After school, she took the little shortcut that she and Anneki had found, with hopes of making it back home early. Anneki had hung back, avoiding her; his friends always teased him for walking home with a little girl, even if she was his sister. Even though he was slightly bigger than most of them, they still called him names. Amnogu had walked silently for a little while before she heard voices. The men were sitting on rocks, smoking weed and singing hoarsely. But they quieted when they saw her. Instinctively sensing danger, she had walked faster, trying to get away as quickly as possible when one of them hallooed at her. She ignored him even as he lazily called out again. But when she felt a tug at her dress from behind, she turned and struggled with the middle aged man in front of her. The doll fell out of her hands and crashed to the ground. The man slapped Amnogu backhanded across the face, still holding onto her with his other hand. The force of his blow threw her backwards, tearing her dress. She saw his eyes light up madly as he looked at her bare thigh. She had cried for her sister as he pressed her down and unzipped his pants, energized by the obscene calls of his companions. Excruciating pain seared through her entire body as he ripped open the eye between her legs. She heard the blood bursting in her ears as she felt herself losing consciousness… But it ended as quickly as it started. When she opened her eyes weakly, she saw Anneki throwing his small fists into the sides of the man. The man picked up the little ten year old boy and threw him against a rock. When Anneki came at him again, the man threw him down and clenched the boy’s neck in his fist, squeezing hard. Some of the men had tried to intervene but the man still held on, bashing the boy’s head against the ground until it shattered. Finally, they dragged him off and ran away. Amnogu’s weak cries for help were drowned out by silence as she limped over to her brother’s body. She tugged at him, urging him to wake up so they could go home. When he did not move, she ran home as quickly as her ravished body let her. ~ The girl looked at Amnogu incredulously, stunned by all she just heard. “Anneki, dead? Anneki is dead?” She refused to believe it. As she ran out of the hut, she mistakenly banged her little sister’s head against a piece of wood on the side. Without stopping, she followed Amnogu to the place where their brother lay. She cried out at the shadows standing over him, scattering them with an enraged shriek as she rushed over to his side. She turned her head away from the remains of her younger brother. His entire left hand and part of his right leg were gone. His shirtless body showed where he had been hacked into, most probably by a machete. When she saw this, she knew that they must have been working on his 84 theMeadow
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