I don't usually write longer stories but this one just sort of extended on me; don't worry if like myself you prefer smaller bites at the cherry, there are a couple of obvious breaks where you can stop off and return to later. This tale may offend some readers - there are always one or two - since it contains elements of incestuous, interracial, group, lesbian and anal sex, a little drug taking and with questionable consent to some of it too; consider yourself warned.
A SHORT PROLOGUE
I went to Central Africa soon after leaving university; I prefer not to say which specific country, so let's just refer to it as C-A. I'd fallen for a religiously committed doctor, so when his church dispatched him to C-A to set-up a medical centre and spread the Lord's word, we married and I went with him. I never fully shared John's religious calling, but I never faltered in my support and commitment to his hospital. We spent twelve years in C-A, with our son Mark being born during the second.
All three of us, along with half the village fell victim to a vile parasite which infected the local water supply; dozens died, including John. I was at deaths door myself for two weeks and remained ill for a further three months; Mark thankfully, along with almost all of the other kids seemed to shake off his infection quickly and more easily. I, was cared for by the villagers during my recuperation, but when a replacement medical team arrived, it was deemed that damage to my liver left me susceptible to a fatal re-infection; Mark and I returned to England.
It was a bleak period for us both, losing a husband/father and having to leave a home and friends that we'd come to love soon after. There was a farewell party with gifts presented to mark our departure and promises made of our returning one day; though I think we all knew, that we'd never see each other again. The return to England proved less traumatic than I'd feared, both my own parents and John's were very generous financially, as too was John's church; we arrived to find a small, but very suitable house already furnished and decorated, which I apparently owned free and clear.
This house, along with a small pension from the church and payouts from two life-insurance policies tided us over the transition back into the real world, during which Mark settled into school and I found myself a part-time job. We settled down into our new existence and I was pleased by how little that period of trauma appeared to effect Mark; he seemed happy and scored very highly in his final junior school tests only a year later. More good news: with those results in hand -- and I've always suspected some intervention from John's church? - Mark was granted a full scholarship to a very good and local private school.
Mark progressed through the 'terrible teens' and to be honest I never minded; given the early disruption to his life, I was just happy to see him suffer and at times instigate the same sort of trouble and strife as every other teenage boy. My own life proceeded quietly, I changed jobs a couple of times, built a new social circle and had a few dates, I even got laid on a few occasions; just 'the usual', though I never formed another serious relationship. I stayed in touch with the villagers in C-A through those years too; writing a regular open letter to the village -- the world wide web didn't stretch that far back then -- and receiving many in return, it was a wonderful link to the past
Mark did well at secondary school too and at eighteen went to university to study medicine. The local university was highly regarded, though I suspect that Mark's decision to choose it was due in part to his not wishing to desert his lonely old mum. I was pleased and indeed grateful when John's church came up trumps for us once more, providing Mark with a substantial bursary for the duration of his studies. I should perhaps say that John's church were always good to us; they were aware of my mild antipathy and Mark's complete disinterest, but in remembrance of John's contribution and sacrifice, they've supported us all the way.
Once at university Mark discovered the church was financially supporting other young men in their studies there too; all from overseas, including several from C-A, though none from the region in which we'd lived. Perhaps because of his albeit distant, memories of life in C-A, Mark befriended several of those young men and there was often one or another calling by; I sometimes suspected, more in search of a few home comforts and a decent meal as much as anything else?
Even with the church's support these lads were still poor by our standards and all worked at whatever jobs they could find and fit in around their studies. Rather than the university vacations being a time to rest, relax and visit home and family, for these guys it was a period when they worked double-shifts for six and preferably seven days a week; not much of a holiday. I perhaps grasped their problems better than Mark; they were proud young men who kept their troubles to themselves, but none ever considered how much more I might have retained of their languages - both the patois-French and Lingala, a local variant of Swahili -- than Mark had.
As the months went by, my ear for their language improved, though I was careful never to reveal what I overheard to Mark and more especially to the boys themselves; in line with this, beyond basic greetings and such, I never spoke it to them either. I regularly heard things which enabled me to help them out without damage to their pride, often learned of personal issues and on more than one occasion discerned some vulgar, but still rather flattering comments and suggestions regarding myself. It was at just such a moment when I heard the word 'Mtungi' spoken, which certainly gave me food for thought.