The Book Of Negroes by Lawrence Hill Read Free Book Online Page A

shea nuts, and offered to help clean the wound on my thigh.
    “I can do it,” I said.
    “Let me help,” he said, aiming a thin stream of water so that it ran over my cut.
    “Why do the children in the villages taunt us?” I asked.
    “They are only boys, Aminata,” Chekura said.
    “And all these villagers who sell goods to the captors and stand guard over us at night? Why do they help these men?”
    “Why do
I
help them?” he said. “What choice have they?”
    “They were not all sold by their uncles,” I said.
    “We do not know their stories,” Chekura said.
    The next day, when we passed a town, I felt relieved that nobody came out to throw stones or hurl insults. A few women bearing fruits and nuts clustered around our captors, and one of them watched me carefully, followed me for a moment, and then walked beside me. She removed the platter from her head and handed me a banana and small sack of peanuts. I could not understand her words, but her voice sounded kind. She placed her dry, dusty hand on my shoulder. It was such an unexpected gesture of kindness that my eyes filled with tears. She patted my shoulder, said something in an urgent tone and was gone before I had the chance to thank her.
    I HAD MY FIRST BLEEDING during our long march. I tried to calm myself by thinking that I wouldn’t live much longer, and that my humiliation wouldn’t last long. Cramps shot through my belly. In my nakedness, it was impossible to hide the blood running down my legs.
    When Chekura approached me, I hissed at him, “Go away.”
    “Are you ill?”
    “Go away.”
    “Have some water.” I sipped from his skin of water, but refused to acknowledge him.
    “Have you been cut?”
    “Are you stupid?”
    “I can help you.”
    “Leave me alone.” He walked beside me for some time, but I was silent. Finally, he turned to walk away. As he did, I called out, “When we stop tonight, find me a woman from a village.”
    He nodded and kept going.
    We settled for the evening on the outskirts of a village. Chekura disappeared. Later, two women walked up to my captors, pointed at me and had an animated talk. They gave the captors some palm wine and then came up to me.
    The women chattered in a language I could not understand. One woman tugged my hand. I looked toward Chekura, who nodded that I was free to go. The woman led me by the hand while the other followed. We left the captives, who were settled under trees, and wandered past a sentry and inside a walled village. I saw a well, some round storage huts and some rectangular homes with mud walls similar to those of Bayo. The women led me behind a small home. Evidently, it belonged to the woman who had taken me by the hand. They brought me a cauldron of warm water and let me wash myself. When I was done, they led me inside,where it was cool, and had me sit on a bench. I looked for signs of knives or other instruments, wondering if they meant to do something to me, now that my womanhood was emerging. Just as my terror was reaching such a peak that I looked to see if anybody was blocking the door to prevent my escape, another woman came in carrying a blue cloth. She gave it to me, and signalled for me to wrap it around myself. It was long and wide enough to reach around my belly and backside. I felt so much better, and safer, with my privates covered. Suddenly I was hungry, and I realized that the shame of nakedness had kept my appetite at bay. Now that I was decent, they invited me to sit and eat with them, chatting at me all the while.
Take the food
. This I heard my mother saying to me, from the spirit lands.
Take the food, child. These women won t hurt you
.
    They gave me some goat meat with malaguetta pepper, dripping in a hot peanut sauce. It was delicious, but rich. I could feel my stomach revolting, and could only eat a little. They pressed a pouch of peanuts into my hand, as well as dried, salty strips of goat meat. They kept chattering at me, and I assumed they were asking