Bag,full of Love – Inception

Short story

She constantly gazed at a certain direction which rather seemed the destination that her soul yearned to reach. Her rural background, which was absolutely backward, did not tie her down to the life style of her people and to the love of her parents and friends, all she needed was to break and get away from what seemed a bondage to her.

Birtukan’s beauty surpasses any local measure set for comparison; her big brown eyes, trimmed by the long, dark, shiny lashes, can easily penetrate her admirer’s eyes that are always fixed on her unwaveringly. Her straight nose fixed between the two pulpy cheeks with the aura of her wavy hair that rolls down her shoulders, forcefully attracts people’s attention. Her evenly-planted teeth sparkles as she pens her mouth either to speak or a smile.

She was still in the same position; nothing could shift her firmly-planted attention to somewhere else. Even the wave of the strong wind at her face at that moment could little affect her. To make the matter worse, the thickets that surrounded her were of no much use for her. They in fact appeared a threat. Nobody knew the danger lying therein. Suddenly she plucked her eyes from where they were stuck, “What’s happening to me? How long have I been here this way? I shouldn’t have come here alone. Wulaya should have been here with me; she is my only friend.” Suddenly a very deep voice of a man from behind came to her as a shock. No sooner than she turned her face to where the voice came from, a very tight grip was already around her waist; she could not breathe nor could she struggle to break away from it.

“Who are you? What do you want from me? Let me go!” she cried out.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ve been watching you for a long time. When I knew that you wouldn’t move, I came for your rescue. I am here just to help you.”

“I don’t want your help. Let me go!”

“If you don’t behave, I’ll kill you. Shut up and do what I tell you to do.”

Panic raided her whole being. The situation sent cold shivers down her back.

“Are you one of those thugs whose behavior is documented with the police?” she said staring at him.

“Shut up! Whatever happens is for your own good. In fact, it’s the type you enjoy.”

“Watch out, you’ll suffer the consequence should something happen to me.”

No sooner than she said this, he slapped her hard in the face and kicked her in the stomach and she fell down unconscious; and he stripped off her clothes easily and she was not in a position to stop him. Whatever happened to her, she lay on her back motionless, with drops of blood sprinkled here and there on her thighs and the man left her where she was and took to his heels. She remained there for quite a while until a barking of a dog woke her up. She somehow gathered herself up and half-awake walked away as fast as she could, not even looking back to see if there was someone following her.

Now what can I do? She asked herself. Come what may, I have to go back home and remain hidden for as long as I can. Bitter tears of guilt were profusely gushing out of her eyes. As she entered her house, she avoided being seen by her mother who was busy preparing lunch. With whatever bed clothes available, she covered herself and lay there quietly. Her mother could not understand why Birtukan behaved that way. She wanted to talk to her but she thought it would be too early for that. She waited until late in the afternoon; then slowly tiptoed to where Birtukan was sleeping. But Birtukan, having realized why her mother came to her room, pretended as if she were fast asleep. Yet, her mother W/ ro Yetemegn gently shook her and woke her up to ask her what had happened.

Birtukan remained quiet for some time trying to figuring out how to pour down her grievances and at the same time how to win her mother’s sympathy.

“I don’t deserve to be called your daughter, Mom; some ruffian attacked me.”

“And then what?” her mother eagerly demanded to hear what followed after the attack.

“Well, he….” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

W/ro Yetemegn so harshly agitated until she could learn what had really happened to her daughter. “Tell me, my baby, what has really happened.”

Birtukan told her mother everything that had happened to her upon which her mother involuntarily sent out frantic shriek to the extent of attracting the neighbors’ attention. The same issue was related to her father in the evening when he came back from the fields. The parents were dumfounded and they asked her if she could identify the person who had done that to her; her answer was simple “No!”

Some months passed just like that; but Birtukan’s menstrual period stopped coming; she definitely knew that she was pregnant. Therefore, as her last resort, she went to her friend, Wulaya. Wualya was shocked to see her friend like that for she had lost a lot of weight, she was rather skinny.

“What’s the matter? You look very skinny,” enquired Wulaya.

“Well, it is a long story. Before too long, she related everything to Wulaya, who in agony listened and expressed her fury and called the heavenly wrath and curses upon the cruel rascal. That’s all she could do to comfort her desperate friend. Previous to that, while in the country side, they had planned to flee to Addis Ababa without anybody to notice it; but now Birtukan was pregnant that they could not go together. Birtukan, regretfully remained behind until the time to deliver her baby. In the meantime time, she got a job as a maidservant with a certain family and eventually delivered her baby son Abate there, two months later they sent her away. Upon departure, she did not go to her parents, rather she went to a different neighborhood and left her baby son in a bag by the road side and disappeared. Soon one the women while passing through, heard a cry of a baby and turned around only to find the baby inside a bag. She was shuddered at the condition of the baby. She could not leave him there to die there cold and hungry. Without consulting with anybody, she took the baby home, raised him as her own son. The boy grew up in wisdom and stature without lacking everything that biological parents could offer.

One day, “Now, my son, you have grown up to manhood. You know how much I love you,” she said.

“I know how much you love and care for me; had it not been for you, I could have long been dead.” Hitting the ground with the head of the stick in his hand, as rural people usually do and at the same time, he drew closer to his mother and hugged her as hot tears were trickling down his cheeks and wetting those of his mother’s.

Looking into his eyes she asked, “Could you do me a favor, my son?”

“What’s that, Mother?” he eagerly asked.

“You are a man now; it’s time you got a wife who can give me a grandchild. “What do you say? In our village a child, after fifteen years old, should start thinking of getting married; after all, you’re past that age.”

At that moment it took Abate sometime to decide and respond to his mother’s suggestion.

“Where is the girl you want me to marry? Do you have anybody in mind?”

“Of course I do. That beautiful girl who sometimes comes to our house, I think, can fit you well. Every time she happened to be here, the way you look at her rather strikes me.”

So much embarrassed that Abate could not say anything. The picture of the girl began appearing in his mind. Her stature, soft voice and her nice-looking face were vividly coming to him. ‘Oh Mom, how did she notice that I was attracted to her?’ he said to himself.

The momentary silence of Abate regarding the girl sent a message to W/ro Yetemegn. The discussion did not continue, it was cut short as it was obvious that Abate was interested in the girl, and before long he married her.

As W/ro Yetemegn told him about his biological mother and that she was living in Addis Ababa, out of curiosity, he set out to look for her. After having arrived in Addis, he passed a bout fifteen days with street boys, time enough to learn their ways. Even though he grew in the countryside, he was a kind of a quick-minded man able to learn new things easily. He was listening to whatever they were saying and tactfully asking them issues related to his mother. Eventually, he was able to locate her whereabouts. One day he got up early and headed for the place where he believed his mother would be available. He arrived at her house. He knocked on the gate and soon a woman came out. As soon he set his eyes on her, something in him proved to him that she was his mother. He told her about his background and how she abandoned him, but God was gracious to send his angel for his rescue and all that his step mother had done for him and that now he was a fully-grown person standing before her. All this did not win her sympathy and in fact, despite his plea, she ordered him to leave the area at once and that she was not the woman he was looking for. That did not deter him from coming back repeatedly and beg her to accept him as her son and quench his life-long thirst for a motherly love. The mother, even though she knew that he was her son, the fear of her husband’s attack put her in an awkward situation to accept him.

In the meantime , a daughter of a wealthy family, Selam, somehow bumped into him. Of all his friends, his innocence and honesty drew her to him. Abate was nice looking and his laughter could arrest anybody’s admiration, let alone a young girl’s.

This very girl had a fiancé who always mistreated her; she pleaded with him and did all she could to make him her ideal man. But her efforts were all in vain. She was somehow engaged in humanitarian activities that took her to where Abate was living or hanging out. As she arrived at the scene, out of the seven young people, her eyes were unexplainably glued to him. Now, out of desperation and hopelessness and due to the blessed coincidence, her attention fully targeted Abate.

The Ethiopian Herald Sunday December 8/2019

 BY JOSEPH SOBOKA