Rwandese Flowers_ 1 to 6

away from dangerous sexual contacts in the promiscuous environment, lowering the risk of
contracting AIDS. Some of her peers were HIV positive, and from time to time, she saw someone
transmitting the disease through unsafe relationships.
She didn't want to get an old joe!
All men who frequented the red-light district feared to stick with Anne-Marie, since she
was the girl of the Interahamwe leader, a violent and jealous man. In turn, he appreciated keeping
Anne-Marie all to himself, even though she was a woman of the night because this gave him prestige
among his fellows. He dreamed of getting Anne-Marie out of the gutter and put her in a comfortable
residence away from the dirty cathouses, providing her a decent life. Two reasons prevented this
categorically, however. First, being a Hutu leader, he could not get along well with his colleagues,
taking a marital status with a Tutsi, and second, he did not want to embarrass his wife, having a Tutsi,
gold digger as an assumed lover affair outside wedlock. He seemed to love both and this dilemma
pushed him to be a violent person, giving voice to his rage. His spouse did not pleasure him at home,
and the slut with whom he dated outside the familial conviviality could not be all his and give him the
feelings she had inside.
Anne-Marie and Canisous Rubuga had a love-hate relationship, although mutual
acquaintances implied they hit it off when they met for the first time. They both wanted to injure the
lineage of the other, but even so, if they had fled the country, they would have tranquility to live a
normal life together. Unfortunately, in Rwanda of those days, they would not have any royals. As he
was a paramilitary member and she was a guerrilla, it was expected that there would be a moment
when one would draw and fire quicker than the other did.
* * * * *
Canisous Rubuga fired three shots that compelled the crowd to run away and we
stopped the confusion. The Hutu only had eyes for his Tutsi. For my part, I was sitting on a sidewalk
with my back to a wall when Father Jumpe approached and pulled me aside. Seeing the head wound
of Anne-Marie, I approached her to provide any possible help and thank her intervention on my
behalf. Without her by my side, the three whores would have hit me a little more.
"Creed! What a fine friend you are, Father."
"My beloved dame, I am a man of God. Everything went all haywire fast and I was
wondering what to do for you when the Hutu turned up shooting at random."
"It is okay. No hard feelings for now. Take my first aid suitcase in the car and bring it
over here, please."
"What for, my dearest friend? We should avoid being in this creepy place."
"No, Father! There are hurt victims bleeding around here?" I explained to him that a
doctor is constantly under oath.
Canisous Rubuga was worried about the injury in the head of his lover. Even so, he did
not want me to touch her.
"No, Dr. Isabelle. Please, leave us alone because there is nothing the matter with her,
and I'll straighten this out."
"That beats all! Let us do it the way you think best, but please, take my first aid kit and
go ahead because luckily it contains all necessary support for a small surgery. Suture the wound and
do not hit any vital artery."
"Do I have to put stitches in her head, Dr. Isabelle?"
"Yes, you do. Hurry up because she is wasting precious time."
"What about this vital artery?"
"A man in Gitarama got this artery ruptured and lost his vision, voice, and movements
ten seconds after the doctor's error."