Rwanda is the setting of a five-month internment that interrupts Creasy and Guido’s life as mercenaries after the collapse of their Congo campaign. It is a place of enforced restriction and, at the same time, of daily exchange: Creasy and Guido teach one another languages, further deepening the companionship that carries them into their next search for work.

Retreat and Internment

After Mobuto triumphed in the Congo, Creasy and Guido retreated with hundreds of other mercenaries to Bukavu. They were interned in Rwanda under the auspices of the Red Cross and had to surrender their weapons. Although the men had plenty of room to move about, the fact that they were restricted was enough to make the next five months a torment for Guido, whose claustrophobia was brought on by confinement.

A Shared Routine

Creasy kept Guido occupied by teaching him English, while Guido taught Creasy Italian. English was difficult for Guido, but Creasy had a good ear for languages and mastered Italian quickly. As they increasingly spoke Italian together, their lessons became a practical routine within the internment; about a year later, they had switched to Italian completely from French.

Departure from Kigali

After five months in Kigali, the men were repatriated to Paris. Two weeks in the bars and brothels of Pigalle wiped out the bad memories, and they began looking for work. Mercenaries were not very welcome in black Africa, and they thought a change of location might be stimulating. Rwanda therefore marks the end of this constrained interlude between their retreat and their search for another place to serve.