Eric's eyes slowly blinked open as he gained consciousness. He got up and rubbed, still feeling the effects of his sleep. He could hear his father's footsteps coming closer and closer towards his door. Before he could have the chance to knock, Eric opened up the door just as his finger knuckle was nearing impact.
"You're awake." His father said, with a tone of surprise.
"Yeah. Should I get my stuff ready?" Eric asked.
"No, not yet. I have to find out if we can get a vehicle from Adut."
"Oh."
"Weren't you listening when me and Keji were talking?"
"No, I only listened to about a quarter of it." Eric said.
"Alright, but before we leave we have to buy some bandages for Lacy. The old woman called me last night and told me that she needs some bandages because she got burnt playing with the village boys. And we need to buy some meat and rice for them too before we leave Bentiu. So hurry up and go bathe and brush your teeth, so we can go to the market."
Eric nodded.
32 minutes later.
Eric was walking along with his father and Keji to Adut's garage. On the way he saw children his age and below playing hide and seek, both boys and girls. Some running and hiding behind houses, and others panicking and running to find a hiding spot quickly. As they were nearing the garage, Eric noticed women and children, wearing torn clothes that had several holes scattered across them. In each of their hands they held buckets of water that splashed on their feet as they walked. But suddenly they turned to look at him and his father, their eyes once a pair of windows for pain, anger, and frustration, were now mirrors reflecting their hatred. They glanced at Keji with the same unforgiving eyes, before they walked away with their children and buckets of water. In that moment images of Eric's dream blurred his mind. It was as clear as it has ever been, the screams, the crying, the smell of burning flesh all returned to him. He stopped walking, clutching his chest, his vision began to be engulfed by the darkness brewing within him. That same darkness embraced his body with its long arms. It used its fingers to caress his heart, his deep black heart, as deep as a crater, sealing and steaming whatever dark sins he has, sins that are unforgivable. But try as he might, he could not recall a sin he made that is deserving of his pain, of his torture. Eric was confused. His mind, a stormy sea, filled with heavy thoughts crashing down on him continuously, as his sins descended upon him, mixing his thoughts with his regrets, his past, or was it the future. He was unsure at this point. The sea was just too dark for him to think really. As he was swimming to nowhere, he began shaking, he didn't know if it was fear, or guilt or because of the cold sea, but despite this he continued swimming, swimming towards an unknown place that would grant him salvation. Because deep down, he wants to live, he wants to be happy.
As the grip on his heart got tighter, Eric's throat began closing up, everything around him was silent, the only origin of sound was his heartbeat, getting shallower and shallower. That black being whispered something to his ear, "Come find me at the graveyard, Southwest of the Northern world tree." All of a sudden his world was lit up with the bright light of the sun, now he can hear the children's laughter as they were found, he could also hear a voice, slowly getting louder.
"Eric." His father called him repeatedly.
"Y, yes."
"Are you ok? You stopped walking, and you were gripping your chest." His father said, with a worried voice.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"You sure."
Eric nodded.
"Alek, the boy is fine. You worry too much. He is your son, not your daughter. You will make him soft." Keji said, turning to face them.
Eric showed them an awkward smile.
"See, he is fine." Keji said.
Alek let out a soft, low sigh.
"Alright, tell me if you feel sick or tired or anything."
Eric nodded.
They resumed their walk to Adut's garage.
As they were walking Keji slowed his pace to be side by side with Eric.
"Eric, why are you so quiet? The last time I saw you, you wouldn't stop screaming and shouting."
Eric recalled the embarrassing memory of him running outside completely naked in the rain, exposing his private parts to a group of girls hurrying to their houses. And to make it worse they were laughing, even his own father couldn't help but let out a chuckle. He could remember it vividly, how he slapped his palm against his face, trying his best not to laugh.
Eric clenched his lips and nodded.
"That was because I was small, it was just a stage." Eric responded, not looking at Keji.
Eric could feel his hand shaking, he was still shaken up from the vision he experienced. His heart rate lowered, but still beated ferociously. A sweat glided down from his hair to his mouth. He ignored the salty sting on his tongue. Instead he focused more on what he was going to do about his visions. In his mind he was thinking, am I cursed, what did I do. Then he remembered a story that the maids and Mr. Deng told him about a creature called Jinamizi. Apparently it has the ability to manipulate dreams and make its victim see things. He also heard from the maids that they can also cause suffocation to torment its target. Remembering this he wondered if there was some type of church in the city or some spiritual person that could free him of this target. Eric wasn't one to believe in the supernatural, but in this case there wasn't much evidence for him to not believe in them. He was about to ask Keji about the churches, but he spoke before he could.
"So Eric, how has life been for you? Are you still playing football at your school?" He asked.
"Life has been ok. I'm not really playing football anymore. I got tired of it." He responded, gritting his teeth.
"What, I thought you said you wanted to be the next Messi when you grow up." He said, smirking.
"Yes, but I was small and stupid, and I didn't know any better."
"So do you plan to keep playing football, or are you going to stop?"
"I'm going to stop. Football isn't for me. At least not anymore." As he said this, he could feel tears forming in his eyes, ready to pour out violently, like an unstable dam.
Keji paused for a moment before responding.
"Eric, are you really going to give up on your dream? You shouldn't. How about after we check up on Adut we can go to the park and play."
Eric nodded.
A few minutes later they reached Adut's garage.
He was beneath a Jeep, with his tools, clanging as he was fixing it.
"Adut, guess who's here." Keji shouted.
Adut slid out underneath the vehicle. Seeing them he smiled, exposing his stainless white teeth. It's something Eric always noticed about him that he thought no one didn't.
"I didn't know you and Eric were coming. Why didn't you text me?" Adut said, with a huge smile imprinted on his face.
"I was, but I couldn't reach you for some reason."
"Oh, I forgot, service was gone for an entire month. That's why you couldn't reach me."
Eric scanned Adut from head to toe and noticed his entire body and face were covered in black oil. Even his once blue overalls were tainted by smudges of black. He walked towards them, fist projected towards Alek. Eric's father quickly understood, it was his and Adut's favourite way of greeting someone they haven't seen for a long time. They gave each other a fist bump. Then it was Eric's turn. Eric gave a weak smile and fist bumped Adut.
"If I knew you were coming I would have asked my wife to prepare both of you some food. By the way, did you know I got married?"
"The old man told me already, and congrats, how you liking the married life so far?" Alek asked.
Adut smiled.
"My wife has been very good to me. She cooks, she cleans, she helps me with my work sometimes, and she even gives it to me anytime I want it.
Eric and Alek both laughed nervously, but Keji just chuckled and shaked his head.
"I will tell you all about her later, but first you must meet her." Adut said excitedly.
"Anyway, what's up Eric." He said while muffling his hair.
He took them inside his home that was right behind the garage. In between them was a yard with freshly cut green grass separating them. Eric thought his house resembled a small office building, but he went under the assumption that Adut must have renovated it into a house. They took their shoes off and ascended up the stairs into the grand living room. Eric's suspicions were basically confirmed, his home was an abandoned building. He could tell by the amount of space he had and the huge computer used for a TV on the table. Also the windows were far too wide and large to be that of a regular house.
"ASHRI."
"Yes husband." She said, frightened.
She revealed herself. She was in the kitchen, which was located behind the living room. As she was standing at the doorway, we could hear a pot boiling, and bubbling away.
"Did something happen?" She said, giving a worried face.
"No, I want you to meet Eric, and Alek."
She looked at us and sighed.
"You frightened me. Hello my name is Ashri." She said, smiling right after.
She offered them a hand shake, and they took it, introducing themselves one after the other. Eric let the handshake last a little too long, he was amazed at how soft and frail her hands were. Is she sick? Eric thought while breaking the handshake. As he got a better look at her up close, he noticed she had freckles. They were brown, small dots that spread from cheek to cheek, some also covered her short nose. Her eyes were also like mirrors that reflected light, despite her eye colour.
Eric smirked. Adut outdid himself rizzing this lady up. He thought.
"I was just about to turn off the stove. Are you people hungry?"
We nodded.
"Yes Ashri. Serve us our dinner, and remember to bring me my favourite beer." The old man said.
"Yes, Sir." She said, smiling at him.
A few minutes later they gathered around a round dinner table, enjoying their food, as steam escaped their mouths.
"Ashri, thanks again for the dinner. The Shorba is delicious." The old man said, taking another spoonful of the Shorba.
They all nodded.
"Dad, what would you rate this Shorba?" Adut said, with pride propelling his voice.
"I will give it a 7." He said, taking another spoonful.
"Dad, stop acting like you don't think the food is all that."
"That is because it's not."
"I am sitting here watching you taking spoonful after spoonful, and you want me to believe that." He said laughing.
Both Eric and Alek both chuckled.
"It's alright that's all I will say." Meanwhile he is taking yet another spoonful of Shorba, not caring how hot it is.
"So what do both of you think?" He said, averting his gaze to Eric and Alek.
"9.5." Eric said quickly.
"10 out of 10." Alek said, immediately taking another spoonful of Shorba.
Adut smiled.
Eric reminisced about the times when the maids made this exact meal. He recalled the sounds of the pot bubbling and the hot steam he always inhaled to get a whiff of the food, as the maid worked together to watch him and prepare the dinner. He remembered how he always bothered them asking, is it ready yet, is it ready yet. Meanwhile they were chopping vegetables and cleaning the sink. When he eventually tried it, it sent a wave of nostalgia that slammed into his insides harder than a punch to the gut in a school fight. It was like it made him remember a life he never lived. And for that reason he gave her a 9.5 just because there wasn't any soup to him that was more delicious and satisfying than the maids's.
"Adut, what do you think about the military contract and the Asteroid?" His father asked, his face stoned face serious, as the spoon was nearing Adut's mouth.
Adut, judging by Alek's tone understood where he is trying to lead up to. He dropped his spoon in the bowl of shorba, as he looked at Alek, trying to find the right words to say.
"To be honest, the military contract is fear."
"Are you serious, you do realise that they could be planning a war against Sudan again and that they are using this contract under the pretense that they want to help you."
"You're overthinking it. We had some tensions with Sudan, but not to the point of us going to war with them."
"You're not taking this seriously Adut. How do you know that the government isn't planning an attack on Sudan? Using the legal slaves to die for them."
"Calm down Alek, I'm the government have their reasons."
"No, Is that what you want to happen to you and your family Adut. Ok, lets use your logic, I assume you know about the asteroid that is predicted to have a high chance to land in South Sudan and that the U.S wants to buy the asteroid from them for whatever reason, and the government said no. Don't you think the government could use that money to make you and your family live in comfort, instead of giving you the fucking contract. They don't care about you, or anyone in this city. They only want to own you, and when you're all crying and dying after witnessing everything you have built being destroyed right in front of you, you're gonna think about the exact moment the ink touched the paper. His father said, increasing his volume as he spoke.
Eric could have seen the veins pop out from his father's neck as he spoke.
The room was filled with silence, shock and confusion written on everybody's faces as they steered at Alek. In those brief moments, the air was hot. Each breath Eric took in was violently burning his insides, heated with tense atmosphere, created by his father's unexpected outburst. He could see the tables thoughts and feelings drifting in the air, as the seconds seemed last till minutes.
Then a window shattering sound and clangs could be heard from outside, cooling the room's atmosphere immediately.
"Shit." Adut said, as he quickly got up and descended the stairs with haste.
Everyone followed. As Eric opened the backdoor to the garage he could see a group of teenagers running away as Adut chased after them. One decided he had enough of running and decided to use his iron pipe to strike Adut in the head. Caught off guard, he quickly blocked it and followed up with a counter to the teen's face. The young man stumbled backward as blood trickled down his nose. Before he could get his footing, Adut swung with enough force to destroy his stability, sending him collapsing to the ground. Adut sent down a fury of punches to the teen's face causing his lip to be busted. Blood was seeping into his mouth mixed with dirt from the ground that was being scooped up each time Adut slammed his face to the ground. Eventually the boy escaped Adut's grasp and began running away. But not without feeling a tough propelling metal pipe, colliding against the back of his head. Despite the pain the boy kept on running for dear life, disappearing behind a wall of houses as they watched in shock.
Eric wondered, does this has anything to do with those women from earlier. If it's because of them then why. Do they have some type of grudges against Adut and Keji. By the time these thoughts ran through Eric's mind, Adut was already talking with Keji.
"Are you okay." Keji asked.
"I'm fine my arm just feels a little bit numb." He said, clutching his arm.
"Are you sure." Ashri asked.
Adut nodded, eyes squinting in pain as blood slowly flowed from his arm.
"You're bleeding."
Ashri immediately grabbed his arm, trying to find where he got cut. Before she could, he shrugged away his arm away from her grasp.
"I'm fine, it will stop bleeding soon." He said touching his arm, hissing in pain.
''Go get me a wet rag." Gesturing in a dismissive manner.
Ashri paused for a moment then nodded before she quickly left.
"You know why they smashed your jeep's windows?" Alek asked.
Adut sighed, rubbing his arm.
"They are just the people who didn't take the government's contract and are just mad we did. They think the government is trying to own us, so once in a while they protest and harass the people of this part of the city."
After Adut finished speaking a brief silence hung in the air, until Alek breaks it.
"I'm sorry about criticizing you about your decision. It's a offer that can significantly benefit you and your family, and someone like me has no business giving a opinion about it."
"Alek, maybe what you said could happen. Maybe the government is trying to exploit us. But I don't care. If it means that my family could live in a house that has running water, that is air conditioned, with constant electricity 10 years of my life is a fair trade. And if I do die I have no regrets. Because I can die happy knowing my kids will have a life I didn't have." He said his voice wavering at the last sentence.
His wife came running through the garage's backdoor, immediately cleaning the blood off of her husband's arm. Meanwhile Eric was stunned. He didn't know what to think. This was the craziest summer vacation, he thought. From weird dreams, to crazy dangerous lunatics, trying to enforce their beliefs on to others. He knew, these moments will be safely secured inside his vault of memories to bring up in the years to come.
As Ashri was cleaning Adut's arm, Adut weezed in pain, gritting his teeth. Then he looked at Alek.
"You want the Jeep. I can fix it up today, you can go into the market and buy some souvenirs. Ashri, could you go with him and show him around the market?"
"Yes. Are you going to be alright. What if they come back." She said worried, as drops of sweat raced down her face on to her breasts.
Adut smirked, amused.
"And you think you can help me fight them off."
"No, but." She paused, knowing full that her husband's sarcasm was warranted.
She slapped him playfully on the back of his head, leaving her long fingers lingering for just a moment too long before she gestured Alek to follow her.
"Sigh. Eric, it looks like we are going to have to cancel our plans to play Football at the park." Alek said, looking at his son.
Eric nodded, understanding to situation at hand.
"Wait, I can take him." The old man said.
Alek steered at Keji for a moment before opening his mouth and saying, "Do you promise me he will be safe Keji." His tone even more serious and more sterner than before. When he said those words he was stearing directly into the windows of his soul. Keji paused for a bit before responding, chillfully.
"He will be fine Alek, relax. Adut, do you still have the Football."
He nodded and pointed to the corner in the garage, where the ball was hidden behind a mountain of tool boxes. Keji went over and quickly grabbed it and signaled Eric to follow him. But before he left. Adut stopped him and patted his head. He signaled his wife. She retreated inside the house.
"I'm sorry I could'nt spend more time with you, little man. But I got something for you."
Eric eyebrows were raised, until he turned and realized what his gift was. In Ashri's hands were 2 books and 2 packs of colours. One seemed to be a colouring pencil pack and the other seemed to be a crayon. Then his eyebrows raised even higher upon realizing that those 2 books must be the books he told Adut he wanted about 4 months ago on the phone. A book teaching the fundamentals of drawing, and a his personal artbook to hone his skills. Ever since Eric started watching anime, he always wanted to draw his favourite fight scenes and most importantly his favourite waifu's. But he always sucked at drawing. So he mentioned it to Adut, and Adut being the best uncle he is promised to fo the honours of gifting it to him.
Ashri handed over them to Eric. He skipped through the pages and saw human anatomy, along with clear instructions on how to draw them, with some in depth instructions on background. He smiled with joy and hugged Adut.
"Thank you, Adut."
Adut smiled back and responded with.
"You're welcome."
"Thank you." Alek said
Adut just nodded.
Ashri again gestured to Alek to follow her, and he did. Before he could leave she told Alek to make sure his has his phone with him at all times, before walking out into the distance.
"Adut, could I put it here." Eric gestured to a box.
Adut nodded.
"Alright, you ready Eric."
"You are going to lose old man."
Keji chuckled then they both started walking to the park.