The slave girl 3
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Their eyes were fixed one each other with many thoughts running through their minds. Omenka was worst hit by the reality of the moment. Seeing Urenna, the love of his life in chains like an animal broke his heart greatly. He was okay with his own sufferings but seeing his princess being pushed like criminals were pushed in their village was a hurting sight for him to behold. He felt an instant urge to fight their captors and free Urenna but the thought of the long sticks and what they could do to humans deterred him. He took his eyes away from Urenna and wept in silence.
Urenna was equally devastated by the sight of Omenka in chains. While she sat in the cage with the others, her mind went to all Omenka had suffered for the sake of his love for her. She remembered how he was dismissed from the palace because of her and the few times he was beaten by the guards at the instructions of the king, her father. She also remembered how badly his family had been treated just because of his involvement with her. After remembering all the hardships Omenka had gone through for her sake, she wept bitterly. In her mind, she concluded that she was the reason why Omenka was captured and swore to free him or die trying. How she was going to achieve that was unknown to her.
They stayed in the slave camp for a while before the other slave dealers came to purchase them. Before the slave dealers came, the white man who owned the slave camp arrived. On his arrival, he paid the slave hunters who captured Urenna, Omenka and the new slaves. Some of them (the hunters) were paid with pieces of mirrors while some others were paid with foreign fabrics. Another set was paid with lengths of stock fish. These material payments were for capturing and subjecting their brothers and sisters into utter hardship; people they spoke the same language with and people who shared the same skin color with them. How lowly we value brotherhood and humanity. After receiving their payments, they left to hunt more slaves.
While at the camp, the slaves were fed once a day. The foods were majorly boiled yam and red oil which were handed to them in leaves. Out of hunger, most of them (the slaves) ate the leaves after eating the supposed food. They stayed in the cages with nothing sheltering them from the weather. The sun heated on them when it shone and the rain drenched them when it rained. They were made to defecate in their cages and stayed with their excreta. Some of them got sick and died. The other slaves, the males were made to dig shallow graves in which the dead ones were buried. I’m quite sure that even domestic animals were not treated this way, yet my African brothers, sponsored by the Europeans treated their brothers and sisters in that manner.
When the slave dealers who were mostly white men arrived, the started bargaining for the slaves as though they were commodities. These dealers were the ones who would take them (the slaves) across the Atlantic to the western countries where they’d be subjected to servitude all the days of their lives. Where they lost their identities and were force to take the new identities their masters gave them. Where they were beaten, raped stripped of their natural rights and forced to forget the gods of their land in order to embrace the religion of their captors. Where they were objectified and used as gifts among the whites. Where what they believed in mattered no more. Where they were regarded as animals and sometimes used as games for the hunting pleasure of their masters. Oh slavery, what did you not do to Africa?
As the bargaining took place, each slave was brought out and bargained for until the dealers reached a price. They started with the male slaves before proceeding to the females’ cage. Luckily, before they’d got to Omenka, they had got the number of male slaves they needed. At the females’ cage, they started bringing out the slaves and bargaining for them one after the other. When Urenna was brought out, the owner of the camp ordered for her to be taken back. Even when the visiting slave dealers offered a higher price for her, he (the owner) insisted she was not for sale and she was led back into the cage. After purchasing the number of slaves they wanted, the dealers left with their newly purchased ‘commodities’ through the water ways.
In the afternoon of that day, the intensity of the sun was very high and it shone directly on the slaves as usual. That evening, three more of the slaves; two females and a male whose bodies couldn’t take the hellish treatment anymore died. They must have died from malnutrition, too much exposure to harsh weather, infections from their untreated wounds or any other causes. There were many probable causes of the deaths of those individuals who were once someone’s beloved before they were turned into beasts. As usual, some of the male slaves were forced to dig the graves of their comrades. Omenka was counted among those who’d dig the graves. He and others were led out of the cage and guarded with arms as they moved to the burial site carrying the remains of their fallen comrades.
Walking to the burial site, they walked past a tent which served as the abode of the owner of the slave camp. As Omenka walked past the tent, he heard a muffled cry from the tent. Instinctively, he looked into the tent and froze instantly. On the floor laid his Urenna, pinned down by the bulky white man as he forcefully had carnal knowledge of her body. He was raping her while she cried in agony. Even in her pains, she wasn’t allowed to cry. He (the white man) stuffed her mouth with clothes while he enjoyed the pleasure of her body. She only shed tears which spoke many unsaid words of pains. What a brutal world we live in?
What happened next?
Find out!!!
TOCHUKWU ANOZIE
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