Daydreams

Daydreaming. My only hobby. What else could a girl do, living in an area that was constantly being lit up in flames with blood splatters from dead victims serving as manure to farmlands that would never be cultivated by its owners.

There was nothing fun. Having friends were a waste of social skills. A friend could die in the next raid or get lost while fleeing the village. The sound of anything permanent was dreaded here, except marriage and mine was in two days. 

When you are poor, you don't really plan an extravagant ceremony. Both families had concluded that it was going to be an in-house affair and the bride price was moderate. For my parents, the marriage was a means to get their daughter out of the village to the city where my groom lived, out of danger. 

So, on the morning of my wedding, when the groom's family arrived. Everyone was excited. We peeped out the window and saw their cars, although this time they were more than usual. Usually, they would come in buses, three in number, all blue in colour, the official colour of the bakery where my groom worked. This time, they were outnumbered, the fleet was led by the three blue buses. In my heart, I did a little dance, the village would think I was getting married to a wealthy family. My parents were worried, why the sudden increase in guests despite previous arrangements. We had not enough chairs nor food to cater to such a large number. 

In fear of embarrassment, my father opened the door of the house, to welcome the groom and his family,and also to enquire if they had made some extra plans for refreshments seeing that they had come with extra guests. 

But,as he took those steps down the entrance to the compound, we saw first hand what it's means to be obliterated. Father's body went up in flames, hit by a powerful rocket-like missile. His body parts, distributed about the floor, unidentifiable. 

Bodies were thrown down from the blue buses, and in the carnage, I could spot my groom, lifeless in bloodstained babariga. The armed bandits were here again, and had successfully slipped into the city without notice, they were here to finish off from the last raid, to RAPE, KILL AND BURN. 

This is Southern Kaduna, and we are no strangers to pain.