By Kang JJ
Aug 16, 2021 —A young boy, first born to his father, grew into a family tradition of cattle herding. But to be fit for that, one must do according to one’s age. He was too young to herd cattle but young enough to take care of the calves.
Taking care of the calves, for a boy in the village, means more than just looking after them.
It means making sure they don’t meet the cows and breastfeed until the cows are back home to be milked first. The family depended mostly on milk, as it was for every family in that village. It was a drought season and therefore without milk it would literally mean no food for that day.
Everyday, at about noon time, the cattle are untied/freed and led to the grazing areas by groups – each taking turns by day. The calves on the other hand are taken to the nearest grazing areas by the boys. That day, as the evening approached, the boy played too much with his peers and forgot to notice that the calves changed direction. By the time he became aware, the calves already met with the cows and breastfed. The news was the heaviest weight he had ever carried home!
Upon breaking the news to his dad, his dad overreacted and picked up a stick. He hit the boy hard on his right arm and broke his humerus(upper arm bone). It left his son amputated.
The man felt sorry but he never said sorry to his son. Maybe the father thought he was too young to understand how big his mistake would mean. The boy might have nursed the wound in acceptance that he deserved it for the mistake he did or maybe he thought he was too young to be apologized to.
When his son turned 20 years of age, the man was already in his fifties. Cultivation then got more intense but his hard-working young man stood by him in each step of his struggle.
One day as they were ploughing, the old man freezed and started to gaze at his sweating son putting all his one hand weight on the dry land with a hoe that demanded two hands. That was the time he was carried away by thoughts of how his son would take care of his future daughter in-law and his grandchildren. He looked at his own upper arm’s skin and broke into tears!
He screamed at the tip of his lungs as he couldn’t bear the pain of his own mistake. He let go of the tears that he had held for over 10 years. He thought he had to let go of the voice that he had silenced for over 10 years. At last, he had to say the one word that he couldn’t say for 10 plus years.
“I am so sorry, my son,” he said.
“I have broken my own arm 10 years ago” the father continued with a loud airy voice as tears flowed down his cheeks.
“Even if you forgive me, how will I forgive myself? How will I sleep well after I die knowing that you will toil with one hand all your life? Oh how I wish it could be reversed! How how I wish!” the old man said as tears continued to flow down his cheek.
It was a mistake of a lifetime!
The morale of the story will be left for the readers to fill in!
Kang John Jock, professionally known by his stage name as Kang JJ, is a sensational South Sudanese Afro Pop singer, songwriter, poet and rights activist. For more information, he can be reached through his social media at Kang JJ.
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