CHAPTER 7
Retribution
The day of the wedding began with a promising breeze, birds tweeting in the scraggy trees outside, dozens of roosters trying to out-crow each other. Nasomi and Tambo woke up in each other’s arms to a cool morning in the bigger, safer house. It was built from burned bricks, and it was so huge it was more like four rondavels connected together by covered passageways. The inside walls were plastered and painted with the Kepe symbols as in the palace, and had firestone torches hanging from hooks every few paces, which gave out a warm light in the night. The roof was high and thickly thatched; the floor compacted and smooth. The bed was exceedingly thick, comfortably wide and the right amount of soft.
Firestone was a precious black ore called myama by the people from who mined it on Mount Lupili a few miles north of Nari. Firestones caught flames easily from a single spark, and could hold a flame for years without getting consumed.
She went to the kitchen, to warm the leavings from last night’s supper in the large clay oven whose inside was filled with some firestones and charcoal. She practiced her wedding dance as she waited. The kitchen was a large, round and roomy space. It had already been equipped with seasoned clay pots, and a good supply of wood and charcoal. She carried the food for Tambo who still lay in bed.
“I could smell it in my sleep,” he said. He sat up and threw his feet onto the floor and accepted the tray she offered. She kissed him and said it was time to go and prepare.
“Today is our day,” she said.
He smiled, took her hand. That sweet smile of his that proclaimed everything was well. “I could never regret loving you.”
When she stepped outside, she was greeted by birdsong, the smell of the ground after last night’s rain, and the sight of the lush green hill on which children were already romping, a maze of houses, and the hazy amphitheater towering over the view like a giant specter.
She walked the beaten red paths of upper Kwindi, which maintained their hardness and were untroubled by many puddles or much mud. The world seemed better with her good mood: green looked greener; every hue, on clothes or tree barks or on dogs, had mesmerizing depths to it. She basked in the glances of onlookers, quite certain they admired what a beautiful bride she was.
The wife and daughter to the marriage priest welcome her with song and ululation as she walked into their yard. They helped her prepare the food she would take for the groom: a whole chicken smoked over firewood, fried plantain, beans, goat meat stew, sweet fritters, and wheatbeer.
Gres was in a restless mood. He bathed and donned his heavy white garment, draped with a red ruff, complete with bangles and neck chains of copper and bronze. He came often to where the women were cooking, making a comment on every food, saying it must be perfect.
“You remember the sequence of events? Repeat them to me,” he said to Nasomi.
“I do. We will leave here at noon, walk to the groom’s home. Along the way, people may give me gifts and wish me well. Those with me will accept the gifts on my behalf. When we reach the groom’s place, the drummers — who have been playing all along the way — will start singing The Sun Shines, then I will dance through the door and find my groom sitting on the floor — and he shouldn’t look at me till I kneel before him and touch his face.”
“Good, good,” the priest said, grinning. “You will do well. It is nigh noon.”
Five people walked into Gres’s yard: Nasomi’s father, Naena, Teeyana and two young girls Nasomi guessed were Teeyana’s handmaids. They bore gifts: clay pots brimming with goods, a mortar and pestle, gourds with their mouths covered with pieces of cloth, and little wooden bottles of perfumes and ointments.
Nasomi gave Naena a hug and did the same for Teeyana after a slight hesitation. She didn’t know what to feel about Tambo’s sister at first, but the girl whispered into her ear, “If Tambo can give up everything for you, you must be a wonderful person. Mother thinks so, too.”
“Thank you…”
“Sister. You can call me sister.”
Father put a hand on her shoulder. “My daughter, will you forgive me?”
“I am the one in need of forgiving.”
“I made you feel like I didn’t want to see you again. But this is your path. Everyone has a path. I want you to know that no matter what, I would never deny you as my daughter.”
“I am so sorry for betraying your trust.”
They embraced. There was an ululation and a ting bang ting from two drums being beaten as three women walked into the yard. Naena, Teeyana and the other ladies joined in the ululation.
“Ah! Let’s get this young woman married!” Gres exclaimed, approaching to give Father a greeting. “A well-raised daughter you have here. Lead the way, Bride! This is your day.”
The journey back to Kwindi was filled with laughter, drum beating, singing, and gifts. Nasomi walked ahead. Her father, Naena, Teeyana and her handmaids came immediately behind, accepting gifts from the random people who approached the procession. Some had only sweet words, some offered a piece of dance, some brought combs, spices, candles; there was a pair of new sandals in the mix, two dresses, a fleece blanket, and half a bag of corn. Gres, his wife, his daughter, and the drummers came behind, the priest shouting “A bride comes through, it’s a day of joy!” and the others singing songs of love, growth, family.
Clouds blocked the sun, but the Mara were good to her today. Only a few drops of rain fell from the sky, little pieces of cold spattering Nasomi’s face and arms. It was all wonderful for her.
Tambo was seated on the kitchen floor when she entered. He was dressed in a khaki robe, hemmed with deep brown leather. His chin was cleanly shaven and his hair cropped and combed. He smiled for her. “I knew it was you when I heard the music,” he said in a loud whisper. He faced down and kept silent when Gres led the family members inside. They laid the gifts around Tambo.
“Begin,” Gres said, and as though the drummers outside sensed it was time, they switched to The Sun Shines, called the “Bride’s song” throughout Nari. It was a fast pam pam pam pam and a bang bang bang, mixed with various fast and slow timbres of the drums. Nasomi gyrated her waist as she slowly bent her knees to the ground when the women sang over and over again:
The sun shines
The sun shines today
And she waved her arms as her knees touched the ground, moving her hips still.
The sun shines
On this house today
The sun shines
Two people are become one
She moved on her knees toward Tambo, touched his face, and rolled up the hem of his robe till the white band tied to his shin was exposed. She unknotted it, showed it to Gres. “Say the words,” the priest urged.
“Tambo, son of Chieftain Shikepe Go, I choose you as my husband on this day. Everything is yours, my care, my body, my love, and my future.”
Tambo drew himself up to his knees. He undid the white band on her wrist. “On this day, Nasomi daughter of Sapato, I choose you as my wife. Everything is yours, my house, my body, my love, and my future.” He smiled, added: “Even if a storm is raging outside, as long as I am marrying you, the sun shines upon us.”
And thus they were married. They stood and went into the living room, where the people who had remained outside, including some neighbors, came into the house. Much singing and dancing ensued, as well as drinking of wheatbeer and eating of the wedding food. Nasomi and Tambo sat in the midst of all the celebration, holding hands. She loved the feeling as though everything else was distant and she was only with him in the entire house.
When the guests had their fill and the wheatbeer was finished, they spoke their blessings upon the couple and began to leave. Tambo and Nasomi remained alone by evening. They wrapped each other in their arms and made passionate love, and fell asleep in exhaustion.
They were awake later in the night and talked as they lay snug in bed. “I did not imagine my life would turn out this way,” he said.
“You mean you being a poor man?” she said.
He chortled. “That, but also very happy. You make me happy, Nasomi. My whole life has been about duty. Duty, duty, pleasing Father, behaving ‘like an heir’. But with you, love and life flow—”
A bang interrupted him. It came again. The kitchen door was being bashed in. They jumped off the bed and covered their nakedness. As they rushed to the kitchen, Tambo picked up an ax. “Who—” Tambo started to shout but the door cracked open. In walked Kukalo bearing a cudgel, Reema, and a teenage boy that Nasomi guessed was the younger brother Dembo. “What is the meaning of this?” Tambo demanded.
“Retribution,” Kukalo said. He pointed at Nasomi. “For her.”
“You stole my husband, witch,” Reema said to Nasomi. “You will pay tonight.”
“And freedom for you,” Kukalo said to Tambo.
Dembo had in his hand a gourd. He lifted it to show to Tambo.
“Whatever you want,” Tambo said, brandishing the ax, “you all need to get out of my house.”
“The family house,” Dembo said, rushing at Tambo from the side. Nasomi couldn’t warn him early enough because Reema jumped her. Tambo’s brothers held him, grabbing the ax away from him. Reema slapped Nasomi and pulled her hair. Nasomi threw a punch at Reema’s ribs, and she let go. Reema threw a kick. Nasomi saw it coming. She grabbed the raised leg and threw Reema onto the floor.
Tambo shouted. Kukalo had hit him in the belly with the shaft of the cudgel.
“No, don't hurt him too much,” Reema cried. She stood and ran to him, but he pushed her away. “It is her we must kill,” she said, pointing at Nasomi.
“No,” Tambo pleaded, wincing in pain. “Please. Will my own brothers do this to me?”
“We’re not killing anyone, Reema,” Dembo said.
“Drink this!” Kukalo said, pressing his thumb and finger on Tambo’s cheek to open his mouth. Dembo poured in the contents of the gourd. Tambo resisted, but his brothers’ grip on him was firm. They let him flop down when he swallowed it all.
“Tell us now,” Dembo said.
“Tell you what?” Tambo said, spitting and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “What have you made me drink?”
“What you have drunk is a potion from the mages,” Kukalo said. “It wasn’t easy to acquire. Ask Dembo how much I spent on this, and those mages are not easy to persuade. It’s my brotherly sacrifice, to free you from the bondage of this witch. Now, Father will still not take you back as his firstborn son, but you will be free.”
For a moment, Tambo was confused. Then he laughed. The laugh of a broken man who knew that even if they killed him, his devotion was true. “I am not beguiled, brothers!” He said “brothers” with spite. “My heart belongs to Nasomi.”
Reema screamed out. “That can’t be true. Give him some more.”
“He drank it all!” Kukalo turned to her and tossed the gourd at her. “Do you know how much I spent to get this potion from the mages? Are you to tell me the mages are not powerful enough? No! Tambo is a foolish man, that I see, but he is not bewitched.”
“I thought…” Reema said, her voice faltering. “It just had to be… It must be...”
“You thought wrong! You’ve made us waste money!”
Nasomi went to Tambo, caressed his shoulders. “Leave us now, all of you. You have had your answer.”
“No one can bewitch me into loving them,” Tambo declared. “Not ever.”
“Please, Tambo,” Reema said, tears coming down her face. “I only wanted to get you back, my love.”
“I am your love now!” Kukalo said, grabbing Reema’s arm as she approached Tambo. “He denied you and I took his place.”
She yanked her hand from his grip. “I love him, and him alone.”
“Swallow you, you serpent!” Kukalo slapped her across the cheek. “After all I am doing for you?”
“Ahh!” Reema held her cheek, glaring at Kukalo incredulously. “You slapped me!”
“And I won’t hesit—”
Dembo touched Kukalo. “It’s enough, brother. Let us leave. We’ve done our part.”
Kukalo stormed out, shouting, “When I marry her, I will not fail to discipline her. She will know I am not as soft as Tambo. She will know! Bringing us all this way because she thinks she loves him. I’ll show her love!”
“Sorry, brother,” Dembo said to Tambo. He looked at Nasomi. “And sister.” He grinned apologetically, grabbed Reema’s hand and dragged her out. She was crying.