THE FLOATING BODY

There was a body floating on our river. There was a crowd at the riverside and the scream of vultures hovering above our house made me quiver. I curled myself on my bed as I shivered in terror. The room was dim, the light from the kerosene lamp was too wiry that I could barely see Timi’s face. She was lying on the other side of the bed, waiting for our parents to return. They had gone with other villagers to confirm the body that was floating on our river.


“I’m scared.” Timi said, her breath hot on my face.

“Me too.”

“What if it is Ayi?”

“It is not.”

“But what if it is him?" 

"I am not sure it is him."

"Will we see Ayi again? Will he come  play with us again?” 

“I don’t know?”

“I miss him.”

“Me too.”  

I wrapped my hands around her and patted her until she fell asleep. 

 Ayi had been missing for five days now. Nobody knew how he disappeared. We all had this fear in our stomach that he might be dead, but nobody in the village spoke of it, instead we all spoke of his return. He would come back, we said to ourselves even though we hardly believed it.
 The noise from the riverside became louder with every second that passed and soon the wails of the women rang all over the village. It was Ayi’s body that was floating on our river. I heard his Mother crying and shouting. I heard the deep voices of the men consoling the women. The wailing was so loud that it woke Timi. She sprung up from the bed, her body shaking. She was panting and sweating acutely.  The light was out now and her face hid in the darkness. I traced my hand to her direction and when I found her, I hugged her.

 She gripped me tightly, as if letting go would hurt. 

  “It’s okay, I’m here.” I said.

“Ayi!” She shouted, still struggling to breathe. 

“Ayi is dead.” I announced. “He drowned in the river.”

“No, he’s not.” She spoke straight into my ears.   “I saw Ayi, in my dream. He asked me to marry him.”  There was fear in her voice and her lips trembled as she spoke. Then she became silent. Then her hands began to wobble, like an epileptic. 
“Why did you do it?”She asked.

“Do what?”

“Why did you push him?”  “He told me you pushed him,” she whispered again.
My heart skipped for a moment. There was silence in the room. 
  “But why did you do it? Why?” My sister’s tears dripped on my skin as she pushed and kicked at me.

I never wanted to kill my friend Ayi. I never wanted to push him into the river. I loved him like my own brother, until that evening when he told me to my face that he will marry my sister. We had gone fishing that evening and while we unknotted our hooks, Ayi looked at me and said, “I can’t wait to marry your sister. She’s so beautiful.”
“You are mad!” I cursed at him. “You can never marry my sister.” 
I did not want Ayi to marry my sister. He was ugly.  He had bad teeth and bulgy eyes that looked like they were pulling out of their sockets. He was laughing, throwing his head and showing his dirty teeth.  I told him to stop but he did not listen. out of the anger that boiled within me I pushed him inside the river and watched him drown. Nobody saw us, nobody knew. We were alone and the darkness hid our small bodies. But now, my sister knew.

 “Don’t tell anybody. Please.” I begged, my voice stammering in guilt.  My sister looked at me pitifully and nodded, with tears leaking from her eyes. Then she released me from her grip and ran outside to where Ayi’s body lay. 

 She knew I killed Ayi and now it was our little secret.