Afterlives

Khalifa and Asha welcome Afiya into their home. Asha teaches her to read the Koran and sends her to a woman nearby, who teaches four other girls the nuances of the holy book. Afiya learns from Asha how to take care of the house, cook, and clean.

In the late afternoon, when the imam calls for afternoon prayers, the adults wake up, and for a couple of hours Khalifa goes back to work at the merchant’s office for Nassor, the son of Amur. Occasionally, Khalifa invites Afiya to come to work with him in the afternoon. Afiya discovers that the two men do not like one another very much, but Nassor treats Afiya kindly. He takes her upstairs where his family lives and introduces her to his wife, Khalida. Since his wife has a young child, many people visit with her and Afiya listens to a lot of gossip. Eventually, she realizes something important: “It was a long time before she realized that not everything they said about other people was true” (78).

Nassor buys a bed for Afiya when Khalifa reworks the storage room and turns it into a bedroom Afiya has to herself. As she is now 12 years old, Afiya receives a kanga from Asha, who tells her to wear it to protect her dignity. She realizes that the men in the town have taken notice of her.

Hamza trains to be the manservant of the German officers in the boma. The lieutenant demands that Hamza stand by to serve him at all times. His duties are menial, including preparing food for the officers and cleaning all of their rooms before 7:00am, after which he attempts to go and join the troops as they train. He must be present at lunchtime to serve the officers their meal.

The lieutenant continues to teach Hamza spoken and written German. He brags to the other officers that soon Hamza will be able to read Schiller. It bothers Hamza that the lieutenant watches him constantly, though he does not attempt any physical advances. Hamza is also troubled by the Feldwebel [sergeant], who dislikes all of the African soldiers and particularly hates Hamza.

Rumors of a Great War among the European nations come to fruition when Hamza enters the lieutenant’s quarters and finds him reading a communique. That evening the officers have a very energetic conversation, doing their best to keep their comments out of the hearing of the Africans. As they prepare for war, the lieutenant tells Hamza why he is there: He says he is there to preserve the occupation of Germany over a land full of “ignorant” people. He expresses regret for Hamza’s involvement in the conflict, saying, “you are not one of them. You tremble and look and listen to every heartbeat as if all of it torments you […] You are a dreamer” (94).

Two days later all the African troops are mobilized and march north to protect the borders of the German-occupied lands. While the conflict takes place in East Africa, the European nations actually wage the war through their surrogate armies. The askari take along their wives and children as well as carriers bearing their food, guns, and supplies. The first conflict is with a British landing party made up of Indian troops who, in their confusion are routed by the askari troops.

Though the British lose the initial conflict, they eventually manage to put the German askari soldiers on the run. Many skirmishes follow in which large numbers of Africans are killed. The Germans tend to leave behind the wounded and the sick who cannot keep up. They forage for what they need from the land, taking food and supplies from any village they pass. Eventually, they break into two columns, one headed west and the other south, with Hamza in the southbound column.

In addition to the heavy fighting in which thousands of people are killed, the first year of the conflict sees heavy flooding and many illnesses caused by mosquitoes. There are other natural challenges that greatly reduce the numbers and the efficiency of the askari. Though the war takes its toll on the Africans, the Germans continue to fight fanatically. Eventually, all those who joined with Hamza are dead or missing. The sergeant spends most of his time enraged and taking it out on Hamza. The lieutenant becomes withdrawn and moody, though his attachment to Hamza remains. For his part, Hamza attempts to stay out of conflict and simply survive.

The war heavily impacts the civilians who remain in Tanga. When the British are initially unable to conquer the German forces, they blockade the harbor for an extended period, resulting in a loss of merchandise and trade. This creates hardship, particularly for Nassor, who cannot bring in goods to sell. He cuts back his business, making Khalifa the steward of his lumberyard, which he prepares to supply wood after the war for rebuilding.

A blockade runner asks Nassor to join in a plot to bring in small amounts of goods without the Germans or British knowing. Nassor refuses. The blockade runner approaches Khalifa, who encourages the captain to make a trial run. When it is successful, Khalifa and the captain go to Nassor to show him what can be done. Khalifa works a deal so that the captain and the merchant receive a combined 80% of the income while Khalifa receives 20%.

After two years, Indian forces under the command of the British take Tanga without firing a shot. The blockade ends but the flow of merchandise has not returned to normal. Khalifa and Afiya worry about Ilyas, who has not been heard from since he joined the askari. Khalifa knows there is a great deal of heavy fighting around where Ilyas has been stationed, though he downplays this for Afiya.

Afiya’s friends make a beautiful dress for her 15^th birthday. She hides it, fearing Asha will not approve. She wears the dress for the celebration of her birthday, and Asha is delighted: “[J]ust when Afiya thought she was going to be instructed to go back to her room and change, she [Asha] too managed to smile. ‘She is a young woman now,’ she said” (115).

Asha deals with Afiya’s womanhood by restricting her actions and keeping a close eye on her. She instructs her as to how she must walk, look at others, speak to, and touch people she encounters. When she is 16 years old, Asha announces that it is time for them to seek a husband for Asha, since she will only get in trouble and mischief now that she is a young woman.

The war goes badly for the German cause, especially for the askari soldiers and equipment bearers. The German civilians are treated with deference by their British captors, as opposed to the Africans. The British do not allow Africans to guard the other white Europeans.

The lieutenant decides to take his troops to see a German missionary family that runs a clinic in a place called Kilemba. They find the British have not occupied the mission site because the pastor who runs it once treated an injured Rhodesian officer who asked the British to allow the German mission to stay open. While the German officers go inside the mission, the Africans must wait outside, where they are waited on by an African Christian convert named Pascal. The askari eat food he supplies that night and discuss the war. Pascal remarks, “The war came very close to us. Then it went away. […] God looked after all of them and us, and we have lost no one here at the mission” (121).

Once they leave the mission site, the askari run from the British mercenaries. Many of the carriers desert, though most of the askari remain. They find there is little left for them to plunder and they are all wearing rags and eating whatever they can find. Since they have not been paid in some time, the askari keep fighting as a matter of pride. Eventually, all the carriers desert, leaving no one to haul the supplies for battle. The Germans force the askari to carry their own supplies. This is a huge insult against which the soldiers rebel. Hamza overhears the lieutenant warning the other Germans to be on the watch for trouble. During the night, two-thirds of the askari desert.

The next morning the sergeant is enraged. He shouts that Hamza told the askari about coming trouble and caused them to desert. He draws his sword and strikes Hamza across the hip. The wound is so grave that Hamza collapses and lapses in and out of consciousness. Other soldiers carry him on a cot. The troop makes its way back to the mission, where the lieutenant leaves Hamza in the care of the pastor and Pascal. The lieutenant tells Hamza, who is experiencing delirium, that he is leaving a special book for him. He confesses that Hamza reminds him of his little brother who died in combat.

Over a time of several weeks, Hamza fights a fierce fever and general weakness that leaves him incapable of caring for himself. Pascal, the pastor, and the pastor’s wife care for him. Gradually, he recovers his ability to walk. Eventually, the pastor gives Hamza the book the lieutenant left for him, which is an almanac written by Schiller in 1798.