‹ Back

 

 

 

Kigoma is a vast, populous township in the South of Congo. It is dusty, vibrant, beautiful. At dusk, a fine cloud of dust rises from the ground, floats in the air and gives the area an eerie atmosphere. You can hear children laughing, girls singing to the sound of drums, women chatting, or arguing, and babies crying. It is a poor place, where tiny mud houses are built so close to each other one feels they live with their neighbors. Houses are separated by low, miserable patches of hedges, or not separated at all. Each family has planted a small vegetable garden at the back of their house, and the richest own a few chickens or goats. Streets are wide enough, not tarred, always populated with an army of dirty children. Very few cars ever go there, therefore children are in no danger to being knocked by one. People don't use streets to get from one place to the other. They rather jump over hedges and cut through gardens to get to the other side, and no one minds, for everybody does the same. Here, most women are harvested by well-to-do families from the other side of the railroad to work as maids in their beautiful homes, and the remaining are vendors in the big market where a quarter of the population gets its fresh produce. Males are gardeners, carriers of everything (from luggage to bricks), or unemployed. Life is hard in Kigoma, but very few people are depressed. Depression is an unknown concept, and no one here has the luxury or the time to be sad.
Two teenage boys named Edo and Patient, inseparable like a pair of buttocks, are seated on the ground and are observing the activities around them. It is not uncommon to see people, at the end of a punishing day of hard labor, grouped together and exchanging reflections. But our two boy's conversation is not ordinary. If one was to stop by them and listen, this is what they would hear:
"Look at all this poverty", spat Edo, looking disgusted. "I can't stand it. I swear to God, I will leave this dumpster and go away"
"But where will you go?" Patient answered. "We are poor, and you have to accept that. Your mother sells cassava leaves at the market and can't send you to school. You have no father. You know you need a diploma to be someone in life".
"So what do you suggest we do?" Edo's voice was dripping with bitter irony. He was very skinny, and no one knew whether that was due to the lack of food or to his genes. His mother and two sisters were slim too, probably for the same reason as he, whatever reason it was.
"I suggest", Patient retorted, "that we go look for a job, get whatever money we can and help our parents. We were born here, in Kigoma, and no amount of complaining is going to bring food on the table".
Edo angrily glared his best friend's round face, outraged by his passive attitude. How could anyone want to live in this place? He thought with increasing rage. Edo was willing to steal and kill, rather than stay in Kigoma. "Well", retorted, "I would sell my soul to the Devil himself to get out of here".
Patient started, utterly shocked by his Edo's daring statement. No one ever talked like that. He did not know what a soul was, but he understood that Edo had uttered a blasphemous statement. At that moment Edo's mother called him for supper. A meagre affair, unfortunately. Patient could tell by his friend's mother's sour face, and by the unpleasant smell that came out of their hut. They probably would have foufou, accompanied by a miserable piece of burnt salted fish that seemed to be screaming in protest at the number of hungry eaters it was going to be divided between. They would drink a lot of water in between mouthfuls to feel full.
 

Edo was deep in thoughts during the meal. An idea, farfetched, was forming in his mind. But Edo was a bold kid, and he had never been scared to act upon his impulses. Besides, he thought, what did he have to lose? He already had nothing. No one noticed his morosity, no one ever paid attention to anyone in his family.
As soon as the last piece of fish was swallowed, he jumped outside and made a beeline for Patient's house. He needed to talk to him urgently. He found him peeing behind his house, which was the front of somebody else's house. "Patient!" He called out. "Hear me out!"
Patient protested, for he wasn't finished. He shook the last drops of urine off, readjusted his shorts, then faced his friend, who was now standing right behind him. "Could you please give me some space!" Patient protested.
"But listen" Edo said. "I have thought of a way to make money. Easy money. I will become a witch doctor and you will be my assistant!"
Patient stared at his friend in the dark, then burst out laughing. But his laughter was forced, for he knew that Edo did not usually joke. And even as he was laughing he started feeling uncomfortable.
"You can't be a witch doctor", he said. "You would need to be a sorcerer. You need to know how to speak to spirits. You don't do all that! How will you know what to tell people if they come to consult you? Besides, we are too young to do that! We are kids! No one will ever come to our business, let alone believe us!"
Edo smiled in the dark, and all Patient could see were his white, shiny teeth. Patient shuddered, for it seemed that although his friend was standing in front of him, someone else was smiling through him. A cruel, grown man's smile. Patient wanted to run away but felt paralyzed and glued to the ground. Even when the mouth in front of him spoke, Patient had the impression it was a voice from beyond the grave that came out of it: “Don’t worry my friend, we will convince these little people we are what we are. Tomorrow night, we set up our practice and start consulting".
Patient started trembling. Edo was his best friend, but he had never called him "my friend". He had never called the people of Kigoma these little people and he had never spoken as if he were many. Patient could only make out the outlines of his face, and he could tell it was still his friend that was standing in front of him. Same height, same built, but the resemblance stopped there. Edo was a little bitter kid who never smiled, unlike the person standing in front of him. Patient had the impression that he had been projected into the future and was having a glimpse of what his friend would become, a cruel and powerful sorcerer. "Edo...", Patient whimpered. He was not a very brave boy, and he was about to faint, when his friend caught his arm. The moon suddenly came out from between two clouds and shone on Edo's face. It was again the Edo he always knew, an angry little adolescent, but an adolescent nonetheless! He was tempted to believe that he had dreamed it all, but he knew he had not! His best friend was quickly changing into something evil, and him, Patient, knew he had a choice to make. Either to follow him on his strange path and remain his friend and his accomplice, or stay behind in the land of the Natural and lose a friend he dearly loved.

To be continued…