CHAPTER ONE Southern Seton, 2008 e Going wos coy Going, the big plastic container held only; Tal for her leven yeors, Nya could swatch the handle from one hand to ‘he other, swing the container by har side, o erode tin bth ‘rms. She could even deag t behind her, bumping it against the ground and rating a ty cloud of dst wth each step. There waslcle weight, going There wos onlyheot, she un lieedy baking the at, even though it wos long before noon. le would ake her alfthe mort she didn't top onthe woy. Heat Time. And thors. Southern Sedan, 1985 88 Salva sat cross legged on the bench. He kept his head ‘ured toward the front, hands folded, back perfectly straight. Everything about him was paying attention to the teacher-everything except his eyes and his mind.His eyes kept flicking toward the window, through ‘which he could see the road The road home, Jus lie while longer—a few minutes more~and he would be walk Ing on tht road, ‘The teacher droned on with the lesson, about the ‘Arabic language. Salva spoke the language of his Dinka tmibe at home. But in school he lermed Arabic, the off- cial language of the Sudanese government fr away to the north. Eleven years old on his lst birthday, Salva was a ‘geod student. He already knew the lesson, which was why ‘he was letting his mind wander down the road ahead of bis body. Salva was wellaware of how lucky he was tobe able to ‘gto school. He could nor attend the entie year because during the dry season his family moved away from their village. But during the rainy season, he could wall ro the school, which was only halfan hous ftom his home. Silvas father was a successful man, Me owned many ‘head of cattle and worked as their village judge—an hon- ‘ored, respected postion Salva had three brothets and two slates. As each boy reached the age of about ten years, the was sent off to school, Selva older brothers, Arik and ing. had gone to school before him last year it had been Salvs'sturn His wo sisters, Akitand Agnath, did not goto school ike the ober gis inchevilig they stayed bome 2d leaned om her mother hw to keep hous. Most of he ime, Sala was gad ro beable wo go r0 school But some days be wished he wer still ack st ome keting cate, Hand isbroter lng withthe sons fis aes cher wives woud wa with the hers tthe wateroles, her thee was god grating Ther responsibilities de pended on how od they were. Salas younger brother, Kuol wa taking cae of jason ow ik ls brothers be fore im, he would ben charg fore coms every ya. Before Sa had begun going 0 school, he had ped look afer the enix and his younger brothers well ‘Theboyshadtokeepan eye on the cows bu thecows Aid not rely ned much cae. That left pleny of tine ‘ophy. Sal and th other boys male cows out of cy The sore cows you mde the richer you were But they kao be ne, helhy animal I ook time to make lump of ly look ke a ond cov The boys woul challenge eich cxhero see who could maketh most and best ows. theres they woul practice with heirbovs and 10 booing t sl nimalso bids They were very ssdatthisyesburonce in awhile hey go icky.‘Those were the best days. When one of them man aged to killa ground squirrel o2 rabbit,a guinea hen ora grouse, che boys’ aimless play halted and there was sud> denly alot of work todo. Some of them gathered wood to build a fire. Others hhelped clean and dress the animal. Then they roasted icon the fie. ‘None of this took place quietly. Salva had his own ‘opinion of how the fre should be built and how long the meat needed to cook, and so did exch ofthe others. “The fire needs to be bigger! “ewontlastlong enough-we need more wood” “Noi big enough already? “Quick, tun it over before is ruined” “The juices dripped and sizaled.A delicious smell filled theair Finally, they couldnt wait one second longer There was only enough for each boy to have afew bites, but, ob, how delicous those bites were! Salva gwnllowed and tured his eyes back toward the teacher He ished he hadait recalled those times, because the memories made him hungry... Mill. When he got hhome, he would have a bow of fresh milk, which would ‘keep his belly fall until suppertmme. He knew just how it would be. His mother would rise from her work grinding meal and walk around tothe side ‘ofthe house that faced the road. She would shade her eyes with one hand, searching for him. From far off he would seeherbright orange headscarf and he would raise his arm in greeting, By the time he reached the house, she would Ihave gone inside to get his bow! of milk ready for hit. CRACK? ‘The noise had come from outside. Was it «gunshot? Orjusta car backfiring? ‘The teacher stopped talking for a moment. Every headin the room rurned toward the window. ‘Nothing, Sence. ‘The teacher cleared his throat, which drew the boys! attention tothe front ofthe oom again. He continued the lesson from where he bad lef off Then— ‘CRACK! POP-POP-CRACK! ACK:ACK-ACK-ACK-ACK-ACK? Gunfire! “Everyone, DOWN!" the teacher shouted. Some ofthe boys moved at once, ducking their heads Ea