Correction to my last post. Ishmael did not reside with the rebels but the government army, which was arguably the worser of the two opponents in terms of savage acts.
The first month or so was a breeze for the boys. Ishmael even stated that he didn't mind the situation he was in. He had food and shelter daily. He woke up early and did his chores, which included gathering water, wood, and hauling farmers crops in from the fields. After a month or so in this oasis of a place, everything changed. The boys started noticing that the soldiers were coming back frequently for ammo, covered in blood. The boys heard gunshots at night. After a week the Luteniant called all the fighting capable men and boys to the town square. They were ordered that in order to stay in the town they had to fight. Obviously the boys figured that they would just guard the town limits and run security. Oh were they wrong! These boys turned to full pledged soldiers over night. For the week following the town square meeting the boys trained in the training yard, preparing for war. The boys wore there new crapes (tennis shoes) and uniforms while they held there shiny new Ak-47's. Ishmael notes the youngness of the platoon, stating that two of the boys were shorter than their Ak's were long. A week from the start of training the boys were informed that they were to ship out for an ambush the next day. Ishmael did not sleep that night. The boys geared up and learned how to pack their backpacks by watching the older soldiers. The older soldiers gave the boys "little white pills", Ishmael never tells us what they are but he says that they gave him tremendous amounts of energy. Probably ecstasy or something of that sort. They walked through the forest for a couple hours until the Commander order them all to stop and set up positions along a creek. They waited for the order, they all started firing at once. Well all but Ishmael, he sat in shock. He looked to his left, his friends was covered in blood, dead. He looked to his right and saw his friend get up for just a split second. In that split second a RPG exploded underneath him. Ishmael witnessed his friends corpse fly threw the air only to land on a nearby stump. Ishmael got up and walked to his friend. He couldn't believe what he was witnessing. After the fighting had resided they headed back to the village. That night Ishmael tried, for the first time, marijuana. The next night cocaine, and the night after that "brown-brown" a mix between cocaine and gun powder. This became his addiction through the next two years of fighting with the Army unit.
Ismael skips right ahead to the moment he found the UN standing in front of him. My guess would be that he doesn't remember that much of what happened in those two years, or that he remembers too much. This story gets more compelling by the page. Cannot wait to see how this one plays out.
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