Chris Abani - GraceLand

His stomach rumbled and he wished he had fought with the others for some morsel. He looked out. The rest of the platoon was now gorging on papaws plucked from a nearby tree. His eyes took in the now barren tree — so much for that idea. He turned back to the altar. Nobody was going to miss the communion wafers, and he was sure God didn’t want him starving to death. Carefully hoisting his rifle onto his back and dropping his harmonica into his pocket, he picked up the ciborium and began stuffing his mouth full of the sweet white circles of bread. Finishing it off, he emptied water into the wine in the chalice. Saying a silent prayer for forgiveness, he reached for the chalice. Even as he picked it up, he heard the click of the bomb arming itself. The bastards had booby-trapped the altar.

“What happened?”

“De bomb’s arming mechanism was faulty, so it did not explode.”

Elvis sat back. How was he to respond to Innocent’s story? He had no idea what to say to him, if anything. But the silence between them was becoming too strained, so he blurted out: “I didn’t know you played the harmonica.”

“Not since den,” Innocent said. He picked up the plate of food and began to eat feverishly again, staring around him in fear.

“Is somebody after you?”

“Why would anybody be after me?”

“The last time I saw you, you were with Godfrey,” Elvis said.

Innocent stopped eating.

“What do you know about dat?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you saying Godfrey is after me?”

“No. Why? What is going on?” Elvis asked. “I saw you the other day with blood on your clothes. Are you all right?”

“Do you see any blood on me now? Do you see any wounds?” Innocent said testily.

Elvis examined him surreptitiously. There was no blood on his clothes. He was right. But there were several deep scratches around his throat.

“Were you fighting a lion?” Elvis asked, indicating the scratches.

“Mind your business before I slap you,” Innocent hissed.

“Maybe I should wake Oye,” Elvis threatened, getting up. Oye’s room abutted the kitchen.

“No, Elvis. What is wrong with you? You cannot tell I am joking with you,” Innocent said, his manner changing instantly. “They are love scratches, you know.”

Elvis looked at him blankly.

“Love scratches?” he echoed.

Just then, Innocent dropped the plate with a clatter Elvis felt sure would wake the dead, sat bolt upright and, with a yelp, dashed out of the kitchen into the rain and darkness. Petrified, Elvis stared into the nothingness in the corner of the room that had spooked Innocent, one eye watching the candle burn down to a few stutters, then darkness. He sat there until exhaustion and the sound of the rain took him.

Afikpo, 1981

Sunday Oke paced the living room restlessly, ignoring the calls from his supporters to sit down. The votes were being counted, the polls having closed hours before. The living room was crowded with supporters who had gathered to wait. There were so many of them that they spilled out into the front and back yards.

In the kitchen, Aunt Felicia and others sweated to produce the endless amounts of food demanded by the crowd that gathered. Elvis sat on the front veranda at Oye’s feet, watching the thugs yelling up and down the road just beyond the fence and gate. They were celebrating their patron’s victory early, hoping to psych everyone else out. Elvis was convinced that they would be overrun at any moment by a mad fire-bearing mob of thugs.

“Don’t worry, laddie,” Oye said. “Tha’s their way of preventing anyone from complaining if they cheat.”

That was not comforting to him. Neither was the feeble defense that the only thugs his father could hire looked like they were capable of providing. They sat near the gate looking as frightened as he did.

Oye noted his apprehension with a smile. “I don’t think you have tae worry about tha thugs, lad, your dad is not going tae win. He had no money tae start with, you know.”

Elvis laughed nervously. “Why do you think he went through with it, Gran?”

“Since your mother died, your dad lost his way, you understand?”

Elvis nodded.

“Well, this election gave him back his fire, some direction. But I don’t think he took it too seriously. At least I hope not.”

“I think he took it seriously, Gran.”

“Tha’ could be bad, laddie. If tha’ is indeed true, I think you should worry more about your father than tha thugs.”

Elvis laughed nervously again. The thugs on the street outside were getting noisier, and the reason soon became apparent. Their boss, Chief Okonkwo, was riding past in a large convertible. With one hand he held a megaphone calling out to his opponents, while with the other hand he doled out money to the thugs. His shiny red convertible pulled up outside the Oke home. The generator was on, and in the lights, the car looked like a red wound against the night.

“Good evening,” he called through the megaphone. “Sunday Oke, I greet you.”

Sunday stepped out onto the veranda flanked by his main supporters. Seeing him standing there, his thugs galvanized into action, making a big show of keeping out Chief Okonkwo and his entourage.

“Okonkwo. How can I help you?” Sunday called back.

“De question, my friend, is how can I help you. It is obvious dat you are going to lose, but being a generous man, I recognize your obvious talents and would like to offer you de chance to work for me.”

The megaphone gave the sense of a one-sided conversation to the people beginning to emerge onto their stoops and verandas, who only heard Chief Okonkwo’s voice. Elvis watched his father, feeling his frustration and humiliation.

“Get lost, you ghoul! De results are not in, so I wouldn’t gloat yet if I were you.”

“But dey will be soon, and I will be de winner.”

“Well, dat doesn’t matter, because we both know dat de army boys will come back with a coup within six months.”

Chief Okonkwo laughed. “Is dat a prophecy or are you just a bad loser?” he asked.

“Go to hell!” Sunday shouted back before turning and heading back.

Elvis was glad his father didn’t see his supporters cheering for Chief Okonkwo. Some of them left immediately, joining Okonkwo’s team. Others would follow later. As Chief Okonkwo and his entourage moved off, failure settled on the compound in a hush. Even the thugs at the gate began to drift off. When, an hour later, the news of Chief Okonkwo’s victory was announced over the television, it was anticlimactic.

“So what now?” Elvis asked Oye as they watched people drift off to celebrate at the Okonkwo compound.

“Well, your father thinks he can get anoder job in Lagos and I heard him telling a friend dat if he lost de election he would take it,” Aunt Felicia said.

“Lagos? But that is over eight hundred miles away! What about you? Are you coming?” Elvis asked, voice shrill.

“Don’t be silly, Elvis. Mother is too old to travel and I am seeing someone, so I cannot come either. But don’t worry, you will be fine. You are nearly all grown now.”

“I just turned fourteen.”

“Like I said, nearly all grown,” Aunt Felicia said with a wink that made him blush.

“But my dance lessons, I can’t leave,” he mumbled.

“Why don’t you go to bed and wait until your father decides what he’s going tae do before you get so upset,” Oye said gently.

Elvis got up and went into the house. Noticing that his father was sitting out on the back veranda, he sat on the window ledge and watched as the night thickened with rain. In his father’s hand was a drink; a half-empty bottle of scotch sat on the table beside him. He was sobbing quietly as he listened to the record player spin his dead wife’s favorite records.