Chapter 5: Interview with the Major

Later, Zulam took us for a cold shower and gave us a disposable toothbrush and a comb and afterwards we lay alongside each other on the bed. Both of turned our heads away from the sight of Sumala's back. He still groaned with pain and I wondered if the nurse would give him another injection before we went to sleep. Roger tried to make a whispered conversation but it was all speculation as to what would happen to us and why were we chosen and by whom etc. It wearied me so much that I curtly told him to put his thumb in his mouth and shut up. I had enough fears from my own thoughts without his adding to them. Secretly I began to wonder at the changes in me, and Roger too for that matter. Previously I would never have spoken to anyone like that but now, faced with our situation and with Roger acting in such a feeble way, I was being forced to be in charge. "Will they allow me to be in charge of him? Men have priority in this country. Yet Muniba was in charge when Zulam was here and none of the other women seemed completely downtrodden. They weren't slaves like I had imagined from reading about their lives on the web. Strange."

Soon after the lights were turned down, I've no idea of the time, my watch having been confiscated during the airport search, Roger hesitatingly asked, "Do you think we should... we should... do it? Would it be... better to... do it with me than a black man?"

"No," I told him forcefully and then cruelly I added, "I'm not a baby snatcher." Immediately I wished I hadn't said that but it was too late. I didn't really need to anger the only friend I had in this place. After all the taunts he'd received today about his manhood, he could have done without that. I waited to see how he'd react but he didn't say anything for a few moments and then came a few choking sobs. "Sorry, Roger," I apologised and paused before going on, "Like you I'm terribly afraid of what is going to happen and I need you as a friend not a forced lover. It sounds as if I will have plenty of them." I did put my arm around him and at first he turned away, but later he nestled into my breasts again and I felt his prick against my thigh.

For a long while I lay awake arguing with myself. "Aren't you being foolish? He would have done it with care, even love, but you've opted to be raped by goodness knows how many black natives. His bringing the condoms must mean he'd thought about fucking me. Why didn't I let him? You are going to be raped anyway so why bother? They'll be more experienced. I wonder what it will be like to have sex with a man? To be fucked? How much will it hurt? Especially with their big pricks. Can't be worse than the strap. Will I become pregnant? Probably. You are in your fertile period and the nurse said that just two pills wouldn't be enough to prevent it. If the game players wanted a white whore, why did they choose me? And Roger? They could easily have bought a willing woman. What do they want with us? How much did Ted know? Was he the brains behind this? Or did he just connive with the Colonel?" Any answers were pure speculation. The pain in my bottom had receded a little to a dull ache unless I sat down hard. Eventually I drifted off to sleep disturbed by involuntary cries from neighbouring cells, exhausted from all that had transpired and from the long journey. Could it be that only the day previously I'd been safe at home?

Next morning when the lights went up we were greeted with further cries of pain from Vilisi and Sumala when they tried to move. Vilisi's bottom looked awful but she stood and hobbled to her toilet. Sumala yelled in agony as he clung to the bars to help him stand. Gone was his bravado and I felt really sorry for him but I could do nothing and I guessed that even if I spoke it would make him feel worse.

The nurse went to Sumala first and put more cream on his wounds but didn't give him another injection. "I'm keeping you here until tomorrow," she informed him, "I don't like the look of a couple of the welts. They cut you deeper than they should have." He seemed to accept it and didn't have to be restrained when she tended him.

Before leaving she came to the bars and asked me, "Are you still a virgin?" I nodded my head, yes, and she gave a little smile. I wondered what that meant.

"You should be alright to go after breakfast," she told Vilisi, "There's no broken skin but it will be painful for a while yet. See Wyche and get some of her painkilling medicine. That will help; I'm not allowed to give you any more. Try not to get sent back here, you know it will be far worse next time."

A cheerful young girl, who flirted with the warder, brought our breakfast of some sort of meal that looked like dirty porridge. I forced it down and persuaded Roger to do the same. For a while we just sat without talking, each of us thinking of scenarios that might happen. The uncertainly of it all made us snappy and I could tell the rift between us was widening.

About mid morning a new warder unlocked our cell and without commenting took us to the shower and made us wash each other. Roger soon had a hard-on and tried to play with my clit when he washed me but I gave him a nasty look and shut my legs. Had not the warder been there I would have boxed his ears. "What has made you so aggressive? You never used to be like that. Is it a reaction to this environment or something deeper?" Once again, more thought questions with no answers. We did our teeth, dried ourselves and I took some time combing my hair until the warder snatched the comb away and proceeded to use it to neaten my pubic hair. He was a man of few words but he did say, "The Major will want you looking presentable." My further questions were ignored.

We stopped at our cell only long enough to put on our shoes and then were taken to the sergeant's desk. "Take them to Major Entembe's office," he said to a burly looking, hugely pregnant woman in uniform "Use the strap if they cause you any trouble. It looks as if yesterday's are fading." Fading they might have been, but our bottoms were still colourful and mine was particularly tender and I hadn't wanted to sit on the loo when I got up. Roger made a great fuss over his but his stripes were losing their colour.

"I sure will sergeant," the woman grinned. She made Roger hold my hand and we set off in hot sunshine at a fairly slow pace because of her size. Rather insanely I wondered what we would do if her water broke while we were en-route but we arrived without incident and without having received any punishment. It wasn't far and I had time to try and evaluate the knowledge I'd gained to date. Major Entembe I knew was third in command in Tumali. General Cumu was the head man and overall dictator, Colonel Nubaro his deputy and the Major was under him. We were being taken to someone high up in the chain of command and I wondered, "Will he have the authority to release us? Or is he in on our abduction too?" That is how I thought of the events that led us to being there. We had agreed to come but the conditions were not as they had been explained to us.

A pleasant young girl showed us into the Major's office. By now I had become inured to seeing girl's breasts but they still caught my partner's attention and noticing this, she even flaunted them in front of his face. The Major was younger than I expected, mid-thirties I guessed but I had little experience in judging the ages of African men and he smiled when we entered. I noticed his eyes swept up and down my body until he politely requested we be seated. At first he only seemed to talk to Roger, mainly it was small talk, going over our personal details and ignoring our treatment here." Roger was slumped in his chair and stuttered a few answers. His attitude and subservience to the major disgusted me. I wanted to know what was going on and when we would be sent home. I decided to take the initiative.

"Are you one of the players in this game Sir, or just one of the pieces?"

For a moment or two he looked puzzled and for once gave me his attention. "Game?"

"Elaine... don't... anger..."

"Oh do shut up Roger. We've been sent here for a reason and I need to know why." I turned back to Major Entembe who looked very surprised at my outburst and Roger's reaction to it. "Yes Sir, the game that is being played with us as pawns. The board was set out in England and now the moves are being made. Are you one of those pushing the pieces or are you on the board with us?" I knew I had shaken him with my forthrightness and I half dreaded that he might take offence and send us to the whipping post or whatever but he seemed a cultured man that might appreciate my analogy. I relaxed a little when he sat back in his chair and his face lit up with a huge smile.

"Very good Miss Eves. The reports said you were good journalists and it seems there was some truth in them. To answer your question. Yes, I suppose I am player but a player who is bound by the rules of the game; rules made by others." He stopped and I was about to ask a further question when he went on, "However, from the little time we've played I can see I will have to upgrade you from a pawn to a queen and downgrade your partner to being a knight."

"A knight should be there to protect his queen." I was beginning to enjoy this sparring match.

"You think we should take him off the board altogether?" That floored me for a moment. Did that mean they would kill him or send him home? In either case I would lose a companion that I could talk and discus things with.

"Pawns have their uses," I answered.

"Would you object to Miss Eves, Elaine, being in charge of you Mr. Hart?"

I thought Roger might object but he dumbly shook his head and quietly said, "No."

"An unexpected move, Elaine, one that requires a slight change of strategy but not to the overall game plan."

"And what is that Major?"

He laughed. "Patience Elaine, enjoy the game. There is no fun if you know the outcome before you start and you may also be able to influence the result. First though, we have to recognise your new status." I didn't want to be part of any game but neither did I wish to annoy him and destroy our fragile rapport. He buzzed his secretary, "Shelumba, get supplies to send a bluestone here immediately and find a key for the cuffs on this pair. Security should have one. I expect that it is standard issue... And see if you can make a pot of tea for our English visitors."

I must have smiled at that because he looked questioningly at me. "Are all your English visitors kept naked and chained?" I asked.

"It's the best way when they are young and attractive but perhaps not too willing." He smiled broadly, "But that will come later," he added and I blushed a deep red when I not only realised his meaning but that he thought I was attractive. "I'd better explain the meaning of my instructions to Shelumba. Have you met any women wearing a necklet with a bluestone broach?"

"On the plane."

"Ah, yes the women delivering the babies. Women who wear them are women who have risen above the rest and are given positions of authority. They are able to make decisions and order things from men that ordinary women can't. They still have to make their bodies available for fucking but otherwise they can act in much the same way as women in your country. The exception is your partner; your pawn. While he is linked to you he cannot demand anything from anyone. You can ask for his opinion but it will be you that decides on the action to take. You can order him to fuck if you want but he cannot demand your services." Again I felt myself blushing at the coarse language and the implications of it. "That brings me to the next point. As you are now the dominant one, you will stand on his right side, therefore we need to change the cuffs around. For the time being, we or rather I, as I haven't been able to consult those higher up as yet, will keep you linked together. That is mainly for our amusement although it may add it a little more difficulty to what you'll have to do... as part of the game." Again the winning smile. "Ah the tea has arrived and the key too."