Read Online Snakepit by Moses Isegawa - Free Book Online

corridors of power, but she never fished for details, rumours. It seemed so petty, so unimportant. In the past she also never asked what her husband did or had done. Men did what they had to do to provide for their families, and the wives brought up the children the best way they could and tried to be good wives, kind, understanding, supportive, tolerant of their husbands’ weaknesses. Her only regret was that her husband had not lived to see his son in glory. Alcohol poisoning had claimed him. She now lived with another man, whom the General accused of exploiting her. She looked at her son in his beautiful uniform with the glittering medals, and they both smiled. She felt proud to have been invited, a fitting honour for a mother who had seen the General when he was still snot-nosed.
    There were many generals and their wives who came from her region and spoke the same language. They treated her with the respect she deserved and listened to her with bowed heads and fixed smiles. She admired the well-dressed women; they reminded her of what she might have looked like had her beginning been so auspicious. What did it matter now? They all ate from the same table now. By the look of things, her son could only go higher. His was one of the best-performing ministries; the fight against smugglers was going well. The Russians had promised to give him ten more speedboats, which would ease the task of combing the lake of that lice. He had invited her, because he had heard from a presidential aide that the Marshal was about to promote a number of high-ranking officers. My son is going to become a full general, she said to herself. A full general before reaching forty!
    The day could not have been better. The weather was fabulous, with a clear blue sky, mild sunshine and a slight wind that kept the heat down. The lake shimmered in the distance, little waves corrugating its surface, the horizon a faint brown line drawn across its extreme periphery. It changed from blue to grey to green as if somebody were pressing buttons from above. There was a boat race, a spectacle of coordination, timing and precision. Traditional dancers pranced and swayed to the music, their voices rising and falling in unison. Quick short speeches sped one after the other, as if everybody wanted to rush to the shattering climax.
    Turned out in a spotless military uniform, Marshal Amin took the stage. He launched a tirade against the racist South African regime, the Americans, the British and the Israelis. On the home front, he slammed the military top brass for inefficiency, overindulgence, corruption. “I have found a miracle cure for those ills,” he said dramatically. From behind the marquee Robert Ashes emerged. Marshal Amin gave a sign, and the dignitaries began to clap.
    Robert Ashes had had a haircut for the event, and the straggling hairs round his ears and the back of his head were now in line. He was dressed in a nice suit with shiny shoes and a red tie. He walked with the confident air of a man ready to go into action. Marshal Amin announced that he had put Ashes in charge of the Anti-Smuggling Unit, effective immediately. He hugged him, as if to emphasize his words.
    General Bazooka could hardly believe his eyes or ears, and the obscene hug in front of him seemed to last for an hour. He did not know whether to howl, or hang his head in shame. He flew into a silent rage and his lower lip quivered. He wanted to kill the white man on the spot. How could the Marshal do this to him? Without as much as a warning! In front of his mother!
    My home area, he said to himself, my beautiful islands, handed over on a plate to that snake! The whole of Jinja, the northern shores, my waterfalls and crocodiles too!
    Marshal Amin later cornered him with his mother, introduced Ashes and ordered General Bazooka to show his successor the ropes. General Bazooka hated the white man’s smirk, his teeth, everything about him. He had no intentions of going anywhere