As the two talked, they headed toward the beer hall. Even at quitting time, the streets of Falta New District were still thronged with people, bustling beyond measure.
"Hey, look! That whole truck should be full of Black people, right?" Mars suddenly nudged Anton with his elbow.
An East African Pioneer truck sped down the street. This large transport vehicle, common in East Africa, was nothing remarkable in itself, but the people it carried drew exceptional attention.
Anton looked in the direction Mars indicated. Sure enough, a truck carrying a group of Black people was coming toward them. No, it would be more accurate to say truckloads of Black people—several similar vehicles followed not far behind it.
"Come to think of it, Black people really are rarely seen in East Africa anymore. I remember there were still quite a few East African Black people when I was little, though I only heard about it from my parents. By the time we were old enough to remember, there were none left in the village. It was only after I came west that I occasionally saw them at construction sites along the railways," Anton said.
As time passed, Black people had become a genuine rarity in East Africa. Nowadays, to some East Africans who had seen little of the world, East African Black people existed only in legend.
Anton and Mars had been able to see Black people before only because of where they had gone. The west could be said to have been the last gathering place for East African Black people, but even over the past few years, East Africa had turned them into a rare species.
Mars said leisurely, "I remember that a few years ago, you could still see construction crews made up of Black people in quite