Little Kali leaves Mbonye (A Child's Tale)

ONE

Kali lived in a painted little house with a red roof, in a small river-side town called Mbonye.

The house was built at the foot of a grassy, round hill with a cluster of tall mango trees at the top, whose sweet, juicy fruits the village children happily munched when in season.

Kali’s house was surrounded by several other little houses, with resembling red roofs.

Sometimes the children liked to call it the ‘tomato-roof village’.

Kali lived with her daddy, mommy and baby brother, little Babu, who usually kept mommy awake late at night with his endless crying, and would refuse to go to sleep until his tiny stomach was full.

A river flowed gently from the west-side of the village towards the foot of the hill, and provided the village with its domestic water.

Kali loved her daddy and mommy, and knew they loved her very much too.

Early every morning, when the white, black-speckled cock began to crow – daddy would get up, before everyone else, to milk the old family cow with the big grey patches on its reddish skin.

Kali would watch him dressing in the dark, curled up under her scratchy blanket at the foot of her parents’ bed, where she slept on a thin mattress upon the cement floor.

He would wear his long gray coat and rubber boots, to protect him from the cold air and wet grass outside.

Daddy would then take the milk pail from a nail on the wall, and open the door gently in order not to wake mommy, Kali and baby Babu who were still asleep.

A few hours later, mommy would pinch Kali’s cheek gently and carry her outside, still sleepy eyed, to have her bath.

The cold water would make her shiver as mommy soaped and scrubbed her clean, after which she’d dry her with a soft pink towel.

For breakfast, mommy would fry tasty pancakes in a black pan and serve them with a paste of mashed tomatoes.

The brown pancakes and red paste reminded Kali of her numbers’ teacher at school, Miss Mulona, whose brown skin and red lipstick endeared her to the children.

After breakfast, Kali would wear her pink uniform with a red ribbon at the back, then daddy would take her to school on his scooter.

Every Saturday, Mbonye village would have a fruit market, where farmers from neighboring villages would come to sell.

And since Kali didn’t go to school on Saturday, she would stay home and help mommy wash baby Babu.

Daddy would then take her and mommy on his scooter to the market to buy fruits.

There would be yellow bananas, green lemons, oranges and red mangoes.

Kali liked the red, juicy mangoes best, and mommy would buy her two, which she would wash and munch happily as mommy bought more fruits for the family.

TWO

One morning, mommy stayed in bed, and didn’t get up all day.

Kali tried to speak to her, but daddy told her to let her rest. That she was sick and very weak.

So mommy slept the whole day, while daddy tried to cook food and care for baby Babu.

The next day, mommy and daddy left Kali at home with baby Babu, and said they had to go and see a doctor.

So mommy sat at the back of the scooter, and rode away with daddy down the road, while Kali stood in the doorway and waved at mommy until they were too far away, like a black spot on the dusty road.

Kali tried to pour some milk in a cup for baby Babu, and to sing him her favorite song ‘When Jano visited the King’ – but her little brother just kept crying.

Kali was so sad because she thought baby Babu was in pain, yet she couldn’t help him.

So she sat down and began crying too.

In the evening, Kali heard the scooter coming down the road and ran to welcome her parents.

But when she reached outside, she saw only daddy, who was looking sad and tired.

‘‘Where is mommy?’’ Kali asked daddy.

‘‘Mommy has had to remain at the clinic so that the doctors can care for her, Kali’’ her father replied.

‘‘Is mommy very sick, daddy?’’ Kali asked again, feeling very sad, ‘‘Will she be fine soon?’’

‘‘I hope so my dear,’’ her father said, in low voice.

‘‘But daddy, baby Babu has been crying since morning and I didn’t know what to do!’’ Kali said, remembering her little brother.

So Kali and her father rushed into the house to check on the baby.

They found him asleep in his cot, snoring silently – and daddy whispered;

‘‘He grew tired of crying and fell asleep. Don’t worry, I’ll give him some milk once he wakes.’’

Daddy then boiled some maize and made Kali a cup of porridge, after which he helped her bathe and put her to bed.

For the next five days, daddy would take Kali to school in the morning, then go off to see mommy at the clinic.

When Kali asked how mommy was, daddy would just look at her in a sad-angry way and shake his head, saying nothing.

Life went on that way for a month; daddy sad-angry, baby Babu crying until he grew tired and slept, and no mommy around to help.

Kali would stay up in bed at night and cry sometimes, until she too grew tired and dozed off.

One morning, as Kali was readying herself for school – a fat woman in a very white dress and a white cloth in her hair knocked at the front door, and asked for daddy.

‘‘Please sit down, madam. I’ll let daddy know you need him,’’ Kali said politely, remembering her manners as she run off to inform daddy.

Daddy and the lady spoke in low voices so that Kali wouldn’t hear, before daddy quickly grabbed his black coat and they rushed off with the lady down the road.

Kali knew that the lady was a nurse, because Miss Mulona had once shown the class a picture of a lady dressed the same way, and said nurses worked in hospitals.

Kali knew it was about mommy, and she felt very scared, hoping it wasn’t very bad news.

THREE

Kali wore her black dress with the red flower, and she held daddy’s hand tightly as the priest read from his bible with the white string.

A small crowd of people had gathered in the compound and was listening with bowed heads. Auntie Jowera, who was mommy’s sister, was seated on a small stool and crying quietly.

The priest finished reading, and the people walked slowly into the house, where mommy lay in a brown, wooden box.

Her eyes were closed and she was very silent, like a tired person sleeping.

Kali had wanted to touch her when they’d first brought her back; to wake her up and tell her how much she had missed her, and how much baby Babu had been crying.

But daddy had said she shouldn’t be touched. 

That she was dead.

Kali didn’t know what the word meant.

‘‘When will she stop being dead?’’ she asked daddy.

Daddy looked away, and said in low whisper – ‘‘Never, my dear Kali.’’

That is when Kali had begun to cry. Mommy was never coming back.

That night, baby Babu had cried loudly and endlessly, as if he felt what Kali felt, but there was no one to calm him.

Daddy and Kali were crying too.

FOUR

Two weeks later, Auntie Jowera came home and told Kali to pack her clothes and her books.

She said since daddy had to go to work in another town, Kali would have to live with her now.

Baby Babu would be sent to stay with Auntie Hawa, who was daddy’s younger sister, since he was still very little.

Kali was sad that she had to go away from home, and leave daddy and baby Babu alone, but Auntie Jowera assured her that they would be safe.

There was no need to worry.

After packing, Kali wore her favorite dress – a white one with a yellow flower, and went to say goodbye to baby Babu.

‘‘Bye-bye Babu, ‘’ she said, ‘‘please be a good boy and don’t cry. I’ll come to visit you sometime. Promise me you’ll grow into a big strong man.’’

Kali turned to Auntie Jowera, ‘‘Will I be able to visit baby Babu, Auntie?’’

‘‘Most certainly my darling, you will visit him during your school holiday,’’ replied Auntie Jowera.

Kali carried her sky-blue suitcase outside, and walked with Auntie Jowera along the dusty road to the bus station.

She was leaving the little village of Mbonye behind, and going to live in a big city.

***


List of new words:

Endeared – To make oneself liked by people.

Scooter – a small motorcycle.

Lipstick – a red paint that women apply to their lips to look pretty.

Endlessly – to go on without stopping.

Assured – when you make someone a promise.

                                            

(January, 2016)

                                   END

Notes:

This short tale marks my first, purposeful attempt at children’s writing.

It was initially written for a sweet little girl named Ruthie, a Ugandan girl adopted by a German mother.

Its object was to introduce the young Ruthie to the cruel concept of the demise/absence of her biological parents.