TWO

2001

LIBERTY’S DESPERATE EYES PEEKED OUT FROM THE back of the tarp-covered Jeep as she watched her old village burn to the ground. Her entire body shuddered as fear took over her. Gunshots rang out as the rebels whooped and hollered in victory, their testosterone-driven adrenaline justifying their immoral actions.

Liberty didn’t understand why she was being taken. Her home had been ransacked. Most of the women and children had been raped, tortured, then eventually killed, including her mother and siblings. Her young eyes had been a witness to the mass murders of her father and the other men in the village. Tyranny had erupted without warning and now as she was whisked away to a destination unknown she cried uncontrollably. She felt as if she had been spared, but what she didn’t know was that what the rebels intended for her would be worse than death itself. The men that surrounded her held automatic machine guns. Some of them could hardly be called men, their young faces revealed no more years than Liberty’s. She could not understand how someone her age could be so threatening . . . their faces showed no remorse, no signs of childhood antics . . . only malicious, cold-hearted eyes that stared back at her.

Liberty cried a river as she tried to stifle herself, her chest heaving up and down violently as tears cascaded down her face. The five-hour drive back to Sierra Leone was excruciating for Liberty. Too afraid to close her eyes she cowered in the bottom of the vehicle, her nerves attentive as the men bragged of their conquests around her. Other captives huddled together but none dared to speak, silenced by fear. The blood of her loved ones dried on her ashy skin, torturing her as she watched it crust on her arms and legs. When the jeep finally stopped moving Liberty was forced out, dragged through the muddy village by her hair.

Terror gripped her stomach as she was forced into a thatched hut house. She fell to her knees, scraping them on the cement floor, and as the door slammed closed the entire hut went dark.

A’shai peeked through the hole in the side of the hut trying to peer inside at the beauty he had captured. Something inside of him was glad that he didn’t have to kill her. Her light skin seemed to glow in the dark as his heart beat out of his chest. He didn’t know why Ezekiel had saved the girl, but he knew one thing for sure: he wanted to know her. He had never seen a girl so pretty.

A hand clasped around the back of his neck causing A’shai to drop the weapon he was carrying.

“You’ve got to learn the art of the kill son,” Ezekiel said as he removed the gun from A’shai’s hand and guided his son away from his spying spot. “You like her?”

A’shai shook his head and replied, “I was just looking. What are you keeping her for?”

Ezekiel entered his home with A’shai following curiously behind him.

“We need someone to cook and clean around here,” Ezekiel replied. “Need a woman here. Eventually she will make a fine wife.”

A’shai was too young to see the lustful look in his father’s eyes. Ezekiel needed a woman around all right, but Liberty was still a child. A ten-year-old little girl to be exact and Ezekiel’s cruel intentions for her were purely pedophilic.

Ezekiel approached Liberty, causing her to back into the corner and cover her eyes. He stopped abruptly, realizing that she was afraid. Knowing that she wouldn’t be easy to manipulate if she feared him, he gave her space. He walked over to A’shai and whispered in his ear. “Make her comfortable. Tell her she doesn’t have to be afraid here.”

Young A’shai’s eyes sparkled at the chance to interact with the girl. He nodded his head and watched his father leave.

A’shai ran to the rickety wooden table and grabbed a piece of bread before approaching the girl.

“It’s okay,” A’shai said as he kneeled beside her. “You don’t got to hide. I’m not going to hurt you. You hungry?”

He held out the bread for her, but she didn’t take it. She wouldn’t even look at him. She kept her eyes on the floor. A’shai placed his hand on her arm causing her to tense up.

“I’m not going to do anything bad to you,” he said. “I’m Shai. What’s your name?”

Again she was unresponsive.

“Okay. Well I’ll leave this food for you just in case you get hungry,” he said. He stood and left her alone, hoping that she would eventually warm up to him.

Ezekiel made it clear that she was to tend to the duties of his house and to avoid the brutal punishments she saw other women and kids endure, she obliged. A week had passed, and Liberty still had not spoken a word. Untrusting of everyone and too afraid to open up, she did what was expected and nothing more.

A’shai watched her from the side of the house as she washed clothes in the wooden basin out back. He couldn’t figure her out and the more he tried to get her to interact, the more she withdrew. He felt badly about her family and knew that she was hurting, but his youthful ego took a blow each time that she snubbed him. A youngin’ with a schoolboy crush, he was determined to make her pay attention to him. As she washed diligently under the blazing sun, A’shai snuck up behind her. The clothes that hung on the makeshift clothesline hid his approach.

“Arghhhh!” he screamed obnoxiously, startling Liberty. Her first reaction was to flee but as she stepped backwards she tripped over a metal bucket, causing her to fall into the large washing basin and soaking her to the bone.

Enraged she screamed at the top of her lungs as she lunged for A’shai and pulled him into the water.

He fell face first into the basin and came up spitting out sudsy water. The two wrestled and grunted as they fought one another, pushing and shoving and cursing. They tipped over the basin causing clean clothes along with themselves to spill out into the dirt.

“Look what you made me do!” Liberty shouted in frustration, knowing that if Ezekiel saw the dirtied laundry there would be serious repercussions. Soaking wet, she fell to her knees and picked up the clothes.

A’shai could see the terror fill her as she scrambled nervously. As much as he hated chores he knew that he owed her one. He wouldn’t be reprimanded if Ezekiel found out but she would, and the last thing he wanted to do was get her into trouble. He bent down and helped her out.

“Just go away,” she mumbled as she put the clothes into the basin and grabbed water buckets to go retrieve more water from the river.

“Sorry!” he screamed after her. “I was only playing. Hey, wait up!” A’shai said as he ran after Liberty. “Where are you going? Hey! I want to help.”

“You’ve helped plenty!” she shot back as she stomped away.

A’shai knew that if she tried to bring the water to the well it would take all day. A’shai scooped up the dirty clothes and ran after her. He was a thinker and would rather let his brain do the hard work than his body.

“What are you doing?” she asked in annoyance.

“You can wash and dry the clothes by the river. Trust me. It’ll be done before my dad even knows we’re missing,” A’shai stated. He ran past her. “Come on!”

Reluctantly Liberty ran after him until she was out of breath. By the time she caught up to him, A’shai had the clothes in a fishing net that he threw into the flowing water. She stopped and looked at him in amazement while thinking, Why didn’t I think of that?

He sat on the shore and then patted the space beside him. “So what’s your name anyway?” he asked.

She sat down a few spaces down from him and replied, “Liberty.”

It was all they said to one another the entire day but the ice had finally been broken, and Liberty appreciated A’shai’s offer to help. Hours later as the sun began to set, A’shai helped her remove the clothes from the tree branches they had dried on and then they raced one another back to the village. Ezekiel hadn’t arrived home yet causing Liberty to breathe a sigh of relief. As Liberty prepared for bed, A’shai approached the makeshift cot that she slept on. Without warning he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. The peck was so quick that Liberty wasn’t even sure that it even happened and without saying anything, A’shai nervously retreated to his own room. His confident swagger hid the nervous butterflies that danced in his stomach. A small smile spread across Liberty’s young face as she touched her lips gently. She had never kissed a boy before, and it made her blush in flattery. It was the first time that Liberty hadn’t been afraid in her new surroundings. Although she did not let him know, A’shai made her feel comfortable. She didn’t think about the rebels, the war, her family, the blood-stained hands of his father. In his presence, Liberty felt safe . . . as if the little boy could protect her from the big bad world.