When The Light Dims

CHAPTER 10: SOPURU

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed"
-2 Corinthians 4:8-9.

The dry season came and went but no one came looking for me. As I mobbed the floors, Mama Teta passed with a plate of food. She sat comfortably on the mat and cleared the plate without glancing in my direction. I was still staring at her when she looked up. I immediately turned to the ground I was mobbing.

"If you think I would feed you this morning, you are crazy."

"I thought you said you would feed me if I work for you."

She laughed hysterically, clapping her hands.

"Do you think you have started work? When you start, I would feed you."

"And when would that be?" I asked her, standing with the rag in my hand.

"Grab the biggest bowl and net." She headed out. I did as she ordered and followed her.

We got to a river. The fishermen in Greenville, already had their canoes in the water and had started casting their nets.

Mama Teta walked up to a man on a white polo who was standing beside some canoes. She asked for one of them. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"You know how we do it here." He rubbed his index finger and thumb together with a smirk. "Cold water."

She hissed and brought out a couple of notes from her pocket. His smirk widened as the notes touched his palms. When he noticed me, his smirk fell off his face.

"yo' pikin?" He raised a brow at me.

"No, no, no." She shook her head as though I was a plague. "House help o."

The man frowned but didn't say anything. He helped us push the canoe into the water. Mama Teta requested me to climb in. She cast her net into the water.

"Come here. You will learn how to be fishing for me."

She easily caught a fish. "Your turn." She handed the net to me.

My hands shook as I cast the net into the water. I stood, waiting for a catch. For the first time since I found myself there, I could see what I really looked liked. My hair was so puffy, it bounced on my neck. Bubbles stirred to the surface of the water as some blue fishes swam towards the net. I laid in anticipation. The uneasy feeling had evaporated and I was dying to catch my first fish. When they got closer, mama Teta threw a stone into the water. They swam away in an instant.

"I would have caught that." I gave her an exasperated glare.

"Catch that basowa," she yelled. She pointed to a bigger fish that had found its way into my net. "Remain here and catch more basowa until you fill this bowl."

I knew I would be here till dusk at the rate I was catching fish.

"Don't pass the red lines," she shouted before leaving.

I cast my net into the water and waited again. Time flew as I sat in the canoe. I had only caught 2 more basowas. There was no way I would finish before night fall. I looked over the red lines to find other fishermen packing numerous amounts of fish with their nets. No wonder I was only receiving a few. I rowed the canoe closer to the red lines. When I remembered her words, I dropped the paddle.

I sat there like a good little girl. Fishermen began to leave till my canoe was the last in the river. The full moon danced into view and illuminated her beauty on the surface of the water but I had only caught five. Mama Teta would be furious if she met the bowl half-filled but fortunately for me, she was nowhere in sight.

I ventured further into the deeper ends of the river beyond the red lines. I would just go over and get enough before she came for me. I cast the net again. In a few minutes, the net was packed with a lot of basowas. I tugged at the net but it was too heavy to lift. I arched my back over the canoe to lift the net. The boat wavered and capsized, knocking me straight into the icy water. The fishes escaped as I flapped my hands, trying to push to the surface but the water kept dragging me down. I beat furiously against the water as it seeped into my nostrils.

I was dragged up by strong arms to land. I felt as though a large block of cement had been placed on my head.

"Are you okay?" a coarse voice asked.

It was the man selling canoes from earlier today.

"Yes," I coughed.

"Can you find your way back home?"

I couldn't remember the turns and corners of the road. I looked towards the path we came from; it was dark and lonely. The truth was that I was more terrified of going back to Mama Teta than getting lost.

"No," I murmured.

"Come. I know the way." He lifted me to my feet and held my right hand. "Stay close to me."

Mama Teta was outside. Once she saw us, she stormed towards us. She had questions written all over her face. The man was the first to speak.

"Don't be angry. She fell into the river and I saved her."

"And so? Where is my fish?"

I immediately hid myself behind him.

"Teta, pity the poor child. It wasn't her fault."

The air went still for a bit and I peeked from behind to see her reaction. Her anger had doused.

"Go inside," she threw at me.

I met bread on the table. I had no idea how hungry I was until I dug into my plate. A loud smack came down hard on my back, sending ripples of excruciating pain through my body. Mama Teta continued to hit me even as I screamed for her to stop.

"Stupid child! You are eating my food after losing all my fish."

She rained  spanks on my body. When the pain became unbearable, I ran out .

"Come back here, fool!" she spat.

I fell in the sand when my legs got tired. Every inch of my body hurt. The monsters in my head awakened. They spilled all my fears. I could be here for the rest of my life, suffering to survive. This bitter truth terrified me the most. I listened as the bully of waves splashed against the rocks in the ocean. It soothed the mental pain away but couldn't heal my scars.