Diondray's Roundabout

Chapter 2-2

“Reuel comes and goes, as are the ways of a leopard. I’m sure that you are used to his wanderings by now. The leopard is connected to you. It will always come at the right time.”

Omari was correct about that. Reuel’s timing so far on this journey had always been at the right time. We were connected in ways I did not fully understand. But I knew that in the Copperwiths’ eyes, our connection was another indicator that I was the one to fulfill Oscar’s prophecy.

“Please share your words of wisdom,” Omari said.

I pulled the paper out from my travel bag and took a deep breath. My audience of four people seemed more intimidating than the crowds I had read to at Aliki Park. I read the unpolished version of the themily about contradictions. Omari bobbed his head in approval while the guards and Micah remained motionless.

“Interesting words of wisdom,” the Boma-Man leader remarked. “Do you feel conflicted about contradictions? Human beings have always lived with contradictions.”

“Then we should not have any belief systems,” I replied after placing the themily back into my travel bag.

Omari grinned again. “You will never find anyone who lives out any belief system absolutely. Our nature as human beings is always to add or change things within a belief system to make it more palatable to those who follow it.”

“Is that why Boma-Men don’t eat meat?” I replied. “Leopards are meat eaters. Since you worship the leopard, eating meat ought to be part of your belief system.”

“You have the gift of perception as well. The circle of history may finally close its loop after all these years.”

Those words again. They aroused my curiosity once more. “What do you mean by that?”

I shifted my weight to get more comfortable. I had a sense that I was going to be interrogated for a while.

Omari took off his mask. “Who forced you away from home?”

Although the question was direct, I felt no threat from the leader of the Boma-Men. I sensed that he did not want to harm me or keep me as a hostage. In taking off his mask so I could see his dark-brown face and treetop hairstyle, he showed me respect. I decided being truthful was the best route to take.

“My family did. My mother, Olivia Azur, and my uncle, Xavier Azur, forced me to leave Charlesville.”

“Why?”

The guards and Micah remained motionless as statues. There was no way I could have stood so long in one position. “My aunt, Maxina Azur, showed me that we had a book, hidden in our city for generations. The book was left by Oscar Ortega, the disciple of Kammbi from north of the Great Forest.”

At my words, the guards cut their eyes toward their leader. Micah shifted in place.

“The traveler did leave his sacred book after all.” Omari said.

“You know of Oscar Ortega?”

“Of course, Diondray Azur,” Omari continued. “We have been taught the story of the traveler from the north throughout the generations. The traveler from the north was the first man to have a leopard as his companion. Years ago, a second man came to this area from the east, also with a leopard. Now, you have arrived in Boma Village with a leopard as your companion. That is why I believe the circle of history may finally have closed its loop.”

“The Book of Kammbi is the sacred book,” I said. “After finding it, I questioned my mother and uncle about the teachings inside. It revealed that our family’s history began with Oscar Ortega and his attempt to reconcile with his son, Charles. I had always been taught that Charles Azur had a different father, another man from north of the Great Forest. My mother and uncle did not believe the words written in the Book of Kammbi and forbade me from talking about it to people of our city. However, I believe the words in the Book of Kammbi to be true. I read a themily declaring that to the people of Charlesville, just like I did for you and the other men here. And because of those words, I had to leave Charlesville.”

“Are you here to share the beliefs from the traveler’s sacred book?”

I nodded. Yes—although it had taken me some time to accept it, that was exactly why I was here.

Omari waved for Micah to join him and the guards. The leader huddled with his subjects in front of me. Omari spoke in the dialect I heard earlier from one of my escorts on the way here. The other men nodded as their leader continued speaking. His speech had a rhythmic quality like he was singing instead of talking. I looked down at my right foot as it tapped the ground.

I heard a growl in the distance, and I turned to my left and saw a familiar presence coming toward me. The guards broke the huddle first and watched Reuel come to my side.

“He is a relative of Adrian,” one of the guards shouted.

Omari waved his guards and Micah back to their position. “He is indeed. Micah, take our kindred back to his guest quarters. We have more to share with him. The leopard will go with him as well.”

*

After breakfast, Micah led Reuel and I across the village for several miles. The Boma-Man remained silent throughout the journey. I wanted to talk to him about Omari’s comments regarding the second man who had come here with a leopard. Was that man a relative of mine? However, Micah had a blank expression on his face that signaled he did not want to speak. He glanced frequently at Reuel. The leopard acknowledged the Boma-Man by purring and nuzzling my left leg.

The terrain around the village was flat, with knee-high grass that had lemon-yellow stalks at the top, and huge trees where I saw leopards dashing from limb to limb. I thought Reuel would want to join his brethren and climb trees as well, but the leopard stayed with me and did not even acknowledge the other animals.

We soon reached an area where a group of Boma-Men were pulling the stalks from the grass and handing them to women who stripped the leaves from the stalks and placed them into huge, oval-shaped silver containers.

“Welcome, Diondray,” Omari said and reached down to pet Reuel. Micah had brought us to where he was overseeing the villagers’ work with his guards. “I want to continue our discussion from sundown and provide more context about what was said.”

The villagers were wearing gold, leopard-faced masks just like Omari’s guards and leopard-print one-piece outfits that stopped just above the knee. In my lime-green jumpsuit, I felt instantly out of place. I’d chosen it because it was the coolest outfit I had—in anything else I would have found myself sweating profusely in the heat.

Micah grabbed a small jug from one of the guards and handed it to me.

“Drink,” Omari continued. “As you can see, our people are working the land. Boma-Men have done so for several generations.”

“How come?” I asked after taking a gulp from the jug. It was brownberry juice, and it thoroughly quenched my thirst.

“Pulling these guanna stalks was a gift your ancestor left to our people.”

“Oscar Ortega?” I replied. “He made it this far in his travels?”

Omari grinned through his mask. “Not the traveler. Adrian Azur.”

“Who was Adrian Azur?” I asked, eager to find answers to some of my questions.

“The second man who came to this area with a leopard. Adrian taught our people how to pull these guanna stalks like you are seeing right now. The technique has worked throughout the generations and helped keep our people relevant.”

“What do you mean by relevant?”

Micah left us and joined in with the villagers pulling the guanna stalks. “Adrian Azur was the one who turned these guanna stalks into food and drink when he arrived. He noticed how the leopards ate the guanna stalks for nourishment. How the stalks seemed to give leopards a special energy to survive in this remote place. Adrian believed if the guanna stalks could provide nourishment for the leopards, they could do the same for people. We are forever grateful for his discovery.”

Micah and the other Boma-Men moved through the grass rapidly. Led by the guards, they were several feet away from where I was standing with Omari. If they worked this fast everyday, I could see why the Boma-Men were grateful to Adrian Azur.

“You said he came from the east,” I said as Reuel left my side and lay down next to the leader.

“Yes, from your city. The city next to the Kammara Sea.”

“But I’ve never heard of him. My family has never mentioned Adrian Azur.”

Omari frowned. “Your family has never spoken of Adrian Azur?”

“No.”

“Why would your family keep that away from you? Adrian Azur was Charles Azur’s younger brother.”

“Younger brother?” I shot back.

The guards turned away from the workers and started heading back toward us. Omari waved them off. I started pacing away. Reuel did not move from his position.

Omari shook his head. “It is not good for a family to keep its history from its members. You should know everything about where you came from. Your ignorance of these things is probably why you have taken to believing in the traveler’s sacred book so easily.”

I finished drinking the rest of brownberry juice and looked at Omari. “I never heard that he had a younger brother.”

“Instead of sharing those beliefs from the traveler’s sacred book, I believe you were brought here to find out where you came from. And that is another reason why I believe the circle of history is finally closing its loop.”

Omari smiled after that comment. He began walking toward the workers, who had gone several more feet east. Reuel got up from the ground and waited for me. We followed the Boma-Man, and I realized that he had just made the most credible point I had heard on the journey so far.

We caught up with the workers, who had made their way through a mile of grass. Micah was out in front of the entire group, and they worked in unison, pulling guanna stalks. Omari received a jug from one of the guards and handed it to me. I took another drink, still trying to digest his claim about Adrian Azur. Adrian was not mentioned in the Book of Kammbi. If Oscar Ortega knew Adrian, surely he would have written about him in his section of the book. Oscar had come to reconcile with Charles, and I did not believe he would have had a second tryst with Mother Adrianna. I had been taught she wanted nothing to do with Oscar Ortega after being forced to leave her people, the Mayza tribe. Had Mother Adrianna had a secret child with another man?

“Come,” Omari said. “You have good height, posture, and dark brown skin just like us. You will learn how to pull guanna stalks today.”

I stood next to the leader of the Boma-Men and felt a surge of energy come over me, like it had left his body and now hovered over me. I wanted to join the workers at that moment and plow through the grass. Omari motioned for a woman at the back of the group to come. She obeyed his request and arrived in front of us with a container.

“Nya will collect the stalks you pulled off the grass,” the leader continued. “Watch.”

Omari grabbed several blades of grass from the bottom and slid his hands upward until he reached the yellow stalks. He yanked the stalks away with his left hand while holding the grass with his right. Nya brought the container underneath and collected the stalks. “Your turn, Diondray.”

I took his place and repeated what he had just taught me to do. The guanna stalks felt sticky in my hands, and I began rubbing the residue off my fingers.

“You will get use to the stickiness,” Omari barked. “Keep going.”

He waved for another worker to come from the back of the group. As Omari had indicated, the sticky feeling on my hands dissipated after a few moments. I began working at a good pace due to the surge of energy I had received. Nya stayed next to me, and I could see her smile through the mask she was wearing.

“Excellent, Diondray,” Omari said. “Pulling guanna stalks is a part of your heritage. The circle of history will finally close its loop.”

The worker joined Nya and me. He handed me his gold-painted mask, which was smooth and shiny like it had been recently made. “It’s yours,” he said.