One Day the Soldiers Came - Charles London [76]
Xavier was abducted into the army in the middle of a soccer game. He was with his friends kicking the ball around when a group of soldiers pulled up in a truck. He demonstrated when we played in the courtyard, pointing out where the soldiers stood, casting the production with the other kids—and interrupting the main narrative with an essential detail, how he could juggle the ball for five kicks without it hitting the ground. The other boys in our soccer game played along for a moment. They took the role of his friends, also taken, or of the soldiers, cool as can be, rallying the children into the truck, making fun of Xavier’s soccer ball juggling bravado. Paul, whom I had already interviewed, played one of Xavier’s friends. He did not want to be one of the RCD soldiers. Musa, who had volunteered, played an RCD soldier with confidence, adding a swagger to his step and lowering his voice to a baritone growl, which made the others laugh.
Many of the children knew this story all too well. Though they had fought in different armies, many of them had similar experiences, were taken the same way. All over the world, soccer games are interrupted by the realities of war and violence. The kids knew the parts to play in this scene, they played them ferociously well. There were moments with the shoving, with the role-playing soldiers when I wanted to intervene, but the moment passed quickly, the soccer game resumed, and Xavier returned to the bench where I sat, where the others could not hear, and continued his story.
The men forced the kids into the back of the truck where they sat with two soldiers who had guns. The soldiers were from the RCD. I could well believe that Xavier, the gentle soccer player, didn’t want to go with them, was reluctant to become a warrior. Though picturing how he charged into danger as soon as he had the ball, I could also imagine him hopping in the back of a truck with a kind of youthful carelessness, looking for adventure. Regardless of his motivations at the moment, the soldiers had guns and did not offer the children a choice. They drove all of the children into the forest to begin their training. “At the training there were five girls and nine boys. We were all sent to the front line.”
Xavier looked at me and crossed his arms on his chest. He said something to the translator with a nod of his head at me.
“He wants to know if you want to hear about the battles,” the translator asked.
I was thrown off. It seemed like such a painful subject to discuss. I was ashamed to say yes, I did want to hear about the battles. How does an adult ask a young person to talk about such horrible things? What kind of person wants to hear it and moreover, wants to write it down? I felt like a voyeur, but listened intently.
On the front, they clashed with the Mayi Mayi, the militia with which Paul had fought. In the rehabilitation center, the boys got along quite well. On the day Xavier described, they may have been shooting at each other. I was glad the other boys were absorbed in their soccer game again, showing no interest in our conversation. Maybe they already knew each other’s stories, maybe they didn’t want to know.
Xavier and his unit were patrolling through the jungle when machine gun fire cut through the trees. Xavier spoke in a level voice as he described the battle. He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, looking at his hands on the table. He began to pick at a splinter in the wood.
The guns crackled against the trees. Everyone was