Sekinat: Muted Voices

Chapter 24

About a quarter of an hour into the homeward trip, they were both covered in a thin film of dusty debris and errant foliage. The dirt clung tenaciously to both the bike and their bodies fluttering wildly in the incoming breeze blowing in their faces. They blundered on through clearings and bushes, emerging onto the mutilated tarred road with dotted gouges leading to centre of their town.

Even as they negotiated numerous potholes dotting the long stretch of road leading to town, they had already begun to perceive a sense of the palpable apprehension pervading the tensioned atmosphere.

They met groups of inhabitants both old and young gathered on both sides of the road in clusters of fours and fives. Small groups of children excited by the activity but oblivious to happenings around them, were running in between the crowds their gales of childish laughter punctuating the frightful murmur of the converged adults.

As the motorcyclist finally found a good spot and slowed down then parked his motorcycle, both Sekinat and the driver got down stretched before brushing away errant twigs hanging all over them as the driver still held on to the handle bar with his right hand. He silently gestured in the distance to a thick cloud of smoke in the horizon, as Sekinat's eyes followed the direction of his hand. Her heart skipped several beats once again praying that the smoke will be a far and harmless distance from her immediate neighbourhood and her daughters.

Unable to drive through the crowd Sekinat bid the driver farewell and set off on her own through the crowd.

The closer she got to the turn off signifying general entrance to her neighbourhood, the stronger the attendant haze of thick black smoke was to her nostril. An overpowering smell of burnt rubber mixed with cordite and kerosene and gasoline continually assailed her every senses. Even from a far distance she could already feel the smoke assaulting her eyes as she blinked rapidly, and wiped away errant tears as a result of the contaminated toxic smoke assaulting her sight.

Sekinat finally approached the last turn off to her street and beheld with dismay and a mounting sense of alarm a roiling mass of crowd milling about amidst obvious carnage, and destruction everywhere she looked. She observed many people crying while the motel few houses away from the mosque, postured a grotesque image of misshapen rubble.

There were exposed iron bars poking out of mashed up and soot blackened concrete ruins. While suggestive smoke ensued from half burnt household items, in addition to bits of burnt shoes and clothing strewn all over the floor. In a state of stupefied shock, Sekinat stood there transfixed as she beheld shocking spectacle she had come upon, in the midst of burnt out wreckage of soot covered block work and twisted metals and roofing.

She sighted men and women in orange and lemon coloured high visibility jackets and facial covering as they hurried in and out of the burnt out shells, carrying stretchers laden with human remains. Some of the victims they wheeled out into waiting ambulances were still groaning in agony, while others were evidently past caring for by the medical personnel. They covered the dead with plastic covering as they pushed them into ambulances parked along the street, sirens wailing mournfully as though heralding approach of its cargo.

She quickly scanned faces in the crowd but didn't recognise any of the faces then hurried through the crowd at a fevered and frenetic pace. Her children had to be located in this confusing carnage she repeated over and over under her breath, praying fervently as she did so. She urgently pushed through the hysterical crowd, desperately scanning for a familiar face she could enquire from regarding whereabouts of her children. All the trauma laden faces she met were unknown to her, virtual strangers who all seemed as anxious and frightened as she was.

She finally managed to navigate through the frenzied crowd, finally bursting through to relative peace and quiet near her compound. She uttered silent thanks as she heaved a sigh of relief. The calm and quietude that welcomed her gave a measure of reassurance that the carnage did not even extend to their line. There was nobody outside when she arrived, but when she inched closer to the sheds leading to her section she began to sight few people outside who gave her furtive glances. Their reaction mystified her, at the same time increasing her sense of unease. The suggestive reaction cast a pall of unease which drove her forward, as she quickly reached her door but found it padlocked from the outside.

Her heart dropped heavily, then began a series of rapid palpitations. At a loss on what next to do she paused to briefly gather her thoughts, just then she heard a muted commotion which seemed to be coming from the backyard section where her only friend lived.

Exhilarated as a flash of clarity beamed into her consciousness, she realised her daughters were probably being sheltered in her friend's house. Sekinat mentally kicked herself for the needless worry she had put herself through, as her heart beasts slowed down considerably.

She briskly navigated through the narrow passageway towards her friend's room at the back of the compound.

As she emerged in the small shared courtyard marking the approach to her friend's room, she beheld a surprising sight made up of virtually all her neighbours either seated or standing in various poses and positions looking morose and mournful.

Their immediate response mirrored that of the neighbours she had seen earlier, on sighting her many of the women and girls simply burst into silent sobs, wiping their tears with the corner of their wrappers. The men folk head downcast simply looked upon her mournfully, then shook their head sadly before looking away in the horizon.

Confused and overcome by an overwhelming sense of alarm, she rushed through the crowd gathered to her friend's room and pushed the door open.