The Greyhound

Read Online The Greyhound by John Cooper - Free Book Online Page B

Book: The Greyhound by John Cooper Read Free Book Online
Authors: John Cooper
Ads: Link
muscles felt a satisfying fatigue.
    BEN’S PRESENTATION
    Ben stood stock still at the front of the class. If he looked nervous, it was because he was nervous. He began haltingly, his voice a low, hollow whistle; it sounded like air being blown through the neck of a soda bottle.
    Everybody had to do this assignment , Danny thought. It’s only eight minutes. Come on, Ben . His friend had worried about the assignment for weeks. The civics teacher, Mr. Townend, had been kind about it, but clear: “Tell the class something about your life. Tell them something about your family history. Relate the story in a way that people will be able to identify in some way with your experience.”
    Danny had stumbled through his the day before, talking about judo — not very convincingly — and how it was about standing up for yourself, being focused, and taking charge. He meant it as a metaphor for his life. People had listened politely, and he hoped that Nicole, who sat at the back of the class, would like it, but she really didn’t seem to have paid much attention.
    “I come from a country in Africa called Sudan. The region I come from is called Darfur, which is in the western part of the country. It is a different culture there to here, but we do have some similar beliefs. We believe in the importance of family and treating your friends with respect. I would play with my friends in the village. My father was a farmer and tended cattle and goats and grew millet and sorghum. Millet is a seed and if you own a budgie or a canary you might even buy millet to feed your bird. We also ate nuts and okra and tomatoes. It is dry in Darfur, most of the time, except during the summer. Then it rains and in places where it was dusty and dry, things suddenly become green, and lots of things grow.
    “My family lived a good life. I had three sisters and four brothers. We have bigger families in Darfur than you do here, but that is what is normal there. I would play with my friends and we would go to school, which was about two kilometres from where we lived. Everything we did for fun, we did outdoors. Everything was quiet and peaceful. I would watch my mother grinding grain and preparing food for us. She would tell us stories about our family, going back many years.” Ben paused, and no one in the room looked away. No one giggled. No one was even drawing idly doodles to pass the time. They were transfixed by Ben. His voice became stronger. He straightened slightly, seeming to add another two inches to his already impressive height. Mr. Townend looked downright tiny sitting at his desk, looking up at Ben.
    “Then the janjaweed came. They came on horses and with guns, into our village, shooting the men and sometimes the women. There might have been thirty or thirty-five of them. The sound of the horses coming frightened us, because we were not used to the sound. The sound of their hooves pounding against the earth was like drumbeats coming from a long distance away. They charged into our village and killed two of my older brothers and grabbed my sister, who was thirteen at the time, and rode off with her. My mother was shot several times and lay gasping for breath. Then she stopped breathing. There was blood on her white dress. My father’s body was found behind one of the huts. He was also dead. I cried, then screamed, then it was like I had no feeling anymore. Things just stopped inside of me. I began to run. Then the janjaweed captured me and made me work as a slave.”
    Ben told the story of how he was taken to a farm far away, where he was forced to work and live. The farmer was cruel and yelled at him, sometimes kicking him, but not so hard that he would injure his slave. Ben slept in a corner of a small tool shed, with a ragged blanket that was so short it didn’t cover his legs. He lived that way for more than a year, and learned Arabic to survive. He was kicked and beaten by the farmer, and kicked and beaten by the children of the family.

Similar Books

The Prophet Motive

Eric Christopherson

The Fortune Hunter

Jo Ann Ferguson

Manifestations

David M. Henley

Viper's Kiss

London Casey, Karolyn James

Damned for Eternity

Jerrice Owens

The Evening Hour

A. Carter Sickels