God’s Bits of Wood

This chapter focuses on twelve young men, ages fourteen to seventeen, who served as railway apprentices prior to the strike. Initially free to entertain themselves, they are ultimately directed by their families to spend time foraging for food. The boys begin to amuse themselves by killing snakes and lizards, eventually progressing to fashioning slingshots out of a stolen innertube in order to hone their shooting skills.

When Dieynaba finds her son, Gorgui, en route to visit his friends, she suggests that they visit the toubab (white European) district, as there are “chickens running around loose” there (158). The boys succeed in bringing home chickens and are met with great praise. Penda, Dieynaba’s adopted daughter, devises a plan which allows the boys to funnel rice from a sack in Azia’s store while she distracts the merchant by questioning him about the cost of fabric.

Some days later, Souley, the smallest apprentice, shoots out the headlight of a railway administrator’s car parked in the driveway of his house. Emboldened by this coup, the other apprentices shoot out “headlights, windshields and windows” (161). The boys proceed to the European quarter, to shatter more glass, and then move on to damage the police station.