

Impure and muddy comapred to its former self I recall fondly as a child this was amongst the very few memories I could call good . It used to be clean, clear and beautiful under the scorching dry season sun .

Running with my underwear from a home I could barely remember it was just a house to me now, in that house there was never a mother in the picture none on the walls just me and my father .He was walking behind me and I was trying to stay ahead, moving as fast as my four years old barefoot could take me Our town settlement a one mile walk from the river bank and the home to a grand port when fishing was still a considered trade . This was one of the few places that still had flowing water running it's course , even after the great drought the people of this land were blessed with water from the vast ocean flowing down into our creek

I remember running into the River's cold embrace a cooling relief from the scorching heat. Father standing firmly behind me to avoid my body straying or getting carried by the currents fortunately being born by the water,

it was no suprise that I and almost every child my age and younger could easily navigate the current of the banks. I'd play all day till the sun was setting and the Night became alive. Then the smell of camp fires ,roasted cow meat, beer for the elder ones and the homemade fruit drinks for the kids would fill the air. We were celebrating the rising of another full moon and month's end .

It was a double celebration cause this also marked the last full moon of the year of blessings and provision, another year when the world was content, and we had alot and enough to celebrate. Native Barriwerre music blasting uniting women , men and children in the spirit of dance, everyone moving hands and swaying hips to sounds of the 'Ekèwe'.

I always enjoyed watching the lead of the local band, an elderly man dressed in nothing but a red and white cap with "Urģe" a traditional cotton wrappe that came in different designs and colors tied around his waist and one on his shoulder. He took a seat behind the rectangular wooden hollow drum his sturdy hands would hit the two squares cut in the centre of the 'Ekèwe' with his square flat drum sticks covered in finished material matching the "Urģje" he wore. The way he controlled the rhythm of the entire beat and performance ,was like watching a king run his kingdom. His crew was made up of men playing local cow hide drums and Ivory flutes along with four women dressed in thesame "Urģje"

red ,green a mix of different vibrant colors. The magic was the way they swayed back and forth with the 'Shėrèkre' the beads colorful as the ceremonial garb they wore ,was placed like a netting over the finished wooden oval top and their hands firmly gripping and shaking it's narrow but firm handle creating their own rhythm but following the 'Ekèwe' drummer's lead. Last but best part of thew crew were the dancers, with a perfect routine and dressed in colorful costumes as the rest of the crew. They were adorned with wooden oval locally made bead on their hands and feet and waists. I watched as they would move in unison all six women would bend low and shake their hands in the air worshiping the mermaid Goddess 'Akaso' , then they would bend their waist moving it left ,right then left again the beads moving along to the their bodies it was truly a sight to behold.

Holding on to a newspaper filled with roasted and grilled cow meat know as ' Suryà made and distributed by the far northern tribe that travelled for buisness and settlement in our humble town amongst other Tribes. I sat on the cold sand with my father and watched as the moon shone big blue and glorious illuminating the river , it looked like a perfect stairway to heaven that time was the most beautiful moment but that was many years ago those memories felt surreal compared to now .The discovery of black gold and the mining of it came years before I was born And now due to much negligence and other factors, the climate change along with Intense heat was just a few side effect of the pollution. The river was a perfect depiction and a clear evidence of destruction, It only displayed an oily rainbow of sorts, indicating the mix of oil and water alot had changed, from clear blue to a opaque brown.

There was no glory left in the river at night or day, non biodegradable waste gathered the entire banks so thick you could walk half a Mile atop it, before reaching the river itself not that anyone attempted to do so . There were no more full moon fests , no celebration of abundance and no laughter another side effect but this was a deeper kind the pollution it was the corruption of a society.

Alot of People moved to the banks cause of the c*****e left behind.

I would never forget the sounds of houses crashing and burning our beautiful river bank settlement had become used as the entrance to a city port we were not allowed to visit and I was one of them. The icing on the cake was the bridge, that was built Over the river adding to the crisis years ago. They kept reinforcing and making it stronger over the Time Maybe they thought it was to keep the waste far away even if they were the cause of the defiling of society and environment ... well we all were.

No one attempted entering the river cause there was nothing but the horrid stench of death , but alot of people made some money from Smuggling ,accumulating metal objects and canned beverages that gathered at the banks . I happened to be among the accumulating party but was very aware of the smuggling routes,with time my father would find a way to get me into that too.

The river that morning even in it's impurity still had some wonder hidden behind it's depths at least to me

I still saw the ability for it to go back to it's perfect self , the task of picking out metal objects that might be floating beneath the bank was my least favorite job but i tried to find joy in all these things. Today something was different, I felt a force driving me and so I paddled my barely sturdy canoe ,a little deeper next to a bottom pillar supporting the bridge , I stuck the net holding on to the wooden handle digging deeper and pushing through the surface of a bunch of VAE bottle water, the frequent booze bottle , unlabeled so you know it was the cheap home brewed stuff.

The bottles were also part of my bounty along with the canned carbon soda and beers I resold them ,it was very famous around these parts .

I anchored my boat to the pillars for support then my bounty into it , I began picking through the weed and satchet water ,grass and mud and other unwanted things throwing them back into the river then my eyes caught a flash of something metal hanging on to the bottom of the net. I retrieved it and tried my best to rinse away the mud an could finally make out what it was.

A locket , a very valuable locket I held on to it and starred longer it was made of silver and the it had engravings I could not quite make out. I opened it up and saw a Jewel encrusted in it's centre. It was valuable I could tell but I did not intend to hand this along with the scrap metal to my father he would sell it for some stupid price.

The locket looked like something that should be held dear , the owner did not throw this away but lost it I was sure And so decided to keep it for myself .

I put it in the pocket of my dirty old and thorn raincoat , I still got wet when the storm increased but wore it cause it still did some shielding and prevented my only jacket from getting totally drenched .

I searched through the river for a while longer scavenging for more than thirty minutes before coming to the conclusion that nothing was actually left here for me and frankly I felt thesame way about this settlement .

I unhinged then paddled the boat away from the pillars of the bridge towards the only form of open space we had and that was because of the settlement dock that was barely reinforced.

We weren't allowed on the other side of the bridge where the gate to the main port was located ,

In its glory days fishermen gathered with spoils for export round the city down to the southern parts of the Clan. yet another side effect from the contamination the only trade that was done here was of metal and smuggled goods .

I got on the platform and tied one end of an already made knot on my boat and grabbed on to the other end as I climbed the dock. Ignoring the hustle and bustle of the early scrap market behind me and pulling the boat towards the platform then to the side and finally out of the water.

Greeting the familiar faces around me and ignoring the cat calls from the people trying to buy off metals at cheaper rates to those without proper buyers and to the ones willing to just give up the day's turn out cause it was pitiful. I fell in none of those categories and so I pulled my canoe on the muddy sand inside was my bounty for the day the sack bag barely filled up and even lacking more in weight than last time.

My father would complain but I spent over four hours scavenging I think the river is empty now or the scrap had simply run out but then again there is no shortage of scrap cause the bottom of the bridge was a dumping site for alot of things. Heading towards my home, fashioned out of zinc and wood the exterior was a sore sight to behold , with little weeds gathering the perimeter and rust gathering the zinc it was pitiful not like the interior was any better .I got to the back of the house where my father had created a makeshift office as he liked to refer to it. In truth it was just a roofing that had one worn out bug ridden lounge chair and a small stool for drinking underneath. He was sitting there unfailingly hosting his little society of Moon dust patrons And his boys who worshipped him cause he had the best on the block. My father was the king of suppliers with various distributors,including me .

He was prepping me to take over the family business of being an old drunk ,dangerous, drug dealer .

As expected from afar he spotted me and shouted.

"My able pilot,executioner and 'Ekapara' you better have a good turn out for me"

The way he said that word 'Ekapara' , as my father's only child that was my title. He was aware of the way the neighbourhood and whom he was in this society, I was his only heir and that meant I had to be a boy or a girl I was aware of the expectations too .

marriage meant nothing here but if he could find a fellow brother in the circle or a son of a brother , then we would be an alliance And it would be my protection .It was his idea of looking out for me And in this society , this was the height of respect it could give a woman the other options were not very appealing .

So when he called me that ,the little part of me that still seeked his approval wanted to tell him ,right In front of his gang and say nothing was present but I had something to show him privately which he would be very much interested in ,when he was done with the men . Instead I erased the image from my head and sloughed my shoulders rather than raising them then said ,

"There was a sad Turnout , the scraps are getting further and further out"

He looked at me for a moment musing then said ,

"You and an extra party will journey further and earlier with the canoe and get it then "

I was about to protest that it was too risky but I resisted for good reason

I showed him the sack , he looked at me in the most condensing way and said

"go and change and prepare some food And try not to fail as a woman too.

He spat took a sip of his brew then continued

"the last soup you cooked was equal to rat piss"

All his men laughed at that, I discarded my bounty as quickly as i could retreating to my personal corner i could barely call it a room i got out of wet clothing, and had almost forgotten about the Locket it fell on the floor and i grabbed on to it quickly . Tying an 'urģje' around my waist I sat on my flat foam and stared at it for a long time.

There this thing about Locket it felt like it was trying to tell me something and i felt an attachment to it like I'd touched it before. After a while of staring I hid the locket under my mattress then went to prepare the meal that would last us the whole day.