Luck's Smile

Luck’s Smile

Busara kneeled as she cleansed her face with the ice-cold water from the creek. She felt it rinse the dust from her cheeks and forehead as it dribbled down her chin. The evening air began to chill as the sun set, it was around six o'clock in Tanzania. Busara was always amazed that the horizon she passed every day can look so different. She had just finished a sixteen-hour shift at the tanzanite mines and she still had a long walk ahead of her. Busara hadn’t found anything in the mine that day, as usual. She has been working in the mines since she was twelve. When she started, she was frightened of the long walk to and from the mines; but as time moved on, she got accustomed to it. She walked dragging her feet behind her, stopping at the water pump to bring back clean water. People had forgotten about that water pump, during a drought it started to get people sick even when they boiled the water. The pump always seemed to have an overpowering smell of rotten eggs. The government had built a new pump closer to the village and people soon forgot about the old pump. One morning, Busara walked past the old pump on her way to work. She was so thirsty that she decided to try to drink from it, aware of how unsafe her choice was, she had noticed on her travels that ever since the new well had been built the smell from the old well had begun to disappear. The day passed by uneventfully, and when she told her family in the evening, her father said not to tell anyone. The main water pump of the village was always crowded and dirty, so the family agreed to keep it a secret. From that day on she got water from it every day. She would leave a bucket beside the pump every morning and every evening she would bring it back full.

Busara finally came home and dropped the bucket beside the doorway. Taking off her sandals, she plopped down on the moldy sofa and soaked her blistered feet into some water. The house that she and her family lived in was built entirely of raw materials. The walls were made of sticks and clay, and the roof out of hay. Every once in a while, when there was rain, the roof leaked. The interior was very small. The kitchen, dining room and living room were all connected. The house only had a small room with two buckets as a bathroom, one big one for baths and one for necessities. Her two older brothers, Tumo and Kami, slept together on one cot, her parents on another and she and her little sister, Fatima, shared the small attic. Busara finished up a few of her chores as her mother and sister made dinner. They lay down an old picnic blanket and served the little food they had on it, whilst listening to the radio, probably the most expensive thing they owned. Busara liked her little sister. Fatima was always kind and gentle to anyone she met. She was fourteen years old and worked at a corn field with one of her older brothers, Kami. Busara liked Kami as well, for he was kind to her and had a lot of wisdom, partially because he went to school with her other brother Tumo. Busara and her little sister couldn’t go to school because her parents couldn’t afford it for all of them, but sometimes Kami taught them a few lessons. Tumo, however, was her least favorite sibling. He always flaunted the fact that he could go to school, even though his grades were not marvellous, and he constantly spoke condescendingly to her and her sister because they were women. Busara didn’t understand why her parents adored him so much. After school, he had a job as a waiter in a nearby restaurant for tourists. Really nothing special.

Her father was a Tanzanian elephant hunter. His work was illegal, but he made sure never to get caught in the act. If he ever killed one, he would take it to an abandoned hangar and her mother would skin it there. Then they would hitch a ride to the capital and he would sell the tusks and skin to a pawn shop. Her mother, Kanoni, called everybody for supper. As they settled down and started to eat, she noticed that her parents were acting very peculiar. When they finished eating, her father turned off the radio and turned to face her. They both had huge smiles on their faces.

“ Busara, we found you a husband!” said Kanoni excitedly.

She stared at them dumbfounded. This was catastrophic news!

“ What? How? Who?!” She said, panicking.

“ Do you remember Kafil from the capital? He has relatives that moved to America. Maybe he will move us there one day too.” Said Jamil, her father.

“ Wow, you are really in such a rush to ship her off!” Said Tumo chuckling.

“ Shut up.” Clapped back Busara as her mother gave her a stern look. She knew Kafil and she didn’t like him at all.

“ Ma, Kafil is a bad person and-” She didn’t have time to finish as her father’s booming voice interrupted.

“ Busara Juma, you are getting married next week and that’s final!”

Not wanting to hear them anymore, she stormed off to the attic. A few minutes later, Fatima and Kami came too. Kami assured her that things would turn out alright, after which he left them alone. The girls lay down on their beds, looking out the window above them.

“ Busara?”

“ Yes, Fatima?”

“ Don’t be discouraged, luck will smile at you one day.” said Fatima.

Busara smiled and laughed, “ Oh, I really doubt that.”

“ You never know.” Said Fatima.

The next morning, Busara woke up at sunrise and got ready for work, careful as to not wake up her family. She grabbed the bucket beside the door and ran out of the house. The whole way she cried and wailed. She let out all of her tears as she walked down the creek. She finally arrived at the mine and started to work. The whole day passed by in a flash and as she was about to leave, she saw something shiny in the area where she was mining. She quickly dug it out; it was tanzanite! Looking around discreetly, she rapidly shoved it in her pocket and rushed out. No one was there to see what had occurred. She came home and avoided all interactions with her parents. She ate dinner and went to sleep. As a plan formed in her mind and her instincts told her to follow it.

Her sister was right, luck had at last smiled upon her.

The following day she woke up hours earlier than usual and packed all the necessities she needed. She carefully took out the tanzanite from its hiding place as well as her entire life savings, not nearly enough to say the least. She hitched a ride to the capital and went to her father’s usual pawn shop. She gave the stone to the man and he examined it.

He finally said, “ I’ll give you ten thousand.”

Busara laughed. She found it funny that he tried to use her age against her. “ I know it’s worth more. Twenty thousand.”

“ Little girl are you crazy! Absolutely not!” The man raged.

“ I don’t think you have a choice.”

“ What do you mean?”

“ It would be tragic if I told the cops that your store accepts elephant skin and tusks knowing it’s illegal.”

The infuriated man gave her the money and she left. As she walked through the streets, she suddenly felt someone grab her arm. It was Kafil!

“ Well if it isn’t my future bride.” He laughed. She tried to free herself but his grasp grew tighter.

“ Get off me!” She screamed. Suddenly a voice behind them spoke up.

“ Hey!”

As Kafil turned around and she unexpectedly hit him in the face! The crowd let out a huge gasp. She looked at the stranger, shocked by what she had done. As Kafil recovered, he looked at her infuriated. He was about to hit her, but the stranger grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. Kafil yelled at his friends:

“ Get them!”

“ Run!” shouted Busara as she snatched the stranger by the hand and sprinted through the crowd. Kafil’s friends soon lost them in the crowd and Busara hid with the stranger in an alley, where she got to have a closer look at him. Even before he spoke she could tell he was a foreigner..

“ I think they are gone. Thank you.” She said.

“ No problem, who was that?” He asked.

“ Someone my parents were gonna force me to marry.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. What’s your name?”

“ It’s alright, I don’t need pity. I’m Busara.”

“ My name is Ulysses Brown, I’m a reporter from America.”

“ Do you know where I could get a plane ticket to America?”

“ I can take you but on one condition. I need to interview you about your life and put it in my newspaper.”

She thought about it and put her hand out.

“ Looks like we have a deal.” They shook hands, got out of the alley and snuck past the crowd to the travel agency. Ulysses talked to the lady at the front desk and came back to Busara.

“ I ordered the plane ticket, here’s your passport back. There is a problem though.”

“ What’s the problem?”

“ It leaves tonight.”

She thought for a minute and said, “ I think I can work around that,”

That evening they went to the airport and boarded the plane. Ulysses slept through most of the flight but Busara didn’t. The fear of having Kafil follow them there kept her awake. Ulysses noticed, he took her hand and reassured her, “ He can’t get you here.”

After many hours, the plane finally arrived. They got off and drove through New York to Ulysses’ apartment. Busara was amazed by all the bright lights and tall buildings, she had never seen anything like it. She went to sleep in the guest bedroom and she had never slept on such a comfy bed before.

The next day, she had her interview with Ulysses. She told him everything that had happened during her lifetime: the mines, her house, her family. Ulysses let her stay as his guest. She started a new job at a cafe and she got accustomed to the city, but she longed for more. Using the twenty thousand dollars, she started designing and selling beautiful outfits and accessories for women of African heritage. Every piece she created told a different story. She made this line because she wanted women like her to be proud of being Tanzanian, not dread it. Busara wanted African women to discover more of their culture and to embrace who they were. Her line started to spread quickly throughout America. Her story became known throughout the world. It inspired many women to create a brighter future for themselves.

A few years passed, and Busara had finally gotten everything she deserved. One day she wrote a letter to her family.

Mother, father. Although I can’t really forgive you for what you have done to me in the past, I am willing to try. If you would like, I could fly you all to America and give Kami, Fatima and Tumo the life that they deserve. I can enroll them in the best schools, and give you stable honest incomes. The truth is that I’ve missed you all and I want you here with me to continue this chapter of our lives together as a family.

Busara

A month later Busara’s family came and she fulfilled all of her promises. Her mother and father got stable jobs and Kami, Tumo and Fatima were enrolled in schools. The missing puzzle piece from her life was finally found.

-Victoria. Mainard