Afterlives

Shortly before Amur dies, Ilyas arrives in the town. He has a letter of introduction and reference for the German manager of a large sisal farm that makes rope and twine. After Ilyas receives a job offer, the office assistant takes him around the community. His tour ends up at the home of Khalifa, who welcomes him. Khalifa says his home is a good place for a community baraza—a place for discussing events and sharing opinions. The two quickly become friends.

Khalifa asks Ilyas if he was forced to pray Christian prayers at the German schools. Ilyas admits this is true but says that he knows God knew in his heart what his true faith is. Ilyas speaks of the Germans with great appreciation. He and the people of the area where he lived were well-cared for by the Germans. He confides that he has never been back to the village where he lived as a child since he ran away. Khalifa encourages him to go learn if his family is still living and to reconnect with them.

Ilyas rides in a donkey cart to the market of a man named Karim. Karim invites Ilyas to share in his prayers and Ilyas agrees, telling Karim to go first with his meditations. This is because Ilyas does not know how to pray, never having been inside a mosque and never having learned the Muslim prayers. The next morning, another donkey cart driver delivers Ilyas to the road leading down to his ancestral village. Ilyas finds that little has changed and soon sees a woman whom he recognizes, though he does not remember her name. Ilyas learns that both of his parents have died. He has a sister, Afiya, who survived and now resides with their aunt and uncle. The villagers explained to Ilyas where to find his sister.

Afiya is 10 years old. She lives in view of a dark, cone-shaped hill covered in scrub brush. Her aunt tells her from the time she is a small child that the hill is a dangerous place, though she never explains why it is dangerous. She relates that there are a number of creatures and people who come out at night and do harmful things to little girls. Thus, Afiya lives in fear that terrible creatures are about, waiting to grab her. She knows nothing about the world apart from the house where she is virtually enslaved. Though her aunt expresses some tenderness toward her, Afiya must work constantly, fetching water from the moment she wakes and experiencing so much abuse from her cousins that she assumes it is a normal part of her life. Her uncle, who is a security officer, speaks little, except to express that he really does not care for her. Her aunt explains that, when she was six years old, her father brought her to them and asked them to take her in since he knew he was near death. The aunt says, “These things are in God’s hands. Since then you have been our burden” (34).

One day a well-dressed young man arrives at the front door. He introduces himself as Ilyas, Afiya’s brother. He says he has been looking for her. He announces that he intends to take her with him to live in the city. When they leave, Ilyas expresses anger toward them because his sister is dressed in dirty rags and has no real clothing. He realizes they have treated her as an enslaved person, something that she does not grasp at the time but later recognizes as true.

Afiya finds it a strange adventure, since she has never been on a donkey cart before, never been to the city on the coast where her brother lives. For the first time, she sleeps in a bed with her own mosquito net. He takes her to the hospital near the coast, where she receives medical tests. When her brother goes to work, Afiya gets to spend time with two teenage sisters who live with their family in the house. Her brother insists that she learn how to read and write. Alone among the women in the house, Afiya becomes literate.

Ilyas explains to his sister why he ran away. His mother had a chronic illness with health problems she could not overcome, and his father had diabetes. He describes running away and arriving in a large town on the coast where soldiers marched through the street. Children marched alongside them, pretending to be soldiers and, as they came to a train station, one of the fighters grabbed hold of him and pushed him onto the train. He explained to Ilyas that he was going to be his gun boy. The train took them to the end of the line, where Ilyas protested that he had been kidnapped. An Indian man went to a German officer to explain what happened with Ilyas.

The Germans sent Ilyas into the mountain to a coffee farm and made him work with animals in the farmyard. Eventually, he came to a school for Christian converts where he remained for several years. He worked on the farm for nine years and thoroughly enjoyed it, learning to read and write in German and speak it fluently. He was taken aside by one of the high-ranking Germans who felt that Ilyas was wasted on the work that he was doing on the farm. The German encouraged him to seek his fortune elsewhere and sent him to Tanga with a letter of introduction to the sisal farm.

Often Khalifa and Ilyas gather in the evening with other men to discuss the events of the day. Khalifa relates that his wife’s uncle was a pirate. They had hoped that Nassor, his son, would be fairer, only Nassor is just as bad. He is unwilling to allow Asha to take possession of her home. As they discuss what is happening in the world, Ilyas speaks graciously of the Germans, who treated him well. There are rumors about a Great War that is coming between the British and the Germans. Ilyas says the British will fall before the Germans, who are clever and good fighters. He also argues that the British are meaner than the Germans. Those listening describe the bad treatment they received at the hands of the Germans. Ilyas will not hear it.

Eventually, Ilyas decides he will join the military and fight for the Germans. Khalifa tries unsuccessfully to dissuade him. Ilyas explains to Afiya that she must return to her uncle’s home once more. This devastates her because she believes she will be mistreated once again. The only consolation is the promise from Ilyas that he will not be gone for long. Khalifa makes a deal with Afiya, telling her to write to him if she is treated badly and he will immediately come for her.

When Afiya returns to her uncle’s home, she is treated even worse than she was before. Her aunt is much more abrasive with her and her cousins even more abusive, with her boy cousin sexually harassing her. On one occasion her aunt sees her practicing her writing on a slate and warns her against it. She puts her slate and writing material away. Her uncle takes her, along with her boy cousin, into an interior room, locks the door, berates and then beats her viciously, resulting in a concussion and a fractured wrist. The next day her aunt takes her to a healer who says that they should be ashamed. Everyone in the village heard the uncle as he yelled at the top of his voice.

As soon as Afiya is physically able, she writes a note asking for help and passes it through several individuals to Khalifa. Good as his word, Khalifa travels to the home of Afiya’s aunt and takes Afiya to his home.