by BJ Mayo
“It comes from the United States of America. Very far away, I am told. That is where most of the people in the compound came from. They came a long way to help children just like you.”
“Why would they want to come a long way to help children?” Jackaleena asked. “This is not their village.”
“I would say because they care and they feel that Jesus Man has given them a purpose in life. Do you remember I told you many times that everyone has a purpose, they just have to find out what it is?”
Jackaleena considered what Margaret had just told her. “Do they have compounds like this one in the place where the big boat came from?” Jackaleena asked.
Margaret marveled at this question. “Why, I do not really know. I have heard that it is a very big place and that all of the people live very good lives. I think this means they always have food to eat and clothing to wear, but I do not know much more about it, only what the women that work at the compound have said when they are talking to each other. Why would you ask that question?”
Jackaleena looked away and thought for a moment. “If they have a compound like ours with children, maybe I could go there when I get older and help them. Just like you are helping me. I can teach the other girls about their water makers and making blood and that they are not witches. I can teach them how to take a bath and to read like you are doing me.”
Margaret’s eyes began welling up with tears. She gathered up Jackaleena in her arms and hugged her. “That is a very nice thought, Jackaleena, but I don’t know how easy that would be for you. It is a long way to America. How would you get there, and how would you find a compound like ours?”
“You told me Jesus Man had Joao lead me to this compound. You told me that Jesus Man gave Jaoa this purpose. I think Jesus Man would lead me to a compound in Amerika. He would make me my purpose. Do you think Jesus Man will make my purpose? There is no one left at my village. I have no people left. Maybe my purpose is not here.”
Margaret was taken aback by Jackaleena’s thought process. How could she argue against what she had been telling Jackaleena nearly on a daily basis? How could she turn loose such a gifted wonder that God had sent her way? If she did somehow get to go, how would she get there, where would she go in that faraway land? Who would take care of her? How would she survive in a world of Milanos? She was beginning to speak good English and was smarter than any child she had ever come across. While she was thinking about it, what did the future hold for her here? Would she stay in the compound forever? Where would she go when the warring ended?
She had no one. No one but Margaret.
“Jackaleena, I think we need to pray to Jesus Man for answers to your question. It is very troubling for me to think about right now.”
“I have been praying for your chickens to Jesus Man,” Jackaleena said. “I have been giving one finger’s worth of my morning bread to the chickens. Maybe Jesus Man does not hear me. Toto never heard me when I called on him.”
Margaret’s intuition was to remain strong and to offer comfort. Her insides were screaming for relief. To burst into tears would upset Jackaleena. Just thinking about a child giving a portion of their food to chickens made her eyes tear up and filled her with overwhelming emotion. To remain stolid would not do.
“I am sure Jesus Man has listened to your prayers, dear. Just because he has not done something does not mean he has not heard you.” With no more available energy, Margaret said, “Let us walk, dear.”
They took each other’s hands and walked in silence, Margaret fearful of any and all implications of Jackaleena’s questions and consequences, and Jackaleena’s mind full of wonder at this place called Amerika. If the ship came from Amerika, maybe the ship could take her to this place. Jesus Man would have to help her, if he was who Margaret said he was. He had not made any chickens come to the compound. Maybe they had some on the ship, she thought.
Margaret walked Jackaleena to her room, giving her one last hug before she turned and left. “I will see you in the lunch room when the bell rings.” She turned and left.
The women working in the lunch room all turned as she walked through the door. Margaret slowly approached the women. “Jackaleena saw the Mercy Ship with a mirror on a stick,” she said. “I told her the ship was from America. She asked me if maybe her purpose is to go there and work in a compound like ours.” She burst into tears as the women gathered around her. “I can’t bear to think of her leaving. I have grown to love this child. I know it sounds bad, but she is the smartest child I have ever seen. She has a mind like a sponge. I know that God sent her to me.”
Beth Goodchild, the oldest of the Milano women, put her arms around Margaret. “I love you for who you are and what you do, Miss Margaret. But I am afraid that Jackaleena is not in your hands. You see, none of these children are really in our hands, are they? We will do the best we can for her and all of the children God sends our way in this wretched hell on earth. No child deserves to live like this or grow up in this kind of environment. I know my children could not have survived it. These kids have nothing except us, as long as the war is raging. I say us, I mean those of us in this compound. I don’t see the world knocking down our doors to rescue these orphans of war, do you? There is not an end in sight. Their only safety net is our compound, which the warring factions will not touch. After this war ends, I am sure there will be something else that follows. With that said, we can change none of that, only do our best with what we are given and who we are sent. If one of these children wants to go to America, maybe we should help them. Or help them all. The question is, how would they get there, and then what would happen to them when they get there? America is a land of people that have come from all over the world for a better life, a better opportunity to do something with their life. I think Jackaleena is in God’s very capable hands.”
As always, Beth Goodchild’s pearls of wisdom were right on the money. Margaret held her hand as a comforting anchor as she dabbed her eyes with her apron.
“I know you are right. I just cannot stand the thought of losing her somehow. She is like my little girl.”
Beth squeezed her hand. “Margaret, whatever she does or wherever she goes, she will be an extension of you and whatever you and the others here have taught her. Remember, she had never heard of God until you told her about Him. She has yet to believe that He exists and has not turned loose of her witch doctor completely. She has no family remaining in this world that we are aware of, no home, and you are the only one she has learned to trust. There are no other adults in her life but us. Why don’t we just pray that she put her faith in God and us as well? Maybe that is best for her and better yet, for all of the children. It is not like they will all grow up and live in the lap of luxury. For whatever time God allows us to have each of them, let us do our best to prepare them for whatever path that they will take, if and when they leave.”
Margaret wiped away tears and hugged Beth Goodchild. The embrace seemed to last forever with both women and those around them weeping.
Finally, they separated. Holding each other’s hands and looking deep into each other’s eyes, Margaret insisted that she be allowed to leave before the meals were prepared. “I will be back. I simply need to be alone. I need to talk to God about this situation. I need to—” She let go of Beth’s hands and slowly turned around, gathered her skirt, and walked out the door.
Margaret sat alone in her room, thinking about all that had occurred. She knelt beside her bed and the tears began to flow like a mighty river. She could not begin to pray until she had no tears left to cry. “God, You know all about me and where I came from. You know that I believe in You and that You have put me here, this is my purpose in life. I love helping these children that have no other place to go. At least the ones that make it here. I often wonder how many are killed that don’t know about our compound, or are killed trying to get here. It seems we always have just enough to get by, and I guess we cannot ask for more. I forget that You are the mighty commander o
f our world and beyond. You made it and everything and everyone in it. I am a weak vessel, but I am asking You to make me strong. Help me with Jackaleena. I love this little girl like no other that has come to us. You sent her here. I pray that she will believe in You and You will be her God like You are my God. Please forgive my insecurity and fear. I do not mean to be a bad person. I only want to help with what You have instilled in me. I love You for giving me a purpose, a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear, and most of all the children. I do not know what will happen to Jackaleena. I trust You to take care of her wherever she may go, once the war is over.” She smiled as she slyly hinted, “Perhaps she can stay here and help us? I know that probably will not happen, but it does not hurt to ask.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mingas sat in silence as he watched the men and boys finalize the ladders. Eduardo and Mariel smelled horrible, never ones to bathe in a stream. Mingas could smell their stench from thirty feet away. He hated both of them, but they served his purpose. Neither would ever challenge him. He worried more about Eduardo than the shit-for-brains rooster-crowing Mariel. He still thought it would be a good morale-builder for the boys to allow Mariel to crow from the compound wall when the men were killed.
They would place the ladders close as the sun was going down, and make their attack when the guards were changing in the morning. All of the boys clung to their brown-brown cigarettes, but dared not light them until Mingas gave the okay. He always gave them a brown-brown cigarette before an attack. He called them his boy-courage builders.
The sun was nearly down as the band approached the compound. Mingas could see the guards on the wall corners with his spyglass. He motioned the boys to carry the ladders just to the edge of the forest tree line, a short distance from the walls. Quietly they spaced the ladders out down the tree line fifty yards apart. When they were placed on the ground and covered with leaves, Mingas motioned them to recede into the forest and back to camp. This night would be a cold camp, with no fires and only bananas to eat. But tomorrow, they would quench their hunger after the attack. He could not wait to get his hands on the girl that escaped and maybe one or two of the Milano women. Once the men were all killed, he would let Mariel climb up to the guard post and crow with all of his might and stupidity.
Mingas ordered all of the outer-ring roosters tethered and their beaks tied shut. He did the same with his inner circle. “I want no noise at all tonight. We will put the ladders on the walls in the morning when I tell you. You will all eat and sleep well tomorrow night, and we will have a fire and women bringing us food.” Mingas rarely smiled, but let go of a tooth-gleaming smile as he spoke of the women and food.
Eduardo and Mariel were quick to follow up and turn their heads to the boys. “Also, Mariel, when we are in the compound and all resistance is taken care of, I want you to get up on the wall and crow like a rooster. Will that make you happy?”
Mariel jumped up and, much to the satisfaction of the boys, began to flap his arms and throw his head back, but not crowing. The boys laughed quietly to themselves.
“Me rooster,” Mariel said and continued to flutter about.
“Okay, Mariel, that will do,” said Mingas. “Don’t exhaust yourself. I need you in the morning. I know that Eduardo told each of you how the ladders will be carried and how to set them on the wall at the exact time, yes?”
All of the boys nodded in unison.
“Good, then there will be no mistakes, yes?”
Eduardo said, “There will be no mistakes, capitão.”
Mingas eyed him warily and with contempt. “Good, let there be no mistakes.” He pulled out his machete and whetstone and began sharpening an already razor-sharp edge. He smiled wryly, “I do not like the mistakes, no?”
Everyone got the message as always. Completely driven by fear, all of them capitulated to his madness.
“Now, I am getting ready to sleep for a little while. If my rooster interrupts my sleep, let there be a great reason, yes?”
He carefully sheathed his machete after first picking a piece of grass off of the ground. He dragged the grass across the blade and it parted.
“My machete is very sharp, yes? It makes the ears and head come off easily.” Each of the boys sat in fear as they watched his psychological parody play out in front of their eyes. He always gave them the impression he was actually talking about cutting off their ears and heads if they made a mistake. The brown-brown made them fearless for a while, after they had smoked. When the effects finally wore off, the reality of their killing came at them full-bore. Killing families in huts at night gave them nightmares. They could never let on that they were scared to carry out whatever Mingas told them to do. After all, each of them had been captured to serve him in his fight.
They never knew what killing innocent villagers had to do with a fight with the government. Cutting off men’s heads with machetes and putting them on sticks around fires made no sense to them. Mingas’s bloodlust did not run in their veins, but if they were to survive, it had to appear they enjoyed the killing and the raping. They were afraid of the ever-watchful Eduardo. Mariel was more of a clown, but seemed to go back and forth between sanity and insanity. They were afraid he would kill them when he went to either extreme. They had heard Eduardo and Mariel talking quietly in the bush on food runs. Eduardo said he would kill Mingas if he ever had the chance. He also said, “I will kill you, Mariel, if you ever betray me. I will kill you that very minute, do you understand? Before I kill you I will cut off your rooster arms, then pull out your tongue and cut it off. Then I will cut off your penis and testicles.”
Mariel was fully wide-eyed, mouth open and quivering.
“Then I am going to cut your stomach open and pull out your insides and string them out on the ground.” Mariel grabbed his stomach. “Yes, and then I will shoot you on each side of your heart with my gun. And then, Mariel, I will kill you. Never betray me, do you understand?”
Mariel said, “I will never betray you, Eduardo. You know I am just a rooster. I am just a little rooster,” as he flapped his arms and began crying.
“Good, good, Mariel. You be my little rooster and you will stay alive.”
The boys listened closely nearby and stared at each other at the exchange. Mingas kept Eduardo and Mariel in check, Eduardo kept Mariel in check, and all three of them kept the boys in check. They each missed their families or what may be left of their families.
Dawn brought the usual forest sounds. The barking monkeys in the distance. There was nothing that gave away the band’s presence to the compound. Mingas approached the others from his sleeping spot in the center ring. His rooster sat menacingly on his shoulder with his tether leg and beak tethers secured. The others had long been up from a mostly sleepless night.
“Get out your brown-browns,” he ordered. “Let us smoke them now.”
The boys pulled the cigarettes out of their pockets and their wax matches.
“Light them,” he said, “and pull the smoke deep into your chest. It will make you fearless. We do not have long to wait, so get busy.”
Eduardo and Mariel had grown used to the prebattle routine over time and were drawing deeply on their cigarettes. The effect was nearly immediate. A calm enveloped each of them with each drag on the cigarette. The drugs in the cigarette seemed to take each of them into another realm of the world. It made them not care and most of all not fear.
When they finished, Mingas ordered Eduardo and Mariel to lead the way. The boys followed, with Mingas taking up the rear. Some of the boys carried the outer-circle roosters cradled in one arm, careful to ensure their beaks were secure. If one of them crowed, Mingas was sure to kill that person immediately.
They approached the ladders at the edge of the compound. Two boys each grabbed the ends of four ladders. The sun was making its way up to one finger above the earth. Mingas was watching the guard towers intently. Any moment now, the guards would be changing. They would have a brief time to run with the ladders, set th
em on the wall, and get over. He instructed Eduardo and Mariel to be the first ones over the compound wall when the ladders were set.
Anxiously, the men and boys watched Mingas for the signal to go. “Make sure your weapons are ready,” he said under his breath. “You each know what your job is, yes? I do not like mistakes. My machete does not like mistakes. Now go, the guards are going down. Go now. Go now.”
The boys ran quietly the short distance to the compound corners, standing the ladders up on the wall. Eduardo and Mariel had just began to climb two of the ladders when they heard the gunshot from the forest.
They could hear Mingas screaming. “Quick, everyone, back to Mingas,” Eduardo ordered. The boys had stayed a short distance from each corner to signal when time to go over the wall. They made the throat cut signal, which meant the mission was being aborted. They too had heard the screams of Mingas and the gunshot. It would only be a minute before the guards swarmed the walls.
There was no time to remove the ladders as the boys ran to the edge the forest. When they got to Mingas, Eduardo and Mariel were already standing above him. The black mamba was still attached to his neck and writhing to remove his fangs. The position of the snake’s fangs would be fatal. Mingas’s eyes were fixated and his breathing labored. He was making gurgling sounds, foam coming out of his mouth. The snake’s fangs were pumping deadly venom into an artery.
The boys, mesmerized, looked on in horror. Eduardo quickly took command. He took out his machete and cut the snake right at the head. The snake’s head continued to bite, even with its body detached. “Pump him full before I kill him.” Then he proceeded to cut Mingas’s rooster loose from its tether. “You won’t be warning this shithead again. Now go, before I eat you,” he laughed. He grabbed Mingas’s gun and removed his machete from his sheath. He looked into Mingas’s hollow eyes with no recognition. “You treated me like shit. I am going to enjoy killing you, even though this snake has really already killed you. You will never treat me like shit again,” he said, kicking Mingas in the head. Taking Mingas’s machete, he cut off each of his ears and stuck them in his open mouth. “Better than brown-brown, capitão, yes?”
