The Chronicles of Luis

By Luis Lobo Fernandes

The biography of a man living with schizophrenia. This book is in memory of my father, who taught me the real value of being truthful. “Veritas Vincent”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781329944213

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The Chronicles of Luis

THE CHRONICLE OF LUÍS

The biography of a man living with schizophrenia.

A short story by Luís Lobo Fernandes

This book is in memory of my father,

who taught me the real value of being truthful.

Veritas Vincent

Copyright © 2016  by Luis Lobo Fernandes

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2016

ISBN 978-1-329-94421-3

10 Lansdowne Ave., Unit B5

Toronto, Ontario, Canada  M6K 2V8

www.luisbook.com

Africa: the best of times

July 1957

In the depths of the African continent, in the heart of Mozambique lay the small village of Ribáuè. Through the thick silence of dawn, the cries of a young woman in labour announced the arrival of a baby boy. As the clock struck five, Luís was brought into this world to the soft glimmering light of an oil burning lantern and fell into the arms of the experienced midwife that carefully attended. Her big black hands wrapped his pink skin in a soft cotton blanket. The anxious young father had been up most of the night and after returning from the hospital where he left his wife, he prepared for another day at work. As the sun ripped through the sky on this Monday morning a household staff delivered the news that a boy had been born.

Both rejoiced and relieved by this news the father got behind the wheel of a Land Rover, a privilege particular to a few government employees, and headed off to work. He arrived at the state tobacco market in full uniform: white shorts, white shirt, matching knee-high socks. He wore bay leaf-shaped epaulets of black velvet, that spelled out his hierarchical position in the Portuguese Colonial Administration. The tobacco market was a short drive away from the village: a mere half hour. The tobacco was harvested, placed in bundles, and later shipped to the capital, Lourenço Marques, where, in the factories it was turned into cigarettes. Another plant that was cultivated in Ribáuè was tea, which was exported to the metropolis.

After a commemorative lunch, in the company of friends the proud father was greeted by a young local boy delivering a gift. He said, Mr. Secretary, the leader of our village wants to offer you this baby goat, as a gift for the arrival of your son. He glacially agreed.

His work forced him to move often. He was frequently transferred from land to land, and when he came to a new administrative post, his first concern was to provide clean drinking water to local populations. This earned him a respectable reputation.

Both parents agreed to name their son Luís Filipe. Luís was a healthy baby boy that brought great joy to the family. It was said he had strong lungs as he cried quite a bit! Mother retired early that evening, still exhausted from childbirth. On the wood burning stove a pot of water boiled, waiting, as her bath was drawn. A big metal tub was cleansed and the pitchers were filled with warm water for a bath. 

That evening the men from the village gathered in the drawing room where they drank whiskey and smoked cigars to a gas burning lantern. The ladies sat in the other room, drinking tea and eating a delicious pineapple cake made from ripe pineapples that grew abundantly in the local gardens.

Six years had passed; Luís and his older brother sat outdoors enjoying sweet mangos. The two ignored the fruit juice that dripped down their hands and soiled them as they ate the sugary fruit to its core. Up above by the roof of the manor the two boys saw a swarm of bees building a hive. Suddenly his brother threw a juicy mango core at the hive, quickly fleeing the scene. Hundreds of angry bees fell on Luís’s unsuspecting head. Luís screamed in pain, as he tried to rid himself of the angry