A FREE MAN’S TALE

By Mutabazi Alex

The year was 1933, and I was a homeless orphan with my sister, Julie. Our parents had passed away, and we were left alone with no food, money or shelter. Being youngsters with no skills, we were really facing a hard time on the streets. We searched the rubbish pits for something to eat, and scavenged the dustbins, in an effort to earn a living. We begged for alms from the passersby, some of whom were very rude and abusive. None of our relatives seemed to bother about us, yet they had enjoyed and benefited from everything that our parents were.

Life was hopeless for us, as we watched the days come and go. There seemed to be no hope for us in the world. We possessed nothing to call ours, except for the cold nights and rags that passed for our clothings.

One day, the situation got really bad , and for the whole day, we ate nothing. Julie, who had just made seven, started crying. The sight of her crying made me think of what to do for her. I felt I should try all means to get her something to eat. I felt that she could not survive the night on an empty stomach. It was getting dark, and there was a grocery store at the end of the street where we used to sit with Julie. I left her at the usual spot where we had kept our rags, and proceeded to beg from the grocery. The lady behind the counter could not let me tell her what my problem was, because a few days ago, I had disturbed her for the same reason, and she had promised to beat me up if I ever entered the shop again.

When she turned her attention to a customer who had just entered the shop, I decided at once that I must get out of the shop with something for Julie. Without having any second thoughts, I grabbed a five dollar bill, and a pear, which were lying on the table, and made for the door way. Little did I know that my legs could not carry me very far. I heard gunshots and people shouting at me, and when I glanced behind me, I saw a Policeman right behind my back. In a minute, I was arrested, and my ordeal began.

I spent the night in a cold police cell, thinking of how Julie was suffering with the cold on an empty stomach. The next morning, I was taken to court, and despite my pleas that I had been compelled to steal because of my young sister, I was sentenced to two years in prison. Matters were made worse when I was told that I would be taken to the notorious Alkatraz Maximum Security Prison. It was the most feared prison in this part the world, because nobody had ever come out of the place to tell the tale. The prison was separated from the mainland by the straits of Pacific. The walls were thick and high, and once behind them, the outside world would be nowhere in sight. During all this time, I never stopped worrying about Julie, whose situation could have probably been worse than mine.

I tried to get used to the place, and even made some friends. Harris and Mardock were the closest friends that I interacted with most. The three of us had a lot in common, including the thought of escaping from Alkatraz. As expected, there was a day when we endeavoured to make the impossible happen. We set aside a night when we would end our misery by escaping from the prison for good.

However, that night turned out to be the beginning of a long nightmare for me. Mardock was shot dead as the three of us tried to escape that night. I knew then that the worst lay ahead of Harris and I, because none had ever done what we had tried to do and got away with it at Alkatraz.

The chief warden of the prison gave orders that the two of us should be separated. I was thrown in a pitch dark hole, six by nine feet, with no bed or blanket in it. It was really cold and the huge rats moved around the hole, gnawing whatever they found on their way. I was fed on bread and water three times a day, and allowed only thirty minutes of sunlight a day. This was done by opening an aperture on the roof. I never ever went out of the hole, except once on Christmas day, when I was allowed thirty minutes of exercises.

I spent two and a half years in that hole. It was really horrible and tormenting. I became almost insane, since I had lost my count of the normal environment. I was more or less an animal and walked with my back slightly bent forward. I guess this was because I was always coiled up in the hole, trying to shield myself from the cold.

After a long two and a half years in that hole, one morning, I was led to the dinning hall, where the other prisoners had gathered for lunch. Though I was mentally disturbed, I managed to recognise a few faces of the prisoners, especially Harris. I learnt that Harris had bribed the wardens and got off the hook, as I suffered alone in the hole. There was a massive build up of anger in me, and I felt I was about to boil. Harris recognised me and came over to greet me. I knew the chance had come. He whispered in my ears, asking me how my long visit to hell had been. I could not take this insult hands down.

I sprung at him like a lion, and in one go, I picked a spoon and plunged it into his throat. He died instantly, and I felt relieved. Every one looked at me in dismay, as the guards rushed me out of the room. I was told I would face murder charges in the next one month.

As I waited for my trial, not knowing when exactly it would start, I got a surprise visitor. Julie had tried in the last two years to come and visit me. She was the one person that I would never forget. She told me she had bribed the warders and at last they accepted her to visit me. We spent quite some time together , chatting and sharing plans and experiences, as she updated me on the latest developments on the mainland. I told her about the horrors that I had gone through, and she could not help but shed tears. After wiping away her tears, she assured me that she would do everything she could to make sure I came out of this place. She swore that she would have to get me out of this place by all means.

In just three days after her historical visit, Julie had got access to a lawyer, who would help me to win the case. When the time for the trial came, the lawyer advised me to plead guilty on the grounds of insanity. I told the presiding judge that whatever I had done, was as a result of the insanity, which I was driven into by the violation of my rights, and the torture that I had undergone. The judge, basing on the evidence of my lawyer, ruled that I should be freed, and that an official inquiry be instituted to investigate the violation of human rights of the prisoners. The official inquest revealed a lot of evil in the prison, and the prison was subsequently closed.

It was hard to imagine that such a big achievement started with the snatching of a pear and five dollars from a grocery.

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THE EMERALD

By Nshaho Blessing

The object in the sand glittered in the bright afternoon sun. Kevin, with his gaze on the object, could hear the water as the waves pounded on the beach. His day off from work had so far been boring. He suddenly felt as if he was being watched, and tilted his head slightly to one side as his eyes roamed the beach. He was abruptly startled as he caught sight of a man who was standing about fifty yards to his left, staring at him. Their eyes locked as they looked at each other for a brief moment. The man was stout and of medium height, and from the clothes he was putting on, he seemed out of place at the beach. For a minute, Kevin stopped and thought perhaps this man was here for a sinister motive.

Kevin stooped and nonchalantly picked up the object from the water. It felt rough and appeared to be some kind of a jewel. From what he could remember from his school days about the precious stones, he guessed this could be an emerald. Yes, it was. He remembered vividly how the Encyclopedia had described the emerald, and how he and his friends had, for weeks on, been constantly referring to any beautiful stone as an emerald.

He pocketed the stone an proceeded to stroll along the beach. He casually glanced in the direction in which he had seen the strange man, and was surprised to see that the man was following him at a respectable distance, with well timed strides. He was gripped with fear and a sense of worry, and decided to enter a mangrove forest a little ahead of him.

As he entered the forest, he noticed that the man had quickened his pace. He spotted a well trodden path leading into the heart of the forest, and decided to follow it. He ran along the path, and increased his speed on hearing the sound of the breaking twigs snapping behind him, indicating that he was being followed. He reached a clump of trees with a cluster of tiny bushes and shrubs in the middle. He climbed up the largest and tallest of the trees, which seemed to have a dense foliage. He just managed to perch himself on a large branch, from where he could see anyone below, while at the same time being securely concealed from anyone trying to find him.

Moments after he had climbed the tree, the man stopped down under the tree which Kevin had climbed. He glanced around, trying to look for any sign that someone had hidden himself in the nearby bushes. After apparently failing to trace where Kevin had disappeared to, he began to trot along the path, going ahead in the direction leading deeper into the forest. Kevin cautiously crept down to a lower branch, and prepared to climb down so as to run in the opposite direction. He was shocked and froze when he heard approaching voices. Then he saw them. Five men, including the man who was chasing him, appeared below him and stopped exactly under the tree on which he was hiding. One of the other men addressed his chaser as Bob, and asked him what they were going to do.

“He is somewhere around here. I am sure he disappeared from me around this spot,” Bob answered.

“We are going to find him, no matter what happens. He has that emerald which is the only thing that connects us to the robbery, and he has also seen us. We must get him.” The man who appeared to be the leader of this gang, was very calm, but reassuring to the others.

“What shall we do with the man in case we get the emerald from him,” Bob asked their leader.

“We just fix him,” answered another member of the gang.

Kevin’s curiosity lessened his concentration. The mere fact that these men were under the tree, contemplating what to do with him, made him numb.

As he was adjusting himself to look for a comfortable position on the tree, the dry branch that had been supporting him gave way, and he fell head first on the ground, breaking more branches in the process. He had closed his eyes in the process, and when he opened them, he stared directly in the face of the gang members.

“Like manna from heaven!”, exclaimed Bob sarcastically, as his face broke into a smile.

The men surrounded him, and his heart began to beat very hard that he could hear himself. As he shifted himself to get into a better position, he realised the emerald had slipped out of his pocket and was on the ground behind him.

“Get up, you jerk,” Bob shouted at the top of his voice, as he kicked him in the stomach.

As he got up, he managed to shove some twigs and dirt with his foot thus concealing the emerald. They searched him and found nothing.

“Where is it?” The man with scars in his face asked.

“Where is what?” Kevin answered back, with fear smeared all over his face.

“The stone. The one you picked from the water,” Bob shouted at him, landing a heavy slap on the right cheek.

“I hid it in the tree near the entrance of the forest.” Kevin replied, suddenly getting aware that he was now in a very dangerous situation.

“Stop fooling us,” shouted their leader, looking at Kevin so intensily, that he seemed to penetrate Kevin’s thought.

“I am not lying,” Kevin pleaded, and realising his trick might work, he gained some more courage.

“Describe the tree and tell us exactly where you put the stone.” Bob had become a little calm.

Kevin described the tree which he had seen as he was entering the forest, and told them he had buried it underneath some twigs there.

“Mike, make sure he does not go anywhere.” Their leader told one of the gangsters, as the rest moved in the direction where Kevin had directed them. The man who remained behind to ensure Kevin did not escape, tried to talk to Kevin, but there seemed nothing the two could talk about. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead his lips just moved a little as he muttered inaudible things. He later, after a short while gathered words and spoke.

“If this is a trick, we will simply kill you and leave you here, after all, dead men don’t talk.”

Kevin sat down and kept his legs crossed, with his hands on his head as he had been ordered by the man looking after him. Mike, the thug who was standing besides him, looked at Kevin with an air of authority. He stood there, whistling a familiar tune, and pulled out a gun from his jacket. He looked at the gun, and then at Kevin and at the gun again. Kevin started to get a sinking feeling, and thought of how best he could get out of this mess.

At this moment, he caught sight of a big stick in between himself and Mike. With Mike now facing the other direction, humming a tune under his breath, Kevin knew he would not get a better chance than this. Deftly, and with a speed surprising even himself, he got up, grabbed the stick and lunged at Mike, breaking a twig and in the process, alerting Mike. Mike spun around with mathematical accuracy, and at a speed that would put lightening to shame. But it was too late. He clobbered Mike on the head with all the strength he could garner at that moment. Mike fell in one whole heap and was instantly knocked down.

Kevin uncovered the emerald, put it into his pocket and ran until he thought his lungs would burst. He reached the other end of the forest in time to find a parked car. Knowing it belonged to the robbers, he got into it, and drove in the direction of town. In the shortest time, he was at the Police Station, where he told the story to the officer on duty and handed over the emerald. He was asked to write a statement, and after this, he took a cab home.

At home, he had a hot shower, and made himself a cup of coffee. After taking the coffee, he made for the bed and had one of the most comfortable nights in the recent past. The following morning, he read in the papers that the men who nearly killed him were infact robbers, who had robbed a museum. They had been apprehended by the police, following a tip of from an unidentified man. Kevin definitely knew he was this man who had tipped off the police. With an air of satisfaction, Kevin jumped out of his apartment to run to the police and pick up his reward, for the assistance he had given them.

Later in the day, he met the museum officials, who gave him the emerald as a present in appreciation for his assistance. He smiled to himself all the way home, looking at the emerald, which now glittered more than it had been the previous day.