The Struggle Of An African Child 4 Chapter Four

It was not Kamsi's fault. There was no bridge for pedestrian crossing, which made it a death trap. If the government had been able to build one there, many lives could have been saved. The motorist who use that road, don't have the patience to allow pedestrians the needed time to cross over to the other side. Looking both ways before crossing may not be the best solution, as a vehicle could appear within a split second and hit anyone crossing during that time.

People were confused and unsure of what to do. Even those that wanted to help were afraid the case could turn against them. In situations like these, the police have been known to accuse anyone they see of the crime. Some of the pa.s.sersby were trying to render first aid before taking him to the hospital. Some women were shouting, "Take her to the hospital," but who would do it? Even if they take her to the hospital, who would pay the bill?

The person who hit Kamsi, drove away. The hospital would place the responsibility of the bill on the person who brought Kamsi in. No one wanted to pay for injuries he was not guilty of causing. However, no one wanted the poor guy to die ether. No Good Samaritan came forward. The injuries looked severe enough to require medical attention. It was not as though someone could just take him into a nearby pharmacy for a pain reliever.

The accident had attracted the attention of everyone pa.s.sing by. Initially, Sam did not want to go, but when he saw people crying, he was forced to go. The crowd surrounded Kamsi and Sam was not able to see her face. He tried standing on his toes, hoping to catch a glimpse of the injured person, but the more he tried to see, the more forcefully the crowd pushed him away. He was not tall enough to see the person lying on the ground, encircled by the crowd. He decided instead to step aside, mindful of the ripe plantain he held and protected, knowing if it were to be smashed by the crowd, it would be a loss to him. What would he tell his mother? Would he say he was trying to see the injured person at the scene of an accident and the plantain was crushed?

The accident created a traffic gridlock and the ever-busy road was a bit easier for pedestrians to cross for the moment.

No one derives joy from hawking. When a child who is supposed to be in school is on the road hawking, it does not mean he hates school. It does not give parents joy seeing their children hawking in the street and road. Every parent would like their children to go to school but when poverty knocks at their door and they start struggling with it, their children may be forced to drop out of school to hawk. It's not every child that has the privilege to go to school due to poverty.

There are a good number of children who are dying today needlessly. Some are being raped while others are used for rituals. Others are exposed to dangers and all sort of crimes. If life was fair to the parents of Sam and his sister, they would not be sending their children to go and hawk.

The only reason Kamsi still hawked after returning from school was because of the situation of things in their family. Sam later kept what he was hawking in a safer place to enable him to see everything; as he was trying to see the person that had the accident but was still struggling; he was able to maneuver his ways through the little s.p.a.ce available; taken the glimpse of the cloth the victim was wearing, it occurred to him that his sister also had that same type of cloth and that was when he pushed further to have the clear picture of the person.

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Seeing it was his sister lying almost lifeless in the pool of blood he shouted her name. "Kamsiiiiiiiiiii!"

The noisy place suddenly because quiet like the burial ground and all eyes turned on him. As he shouted his sister's name with all the strength in him, the person sitting next to him hit him and he jumped from sleep.

"Oh, thank G.o.d, it was a dream." Sam said, "Hey, boy. Are you alright?" the person asked Sam.

Sam stood still for nearly five minutes speechless thinking, 'what could be the meaning of the dream he had.' Terrified by the dream he went home. The accident seemed too real to him to be just a dream. When he reached home, Sam saw his mother coming out from the shortcut that led to their house as she was returning from the place she went to buy herbal medicine for her sick husband. Kate had never seen Sam coming home early before and when she saw the stainless steel tray he had loaded with both ripe and unripe plantain almost as full as when he had left she knew that something must be wrong. She welcomed him home but she did not ask him the reason for his coming home early.

Kate hurriedly helped Sam to set down the tray because it was a little bit heavy. Sam wasn't looking as cheerful as he used to. His mother allowed him to rest awhile but as a mother, Kate knew all was not well. She took the herbal medicine to her husband whose continuous coughing had interrupted their conversation.

"Who were you talking to?" Joe managed to ask.

"Sam," Kate replied.

"I thought he had gone? Or did he forget something?" Joe asked.

"Take your medicine first," Kate said trying to help him sit up. She was pouring the herbal medicine into the cup when Sam came in.

"Papa, Good afternoon." He greeted his Father.

Joe responded, "Good afternoon, son. Why are you home so early today?"

Sam wasn't sure what to answer him; he scratched his head, squinted at the ceiling looking for what to say when his father broke the silence by telling his wife to shake the bottle of medicine well before pouring it into the cup. Sam used the opportunity to excuse himself. When Kate finished with her husband, she left to go ask Sam the reason why he had returned home early.

"Sam," she called glancing left and right, "Where is that boy?"

She was trying to call him a second time, "Sa…" when Sam answered from the backward.

"Ma," he replied. He was carrying the cup of water he wanted to drink before his mother called him the second time as he was going to meet her. Kate allowed him to finish drinking the water before she continued asking him why he had returned early.

"Sam, why were you so early today?" She asked drawing close to him.

Taking a deep breath he scratched his head, " Mama'' Sam replied as he was trying to have eye contact with her, he slowly lowered his face. "I had a very terrible dream..."

''Dream?'' She cut in with her eyes wide open. "Where, when?"

She asked because she wondered how one could have a dream when he was not asleep. Sam told her how somebody who he had been leaning on his car had verbally abused him and when he could not bear the insult, he sought a place to rest awhile before continuing hawking when he suddenly fell asleep. That was when he dreamt. Curious to hear the dream, Kate adjusted her seat, fixed her eyes on Sam's.

"And what was the dream all about?" She asked.

Sam took another deep breath, "Mama, in the dream I saw where Kamsi had an accident…"

"Blood of Jesus. Had what?" She asked.

"An accident," Sam replied then he continued, "So, she was lying helpless in the pool of blood and was about giving up when somebody woke me up."

As she was pondering in her mind what the dream could mean, Joe opened the door, coughed lightly, cleared his throat. "I overheard you shouting, 'Blood of Jesus,' what happen?"

Kate told him the dream Sam had dreamed. Joe stood for a while and when he regained himself because he was lost in thought; he asked them for a seat. As they were meditating on the dream Kamsi came in. They were very happy to see her as she returned home from school safely. Their mother had earlier arranged the well-tied vegetable leaves Kamsi would help to sale but after listening to the dream, she decided against it.

Some days later after fellows.h.i.+p, one of their church members told Kate that her older sister was looking for a maid. She was asking her to see if she would allow Kamsi to go.

"You know she is still going to school," Kate said.

"Yes, I know, but it will not prevent her from going to school. She will continue schooling when she gets there," the lady answered.

Kate told her that she would discuss it with her husband. And when she returned home that day, she discussed it with Joe. Seeing it as a good idea to allow Kamsi to go, Joe consented because it would be a relief to some of their suffering. They believed she would be safer there, and they would not be struggling to pay her school fees again. Allowing Kamsi to go would help her to rediscover herself as she would be changing her environment. Apart from the hards.h.i.+ps they were facing, the scaring dream Sam had about her was enough reason to let her go to save her the dangers in hawking.

When they called Kamsi to ascertain if she would go, she did not want to go initially because she could not afford to leave Sam behind. It took them days to be able to convince her to go. Joe told her that he was not happy seeing her suffering, going to the dilapidated public school, hawking each day when she returns from school.

Kamsi was wondering how Sam would cope without her because the relations.h.i.+p between them was very close. Sam was the only brother she had. Growing up together under the same roof was a great joy to them, separating them would be difficult. When Sam was asked if he thought Kamsi should go, he did not say anything, and when Kamsi noticed that Sam was not happy, she started imagining how lonely Sam would feel when she left so she changed her mind about going. When Sam saw the lady with her older sister the day they came to pick up Kamsi, tears rolled down his cheek, Kamsi sobbed uncontrollably; Kate could not help but she managed to control her emotions.

It's not that Sam did not want Kamsi to go but he remembered the company his sister kept. Sam was not the type that a.s.sociated with the ghetto boys. Everybody understood Sam's pain but Kamsi had to go so that their burden would reduce. The woman promised Sam a lot of good things and after much pleading and persuasion, Sam consented.