The odyssey of the slave boy:
The year was 1657 in my little hamlet in the outskrit of Okija bounded by 4 rivers but the major river was Mmiri Ajado the name was gotten from a legend that believed the river source was from a wicked widow who used that river as a means to kill people for ger diabolic purpose annually. I loved my hamlet because it was blessed with fertile land, abundant water supply, and beautiful women like Adanma the ine I was currently looking at dancing rhythmically to the sound of the ogene during the Ofala festival. I looked as her hips swayed from right to left and her bosom vibrated simultaneously to the admiration of the spectators lustful gaze. I had always wished to lay my hands on her large bosom though I once satisfied my lust by touching them during a moonlight play but she sternly warned me not to try it again ir she would tell mama. That night she was the center of my thoughts and I always felt a sharp erection at my lower part each time the thought of her bosom came up. After the dance I moved towards here to complement her moves but she shuned me as though I was not in existence. I guess she has not still forgiven me foe the other time. I quietly left and moved on to meet my friends as they shared the pot if palm wine that was their gift from their wonderful presentation. I could not join them during their rehearsals because mama has warned me to avoid their company as they were no good. As your guess is as good as mine, they refused me a drink from their palm wine. I briskly walked home dejected and angry at myself. 30 min later I was pounding foofoo that would be used as dinner. My name is Lewis London though I was born Iloka Nnaobi and this is my story of how I ended up in the white man's land and with the white man's man.

episode2: The next day being Nkwo market day, U followed mama to the market carrying her wares on my head and grudgingly dragging my feet along the dusty bush path that lead to the market square. Mama was planning to use the profit from the sales to buy food stuffs, buy more cloths because her age grade had a ceremony coming up and she did not want to be the only one wearing old cloths. As we got to the crowded market square which was 2 miles from our hamlet, we saw all kinds of people there tall, short, good, ugly and compassionate. we soon found a good spot which was to serve as mama's shop for the day to sell her wares. It was though customers fled our side becauae nobody came around not even to inquire about the prices of mama wares. As I looked in the direction of a man agitating because the price of a red cap had shot up from 20 cowries to 28. As I kept on observing the elderly man I heard the loudest bang I have ever heard before as everyone ran in different directions to safty, I and mama also tried to quickly pack our ware and move to safty but within a milisec we and hundred of other people were rounded up with men carrying guns, matchet, spears and all kinds of weapons. we were bound hands, neck, and wrist in groups of 10 slowly moving to an unknown destination.

episode 3: As we walked on slowly, we got to a small clearing in the bush that night. There we were tied to trees according to the groups we were bound to avoid escape. There was a woman who could not stop crying all the way and the head of the bandits became rather irritated at her behavior and ordered her tongue should be cut off. Fear gripped me as they held out her tongue and quickly dissociated it from the mouth and blood kept flowing like a fountain of water. That night we slept in the open and exposed to the cold the next morning 3 children were discovred dead from exposure.
Our journey continued on foot to the unknown deatination we were given very little to eat just to keep alive and whenever we got to a stream, we drank water with our hands bound behind us. After 7 weeks of this dreadful journey we reached the shores of the ocean in calabar where we were pilled like books without any space between us. One striking thing was the colour of the men who bought us they had the brightest skin I had ever seen before with very long hair and they spoke as though there was an obstruction in their nasal cavity it sounded like music to my ear.


episode 4: So did the second phase of my journey begin. the compactment we were stocked lying down was dark with little light to compesate our sight. death was. a regular thing in the compartment and sometimes the body eold begin to decay before the guards would notice and dispose the body into the ocean. We were feed once in 3 days and that was the only time our eyes had enough light rays. On a particular day during the journey the white men complained that our ship would capsize because we were approaching an area of the ocean that had constant rain and the weight of our ship could not withstand the current so many slaves had to be "offloaded" and so it was. 300 slaves were thrown into the ocean where they all perished including mama.

EPISODE5:
After 3 months of our journey by sea we got to the new world. We were immediatly taken down from the and we were stripped of our cloths, male and female alike and under public gaze we were washed using soap and water. I guess the reason was to 'wash away' any contaminated diseases we have brought from Africa. After the ceremonial wash we were given new cloths which looked like the ones the white men wore though our's was less luxurious.
We were then taken to a holding room waiting to be sold to our new masters. The next day we were taken to a large market near the sea port though still in chains, the journey was remarkable for me because I saw buildings that got to the sky, women who had bright skin and beautiful faces, the roads were also very hard and strong. But what I could not understand at that time was why people stared at us as though we were hell bound (I was soon to realise why though). We were put for auction sales and the stronger and more built men were quickly sold at prices as high as $500 per person. The wore attractive women were also sold quickly but at a lower price. The rest of us were taken back to the holding room and I could feel my stomach make funny sounds which showed that I was hungry having eaten nothing for 4 days but I thank God that night we were given 3 slices of bread each with a plain soup to alleviate our hunger. The following morning saw us at the market place earlier than yesterday and today I was sold, my lucky day (or so I thought). Being sold at the price of $450 was a great achievement. So did my new life begin the life with my new master Drake London.

EPISODE 6:
I and the 7 other slaves bought that day were 'initiated' into master house hold thet day by a ceremony which entailed pressing a hot metal with the letters J L against our bare chest. I later got to know that the letters represented the initials of our master name. The pains were unbearable and penetrated to my blood stream I thought I would die that instance because of the bitter pain I felt. One of the females who was bought alongside me fainted during this supposed initiation ceremony. After that we were given our new names and I had to bear the name Lewis for resons best known to master and I took up master surname London. We were introduced to the fore man Jackson Jones who from his accent I suppose had scottish origin. A well built man I must confess who always holds a long whip that could cut through one's skin. Later on Jackson (as we called him) read to us the new slaves the rules of the cotton plantation that was to be home viz
1. After each day's work on the plantation, master would check how many basket of cotton we got to fill. If it is FOR ANY REASON AT ALL less than 50 then we would be given 100 lashes of the whip.
2. Any attempt to escape would be punished by boiling our legs in hot oil.
3. Any argument or confrontations with master would be punished by hanging on the big tree(though till today I keep wondering what is so big about the tree).
4. The slaves were to like in their quaters which was behind masters mansion.
5. waking time depended on whenever master rang his bell.
As I stood there still thinking about my new life and the pains in my chest, I felt a sharp pain which seemed like someone put hot mercury on my skin it was the whip of mr Jackson Jones "Go to work u bloody nigga" he shouted at me.

EPISODE 7
My first few weeks in the London's own plantation was hell for me because I partically got wiped daily for not picking enough cottons. On a certain day during my first few weeks in the plantation, a man was caught tring to steal from master's kitchen and his ordeal was quite unforgettable for we slaves. He was brought out in the middle of the plantation and all the slaves were summoned to bear witness to his punishnent so that it would stand as a lesson for us all. First of all, he was stripped naked and tied to a long stock with ropes that had thorns on them I felt pity for him as he began to pled with master but it all fell on deaf ears. The thorns pierced his skin and blood freely oozed out of his flesh the way water springs from a highland. Then a bon fire was made and he was placed over the fire as he slowly roasted his shout of please was more intense and this time it pierced my heart but what could a young lad like me do? His skin began to blacken more and the red layer underneth his skin was soon visible but his sound soon became very faint and I knew the end was near for him. The women and children among us closed their eyes to avoid having nightmares, in what seemed like a mili second his stomach burst due to the intense pressure building uo in it. And that was the end of 'Good old Harry' as he was popularly called.
That night I found it hard to sleep as the thoughts of that day was still fresh in my mind and fear gripped me. I got up from bed and decided to take a walk to clear my thoughts, as I was walking across the plantation when I heard the sound of a woman sobbing at a strategic corner I quietly walked uo to her to realise that it was Julia one of the women slaves I had a crush on. I gently inquired why she was crying and she told me that it was because of her that Good old harry got killed, "He went to get more bread for me because I told him I was hungry. Though I did tell him that bother himself about it". I tried my best to console her and in the process we started hugging, kissing, and we began to touch ourselves. I gently took off her dress to relise that she had no underwares underneth I also got UnCloth and began to caress her with the way she moaned I knew she loved it. Gently I put her back against the ground, spread open her legs and insrted my male organ into her's I felt no obstruction by the hymen when I inserted her which showed that she was not a virgin. I continued to penetrate her with all the strength I had, her scream of pleasure was like music to my ear after what seemed like a century I felt a thick fluid leave my organ and was deposited into her's and immediately all the anxiety left me. I was naive because this was my first sex and I thought I had urinated into her body but surprisenly she did not make a fuss about it because I guess it was not her first time and she was used to it. That day we became lovers and she also taught me how to pluck cotton quickly. I guess the death of Good old harry was not so bad after all.

EPISODE 8:
I was working under the heat of the sun when a heard a loud 'tub' I looked around to discover it was Mark a guy of about 5 feets 3" who was resold by his prev master from Brazil he was Roman catholic and always had a small beed which he counted as he worked he said that the virgin mother would help him get his freedom someday. As I went ahead to observe what had happened to Mark I felt the painful whip of Jackson Jones as he said "Get back to work u fool" and he gestured to 2 other men to go dispose mark body in the canal. Mark died of starvation. Our daily meals usually consist of plain onion soup and a smally bread with equivalent diametre with a medium size orange, though on Sunday after service we had 3 pieces of biscuit and chocolate drink and we also did not in the plantation on Sunday which gave me more time to rest. I soon joined Sunday school where I learnt the bible and soon learnt to read and write. In church service we sat according to our social status, blacks were not allowed to sit beside white nor land owners. One funny thing ws that the pastor never criticised the land owners action towards slaves instead they told us to be obedient to our masters. All this made u begin to doubt the authenticity of the bible till this day. I have heard of slaves who served their masters well and were released later on, that is what I ment to do. Work my way out if here and maybe marry Julia.

EPISODE 9:
By now, I had gotten used to the hardship and I also tried to stay away from masters bad side by filling enough baskets as possible. Master often came around the slaves quarters to have his way with the females among us. Hr would storm into our quarters and order all the women to take off their cloths. Then he made his choice amongst them. In most cases Julia always fell victim. On this faithful night, as master was making out with Julia, I heard Julia scream, a scream of mixed pleasure and agony. Immediately jealousy and anger ran through my blood. I should have ignored as usual but u know they say love is blind. So I quickly got up and rushed to where master and Julia were and violently pushed master warning him to keep off Julia. It was at this instance my senses came back. Master ordered somr men to tie me up with the sharp rope awaiting my punishment the next day because it was too late for him to do anything. That night I could not sleep because of the terrible pains I felt as blood flowed out, I thought I would give up the ghost without knowing that this was the introduction to my punishment.
The next day master showed up with Jackson Jones carrying a small hand cuff. As he alighted his horse, he read out the rules of the plantation he stressed the rule that states ANY CONFRONTATION WITH MASTER BY THE SLAVES WOULD BE PUNISHEDBY HANGING ON FOR BIG TREE. As he finished stating the rules, I was untied from the ropes with thorns and brought forward, my hands were forced to enter the handcuff but it could but because my hands were large, so a large hammer was brought and the bones in my right hand was crushed to dust as I screamed. I could swear that my voice was heard in Texas. The pains were unbearable then as my hands were passed through the handcuff and I was taken to the big tree where I was left dangling by only the right hand from dawn to dusk. The other slaves were warned that any attempt to help would be punished by 150 lashes of Jackson Jones whip. Thay day was for me dooms day as my hands began to swell gradually and blood ceased to flow to my right hand. And thay was the end of my right palm. My stay in the plantation from that day became more unbearable because I got wipes daily for not picking enough cotton as a result of my "dead right hand". Julia soon got pregenant and Iwas thrown into confusion to who was the father, I or master??
Even during her pregnancy Jackson's hostility towards her did not losen as he would whip her at the slighest idleness. Most days I gave Julia my portion of food but it never seemed to be enough. One night Julia called me and pleaded for me to take her to the river and plunge her head into the water till she breaths no more because she was afraid to take her own life. I quickly disagreed but she insisted and I angrly walked away. What a ridiculous request I taught to myself as I left. Some days later while working under the heat of the sun, I heard Julia scream in agony I quickly rushed towards her to discover what she was about to give birth. She was taken into the quaters by the female slaves. They were there for hours and after what seemed like eternity, they came out to announce that they lost Julia and the baby at that time I wished the grounds would open and swallow me up but I guess my request was unrealistic.


EPISODE 10:
It is now 40 years after Julia's death and I'm still a slave in the London's plantation though mr Drake son Gregory has taken over, the hostility is stilk the same. I am now an old man writing this story in the dim candle light on my little desk in the quaters. I heard some white men like Sharpnville, Courtis, and Anthony are fighting for the freedom of slaves in Washington D.C. I hope their voices are heard but until then, I Lewis London would work my way to freedom********************* THE END.

This is one of my stories I wrote on whatsapp some time ago, I decided to share it here. Criticisms are allowed thanks.

Nice short story.

Nice story. Though it could use some more polishing and some corrections of typographical errors but it's still an intresting read.

vera031:
Nice story. Though it could use some more polishing and some corrections of typographical errors but it's still an intresting read.

good you called her attention to it but you know she might be typing with WPS office. She's bound to have typos

BUTTERMILKSUGAR:
good you called her attention to it but you know she might be typing with WPS office. She's bound to have typos

Yes I guess so. But the op is male.