Chapter Eleven
I woke up with a start. Salekio and Shindo were not in bed and neither was Ikunda. I looked around in an alarm, not very sure of the time. Had I missed the cock’s crowing? The cock always crowed at four thirty in the morning and exactly thirty minutes later. But it didn’t look like anything near five in the morning. The sun had flooded the bedroom, having forced its way through the torn makeshift khanga curtains. I flinched my eyes and tried to shield them, as they were not yet accustomed to the strong sun glare. My head ached slightly as I hadn’t slept very well that night. It had been a rough night. I yawned and got up, stretching as I moved to the single casement window. I reached for the torn khanga curtains, drew them and folded the end into a knot.
Seeing Bibi under the tree with a cup of coffee, while Salekio and Shindo played tapo outside the yard, I realized I had overslept. It always amused me how they could play tapo with just the two of them.
Their favourite game was magololi though, but ever since Shindo shoved one into his ear, Mama forbade seeing them in the house. The game just needed two magololi. They would scoop out some sand from the ground to make a small hole. Then the player would place one gololi on the ground at a distance. Carefully, the player would aim at the gololi on the ground with the one in his hand using his middle finger as a catapult. If the gololi on the ground lands in the hole, then you win.
One evening when they were playing the game, Salekio kept on winning which made Shindo mad. He quickly grabbed the gololi that was on the ground and ran off with it. Salekio then started chasing him wanting the gololi back. When Shindo realized that Salekio was just within a few feet of catching him, he quickly shoved the gololi in his ear. When Salekio finally caught him he lied that he had thrown it away.
A few days later he started complaining of an earache, but he was too afraid to tell Mama what he had done. But the aching got too much and he had to confess. Mama first gave him a good hiding then rushed him to a midwife who then removed it with a knitting pin.
Getting back to the present, I quickly reached for a khanga at the foot of the mattress and wrapped it tightly around my waist as a sarong over the dress I had worn to bed. I wondered why Mama hadn’t woken me up as she always did when I overslept. Quickly I made-up the bed, folded the bed sheet carefully and tidied up the room.
I was certain the girls had already been to the stream to fetch water. If I finish my chores quickly I might catch up with them as they headed up the mountains to fetch firewood. I dreaded going to the stream along. The thought of running into Mangi alone made my small frame shudder.
I knew Mama would be very angry with me. As I went to the lounge to tidy it up I made a mental note to do extra chores that day so as to get back to her good side. I would also sit with Salekio and Shindo and teach them sums.
The bed sheets Shangazi Lulu and Mama Mdogo Philomena had used that night were already folded and were warily placed on a chair. Carefully I took them inside to our bedroom, and then hurriedly proceeded to drawing the curtains, dusting and thereafter sweeping and mopping the floors. My stomach grumbled from hunger. Quickly I cleaned up the house, as I knew Mama wouldn’t let me take breakfast before at least cleaning the house.
A moment later after greeting Bibi, I walked into the kitchen with curiosity. Mama had gone to church, Bibi had told me. As I tiptoed into the kitchen I found Ikunda staring into the fire. Quietly I crouched by the door. They were all so wrapped in their talk that they didn’t hear me come in nor see me there. Ikunda sniveled as she talked, while Shangazi Lulu and Mama Mdogo Philomena listened attentively.
“She wasn’t the first one,” I heard Ikunda say, “every time I confronted him even with proof he would beat me up and remind me of my role as an obedient and dutiful wife. They all knew. The whole street – the whole community knew. All of them but me! I am the laughing stock of that community!”
Mama Mdogo Philomena winced, “No ... no!”
“I didn’t leave when I heard about the first wife as I was anxious to save our marriage. Beside as much as it was hidden from me I found her in the family already. But can you imagine how humiliated an embarrassed I felt finding him in bed with my shoga?”
I felt a lump in my throat as I watched the convulsive tightening of my sister’s mouth. I didn’t understand exactly what they were talking about but the distressing and petrified look on Ikunda’s made my lips quiver.
“Mama always says one should be obedient as a wife. But the beating have just gotten too much. I am not allowed to say anything! Even when he sleeps out for a whole week, I should ask!”
“Oh poor baby,” I heard Shangazi Lulu say.
“I even once thought of going to a mganga wa kienyeji as most women do,” Ikunda laughed bitterly.
“But that’s unchristian,” commented Mama Mdogo Philomena.
“When I confronted him after finding him in bed with my shoga he threatened to break my legs so that I never leave the house again. That’s when I ran out and sought shelter at a friend’s. That’s when I heard about the sick women. The next day when we were planning how to go back and get my things he came.”
“The moment he saw me he started slapping me hard across the cheeks. Then he punched me with his fists. I covered my face with both arms, as the bruise from the last beating had not ye healed. So he started punching me in the stomach. I begged him to stop but he wouldn’t. He kept going, punching, kicking, stomping, until I was nearly unconscious.”
Both Mama Mdogo Philomena and Shangazi Lulu shook their head in pity. The coffee they had been drinking was completely forgotten by now.
“Ally found me on the floor covered in blood. He told me he came to help when he heard screams, but found me unconscious when he got there. I never slept with Ally! I have never cheated on Japheth!”
Ikunda then started crying uncontrollably.
“His infidelity made me fearful of getting AIDS. We have buried a few victims in our community. They looked horrible. They were as thin and hollow as toothpicks. And they say the disease eventually kill everyone who has it.”
“You are giving up too fast baby,” commented Shangazi Lulu, “besides who said it was AIDS?”
“I know its AIDS. It has to be. I have read about it. As educated as he is I know he never considered the dangers of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Like a lot of men, he thought himself immune to such diseases, even though we see people dying everyday from it. I’m so scared Shangazi – I’m even more worried because I’m late.”
