BEYOND INSANITY

When They Came For Him

Chapter 8

IT COMES a time when a person’s worries and all causes of dissatisfaction tend to be in their imagination only. And, for a life time, James Zonn, could be considered in such a state. It was a situation in which you can find yourself unable to understand the outworking of blind fate. But, is fate blind? If not, how come is it that there comes a time, under some uncertain circumstances that tend to draw you into what is worrisome and bad all the time?

It is shocking to even imagine why someone should be tormented because of his ethnic identity; and it is also troublesome to consider the level of barbarism that can be engendered against another person of another ethnic group, since in the case of the Liberian tragedy, it was all too clear to see how thousands were set to face their doom.

And the saddest part of it was that they were misled to believe that it was a war that had identified its own enemies.

James Zonn, as was established in the last chapter, went into one of the deep slumbers that providence, in a period that it decided to make some amends to the broken soul of the young Gio, paid him a visit. The visit, despite the dungeon nature of it, agreed to the physical needs of the suffering Liberian boy, that he followed the dictates of nature. It would be difficult for many, reading this, to understand how Zonn could forget about all his problems, and take consolation in slumber.

One can agree that Zonn had accepted his fate, and was prepared to wait for the final determination of his own existence. I am not sure if in the brief period that he had been overwhelmed by events in Monrovia, he could find any reason at all, to condemn the nation that decided he was unworthy of its residence. Zonn, I must confess, had seen enough in the brief period, and with any of those who would express dissatisfaction on the sorrowful state, hunting him down, there was no chance or situation that could have prevented him from slumbering, since I must be honest to state that in life’s various circumstances, and here I must seek yet another assistance, and this time from the Bible, that a person’s soul can be willing, but the body can be weak, providing the momentum and wherewithal for the final conclusion of the weakness of the mind, when hope seems to be nowhere to be found.

It was, by any account, a disastrous situation. Political events in Liberia were deteriorating fast enough to the extent that human life, not that only of the average Gio, Mano, Sarpo or Mandingo, but all who breathed at this period in Liberia, was also affected. So, at least the reader can, to some level, accept the tragic resolution of James Zonn, as he lay in the dungeon, facing, what he felt and considered might be his end. It was true, and no one could have begrudged him for the realities of the uncertainties he faced.

For a fact, the Gios, Manos, Krahns and Mandingos of all persuasions were being destroyed, and the disappearances of his family were enough to provide the young man the last idea that was necessary for his self awakening unto the gloomy future he saw his life. And since he was brought into this den of no return, being six days now, food was one thing that he had not seen, let alone ate. And so as he “lay dying,” to still quote, William Faulkner, James Zonn’s mind and heart were at peace.

He was transported into another era, another time of his beloved Liberia, when he was still a Gio, and from Nimba County, the Blue Mountains, where many people had often compared with the weather in Europe, of all places. For, it was there that he was born. In this dream, Zonn encountered for the first time, the fullness of his family, and laughed too loud from ear to ear that had it been a real experience, he would have wondered how could fate have been so unfriendly, and the unhappy bringer of the message of distress, in any situation of comparison.

In his dream, he was at a Sunday church service, and his mother, father and three sisters were all there. The pastor, Rev. Gongerwon, his lanky frame towering over the congregation, stood up, his right hand held on to the Bible, a smile, sweeping across his face, and pacing up and down. The congregation, in attention at the House of God, listened as the man of God thundered one verse after another.

“He is your salvation and the Rock of Gibraltar,” the pastor intoned, eyes gleaming, and feeling great. “Give your troubles to the Lord and you’ll suffer no want.” The Lutheran Church, sitting across the street, was one of the places that Zonn and his family had always found shelter in the mercies of God. And when all things came crumbling down, it was this particular safe house, the soldiers decided to force it to vomit its load.

How those words and assurances comforted him! How long would such words continue to make him happy, now surrounded by family and friends, in the house of God?

And that was when Zonn felt a sharp pain on his rib.
Perhaps, they had come for him at last.