Yefon: The Red Necklace (37 page)

Suddenly, he said, “She is not here.”

I let out a slow relaxed air.

“I will just wait here in case she shows up,” he called to his companions.

My heart was still beating fast, but I kept control so I could at least breathe. And that was only the beginning. They kept watch for almost fourteen hours and so did I.

The man sat right above my head, and so I literally could not flinch. I lay paralyzed on the same spot, for not one or three hours, or ten hours, but fourteen hours! I am speaking about fourteen hours of no movement, eyes wide-awake, heart beating fast, forehead sweating, wondering what will happen if they decide to lift the particular branch of leaves where I was or if the wind just blew off my cover.

Bugs of all sorts were crawling all over me and I suffered an unending itch which I could do absolutely nothing about it. I couldn’t pee, or shit, or sleep for fourteen hours! I was worried that if I slept, I might fart or move. All I did for fourteen hours was watch. I don’t think I have ever experienced real fear until that moment, wondering if I was going to live or die.

-24-

FREE BUT NOT FREE

I did not know how many hours had gone past when I peeped from beneath the leaves in what I assumed was still the rural area of Kumbo. I scanned the area, still shivering from fear. The soldiers were all gone. Whether or not
Ngonnso
had intervened again, I didn’t know. Torrential rain poured down angrily as I slowly emerged from the leaves, still looking around in case the soldiers were lurking in the area. Wiping my eyes to prevent rainwater from entering them, I threw a rock a few feet away. When I was sure there was no one around, I leaped out, the stomping of my angry feet, almost matching the tune of the rain.

I ran desperately through the forest with Bamenda on my mind! My life would change. This would be the defining moment of my life. This moment was everything. When you escape death, you ironically regain a new burst of life, and you feel like you have seen everything and can endure it all.

Eucalyptus leaves slapped against my face with each step but I stayed focused like a Buddhist monk as I waded my way through that green devil of a forest. I stepped on a slippery leaf and fell. Little rocks pierced my arms. After all that I had been through, the pain was nothing.

By my estimate, I had been on the move for almost three days now, and I could not afford to sit down and rest. I was worried I would faint and die there like an animal, and I was not an animal. I was
Ngonnso
^*
’s disciple, following her brothers to a fertile land where I would fulfill my destiny.

For hours, I was conscious of the steady pounding of my feet on this slippery ground. My legs seemed to belong to someone else, someone whose legs and feet could go on pounding forever. Thump, thump, thump, thump.

And then I fell and hit my leg again. This time, I began crying. I gave up. My feet were sore and bleeding. I was hungry and tired, my energy was all gone and my head ached in all corners.
I could barely see or hear anymore and my stomach was making loud sounds from starvation.
Take me now! I begged the spirits of the forest. Let me be one of you. I am too tired to continue!

Then, my
sha
η
g
began to glow. What now? I looked around suspiciously, and limped until I was hiding behind an old tree. Listening carefully, I heard an odd sound, like the sound of a vehicle, so I looked up and there it was! The main road! It was serene and very dusty, a little wider than the narrow Shisong roads, but equally as bumpy as I would find out later.

A huge smile formed on my face, followed by a sigh of relief. The joy inside my heart was so strong that it could have built a fortress. After surviving days in the forest, which included a near-death encounter with a deep forest lion, another one with a green snake, hurting my leg, her supplies taken, my food eaten, my spirit broken, I finally made it! My
sha
η
g
was warming up so much that I couldn’t help but laugh from the tingling sensation in my upper body area.

This was the main road! I studied the area to try to get my bearings, and I speculated that I had to be in Jakiri. Looking far ahead, the best that I could figure out was that one direction led back to Kumbo through some pretty hilly countryside, and the other, the other led to my future.

The main road! The one thing standing between my dreams and me! The road to my future, the road to freedom! I could hear an imaginary siren of victory in the air as everything was eventually going as planned. I had accomplished the first part of the plan, now I had to hitchhike and catch a ride on a bus or a
bensikin
, which was a local motorcycle.

That should be easy I thought as I unleashed the most enthusiastic smile I could formulate under the circumstances. The sun was beginning to get hotter, and I smiled at it and even greeted, “Hello, Mister Sun!”

The rain had soaked all my belongings I observed as I untwisted the knot of my wrapper bag to see what I still had that I could use. I still had a book, which I kissed and opened the pages so it could dry, as well as a few paper notes which I held up to the air and shouted Alleluia. Then, I put on one of my headscarves to air out.

I also took off my red
sha
η
g
and some of my clothes so they could dry off. I stood there staring at my red
sha
η
g
lying on my wrapper. There were tears in my eyes as I picked it up gently, caressing the beads.

Prior to that day, I had never taken off my
sha
η
g
and my neck felt odd without it. None of the things I had left were worth my precious red
sha
η
g
!

I thought of my father, and I prayed that he would see me when I finally made it to Bamenda. That made me smile, but only for a short while as I realized that I was stuck in the middle of nowhere with no pedestrians or automobiles for miles.

I was on the main road. Cars were supposed to be passing every ten minutes. At least that was what Kadoh had said. I wondered if she had lied. No. Kadoh never lied.

Frustrated, I slumped to the ground like a loaf of hot
fufu
. Even though the sun was out, I was terribly cold, because all my clothes were still wet. I took off my cover wrapper and tried to squeeze the water out of it then I fanned it in the air and put it back on. A raindrop touched my nose and I shook it off angrily.

“Where were you when I needed water?” Now that I was on the road, I was back to being rude, big-mouth Yefon.

Touching my
sha
η
g
, I began counting to ten as Pa had always advised me to do in times of danger. “It would all be alright before the count to ten”. He was always right, and this time, the trick worked because a bunch of vans started approaching me.

“Yes, Pa, thank you!”

I had been on the road for a whole hour already and I was famished, but with all my strength, I sprang up, hands in the air, waving my arms up and down.

“Stop, stop” I cried.

To my amazement, all of the buses sped past me quickly, completely ignoring me. I continued yelling, but to no avail. A man inside one of the cars looked at me strangely and whispered something to his friend. I thought they were going to stop, but they didn’t.

“
Kiyuung ke nto’
^*
,” I insulted them loudly. Another blue
van was coming and I raised my hands again, waving anxiously, but it sped past me as well. This time, it left behind a heavy tuft of smoke.
Nyamnko
! I coughed dryly, my chest heaved strongly with each cough.

“Are you trying to kill me too?” I yelled out after them. Maybe they laughed, or maybe I just thought it in my mind.

I gave up and slumped helplessly by the roadside, wading my feet in the mud. This must be my end, I thought helplessly and my wildest fears kicked in. I didn’t even have the option of turning back. I was too far from home. I wondered what would become of me if no one picked me up. Lost in thought, I didn’t notice the old rickety taxi that had stopped nearby.

“Hey!” the taxi man called out. I looked up, expectantly and after carefully analyzing the situation, I approached the vehicle, simultaneously looking inside. There was no one there except the driver smoking a cigarette. He had on a faded beret and a unique scar on his left cheek.

Looking at me with pity, he asked in Lamnso, “Where are you going, my daughter?”

“Bamenda, Pa,” I responded, shy that I was saying that word to a real person who wasn’t my sister.

“Ah ah, okay, I’m also going that way, let me take you.”

I think in that moment I was too confused to even answer him. After all I had been through, I was
finally
going to Bamenda! I must have been lost in thought for a while because he asked me again if I wanted to go.

“Are you going or what?” he asked me.

“Yes, Pa, Let me get my belongings”. I ran back to where I had been sitting and packed my things quickly, looking over my shoulder in case he was watching. I looked at the road ahead. There was no other car to be seen. My
sha
η
g
began vibrating inside my wrapper as I packed my stuff up, and I didn’t know what that insinuated. I would have to trust this stranger or walk some sixty-five miles west before I could reach Bamenda.

It was all within reach. Bamenda would change my life. Besides, what was the worst thing that could happen? What could beat muscled palace guards or a lion? I took a chance and walked back to the car, offered a polite smile to the driver then I sat in the back of the car. I admired the firmness of the seats and the overall
structure of a car. It was the first time I had ever been in a car, and I was excited and nervous at the same time.

“You can come to the front seat, my daughter,” he offered.

“I’m fine here, Pa. No worries. Thank you,” I responded through a tight-lipped smile.

The driver seemed to understand my inhibition, so he turned the ignition. “What do they call you, wanle?” he asked.

I nervously, but quickly replied, “Fonyuykewir.”

He nodded slowly. I didn’t know where I took that name from, but it was definitely a lifesaver.

“Ba Verberile,” he called out from the front seat. “Nice to meet you.”

I said nothing, but smiled. Even though this man was helping me out, I couldn’t trust him, yet. It was too risky, and who knew if everyone in the village was looking for me. I had to keep a low profile until I got to Bamenda.

Ba Verberile put the car in gear and the car was soon swaying from side to side down the bumpy roads of the countryside. I held on to my belongings on my lap tightly and found myself being flung from one end of the car to the other each time we hit a bump.

Laughing in a good-natured way, he asked me to clutch one of the holders by the window for more balance. I did so and my condition improved greatly. I thanked him for the suggestion and relaxed a great deal.

Moments later, he slipped in a cassette and a Beatles song filled the air. Nodding his head and whistling in some parts, he sang along heartily as the car bumped and swirled through the muddy road. I could see his stained teeth every time he opened his mouth to sing.

I looked out the window. This is it, I thought. Finally, I would have an education. Finally I would live my dream, and be free!

The countryside was beautiful. I fancied the blue skies that were adorned with wondrous white clouds, and whether it was truly the case or I just wanted it to be that way, I don’t know. I was going to Bamenda!

Ba Verberile glanced at me through the rear view mirror as he drove, sometimes our eyes met, and nervously, I would look down into my lap or outside to the rolling hills of vast green trees.
I don’t know if I fidgeted or looked suspicious, but I noticed he seemed to see something before casually returning his gaze to the road with a small smile.

Suddenly, he asked, “Do you have family in Bamenda?”

Quickly, but nervously, I shot back, “Yes, Pa. My auntie is a trader out there.” If you were always in trouble like me, lies came to you fast if you wanted to survive.

He adjusted his mirror and examined my bags and worn out clothes. Our eyes met and I felt the oddest vibe from him. My
sha
η
g
began to vibrate in my wrapper, and immediately I knew that entering this car was a mistake. I began studying the door trying to figure out how to open it when all of a sudden, he said, “You know, your engagement was the talk of the town.”

I didn’t know what to say. This was a trap coming for me from an angle I hadn’t seen. I tried to lie, but I fumbled. The driver abruptly made a swift U-turn.

“The ro…oad is the other way, Pa,” I stammered.

He smiled at me sarcastically, but continued driving. I became delirious.

“Hey, hey, what are you doing?”

He reached behind and locked the doors. I tried to fight and he shoved me back so hard that I hit my head on the edge of the seat. Though in pain, I fought hard to open the door but given that it was my first time in a car, I didn’t know how to manipulate the locks of a car door like I do now.

He began driving fanatically towards the village. The car turned so many times that I thought I would throw up. I panicked. My limbs went numb with absolute fear and my fingers were trembling so much that I couldn’t unlock the door to get out. I couldn’t believe what was happening to me, and I fought even harder to get out, but every time I attempted to open the door, he swerved the car so abruptly that my body swung to the other side causing me to hit my neck. I cried out in pain.

Desperate, I resorted to bribery. Crying, I pulled out a pound from my loincloth. ”This is all I have. Please, please let me go,” I begged frantically.

Laughing hysterically, he spat out bitterly, “I knew it was you.”

I looked up and our eyes met in the mirror. A crooked
smile formed on his rough lips, and my heart sank deep into my stomach.

END OF BOOK 1

EXCITING NEW OFFERS!