 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
sankahjang
USA
78 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 18:39:18
|
The Semester
He was a tall lanky guy in his mid twenties. His bushy eye lashes defined his big eye balls in a way that his friends-female friends of his age-always commented about them. He was full of energy and ambition and he always used it on anything he thought would improve his family’s condition. Although his full name is Sulayman, his mother was the only one who called him with that. Everyone else called him Sulay. Like most of his friends, he always dreamed of going to America where he believed life would be better for him. From what he heard and saw about America, he was convinced that he would be able to provide a better life for his family when he came to America. Sulay and his friends knew so much about America, that you would think they were once in there. They spent most of their time sitting on a long wooden bench in the shade of a mango tree at the gate of his home. They drank attaya and listened to music until in the evening when they met again at the football field for exercise. They argued about America as if they were in a debate about the country. In their ghetto-ghettocana–everyone has a nickname except Sulay. Among their nicknames were Yankee boy, New Yorker and Rapper. Ghettocana was coined from the words ghetto and Americana and was fabricated by one of Sulay’s friends during their regular talk-about-America, and the words were graffiti-ed on the brick wall of his neighboring compound.
Sulay was not overly expressive of his desire to travel to America like his friends. He, most of the time took an objective position when his boys started to talk about America as a heaven. “I don’t know about others but when I go to ‘Cana,’ just give me one year and I will build a huge house for my parents,” his friend said.
“America is a great country with a lot of opportunities but it may not be as easy as you think,” Sulay replied.
“Sulay, don’t worry, just wait until I step into Canaland you will see.”
Except in Sulay’s family, there was at least one working member in each of the other guys’ family. Sulay’s family depended on the little money his mother made from selling smoked fish at a local market. He sometimes helped his mother with fish-money whenever he got hired for a daily labor by a friend of his father - a construction man. As his mother put down a pan full of unsold fish one day, she asked, “Sulayman, when are you going to get a job so that I can stop selling fish? Can’t you see I’m getting old?”
“Don’t worry ma, everything will soon get better, just pray for me,” he replied.
Sulay’s family’s poor condition made his chance of travelling to the America very unlikely, but gave him extra courage to work harder for a better life.
When he graduated from high school, Sulay searched for a job everywhere but couldn't find any. He had at least five A in his WAEC (West African Examination Counsel) exam for grade twelve, and still no one employed him-not even with an A in English, mathematics and science. He voluntarily decided to teach, thinking it would get him recommended to the education department for a paid teaching job. After one year, the headmaster of his school helped him to become a paid unqualified teacher with a salary that could barely buy his family a bag of rice. But seeing no green grasses in his immediacy, he watered the flaccid ones hoping they would get green some day.
Five months since he became a paid teacher, Sulay got married to a student-teacher from the teacher training College. They met at the school where he was teaching when she came there for her teaching practice. Despite his father initially showing dislike about the marriage, his mother was happy about it. She used to telling him, “Sulayman, not having a job has nothing to do with marriage, I need someone to help me with cooking.”
“Ma, you know how hard it is for us already, adding another load is not a good idea now. Let’s keep praying, soon everything would be better.”
“Are you expecting a job somewhere?”
“No ma, but I know it will all be better soon.”
“Hmm…may god help us then,” She said, ending the conversation with a prayer.
Years of watering turned Sulay’s pastures green. He landed a job in the very office where his meager unqualified teaching salary got decided, and he became a pay master. His new post came in the right time as his wife was about to give birth to his son and his hibernating family members also began to come out. Presently his family became too big for the pay master salary and he began to think again about the possibility of going to America where he could make more money to take care of all his family’s problems. So, like his mother's cow-which they sold to pay for his school fees- he found no contention in the green pasture he was in, but rather thought the grasses on the other side were the greenest...
|
Edited by - sankahjang on 15 Nov 2011 00:32:33 |
|
|
Momodou
Denmark
11644 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 19:30:02
|
| Once again, thanks for sharing with us here. I look forward to reading the rest either online or in book form. Keep it up. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
 |
|
|
Sister Omega
United Kingdom
2085 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 22:38:11
|
Sankahjang definitely keep it up and I look forward to reading The Semester when you've finished it. I was just getting into Saulay's character and then it stopped...
Let us know when you've published it on gamwriters.com
Peace
Sister Omega |
Peace
Sister Omega |
|
|
|
sankahjang
USA
78 Posts |
|
|
sankalanka
270 Posts |
Posted - 17 Nov 2011 : 19:48:23
|
Sankahjang, a very moving story. You told the story with sincerity and candor, and it gives a very strong appeal to the reader. Keep it up. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| Bantaba in Cyberspace |
© 2005-2024 Nijii |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
