Right in front of me, the building which I called home was brought to the ground with blazing flames. As I watched the fire from a nearby Bush, all I could think of was my parents. Were they in the fire, or did they escape. Suddenly, a hand grabbed me up.
"Presh you need to leave here, before those Northerners see you."
That was aunt Claire, my mother's good friend. I was about 4 years when I started seeking refuge in her house whenever I wanted to escape my parents, which is where I was when all this began.
"But aunt Claire, I haven't seen Ma and Pa, are they in your house?"
"Why don't you come with me and find out."
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The trick worked on me, my aunt knew very well that nothing would make me leave without knowing that my parents were
safe. On getting to her house she dropped the bomb on me telling me that my parents were actually in the fire. She explained to me how the Northerners had come seeking to take over some part of my father's land. My father refused, and the Northerners set the house on ablaze.
"Presh you have to promise me that under no circumstances should you get any crazy idea to revenge against the Northerners."
All these while, I have been silent, sitting on the floor looking up at aunt Claire like she was telling a moonlight tale. I couldn't get myself to believe that Mom and dad were gone at the same time. I was in shock for months, but the thought of revenge never crossed my mind. Maybe because the Northerners were too powerful and there was nothing I could do. Maybe because deep down I was a coward, or maybe I was too young. It has been 5years since my parents died and at the age of 16, it felt like it all happened yesterday.
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Aunt Claire on her part, made sure I never felt like I had no parents. She enrolled me in a nice school and has been taking good care of me ever since. After all these years, the Northerners were still in power, and they would come to the West and claim whatever they wanted. Every year, they would send their soldiers to abduct as many young girls as they could. And these girls never returned to the west, what happens to them remained a mystery.
One day, as aunt Claire was driving me home from school, there was a slight road block up ahead, cars were directed to divert to the next lane. It happened that the Northerners were beating a certain man while his children watched.
"Why doesn't anybody stand up against the Northerners?" I asked as we drove by.
"If you stand up against them they will kill you, it's as simple as that."
That day, I got the craziest idea ever. I kept this plan to myself, well except my best friend in school. We can't keep our mouth shut around each other.
"What do you mean go to the North?" Essy asked after I told her my plans.
"I want to go and give them WAHALA."
"Ah wahala be like biscycle. Presh, Nobody goes to the North. You don't just wake up and decide to go to the North."
I didn't actually tell her all the plan. My mind was made up, my heart beating faster as each day passed. On the first day of a new month, the soldiers arrived as usual to abduct young girls. On days like this, every Westerner stays indoors praying and hoping that their daughters are not taken.
As aunt Claire slept, I left her a note and sneaked out of the house. I roamed around the street and eventually got captured, blindfolded and dumped in the back of the van alongside other girls. It has been five years since I went to give the Northerners wahala, to avenge the brutal killing of my parent. Sadly throughout these five years I haven't been able to carry out this mission. In fact, I had no idea that I was on a mission. This is because once you cross the boarder into the North, your memory is taken from you. Once you get there you practically become a New born baby. No wonder nobody ever comes back after taken to the North.
It seems I got myself in serious wahala.