Читать книгу Wake Me When I'm Gone - Odafe Atogun - Страница 11

FIVE

Now, I lived in a trance, alone in the house. I was still under house arrest, not yet a free woman. They had said that I would be allowed to visit Noah, but I did not know their definition of ‘in due course’.

‘We will tell you when it is time,’ one of the guards said. ‘You cannot go out yet, but you are allowed to receive visitors.’

But no one cared to visit me. I wandered through the house. I felt bitter towards the Chief, the priests, the enforcers and the royal guards. I felt certain that I could kill the Chief if I had the opportunity. The days dragged, the nights were longer. One afternoon, looking through a window, I saw Duka passing by with a net of fish.

‘Duka,’ I called out to him, ‘I need your help, please.’

He stopped for a minute, and he gave me a blank look. Then he continued on his way.

I felt wretched that I was unable to protect my dear son and I thought it was pointless to continue to live without him. I wanted to take my own life. But I reminded myself that, if I did that, Noah would become an orphan and could end up in the abandoned building on the outskirts of the village. So I pushed the thought far from my mind.