Victor's War and Odyssey

SUNRISE

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my parents Mr. and Mrs. Babajide and to my brother and sisters, Femi and Bukky Babajide. Also I also dedicate it to Ololade Adewole my fiancé for believing in me even more than myself and finally to God Almighty the source of all wisdom, knowledge, understanding and inspiration.

CHAPTER 1: GENESIS

C hildren, Children get up, he heard. The sound was loud and deafening. He had been trekking in the jungle for days without food. Occasionally, he plucked mangoes from the trees and ate with the other children but that was it. As he got up to take his bath with the other children, he remembered when he was taken away from his father. It was a quiet night like any other when soldiers ransacked his little town and finally his house. They raped his mother right in front of him and like a horror movie, shot his father and took him away. Since then, life had been from one hell to the other. By now anyway, he was now a man as military drill, training and war had taken away the last vestiges of humanity he had. Now, he woke up every morning feeling like a true warrior he had been made to believe he was. As soon as he got up from the grass, he ran towards the river near their encampment and simply swam in it. The river was the only way of escaping into a world of comfort. All around him was war and bloodshed and he was used to it. He bathed with the other children in the water and soon, the soldier ordered them out of the water. Victor and the other boys rushed out of the water in a hurry. By the time the boys were out of the water, the soldiers were standing right in front of them. He shook with fear as the soldiers looked at him and all the boys as he knew another military drill had started. They were all looking aggressive and fearsome. The most fearsome of all these soldiers was a young man called Festus. He was standing in front of all his other soldiers and he was looking at the children with a stern, hard look that could even make the sun to stop shining in the sky. The man was young but bald-headed and his body was covered all over the place with tattoos. The man stood, looked at them for some time and said Now you boys must be ready, because we have action for this evening, now, all of you, change to your clothes in that tent nearby and let us get going. The man’s voice was as fearsome as the voice of Almighty God himself and as soon as he finished talking, all the boys ran into their tents and changed to their crude military wears.

The tent the children slept in was a little room with clothes scattered all over the place. Victor was the first to enter the small dwelling place as he was more or less a kind of leader of his fellow child soldiers. He was a tall muscular boy, a little bit manly for his age. He entered the tent and searched around until he saw his pile of clothes just where he had kept it in a corner. He ran as fast as possible and soon enough, he was wearing the crude military clothes he and the other children had to wear. He looked at his clothes. They were tight fitting and cute. He could easily move around in the clothes he was wearing. He was still admiring his clothes when he felt a hand pulling him by the shoulder. He wondered who it was and it was Godwin his best friend ever since he became a child soldier. Come on, it’s time for the drill, the soldiers are calling us. He said with a sense of urgency in his voice. In fact, Godwin did not just pull him by the shoulder, he dragged him along by the hand and he almost staggered as his friend dragged him along. Godwin was naturally very fast and athletic even more athletic than him.

They were soon out of the tent anyway and ready for the military drill. The soldiers led them to some open space in the bush and told them to stand at attention. By now, the sun was coming out in all its glory and even the very ground they stepped on was very hot. The sun beat down on all the child soldiers with all its might but then by now, he was used to the sum. The soldiers had trained him will and toughened him up for war. The soldiers ordered them and they marched with military precision like the true soldiers they were. Victor always loved marching because it seemed like dancing to him. Left, right, about turn! Their trainers shouted in typical military fashion. The marching was soon over anyway and then the real training began. The soldiers thought them all sorts of combat techniques and strategies. They thought them how to shoot, dodge enemy bullets, fight with knives and so on. Victor in particular was now a sharp shooter who could target any moving object from a long distance. In fact, he was a real marksman with the gun and was close to being an expert. The training lasted for a few hours until it was afternoon. When it was afternoon, the boys were allowed to relax a little bit and at last, they were given some food. Victor was glad about this as he had not eaten a decent meal for a long time and this was one of those rare times he had a heavy meal to eat. After the meal, the soldiers in the bush started advancing in a particular direction. Victor did not know where they were going to but he just had to obey orders. They moved in the bush until they got to a place and they rested. The soldiers simply walked round the boys as it seemed to him that they were getting ready for a major military operation. At last, one of the soldiers addressed the child soldiers and told them exactly what they were supposed to do. Victor’s brain raced with excitement as he heard the command. The settlement or small town they were about to attack was within a stone’s throw from where they were. He could see them, unsuspecting civilians who did not know what was about to befall them.

Immediately the commander gave the orders, all the soldiers attacked at once. It was a semi-rural arrear not far from the town and they were totally unprepared for it. Victor and the other child soldiers followed the soldiers out of the bush as they embarked on their mission to loot, kill and plunder like the biblical devil. They shot in the air and ran inside the small town causing all sorts of havoc. Victor and Godwin (the 2 jolly friends) in particular followed with great zeal and excitement. It seemed the soldiers were about to prove a point, as they looted and vandalized everywhere. By now, Victor was a trained soldier and he participated in everything his older brothers in the army did. He actually raped a woman there as the older soldiers raped and ordered him to take his turn and rape her. At first, he hesitated as he found it disgusting but then he just had to do it. The soldiers threatened to kill him if he did not obey their orders and so he promptly complied. He jumped on the woman and raped her with all the sexual energy in him while the other soldiers watched in glee. The disgusting thing about this was the fact that the woman must have been at least twice his age; it was sacrilegious and very abominable. HELP, HELP, HELP! the woman cried out, her voice renting the room she was in but then, nobody answered her. After this, the other soldiers shot the woman’s husband and they looted his house for any cash or valuable they could lay their hands on. Victor in turn helped himself to any money he saw. It seemed to him that looting was the only way he and the other soldiers could get themselves some money. The soldiers were soon done with their violent activity and they went back inside the bush. They actually burnt a lot of houses and by the time they left the place, a large column of smoke emitted from the buildings and there was fire everywhere. In fact, the small town was a mixture of fire and smoke, death and destruction pervaded everywhere. All the looting and killing made him to feel excited and at the same time disgusted. He felt that he had just made some people to be miserable and in addition, he was now a murderer. On the other hand, he liked the sense of control the gun gave him anyway. It seemed to him both the heaven and the earth bowed down to him whenever he had the gun in his hand. They walked far into the bush until they found somewhere to camp for the day.

It was a large clearing in the middle of the forest surrounded by enormous trees. The trees looked very funny and big to him; he had not seen trees that were like that before. He was relieved they could rest at last anyway. The soldiers set up camp there and they could rest for the day. By now it was afternoon and the sun was coming out in all its glory. Of course, the children lived separate from the adults and so Victor and his friend Godwin had to go and live apart from their torturers and fathers. Immediately he got into his bed space, he slept off. The exertion from killing and rapping made him feel a little tired and he just got on the bed. It was a little dusty mattress on the bare floor of the jungle and it was not something that will make someone really comfortable but he had grown so used to such a hard life that he did not even notice. His friend Godwin was right beside him and he could already hear him snoring loudly. As he looked at his best friend, suddenly he noticed something. There was a large blood stain on his trousers. He could see this stain despite the fact that it was dark. His friend had become a murderer like him. Despite the war going on, he kept a little diary. He went to school before the war started and he could still read and write. The diary was full of his personal, private thoughts that helped to relieve him from all the carnage that was going on. He echoed and poured his most intimate thoughts and feelings into his little book. He always carried a biro with him wherever he went. He wrote with all his might about the day’s activities and then he went to sleep. He had a strange dream that night anyway.

He had not seen or even heard of that kind of dream before. In the dream, he saw a large crowd of people chasing him until he got in front of the river and this made him to be really afraid. This is because the people chasing him were armed with bow and arrows and all sorts of powerful weapons. He jumped into the river but as he jumped into it, the river became full of blood and it was like he was drowning in rivers of blood. As he swam, it seemed to him as if he was drowning and about to die. In fact, a lot of blood had entered into his mouth before he woke up from sleep while sweating all over. It was deep into the midnight by now and suddenly, he felt a little restless and energetic. It seemed his body had had enough rest and he was ready for action, any type of action. He got up from his little mattress and moved all over the little tent. His fellow child soldiers were fast asleep and some of them were even snoring. He just paced up and down until he felt a little weak and then lay on his bed again. This time around, he just starred at the roof wondering at the meaning of everything that was going on. In the first place, he did not know who or what he was fighting for. He did not even know when the war began for the war started before he was born and he did not know when the war will end. All he knew was that some soldiers dragged him into the bush and here he was moving from one place to the other in the forest. He felt like Egbere the spirit his Grand-father used to tell him about when he was very young. His grand-father told him that there was a spirit called Egbere that lived in the forest. Every now and then, the spirit comes out of the forest in the form of an ugly monster to kill people before going back inside the forest. Nobody knew where those spirits were coming from and even how they appeared. These spirits came, killed as many people in the village and then disappeared only to appear all over again. He had been horrified when his grand-father told him this fairy tale but the tragic thing was that he himself was becoming an Egbere, one of those fearful monsters. It seemed to him that his grand-father was talking about him. He indeed was gradually becoming a monster. He was no longer that sweet innocent child who rested on his grand-father’s laps. He wished he could travel back in time and rest again on his laps. All this war brutalized his soul and made him feel he was 45 years old even though he was only 15 years of age.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he thought of his grand-father’s gentle laps. You see Victor had a soft and tender heart but all this war was confusing his soul and he did not know what to make out of the whole situation. He just lay starring at the ceiling all night wondering if he could run away. He was in this position for a long time until he fell asleep once again. He woke up early the next morning with the brilliant sunshine cuddling and caressing the tent where he was like a mother cuddling her baby. The sunshine made him to feel energetic and alive. Like a typical youth, he felt ready and rearing to go. By now, the soldiers were shouting for the children to come out for their daily ration of food and their military drill. He was charged with energy by now and he was one of the first people to rush out for their daily food ration. He ran with all his energy as the soldiers stood in front of the tent with loud whistles in their hands. They looked as fierce as ever and they blew their whistles with all the strength in them. They were to receive their morning ration of food and water just beside the tent. The slave girls they had abducted were supposed to serve them their daily bread. The children were hungry anyway and they rushed out for their ration with all the strength in them. Victor was in front of the line and he thought he was leading the line when Godwin overtook him at full speed. This surprised him as Godwin kept on leaping like a kangaroo. Ever since he knew him, Godwin’s athletic ability always surprised him. If Godwin had not been a child soldier, he could have been running in the Olympics. He just watched him as he got to the place they were serving food before anybody else.

Soon, all the children were there gnawing away at the piece of bread and butter like hungry lions in a zoo. Strangely, everybody was quiet as they ate. He himself felt as quiet as them but in a strange way, he could feel their pain with them. It seemed to him that nobody in the slave camp was happy. It seemed that their souls united into one and there was a powerful, almost spiritual bond between them. As they were eating, he looked at Godwin’s face and telepathically, he could understand what was going on in his mind. He seemed as confused, lost and angry as he felt and it was written all over him. The sadness that pervaded the air was so much that he could touch it.  As the sadness and quietness pervaded the air, he suddenly heard a sweet and sonorous voice. It sounded like sweet music he had never heard before.  The music was a manifestation of their common experience and humanity. He wondered where it was coming from until he noticed that it was the Godwin that was singing. The song went like this

In the darkness of the jungle

And in the pain of my heart

Yet I will see my papa

In the confusion of my heart

On the day this sorrow shall end

We shall kill our captors

We shall see our fathers again

Anger and Confusion in our hearts

Sorrows sang together in unity

We sing together as one

We shall see our father again

At first, everybody first of all listened to him as he sung sweetly as it was a new song but then children learn fast anyway and soon, all the other children sang along with him. It was an expression of the deepest sorrow of their heart and as they sang, it seemed their hearts united together as one. Victor of course, sang along with them. Because of the song they were singing, their meal took longer than usual. In fact, some of the children forgot about their hunger and simply sang along with the other children. As the song went on, it seemed to lift their souls even if only for a few minutes. The song went on for some time and their voices grew louder and better until they suddenly heard the sound of gunshots in the air. All the children were shocked and turned in the direction of the sound. To their surprise, they saw the soldiers standing in front of them looking like the dragons they always made themselves to be. The children fell silent all of a sudden and they just sat there shell shocked, not knowing what to say or think. The soldiers stopped shooting and just starred long and hard at them. This stalemated silence kind of lasted for some time until one of the soldiers spoke up. His name was Malick and he was a short muscular man with very athletic features. The man had a deep,