Fireflies in The Dark Continent. Chapter 7
Chapter 7
At the town hall; even from outside the massive building, I could hear the rumbling of multitudes. There was a perverse sense of excitement in the air.
I met the door closed, so I swung the imposing old heavy mahogany door open. The door unexpectedly made a loud screeching noise which for some reason silenced the entire crowd. I soon found the entire congregation staring at me with eyes filled with hatred and contempt.
I swallowed hard, when I wondered what could be afoot.
The eyes followed my through every step I took. I tried to sit down in a few places, only to be told that empty seats had been taken. When I finally found a place to seat; it was near a man in a purple kaba. He smelt like burnt grass and in his mouth was the most unique wooden pipe. He puffed out heavy smoke like a chimney and the odor was dense and it the smoke was all over the place.
I had never to that point ever seen that man. It was unusual occurrence to see a totally unfamiliar face in a small town like Oride.
Our Beaded Chief Omur Alamsi got onto the podium with an exaggerated swagger. The man had always known his way with crowds, they just couldn’t get enough of him.
Omur Alamsi had been elected beaded head just about two years prior in what was a landslide victory over his main competitor Alaro Ilemil. Among the Ijus our beaded chief reigned for 15 years after which the council of men elected another.
Omur Alamsi had risen to power from near obscurity at a relatively young age. He rose out of nowhere by telling people what they wanted to hear. He had promised renegotiation of trade agreements with Iriju, he raised fears that Iriju had become too big for our good. He promised that we would prepared if our deeply hated brothers decided to wipe us out.
I do remember our Chief being in rare form that night. He was rather philosophical. He spoke at length about brotherhood, what it meant, what we expected from each other and how and why we were brothers with every Iju man or woman in the whole world.
The crowd started to rumble with discontent. Had this man cut our dreams short just to lecture us about Iju common law, culture and traditions? Omur Alamsi sensed this and promptly begged for our forgiveness and calmness. He then spoke of what he termed the “betrayal and treachery of a lifetime”. He spoke of brothers who spent all their time plotting our downfall and about how we needed to bring them to their knees.
The crowd had heard enough and started to rebel once more. We were all intrigued and confused by the continuous ranting of our chief. Alaro Ilemil rose from his bench. I distinctly remember his red kaba glistening in the pale light. He was around 3 benches from the front but everyone could hear it voice clearly around the auditorium, and he spoke the mind of most of the more than two thousand men gathered
What are we here for? You speak in vague terms, you speak of an enemy, you speak of betrayal and treachery, and you speak of action. Who is this brother you keep speaking of? Why is he our enemy? And what is his treachery?
The crowd fell silent. Anticipating a response from our chief. Everyone wanted the clandestine midnight meeting to be over so we could return to warm beds and sleep.
Omur Alamsi smiled like something amused him. He knew something we didn’t know. He knew his crowd very well, he knew he could never be cornered.
Yes! Iriju is the brother I speak of. The same Iriju that claims to have freed us not too long ago are now broadly and clearly trying to put us back in chains
The whole auditorium burst into commotion, this time it was loud and unending. This man had crossed a line. His obsession with Iriju had become something else, why the hell did he have to wake us up in the middle of the night for another round of Iriju bashing?
He was unabated and his voice continued to thunder over the commotion.
Iriju is not our protector, Iriju is not our leader, Iriju is our master, Iriju is our enemy
The man had really lost his marbles and people were already rising to leave when he dropped an anecdote that changed everyone’s minds.
The white man doesn’t want to trade with the Iju anymore!
The commotion died down all at once. Everyone found their buttocks softly landing on their seats and their voices ceased.
I am sure most of you have been wondering what I and my chiefs discussed with them for so long
Nobody could speak so Omur Alamsi continued
They said they don’t trade with slavers!
The crowd once again found its’ voice and started protesting. Owning and/or trading in slaves had been outlawed in all of Iju and was punishable by the total destruction and purge of the erring parties. My grandfather had decreed that law at the end of the rebellion.
Omur Alamsi urged calm then continued
Ijus are not slavers, we all know that! Everybody knows this! So when the envoy told me why then the white man was shutting down trade with all Iju. Imagine my shock at his response!
He paused and then hammered for dramatic effect
Iriju!
Everyone gasped!
Parties from Iriju have been crossing the Jubi river into Kalari land, enslaving them and sending them across Oosa.
My jaw dropped. The whole congregation was exasperated and shocked. The crowd suddenly became rowdy and murmuring once again filled the audience.
My neighbor was particularly furious, he puffed his pipe furiously! Spewing smoke in all directions. Alaro Ilemil sat down grasping his head. Out of the commotion there was a repeated loud violent banging of a bench; it was my smoky neighbor. The whole congregation fell silent and out of curiosity turned to look at the man.
The man cleared his throat before he spoke. He had a surprisingly loud voice and spoke with sound reason.
What exactly is the purpose of this meeting? Have you brought us here to tell us ghost stories?
He asked
Even if Iriju is breaking the law, what can we do about it? Burn Iriju to the ground?
One could sense the eagerness in Omur Alamsi’s response
Yes! Our fathers and grandfathers all swore to Alamda! The law is the law!
The whole congregation was sent into a great fervor of rib cracking laughter. People laughed and tears dropped out of their eyes. I laughed like I hadn’t in years, holding on to the bench so I wouldn’t fall if I lost balance.
Iriju had the only armies in Orile-Iju, they had over 30 battalions stationed all around Orile-Iju protecting our borders. They provided us with protection in exchange for additional taxes. Their army was greatly feared by all far and wide and renowned for their ruthlessness.
Suddenly, there was a great thunderclap very nearby. Men cowered and ducked under benches to escape its’ wrath. It was so loud and nearby, surely the roof must be on fire! At almost the same instant we all looked up to the roof and we didn’t see what we were expecting to see.
We could only hear the laughter of our Beaded Chief. Looking at the podium we saw our Beaded chief laughing his heart out and thoroughly pleased with himself. He held in his hand a long carved stick that was oozing smoke from one end.
BOOM!
Once again we heard the thunderclap but this time we saw a fiery bolt shoot out of the stick and toward the roof. What kind of sorcery was this?
Just when we thought the night couldn’t get any weirder we had been served a new mystery! The crowd once again became rowdy and arguments broke out here and there
Omur Alamsi had scared the fear of the goddess out of us! And just as the curiosity was about to burst he answered the questions on everyone’s lips
This is called a gun. It breathes out thunder and spits out fire. With both on our side, we would be invinsible. We can finally rid ourselves of these arrogant bastards who have tarnished the Iju name. 6 of the clans have agreed. Iriju will be purged in the coming days. Will we seat this one out and betray our oath to the goddess
The man had made sense. Oride now had weapons that would fight half the battle. It was the duty of all Iju to punish whoever broke the taboo, no matter how difficult the task seemed. Looking back, I cannot remember anyone asking for a definite proof of the supposed crime of Iriju.
Nobody seemed to care about whether the rumors were founded or not. An excuse had finally been found to end centuries of hatred and envy in a bloodbath. I suddenly found myself rising from my seat and walking out of the gathering. Eyes followed me as I left.
