Atop Ua Nyumba, standing at four foot, ten inches, Innocent was not an intimidating figure. He thought of no one, just as no one thought of him. Many nights the child found himself out on the rooftops, like a common street thief waiting to strike. No one missed Innocent at night. Mama and the girls worked at night. Every night Mama lit the lamps red, and the blossoms of the house came in bloom, beckoning any man on the streets to spend the night. Mama said that her work was shameful and did not want her ten year old boy corrupted at the sight of it, but she knew that it paid well and put even a scrap of food on the table, so Innocent was locked inside his tiny upstairs room after dinner, if there was dinner, to go to sleep every night, to protect his virtuous soul. But Innocent did not sleep until well into the night. Instead he climbed out through his window up onto the roof and watched the sun sink under a blanket of ocean. He watched as the fishermen came into the harbor with the days' catch in their nets, and wives and children scampered about in the market's below, making final purchases. If he looked hard enough, every night, just as the sun was disappearing, Innocent could see the brief shimmer of light as it reflected off the general's palace. Eventually, as any young child would, he became tired and returned inside to his bed and was lulled into slumber by the warm breeze of the African night and smell of cigar wafting from the house below.

Innocent knew that Mama was not his mother. She had told him a few years ago.

"Kijana", She said. "You are my boy. But I am not your mother. I always love you like my son, but I need to tell you this now, so you know, and do not wonder if it is true."

She told him of his afflicted parents, and how he had been left in her care many years ago. They could not support a son, and had begged Mama to take him. Innocent became angry and did not speak to Mama for weeks, until he came to a realization that his parents had no choice. Mama raised her boy well and kept him from the gangs of street boys the best she could. He was never made fun of, however, in fact, it was quite the contrary. The other boys were always a bit jealous of Innocent, living in the same house as so many pretty girls. But Innocent cared not for these garish women, always speaking to him in an infantile manner, and flouncing about in the fine gifts from their wealthy patrons. One of these patrons, a young guard from the palace of the Sultan became a fixation of interest to the people of the streets. Although the son of lowly farmers, Kiti Chaenzi would soon prove himself and was appointed to be an aide to the Sultan himself. Innocent grew very fond of Kiti, who was responsible for a boom in publicity for Ua Nyumba and the backstreet districts of Moyo, the capital and only city on the island nation of Ngome.

Kiti was loved by the people and it was soon whispered that there should be a coup and Kiti should become the country's first elected leader. The Sultan was hated and long resented for his wasteful excesses, supporting his own lavish lifestyles on the broken backs of his overworked people. Kiti seemed the salvation the people needed. Finally, nearing Innocent's eighth year, General Chaenzi led a rebellion from the inside of the Royal Residence, forcing the Sultan and his wife and children onto the streets, where they were met by a mob of hundreds. The people slaughtered the royal family and mounted the Sultan's head on a wooden stake, to be carried about the city in a sign of victory, and Chaenzi took total governmental control at the request of his new people.

Chanting never ceased until dawn, and fireworks were lit in celebration. Two thousand bottles of champagne and expensive spirits were brought up from the Sultan's store, and a banner was hung on the gates of the palace, now the Presidential Palace, that read, "Muda Kuishi Rais Chaenzi!".

Innocent could not remember another time of such happiness. But it was not to last. Soon the People's President become unmanageable. The people grew to fear the General, as he tightened his grip on taxation and unionized Ngome's already virtually non-existent free trade market. The people realized that a Sultan with a taste for luxury is not an ideal, but a dictator with a thirst for power and virtually no restraints is even worse(irony: the people hate the wasteful Sultan and do everything in their power to get rid of him, but the man they elect as president is even worse than the previous ruler).

"Innocent," Mama would yell. " You go to that palace and tell that man up there who's boss!"
Every night, Mama would thunder into the tiny kitchen to take the boy to bed, and each night she became drunk and angry.

"This 'government' is robbing me of my livelihood! I'm losing my best customers to that exotic trash the General's been bringing from India and Egypt!" Then she'd storm Innocent to bed, and slam the door behind her, often catching her bright robes in the door, setting off more foul statements. Innocent was only just twelve of course. He was not one to understand the adult world, but he knew that this General was not a good person.

It wasn't until the General's religious advisors began to push for bans on illegal substances and backstreet professions that Mama lost her last nerve. She stormed about, firing everyone, including Innocent and the cat, in preparation for impending eviction. And then she fired everyone again. She skulked around in her office for the better part of four hours, before locking herself inside with two bottles of whiskey and the only telephone in the whole house to call her sister in Tanzania. For the first time in his life, Innocent felt loneliness. Mama did not come out of her office all night, so one of the girls looked after the boy and took him to bed before her first shift. And Innocent cried. Mama always took such good care of him. Now, it felt like he didn't exist to her.

The days wore on, and the situation escalated. Mama stayed in her office most of the time now, and innocent became self-sufficient. He read the books Mama had bought for him and he no longer asked the girls for assistance. The General marched soldiers through the city to collect young boys for his army, and when the knock came at the door of Ua Nyumba, Mama flew from her room to defend her boy when she knew he was really in danger.

"I'm sorry, officers, but there is no boy here. This is a respectable establishment, and we would never stand for young boys coming inside," She said, with all the cool ferocity of a female lion.

"Our nearby intelligence has suggested otherwise, madam," The tall police officer said, staring blankly back. "We've been informed that your are keeping a you boy, of about twelve to fourteen years old on the premise, who is eligible to enter the Royal Guard."

Mama raised a penciled eyebrow curiously.

"I thought the Sultan was dead. What's this news of a 'Royal Guard'? We're surely not conforming to the old ways, sir, are we? Because I think the General ought to remember of all people what happens to those on this island who forget that."

The officer doesn't shift in his place, or even flinch at this hint of rebellion. Mama was publicly against the new government anyway, and it was only a matter of time before those she hated so dearly found out about her beliefs. So the guard drew a small pistol and shot Mama in the forehead. Innocent watching silently from the roof where he was hiding suddenly heard himself cry out. The policeman glanced up at the boy for a few moments before proceeding to set the house ablaze.

"This immoral place has become a danger to all your happiness, and that of our nation!" The officer cried. He watched for several moments, to ensure the house caught fire properly, and to watch as the girls began to frantically emerge from their burning home. Innocent couldn't think. The soldier had not given him time to think. He looked around, his vision blurred over with tears, for a place to escape. Obviously going through the house would be suicidal, although at this point he would've almost preferred it that way. His Mama was dead no doubt, and he was slowly losing the only place he'd ever called home. So he jumped, or rather, partially fell onto a large awning protruding from the side of the building.

Innocent fell through the thin material, even given his small size, and landed on the hard ground of the street. Before the dust even settled, the boy ran from the city, tears streaming down his face. He ran farther than many people run in a month. He ran through the dusty city and out through the slums. He only knew to run, that there was nothing left but to run. They sent motorcycles out to find him and put an end to any further rebellion from the great house Ua Nyumba. But the boy never saw them. He was unknowingly protected from the General by the huge banana leaves in the fields. He roamed for a long while and ate from farmer's crops if he felt hungry and slept on banana leaves pulled from the trees around him.

Eventually, after wondering several miles, for goodness knows how long, Innocent came to a gravel road that was not part of the central highway. He was curious, because he didn't think that there were such roads. He followed it for quite a long while until he stopped in front of a large general store on stilts to keep it from potential floods. But it was gated, to keep thieves out. Innocent had eaten nothing but bananas and coffee beans, and he had drank water from various run-off streams he found. He wanted good food to eat and a soft place to sleep, even if that just meant a blanket on the floor. So the child began to bang on the fence loudly. He tried to call out, but his voice was hoarse, and far from audible, so he only banged louder. Sooner or later, a woman appeared at the door. She climbed down a ladder and came slowly over to the fence.

"Go, mwonbaji!" She said brandishing a thick wooden cane.

"No," Innocent rasped. He tried to speak, but couldn't manage speech.

The woman smacked the wire of the fence in a menacing fashion, as if to warn the boy. Innocent fell back, flat on his back, on the gravel road. He heard himself try to say "please" before closing his eyes on the woman.

When he regained conscience, he found himself in a bed. Or rather, a cot with a few Maasai blankets draped over his body. He tried to sit up, but felt a throbbing pain in his head when he did.

"No, kijana," A voice said behind him. The woman appeared as if from nowhere, along with an ancient looking man who seemed even older than her.

"Mama..." Innocent said, quietly. "Mama said that. Kijana..."

"Where is Mama?" The woman asked him, although, by the look on her face, she already knew the answer.

And Innocent cried again. He could still barely speak, although they'd fed him water and he felt much better aside from his head, which had slammed into the hard ground earlier and bled quietly into a clean rag.

The couple left him alone for a little while, but returned with soup, which was fed to him. He sat upright, very slowly, trying not to put himself to sleep again. The old man and woman were very kind and asked him of his life. He told them about Mama and her shame, and the girls with their eccentric companions. It was after Innocent described the violence against his life that the old man stood up and began to yell in some tribal language that Innocent didn't recognize.

"He says, 'This is too far. We must do something about this Kiti Chaenzi'," She told the boy.

The man turned to look at him, and Innocent saw that the man had the same sad seed planted in him that Innocent did. He asked the man of his anger at the General and his government, and the woman told the boy later that her husband did not speak of it, that a few months ago, the government had taken their children from them, as they had taken Mama from Innocent. Their son was executed for trying to escape to the mainland, and their daughter was a slave for government officials. Her husband had joined an underground revolution soon after, to attempt to rid what he called a scourge to the reputation of humanity. The woman spoke softly, and tears came to her eyes, but the boy could see that she was strong, if only a little scared of what may happen to their little girl. Well, she wasn't probably very little, but parents always like to think their children are still young and innocent.

Innocent looked into the woman's eyes, and he felt a strange feeling inside himself. He wanted to protect this woman. She knew great heartache, and Innocent wanted to shelter her and the man from further harm, as if they were his real parents. After all, they had taken him into their home after he'd collapsed. The woman said she'd realized he wasn't a thief, and that he reminded her of her son.

"I want to help you," He said to the couple after they'd fed him his dinner.

The man became very serious when he informed the boy of the revolutions meetings. The island was small, but the government was large. If even the slightest rumor escaped, houses would be searched, arrests would made and there would be many lives lost. Innocent understood the risks he would take to be part of the uprising, but agreed to it nonetheless.

"I could inspire people," He suggested, on his fourth night at the general store.

So the man took him to one of his secret meetings at a chapel, under the guise of a church meeting. Innocent was invited to speak, and while initially very nervous, his story began to pour forth. He could see it in their eyes. Every man in the room became tearful, and it was decided that no child should lose their parents and homes. The General would be stopped at all costs. a plan was devised, with Innocent as a key player.

It was a well-known fact that General Chaenzi kept the former Sultan's palace on the sea as weekend home, and visited every week, from Friday evening to Monday morning, when he would return to the city. The revolutionaries began to send in spies, and it was discovered that the General kept a personal staff of two hundred soldiers on the compound. Two younger revolutionaries drugged the guards at the gates of the palace, while the rest of the farmers and villagers took up position around the palace, which was actually rather poorly protected. Apparently, the General didn't see the need, what with all his guards and such an imposing front gate. Innocent received the okay to get into his position. He dressed in fine robes, stolen from the son of a coffee plantation owner on the neighboring estate. Three men hoisted him up through an open window, and he dropped onto a soft window seat below, covered in the most luxurious pillows he'd ever felt. Resisting the urge to fall asleep upon this cloud, the boy climbed off of it, and made his way to arched doorway, draped in fine brocade curtains, and out into the main reception foyer of one of the guesthouses. He had been given in depth instruction on the architectural layout of the palace. It was actually a collection of small buildings connected by a series of paths. He found the largest building, the main house, easily. Glowing with the light of the moon and the lamps in the windows. Innocent searched around the outside wall for a while and eventually found what he was searching for. Blended into the wall was a small oval emergency escape door. Because it was for emergency use, it could not be locked, so Innocent found it extremely easy to gain access to the main palace. He found himself in another opulent room, this one even larger and more ornate than the last, with ancient tapestries and crystal chandeliers. He wandered through the halls for a bit, and found the entrance to the dining terrace, just off the General's bedroom. He forced open the large wooden doors, and because of his fine clothes, no one stopped him, assuming he was a son of Chaenzi. And then there he was.

General Chaenzi sat at a long table surrounded by officials, guards and beautiful dancers. Laid out on the table was more food than Innocent had ever seen. The General looked up at the boy with menacing black eyes.

"Yes?" He said impatiently, as if expecting something important.

But Innocent was overcome with disdain, and simply stared straight at the man.

"You killed my Mama and burned my house." Innocent withdrew a flare gun and shot twice over the General's head, causing him to duck, and out into the night sky, where they erupted.

"Oh yes," The general said, smilingly. "You're the rat with the little tart for a 'mother' that escaped me..."

It seemed he would continue, but a guard frantically entered the room.

"Sir, they're upon us!" He shouted suddenly.

Chaenzi rose from his chair.

"Who is upon us?" He asked. But he needn't have even questioned. His worst fears were realized, and soon he and his fallen government was carried out onto the street, where they faced open trial, their fates to be decided upon by the people. But Innocent stayed inside the palace. It had been decided that any who lived in a palace soon could soon be corrupted by it. It would become a museum, a reminder. But Innocent just wanted to enjoy its splendor once, before the tourists and schoolchildren visited and ravaged its beauty. He breathed its perfumed air, and laid in all its beds. He soaked it all in for the revolution, the old couple, the girls from Ua Nyumba, and for Mama. It was always for Mama.

And then he did something he had never managed to do, even after a life by the sea. He did something he'd only ever imagined, or dreamed of, as so many children, no matter where they are from. He walked the path to the sand, and put his feet in the ocean. And he was happy for the first time. He was completely and utterly happy.