Vernon Mooers writes

THE WHITE MAN'S GRAVEYARD

chapter 2 (3)

Now he was free to live his own life, do what he wanted. He'd escaped and run far away. He'd wanted to see Africa. Here he was. Alone. The only white person in a sea of blackness for a hundred miles or more. Somehow it didn't seem so idyllic. He'd pictured the tropics -- moist and green, vegetation bulging, overgrowing. This was savannah, flat, desolate, the next best thing to the desert. An hour's drive into that horizon beyond the sparse palms and baobabs, would put him into Niger, into complete unending sand. He'd really done it. There was nowhere left to run.

Alex was still staring out the window when he heard the motorcycle, its exhaust pipe obviously shot, pull into his driveway and continue idling. Through the glass doors he saw a girl climb off the back and jump onto the porch and bang on the door.

He turned the key in the door until it clicked, and opened it. He still was keeping it locked at all times, even in broad daylight.

"It's O.K. Mustapha. You can go. Thanks." The girl waved.

Mustapha was happy enough she had found her friend.

"Hi, I'm Jeannie -- they told me there was a Bature arrived out here at this school," she laughed. She seemed good-natured.

"Alex, come in. I just got here, from Canada."

"WUSC?"

"No, CUSO. We were seven originally contracted to Borno State."

"I'm with WUSC, posted to the WTC, the Women's Teachers' College."

"Great! I thought I was the only one here in the town. I'm from Wolfville, Nova Scotia... Where are you from?"

"Scarborough. My parents live there, I just finished Teacher's College at Queen's."

"Any other WUSC's around?"

"One guy in Bauchi State, the rest mostly in the South. We all went to Lagos and I took the train up here. Did they give you this house by yourself?"

"Uh. huh. It's pretty big, eh? What about you?"

"They have some staff quarters, under construction, gave me a nice place that was finished, but I have to fetch my water from a tap outside. But I fixed it up, put up some curtains, I even transplanted some flowers."

"There's a shower here, lots of water. You can use it anytime you want."

"Thanks -- I'm used to taking baths with tins of water -- makes me appreciate it."

"Yeah, you learn to value those luxuries here for sure. Want a coffee?"

"Tea if you have it."

Alex had bought a King Cole tea box at the market and fixed her up one.

"I've been here almost three weeks waiting for school. I got our workers to cut around the tennis court and played a few games with Dr. Sharma, your neighbour. Have you met them?"

"Not yet."

"They call it lawn tennis. Anyway, you have to keep in shape here. You can't get sick. I've been sweating off the pounds."

 

She looked healthy enough. She was big, a little over-weight but was large-boned, not what he'd consider attractive. She looked sort of straight too, a little conservative, but friendly enough. It was good there was another Canadian around.

"It's hot eh? I guess we have a week or more yet before classes here. Is it the same at your school?"

"The students haven't come. I've met the principal -- Mrs. Dibal. She's great. I can go to Kaduna and get some things we need for the school if I want."

"What will you teach?"

   "English Language and Literature. Probably a Methods course. How about you?" 

  

"No idea. Supposed to be and Science. That's what they told me. The principal isn't around here yet."

"Mrs. Dibal told me they never start on time. It will be days yet. Do you want to travel to Kaduna? There is an Educational Supply Company there. She will give me the money, even for a hotel. It's a day by train, almost twelve hours. You get a train at the rail station. They said it's safe enough for females to travel even alone in the north, but I'm sort of afraid to go by myself. It would just be two days. Something to do. Do you want to accompany me?"

"Maybe... when?"

"Anytime. It would just be there and back. There are big department stores. You could get some things you can't get here."

"Let me think about it." It was too hot, but there was nothing to do on the compound. He didn't want to jump into it. Then again, it might be a good way to see of the country up north. And they had a week or more before classes. I'll see..." She had mentioned money for a hotel, free. He had gotten an advance on his salary, more than two hundred naira in bank -- fresh bills, lots enough to cover a train ticket there and walking around money. "Probably," he added.

"Just say when. I've been going bonkers with nothing to do in the school. I've been to the town at least fifty times. All the vendors know me now," she laughed.

"It's hard to get the knack of bartering eh? I've been using sign language. I know the numbers one to ten in Hausa now though, from the blue book there. At one kiosk I counted twelve different brands of mackerel, but I found one shop to get packaged cheese, wedges from France. Did you see it?"

"That's Alhaji Tijani, across from where they charbroil chickens? He even gets chocolate sometimes."

"I didn't see it."

"I told you I know the town now. Three weeks of shopping. You can even get cases of Coke for six naira from the warehouse near the NEPA office. I'll have to take you around the market."

"Yeah, I guess I've got to stock up on things... at least there's a fridge here. Even with a dozen brands of tinned mackerel, I can't survive on hobo sandwiches," he laughed.

She stayed all afternoon. She helped cook a meat and vegetable and rice soup for supper. It was good to have someone to talk to, to lessen the isolation, someone on the same wavelength, a friend to share experiences with. After supper, before it was dark, they walked through the school gate and up the road a half-mile to the railway station where she got a taxi travelling to the town to agree to take her out to the WTC for two extra naira. The taxi peeled out recklessly and its one tail light blurred and dis- appeared down the highway.

Alex walked back down the pot-holed road to the school and said "Sannu" to the m'guardie now at the gate. An orange sun was setting over the expanse of flat earth.  Few lights shone about the school compound. It might be good to go to Kaduna, he thought. He had said he'd let Jeannie know tomorrow.

Moths buzzed the outside light on the porch. He unlocked the door, turned the lights all on, squashed a big cockroach, and locked the door again. He sat in one of the chairs and listened to the sound of drums coming from the village past the far end of the compound. Alex turned on the overhead fan and flicked on the cassette deck to try to drown them out. The drums made him nervous. He fingered the amulet around his neck.