Sisyphyra

What I Saw 03

I could remember that fateful day, my father had arrived early with an enormous antelope hanged across his shoulders. The joy on our faces knew no bonds for we knew that food will be plenteous for a long time. My father dressed the meat and divided them into portions. He handed all the divided portions to my mother except a very big portion. He wrapped this last one with banana leaves and tied them together with palm fronds Then, he buried the offals. As he prepared to leave, he turned to me and said that I should follow along. Happily, I dropped the rag I was using to clean Twapa, my father's black horse who was heavily pregnant and would give birth very soon. I followed him closely as we silently made our way to his friends' house. The quietness on the road puts me off but my father's presence with me was in itself a shield. His friend saw us from afar and hastened to meet us. Greeting us he led us to his house.

"Zona, it's so good to see you. What do you have there?" he ignored me because I didn't greet him even though I'm supposed to. Pa. Dede as my Father calls him was a long-standing friend to our family but an encounter with him 4 gibbous moons ago made me detest his attitude generally. He might be a man endowed with the profitable capacity to rare animals but he treats them carelessly. Twapa had been one of his horses, just because the horse couldn't carry the new lady he was wooing, he decided to put her to death claiming she was useless. I remember fighting him off with my tiny nails when he decided to put her down. On the spur of that moment, my father decided to buy the horse from him instead. Little did we know that Twapa had been pregnant. I believe that till this day, Pa. Dede regretted letting her go but he doesn't reveal it.

"Oh, my friend I have brought my end of the bargain" my father presented the meats to him.

Pa. Dede smelt it and said "you shouldn't have, you know you deserved it"

"Deserved it? that will be my boy. I have been lucky. He had brought me so many tidings"

"I agree with you"

I couldn't wrap my head around what they were saying. One thing I knew for sure was that they were talking

about me. I scrunched my face up in a frown trying to comprehend but they sounded gibberish to my ears.

As we journeyed back home, my father looked up to the sun. The sun had risen to its peak far away from the

pointed mountaintops. He stopped abruptly and turned his back to the sun and he looked to the floor. His

shadow moved far away from him to his right. I was puzzled and wondered what stunt he was getting at.

Then he said, "be quick Zaire hasten those steps it is noon already"

Visibly confused and frustrated, I kept mute and followed in his footsteps. Our meal was ready when we got home, my little sister Zeneba was already with my Mother playing.

My father had finished eating, he rested against the wall for a few minutes. My mother had said he needed to do that so that the food he had just eaten could digest quickly in his stomach instead of moving to his leg.

After a while, he stood up and went back to his work, the one he had started the previous evening. He was building up a large shed with red bamboo. I had asked him on countless occasions about what he was doing but he wouldn't disclose it. He will just give me a smile that reveals how light-colored his eyes were.

He was almost through building it when my mother came out with my sister.

"My son, I want you to go see your godmother she has some toys she wants to give Zeneba-" pausing she glanced down at Zeneba- who was tugging on her white crock

"I want to follow, Mother" she pleaded

"No, no. You stay with Mother" I said annoyed by her request. Glancing at my mother's raised eyebrow, I knew she was conceding to Zeneba's request.

"I can't take her with me, she's going to slow me down"

"I'm trying to work, just listen to your mother" my father shouted over our exchange.

Zeneba grabbed my legs and pleaded with her puppy-cute eyes.

"It's been so long since she had gone out with you" my mother smiled as she brought out a satchel and placed it on my shoulder.

Opening it, I saw some roasted corn wrapped in soft clothes. "You had come prepared already"

"You don't need to give me all this, I should be here in a jiff y if you allow me and that would be without Zeneba-"

"You know what-" my father cuts in. "If you come back early, I have a gift for you." "A gift? A gift" It took me some time to digest that.

"Why did you think I went to see Pa. Dede?"

"Truly, will we be getting another horse?"

"If you want the gift so badly, go and come back" I could see father give a knowing glance to mother

"Take your time and say hi to your Godmother for me"

Surprisingly, Zeneba behaved well. Our godmother, auntie Marriye was so glad to see us. Livid indeed. She had already prepared some delicious food before we could leave. She even wanted us to spend the night but I strongly disagreed if only I had known. The yellow sun had turned orange and was falling slowly behind a distant mountain but the purple glow of sunset remained above. After walking for a long time, we came across some of the mischievous mates from our village. Who collects what was never theirs from people by threatening and fighting. Julibe, an old friend of mine was also with them. Since his mother had died and the pain had driven his father to become a drunkard, he had refused any form of my association with me. He pretended as if he couldn't recognize me. Then one of them demanded the gift my godmother had given Zeneba. Seeing that we wouldn't give them amicably. They snatched it from her. She abruptly burst into tears.

In anger, I said "My name is Zaire, son of Zona you might not know me but return that back it isn't yours"