Story

Sunday Best

Image by Andre Lambertson. Liberia, 2007.

By 7 a.m. on Sunday Mabel was awake, heating the water to bathe the children before church. The rain kept falling and as it did it leaked, drop by drop, into her house. "Is this any way for humans to live?" Mabel asked, shaking her head. But that didn't stop her. She put on her Sunday best — a yellow and blue dress — and adjusted her matching head piece with the help of one of her former fighters, Roseline. When they were finished they headed across the compound to the local church, where they joined a group of others in prayer — dancing, singing, and playing instruments as the rain beat down on the pavement outside.

Charles spent the morning hustling — trying to find work for his former fighters. When he called Sam Brown onto the porch to tell him about the new job he found, Sam stood at attention and saluted Charles, just like the good old days.

By the time Charles came home Mabel was ready to go to the market to buy food to cook, not only for Charles and the children, but for her former fighters and Charles' friends as well.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with Franklin, Charles and Mabel's disabled son. Baby Franklin is named after Charles' father whom he saw get killed during the war. The baby holds a special place in Charles' heart — not only because of his connection to his father — but because like him, his son is disabled. Charles understands what life will be like when Franklin grows up and he wants to take that pain away.

Charles believes everything will be better when he gets to America. He looks forward to that day because then, he says, his skin will turn white like mine. He remembers how dark his skin looked when he was fighting in the bush; and how light his skin was when he was working and earning money to feed his family. Charles isn't speaking in metaphors — he believes America is the land of freedom and when you're free your skin automatically turns white and your scars disappear and your disabilities turn into opportunities, which in turn become money.