Titanium Texicans (25 page)

He didn’t know what to say, but he stammered, “Well, um, I may just speak off the top of my head a little more often if it gets me kissed by two pretty girls.”

That got him another round of quick kisses.

CHAPTER 23

TASSO DIDN’T KNOW whether to pass out from excitement or try for more kisses. He decided to leave well enough alone. Grabbing both girls’ hands, he grinned like an idiot. The external lights from both ships lit the area for hundreds of yards in all directions. Tasso was blushing. He hoped everyone would think his blush was due to the lighting.

There was a row of small ground vehicles available for use. Gordo signed one out and they set about a quick drive across the hard packed ground to the other ship.

Tasso looked around him with curiosity. His only other experience at a spaceport was on Saronno. A huge wall had separated the town from the spaceport, the ships, various warehouses, and buildings. There was no wall on Kaduna.

There wasn’t much of a town with only a few buildings clustered along a dusty street, but it was more town than Tasso had grown up in. None of the structures was over two stories high. The center street was awash with its own electric lights and the ship lights. It left the rest of the town in the dark. Stretching out into the darkness behind the town were wooden corrals and fenced pastures. He couldn’t see whether Texican cattle filled the corrals or if they were empty. He noted a few buildings along the main street that appeared to be open and busy with Kaduna people coming and going. They looked to be celebrating the arrival of off-world visitors, although it didn’t seem as if any of the two crews had gone into town.

Gordo looked that way. “I’ve been here before. It looks like everyone from hereabouts came to see the space ships. I don’t imagine they get many visitors.”

Tasso asked, “Can we? Do we have time?”

Cherry asked, “Can we what, sweetie?”

Tasso replied, “Visit? Can we at least drive down the main street?”

Gordo swung the vehicle toward town. “There isn’t any reason why not. I think you’ll be disappointed though. There sure isn’t much to see. I can tell you most of these backwater planets won’t have anything you haven’t seen somewhere else.”

Tasso laughed, “That’s the point, isn’t it, Gordo? I haven’t seen anywhere else.”

The vehicle wasn’t kicking up any dust on the hard packed ground. Nevertheless, Gordo slowed down when he reached the buildings. He was moving at idle speed, slower than most people could walk.

Tasso was amazed. He’d seen quite a few dark people on the spaceship, but they were more the color of light chocolate. The Kaduna were almost black with black curly hair. They were as tall as Gordo, but thin. They were all smiling.

Tasso smiled back. There was a small boy playing with an animal of some kind. The boy waved. Tasso waved back. Without thinking, Tasso tapped Gordo on the shoulder and jumped out of the vehicle. They were barely moving, but the gravity was a bit heavier than on the ship. He didn’t stumble, but the weight surprised him. Anisa told him to get back in the vehicle, but he waved back at her. This was a new planet to see. Here were new people to meet. There was a new animal to investigate. He didn’t think the animal was dangerous since none of the adults were concerned about the child playing with it. Grandpa had always said the most dangerous animal was a human. Tasso hadn’t believed him. After all, he’d grown up in a land full of stobor and jack-o’-lanterns. That was before he met Bruce Menzies and Armando Cruz. His ex-uncle and the other boy hadn’t killed him yet, but neither had the stobor or Ol’ Ben. He doubted this small child would kill him either.

He crouched down next to the boy. “What kind of animal is this?” he asked.

The boy grinned. “This is my dog, Mbwa. He is a good dog.”

Tasso struggled with the name. “Mbwa. What does that mean?”

The boy laughed. “It means dog. What else would you name your dog? Do you want to pet him?”

Tasso tentatively stretched a hand out and touched the dog on the head. He followed the boy’s example, patting and rubbing the dog. The dog’s tongue lolled out of his head and his tail wagged. Tasso laughed. “Yes. This is a good dog. Thank you for letting me pet your dog.” He stood and glanced about him. A small group of adults had gathered to watch. They didn’t appear hostile. They smiled at him, so he smiled back. “I’m Tasso Menzies. I come from a planet called Saronno. Thank you for letting me visit your planet.”

A man taller than the others said, “You are most welcome, sir. I am Okpara. Please consider our home to be yours. Should you need or want anything, please ask.”

Tasso nodded. “Thank you, Mister Okpara. You’re most hospitable. May I walk along the street and see your shops?”

The man stepped forward. “You may indeed. We are a poor people, with little to interest a rich spaceman like yourself, but we are proud of what we have achieved on Kaduna.” He took Tasso’s arm and began pointing out highlights of the town.

Tasso was curious about the dried mud bricks used in every building’s construction. He reached out and touched one of the bricks. They were hard as concrete. Although night had truly set in, the air was still warm from the heat of the day, yet the mud bricks were cool to the touch.

Tasso was startled when Anisa spoke from behind him as she joined him on the sidewalk. “Adobe bricks, that’s almost a lost art back home. The mud doesn’t seem to set quite right. Not the way they say it used to on Earth, or so I’ve been told.”

Okpara nodded. “Your wife is correct, Tasso Menzies. Kaduna bricks are not like other bricks.” He stepped out of the light between buildings.

Anisa grabbed his hand, squeezing it. She gave a slight tug on his arm, trying to pull him back to the vehicle. She was about to speak when Okpara returned with a loose brick. He handed it to Tasso. “See, it is light and strong, but such mud bricks would hold no interest to such a rich man as you.”

Tasso shook his head, “Sir, I’m not a rich man. I’ve spent most of my life living in poverty. Food was barely from hand to mouth. I would’ve considered myself rich to have grown up in a town such as this.”

“How can this be?” the man laughed. “You have two beautiful young wives. It is true they are too short for true Kaduna beauty, but they are beautiful. And you have a private car with a driver to take you where you want to go, and yet another companion with remarkable pale hair.”

Tasso wanted to laugh, but he didn’t want to appear to be laughing at the man. “Mister Okpara, I wish all of that was true. These young ladies are beautiful.” He felt Anisa squeeze his hand tighter. “But, they’re not my wives and the large one isn’t my driver, he’s a friend. All of us are friends here to enjoy your hospitality.”

Okpara smiled. “Ah, but you are young. You may yet gain all I have envisioned for you.”

Tasso did laugh, “I’ll dream of such a thing.” He still held the brick. He hefted it. It weighed much less than it looked. The dried mud block was so light he wondered if it would float. He tapped the brick on the edge of a rock, but it didn’t break, chip, or dent.

“Mister Okpara, may I keep this brick?” Tasso asked.

The man looked surprised. “It is just dried mud. We have more of it than we need. Please take it, and I will get you another so you may have a matched set.”

Tasso laughed, “One will do for now.” He stopped at a storefront. It had a small glass window set in the adobe brick. In the window was a wooden carving of a bird with its wings spread and its beak open in a screech. Tasso didn’t recognize the wood; the grain was deep, catching the light, as if the creature was in flight.

“What is the bird, sir?” Tasso asked.

“It is a tai, Mister Menzies,” Okpara said. “It is a bird on Kaduna that bears a striking resemblance to an earth eagle.”

“I don’t know about an earth eagle. I do know what I like. May we visit this shop?” Tasso asked.

Gordo called from the vehicle. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Tasso. We do have a party to get to.”

Tasso looked at Gordo, Cherry, and Kendra in the vehicle. Anisa was standing with him, but she was obviously nervous about being in the open. He wondered how space travelers could be so uninterested in visiting a new, strange world. Their spaceship was almost a world unto itself. They moved from one ship to another with barely a thought for the people and cultures they were passing through. Maybe there was some danger here he couldn’t see. He knew these people could take him captive and not release him without ransom. He didn’t have enough money to pay for a ransom. He’d put ten one-credit pieces in his pocket, hoping he could buy Anisa a cold beverage, an ice cream, or both. He didn’t imagine he would be worth much of a ransom, but he hoped he would be worth more than ten credits. He supposed the captain would pay for her crew. Anisa was the captain’s niece. Surely, being a relative of the boss guaranteed her ransom. Ain would ransom her friend Cherry, and Cherry would pay for Gordo’s release.

He didn’t know anything about Nigeria where these Kaduna originally came from. Maybe they were cannibals. Maybe they’d kill and eat them. Maybe the Kadunian were slavers who’d kill Gordo and him, selling the girls for sex slaves. Maybe they’d kill the girls and sell Gordo and him for sex slaves. Maybe they’d toss them all in a pit to fight stobor to the death. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe he would really slip in the shower and break his neck! What sense was there in going to different worlds if you didn’t visit them! “Anisa, you may wait in the vehicle, if you wish. You may all go to your party, if you wish. I can walk from here back to the ship. I may never have been to a barbeque before, but I’ve eaten before. I do know I’ve never seen such beautiful artwork and I’d like to see more.”

Gordo sighed and mumbled something about being in for a penny and in for a pound.

Tasso laughed. “Someday, someone is going to have to explain that expression to me.”

Gordo climbed out of the vehicle; Cherry and Kendra followed him to the storefront. Cherry looked at the tai carving. She gave a low whistle and looked at Tasso. He smiled as if to say ‘I told you the look would be worthwhile’.

Tasso asked, “Mister Okpara, may I ask who the artist is?”

The tall man gestured toward the door. “Please come in. This is my wife’s dress shop. She likes to display the art crafted by our children. The tai was carved by my son, Ndubuka.”

Tasso entered the shop. He was used to going into Cherry’s store for women, but this place was a different class of dress shop. There were only four dresses hanging on display, with a few bolts of cloth and a smattering of scarves. Three seated women were sewing by hand. They stood when Tasso and his friends entered, but kept their eyes to the floor. Okpara gestured with an open hand at the women. “This is my wife, my daughter, and the wife of my only son. They are excellent seamstresses, are they not?” The man was obviously proud of their skills, yet he didn’t offer their names.

Cherry fingered one dress, checking the seams. “This is well sewn.” She turned to the women. “You’re very good.” The full-length dresses were made of a bright patterned cloth.

Okpara’s wife smiled, but still didn’t look up. “We are but poor seamstresses,” she said. “The cloth is poor and the thread weak. You are most gracious to compliment us on our simple dresses.”

Tasso looked closely at the small tai statue. The intricate carving didn’t stop even on the backside. The muscles on the back of the bird almost rippled in the light. Scattered about the shop were dozens of other carvings, a row of Ankole-Watusi cattle in various sizes, a short row of Texican longhorn cattle, and even a few carved horses.

Okpara said, “My son carved these Texas longhorn cattle from pictures. I hope the dimensions are good?”

Gordo shook his head in amazement. “Good? Sir, they’re excellent. Your son has an amazing talent for perspective.”

Tasso saw Anisa and Kendra each grab a scarf. They chattered happily to be shopping. In a pile on the floor was a stack of wooden bracelets. They were the same type of wood as the tai. At each turn of the light and shadows, the bracelets sparkled. Some of the wooden bracelets were simple single band and some were intertwining braids carved from single blocks of wood.

A young man hobbled into the room on a seriously mangled leg that had healed poorly. He held a carving of a spaceship. Gordo stared at the spaceship closely. “I’ll be hornswoggled. That is the Araña Rojo. I’d recognize her anywhere.”

Tasso smiled at the artist, “You’re talented, sir.”

The young man shrugged and said, “It is a hobby, nothing more.”

“What’s the wood?” Tasso asked.

The young man shrugged again and replied, “It is just the root of the ojimbe bush. It is as common as dirt on Kaduna.” The man kept his eyes on the floor.

Tasso nodded. “Do you sell your art?” He grabbed a braided bracelet off the floor and waved at Anisa to come over. He slid the bracelet onto her wrist. It glittered against her olive skin. Kendra had followed, so he grabbed a second braided bracelet of a lighter color and slid it onto her wrist. It sparkled more than glittered. “Perfect,” he said. “Beauty belongs with beauty, not in a pile on the floor.”

Okpara frowned, “This is just a child’s hobby, Mister Menzies. Ndubuka is a useless cripple, please do not tease him.”

Tasso replied, “Tease him, sir? Never! How much for these bracelets and the scarves the girls have chosen?”

Okpara’s wife said, “Good sir, those scarves were but scraps from dresses, made by our poor hands so we do not waste the cloth. I would not take more than one tenth of a credit for both, but I could not take less.”