Acoli
Ring! Ring! En tye kabino! En tye ka bino, Ocan tye kabino! Wan weng wacello lakwici attaa ki ibaa tuku, kun ngat acel acel tute me kwongo oo gangwa kama olo watamo ni berber. Ma dong wa donyo iot, wa tero itt-wa ma cwinyo wa poto ni Ocan romo tuc kenyo li tuk. Inge dakika maromo aryo, ma dong wa niang ni gin moo peke, ci dong cwinywa ocako dwogo mot mot.
‘’ Opira ngo ma obino iwii oweko i poyo kumwa kit menu?’’ man peny ma aloke ci apenyo ki awobi ma odange ni
‘’ An anene, lok adaa anene…, Opira ogama ma kume myel, wa dwone winye ni lworo omake.
‘’ Kok calo latin’’, Hussein otuki twakke, ‘’onongo imitto mere ballo gweyo odilo wa keken, ki goro nini. ‘’ dano weng onguu me miyo cwak ilok pa Hussein ni. ‘’ An abi doko woko, ‘’ omede ci oyabu dogola.
Nongo dong wacok kato i koore, cut cut ocan opile i twok baa ki itere. Wan weng wa mwomme me dok iot kun waneno ki myel cwiny kit ma Ocan woto mot kede me bino tung botwa. Kono i nene! Wange onongo odet calo mac, bongo ne oyec dok kume oywene ki daba aa ki i yee wiye wa ityene. Ocung, ci obedo waci tye ka neno wa atii. Wa nguny me dok cen ki gen ni lapoya man pe oneno wa. Onongo watamo ni kwo dong otum, ci oloke mere omede ki wote.
I otyeno menu, a boko ki maa kit ma ocan oloyo mwodo wa kwede. Ladit kidega muzee mo ma onongo bedo i nget gang wa onongo tye gang wa ci ogamoni;
‘’Ee, Ocan enoni wan weng wangeye. En tye la kwo. Neni pe Iceto cok kewde pieni en gee.’’
‘’Ento pingo pe ki make woko?’’ maa openye
‘’ En eno’’, ladit kidega ogamo kun yengo wiye. ‘’ Make tek. En woto kama pol; kun kwalo jami kany kwica. Dok bene wiye obale dok gee. Ki waconi en golo wang dano’’.
Maa onianga dok ocikka pe me oo ka nget ‘’ lapoya man.’’ Abedo ma alwor pi nino adii moni, ento ma ocan pe odwogo, wiya owillo ikume.
An akwano i cukul st. Mary primary ma onongo pe bor ki gangwa. I odiko me ceng abic mo acel ki cwalo wa gang con pieni lupwonye onongo nok inino menu. Ma aoo gang, ngati mo onongo pee ma aromo tuku kede dok maa onongo oceto woko katic. Inge cawa acel ma anongo bedo tek, a kwanyo odilo na ci aceto i baa odilo ka temo tyena. Ngeca i gweyo odilo onongo nok ci acako gweyone i wii yamo kama boo. Ci agweyo odilo marac ongak oceto tung kama yugi moo onongo tye iyiye inget baa. Arunne me kelo ne kama leng. Ma atye ka yenyo odilona ikin yugi cal mo onyute ki angec. Cwinya otum ci ma amito ngwec kiti ci oloko ki dwan ma yom dok mwol.
‘’ Enini odilo ni?’’ openya ki bunyu ma lake tar ma itamo ni peke pa ngat ma kume colni. Ma pe agamo, omede;
‘’ onongo amito cako cama me dye ceng ci odilo ni ocelo wiya’’.
Okwanyo mucungwa macol ki ikin yugi ma tye ni, ci oroyo wilwete ma olot me wanyo ne. Wa gwece ma otop ni bedo waci petye kayele. Okayo kun cwiyo pige ma mit. Ma dong ocamo macungwa ne odong manok, ojero jero pa ngat ma oyeng kikume.
‘’ mucungwa ber piri- in icamo mucungwa latin awobi?’’
Ayengo wiya, kun cwinya nok ka lok.
‘’Ber madaa awobi. Tika ingeyo pingo omyero icam mucungwa?’’
Onongo wiya pe poo maber. Ento lapwonya onongo owaco lok moo i kun ber pa camo nying yat, ento onongo dong oceto ki kwon.
‘’En miyo vitamin C ma konyi’’, omede ni- gwoko komi bedo ma yot.’’
‘’ Ingeyo man nining?’’, apenye ki ngeng ikuM ngece.
Obunyu. ‘’ wiya poo ma onongo atye awobi matidi calo in, penongo a keng kwan ki cel moo. Ento menu obedo i kare ma con…ci dwone odok piny dok nen calo cwinyi pe yom.
Olang moo ma dwonnw lamal okok ki kama boo.
‘’ En, gam odilo ni’’, obayo ki woro bota ci oloke oceto.
Ayenye kwe pi nino adii moni ento pe anonge.
Inino moo acel iodiko an ki maa onongo wa tye ka dwogo ki ka wil ci wanongo dano ogure i baa tuku. Ikin woo enuni aneno cing mo ma tye ka ille malo ki gero. Wa nyikke cok.
‘’Ngoo ma tye katimme?’’ ,maa openyo lamego moo ma onongo tye i nget lwak menu.
‘’ menu Ocan doo’’, owaco ki yomcwiny, ‘’ tin dong kimake- en okwalo gweno pa Ojok.’’
Ma maa onongo pud tye kalok ki lamego ni, adide me ceto anyim. Cut aneno Ocan ocung mot ma kume opyee kun lwak tye ka mine bura. Onongo ki tweyo tol i ngutte.
‘’ Lakwoo! Lakwoo!’’. Ngati moni odange, ‘’tin dong i nongo gin ma iyenyo ni.’’
Lwak onguu.
Ki bayo lakidi ikum Ocan. En pe otage, ento oneno cen calo gin mo peke katime.
Ki angec ngat mo ocore wa i ngom, ci ocuu pieni tol orido ngutte. Jo mukene gu nyere.
Ki ywayo ocan malo iwi tyene.
‘’ Tin, dong i bi nongo weng’’, Ojok odange, ‘’ wa cwale piny bot abili’’. Ki peye kun ki goye dok ki gweye.
‘’Eyo, tin dong ki make’’, maa owaco ma nongo dong dano tye ka ket. ‘’Dong wa bi nino maber’’. Ci okwanyo jami ma wawilo ni ci ocako wot kemo gang wa.
English
Run! Run! He’s coming! He’s coming, Ocan is coming! We all scattered wildly from the playground, each vying to be the first to reach the safety of my home. Once safely inside, we waited in apprehension at the appearance of the dreaded Ocan. Two minutes passed without sighting the apparition, and we began to breathe easy.
“Opira, what do you mean by scaring us in this way?”, I asked, turning to the boy who had raised the alarm.
“I saw him, I swear I saw him…, replied Opira timidly, his voice trailing away.
“Cry baby”, hissed Hussein contemptuously, “you just wanted to spoil our game of football, you little weakling.” There was a murmur of approval. “I am going back outside”, he continued and opened the door.
We were about to follow when Ocan appeared from behind a hedge at the end of the playground. We scrambled back inside and watched nervously as Ocan slowly shuffled towards us. What a sight! Bulging red eyes, tattered clothes and covered in mud from head to toe. He stopped and seemed to look straight at us. We crouched, hoping we had not been spotted by the madman. After what seemed like a lifetime, he turned and shuffled away.
Later that evening I recounted to my mother how we had almost been eaten by Ocan. Mr Kidega, the old man who lived next door, was visiting at the time and he commented:
“Yes, that Ocan, we all know him. He is a thief. Make sure you don’t go near him because he is a violent man.”
“Well, why don’t they arrest him?”, asked my mother
“That’s it”, said Mr Kidega, shaking his head. “He is hard to track down. He moves from place to place; stealing here and there. Also, he is mad and violent. They say he scratches out peoples’ eyes”.
My mother shuddered and warned me to keep away from “this madman”. I was vigilant for the next few days, but Ocan did not return. Soon I forgot about him.
I attended St Mary’s primary school which was not far from where I lived. One Friday morning we were sent home early because there were not enough teachers that day. When I returned home there was no one to play with and my mother was away at work. After an hour of boredom I picked up my football and went down to the playground to try out my ball juggling skills. I was not very good, and turned to kicking the ball up in the air as far as I could. A misguided kick sent the ball hurtling towards the rubbish tip adjacent to the playground. I hurried to retrieve the ball. As I was searching in the strewn rubbish a figure emerged from behind a mound. I froze in horror and was about to run when he spoke in a soft, gentle voice.
“Is this your ball?”, he asked smiling through perfectly white teeth that did not seem to belong to his dirty frame. When I did not reply, he continued:
“I was about to eat my lunch when your ball hit me on the head”.
He picked up a dirty orange from the pile before him, digging his crooked thumbnail through its skin. The rotten smell did not seem to disturb him. He dug his teeth in, sucking greedily. When he had reduced the orange to pulp, he sighed contentedly.
“Orange is good for you – do you eat orange little boy?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“That is good boy. Do you know why you should eat orange?”
I could not remember. My teacher had said something about the value of eating fruit, but it was all gone now.
“It is a good source of vitamin C”, he continued – it helps maintain a healthy body.”
“How do you know this?”, I asked, fascinated by his knowledge.
He smiled. “I remember when I was a young boy like you, I never missed a day of school. But that was a long time ago…his voice trailed off and he looked sad.
A loud bell rang in the distance.
“Here, take your ball”, he threw it gently at me and shuffled away.
I looked for him in the succeeding days, but did not find him.
One morning my mother and I returned from a shopping trip to find a sizeable crowd gathered in the playground. Above the melee I saw a pair of hands gesticulating wildly. We moved closer.
“What’s happening?”, my mother asked a woman at the edge of the crowd.
“It is Ocan”, she said excitedly, “they have finally caught him – he stole Ojok’s chicken.”
While my mother spoke to the woman, I squeezed my way to the front of the crowd. There I saw Ocan standing calm amidst the threatening atmosphere. A noose of rope had been fastened around his neck.
“Thief! Thief!”, someone shouted, “today you are going to get your medicine.”
The crowd roared.
A stone was thrown at Ocan. He did not flinch, but stared impassively into the distance.
From behind someone pushed him to the ground, and he yelped as the noose tightened around his neck. Some in the crowd laughed uneasily.
Ocan was dragged to his feet.
“Today, you are going to get your medicine”, shouted Ojok, “Let’s take him down to the police station”. They led him away, beating and kicking at him.
“Well, they have caught him now”, said my mother as the procession disappeared. “Now we shall all sleep safely”. She picked up the shopping and started walking towards our home.
I stood still, and then slowing began to follow her.
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