Before we entered the village, the Captain told us not to use our rifles. Bullets are for fighting, he said. Use a machete or an axe. Be quick, do not delay!

Yes, Captain! we all shouted. He gave us a salute.

We marched in singing our war song. The villagers did not resist. All the soldiers had run away. Only old men, old women, girls with babies on their hips.

We took their food and their money. We cut the throats of the old. We raped the girls and stabbed their babies. We burned their houses.

We heard a gunshot and we all ran towards it. A fellow was standing over an old man.

Why did you shoot this old man? we asked. The Captain said not to waste bullets!

He was my teacher, the fellow said. Before, when I was in school. He taught me to add and subtract. I wanted to give him a quick death.

We looked at the old man’s face. Other fellows recognized him. Yes, they said. He taught me too.

Later, we told the Captain that the old man had grabbed the fellow’s gun. It was a simple lie. A child’s lie.