“Get up you lazy bastard.” Her piercing hatred-filled voice snapped him from his sleep. As he rose from his dingy bed his half naked body met with a bucket-full of ice-cold water. As cold as the water was, he really didn’t feel its bite. After all he had endured a long cold night coiled under an old curtain that passed on as his blanket. The unending pain he felt from the hunger that had become his daily bread bothered him more than anything that surrounded him. It had been weeks since he had enjoyed a decent meal.
A beast of burden was all he was. All the menial tasks and every other thing around his aunt’s house was his to do. From the breaking of dawn till the setting of the sun he knew no rest. He quickly rose from the dung-smeared earthen floor where he slept gathering up his reed mat and curtain to hang for drying. His abode was a small back room, which doubled up as a storeroom. He loved his loneliness, as it was the only thing that gave him comfort, as he would wonder into another world where everything would be perfect for him.
He half trotted to the kraal so he would quickly let the cattle graze in the main paddock and get back to the household chores that waited for him back in the main house. As he entered into the farmhouse, the warm ambience that engulfed the house embraced and somehow seemed to offer him a little comfort telling him that all was going to be ok with him. Quietly he went about doing his chores in the house from the dirty dishes to the floors. He was under strict instructions not to wake any of his cousins and niece who usually slept till mid-morning.
As he closed the door to leave he heard a soft whisper from inside the house. It was Fari, the youngest of his aunt’s four sons. He shoved a crudely packaged oval object into his hand and quickly pushed him out of the doorway. He tottered back to his room to pick up the bag of maize he was supposed to take to the grinding mill. He opened up the package on his way and it was an apple, some bread slices and a few pieces of meat all crumbled up together. A tear burned down on his left cheek as his eyes flooded with tears.
From that day onwards Fari would clandestinely feed him with whatever he could steal from the house. They never really talked as he was forbidden to talk to them and half the time he was busy around the farm. But deep down inside they both felt the unique bond they shared. The other boys were really rough with him and clearly showed their disdain every time they saw him. All this pain would now be a memory as he packed his few belongings the night before he fled to the city. Fari had given him a few dollars from his pocket money and somehow they both knew what he needed to do. A new dawn awaited him and he felt a new lease of life as he embarked on his journey that morning. He took one last look at what had been his home and he turned his back to face what lay ahead of him. He bit his lower lip as he strengthened himself for the journey of his life. This was the beginning of his story.
Watch out for Part 2
#Writer - #RansomeChimonyo
