The Life of Koru, Chapter 20
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The road to Rio had to be widened with new traffic lanes and koru slaves were utilized to break the ground with pickaxes in order prepare the construction.
The way these slaves worked was in the form of a traveling chain gang. Each morning, a very long chain was spread along the road. It passed between the legs of each slave, making them stand in a line, unable to leave their working post. They had to work there until late evening. Sixteen hours every day they were part of the chain.
And if they needed to piss and shit they had to do it on the ground below them. It was only a matter of time before Chief Tariq received complaints from the Black drivers that the edge of the road was full of slave shit, so he ordered the koru to clean after themselves.
"You take that garbage and throw it away in the field, apes! If I see any more shits by the road I will make you eat them!"
So the slaves complied. Whenever they had to shit, they took the shit in their hand and threw it far away from the road.
It was a long road, of about 3,000 km, passing through jungle and wilderness, connecting the remote plantation lands to Rio de Janeiro.
Each day the gang traveled 20 kilometers. At every 20 kilometers, the road had an outpost with cabin houses for the overseers to sleep in, while the slaves had to squeeze inside a large cage fixed to the back of an old truck. The truck was only used for lodging the slaves at night and never for their transportation, as it was a shabby old truck with no gas in the reservoir. Every day, some slaves had to pull the truck from one outpost to another. It was not easy, but it was their mobile home. Chain gang overseers had given the vehicle the nickname "The Stinker" and you only had to get a little closer to it to understand why.
The slaves in the chain gang were some of the worst the plantations had to offer. Many of them were of very low intelligence or junkies, koru who had turned their brain into a mush using the drug called zirikum, the drug that Mulo himself had once tried. Others were sent there because they stole food or didn't show enough respect to an overseer, others were disgusting goat-fuckers or buffalo-fuckers caught pleasuring themselves in their disgusting way by the overseers.
The first slaves Mulo and Peon met, due to their proximity in the chain, were Fucka, Sleaze and Junkhead.. Fucka was a rapist, Sleaze was a disgusting prick and Junkhead had snorted so much zirikum that he basically had no brain anymore. He could work just like any other koru, but he gave no sign that he understood the purpose of what he was doing. He just moved like a puppet, controlled by those extraordinary strings called whips.
"What are ye here for? What did ye do?" Fucka asked Peon and Mulo.
"We'se dindu nuffin'!" Peon said. "We'se false accused of plottin' to scape..."
"Nobody believe ye that ye dindu nuffin', dumbass!"
"Yeah, ye're fuckin' scape plotters!" Sleaze said. "Scapers! Scapers!"
"Stop it! We'se not what ye say! We'se served Massa best we'se could."
"Not true! Not true! Scapers!"
Sleaze's loud denunciation attracted the looks of other slaves. They seemed to judge Peon and Mulo. Planning to escape was a very serious offense that even the most unlawful koru despised.
With pickaxes, Peon and Mulo started doing their jobs, adding themselves to the collective effort of the chain gang. They followed the rhythm, their pickaxes hitting the rocky earth with a resounding clang. Each swing of the tool sent vibrations coursing through their arms, jarring their bones with the force of their labor. Soon their bodies were glistening with grimy sweat, but it suited Peon and Mulo very well, as it made them look more masculine and muscular.
As they worked, they started singing along with the other slaves. It was a sad song, but it matched their feelings very well:
"We'se wuz once plantation slaves,
Life was good then!
But we'se wronged and fucked it up,
Life was good then!
We'se are now just chain gang slaves,
Life was good then!
Wish we were plantation slaves,
Life was good then!"
The road was empty most of the time, but sometimes a car passed by, as quick as a lightning, making the koru gasp in admiration. The koru didn't understand cars, they couldn't explain why these vehicles were not propelled by koru muscle and in a way they felt jealous. They wished they were the preferred means of transport for the Black Lords to use. If only they had the speed and endurance of a car!
What they didn't know was that Black Lords preferred cars not only because of their efficiency, but also for aesthetic reasons. Driving a chariot pulled by koru was fun and all of that, but in the end a car was not only faster, but also more elegant. A car didn't sweat and pant and yelp and puff like a koru did when he pulled a chariot.
This is the reason why chariots drawn by koru were mostly used on plantations and village roads, while cars predominated on main roads and highways. The competition between koru and cars was heavily skewed in favor of the cars and the koru had to admit that they were just a shitty means of transport.
"So many carses!" Peon said.
But suddenly the window of one car opened and a Black man's hand threw an empty beer can right on Peon's head, with hilarious precision.
"Ouch!" the slave said.
A second car came right after that, the window opened again, but this time Peon avoided the projectile.
"Fuck you, koru!" a voice was heard from the car.
Peon and Mulo noticed that unlike other cars, those two had a distinctive symbol painted on them. A strange monkey skull it seemed, and two daggers.
"This be the Hukunta!" Fucka said.
"Hukunta?" asked Peon.
"Yeah, they be the worst nightmare for us koru. Hope they never catch us. They do whatever they want to us..."
The Hukunta was an intolerant anti-koru hate group made of merciless rebellious Black men who liked to punish the koru for simply existing. They roamed the streets with guns and clubs, with knives and electric buzzers, entered private property without authorization and searched for their prey.
If caught by these rogues, a koru was soundly beaten. He could lose some teeth or he could lose his cock. He could be lynched. Whenever they heard about the Hukunta, the koru were afraid. Because this hate group destroyed the property of Black owners, namely slaves, it was outlawed by the Emperor. Nevertheless, corruption and widespread anti-koru sentiment still allowed it to function, especially in underdeveloped places like Brazil. For the young people, especially young men, the Hukunta were heroes. For older citizens, they were just weirdos with a strange hobby.
Mulo and Peon learned to identify the symbol of the Hukunta, a monkey skull and two knives, the monkey skull being the symbol of a killed koru. It looked as sinister as it could get. Mulo and Peon felt grateful that they had the overseers around them to protect them from the violent group who wanted to skin them alive.
"Follow me, Whitey!" Sir Gada said.
Sir Ishmael didn't know what to expect. Will he receive more slaps and pinches, or will he just receive more work to do?
He walked behind Sir Gada through a corridor and reached a large hall. When Sir Gada turned on the light, Ishmael could see that it was a gym full of sleek exercise machines of all shapes and forms. On the walls there were mirrors that helped you have a better understanding of your body as you worked out.
"Prof. Kumbaba told me that you are weak and have no muscles, boy!" Sir Gada said. "You are to train to become a more muscular ape. Every two days, you will come here for an hour and a half to train! Do you understand me, boy?"
"Yes, sir!" Sir Ishmael said.
"Good! I want you to call me Sir Coach, as I am going to coach you good, yes I will! I will make you lift those weights like your life depends on it, do you understand me, boy? "
"Yes, Sir Coach!"
"Alright! Let's start!"
Whitey moved from warm-up, stretching and mobility exercises, to pull-ups, bench presses, squats and lifting weights, then cardio -- running on the treadmill. From time to time, he glimpsed into the mirrors to see his naked body straining with utmost dedication. He sweated a lot as he was not used to such harsh training, but Sir Gada encouraged him to apply himself to the task, by slapping his sweat-slicked skin with a leather belt.
"Faster, slave!"
Sir Ishmael couldn't help but think that this was just the beginning of his life as a koru.