Yefon: The Red Necklace (13 page)

“Women, eh”!” she shouted in a screech. The women hummed uniformly.

“Women, eh”!” she called out again, and the women hummed out again, excitedly. She allowed the noise to die down, before she spoke again.

“This meeting wouldn’t be possible without the gods.”

“They are faithful and kind!” the women shouted back,

“And without,” she looked around and smiled before gesturing towards a corner where her drunk husband was suckling a goatskin bag of liquor, “Our husband, Pa Lamlemn,” she called out.

All eyes shot to him and he smiled, his only tooth dangling as if it might fall at any time.

“Now that we have greeted our husband, we will continue our meeting,” she said as he walked out with the aid of a wrinkled walking stick. As the woman opened up the floor to discussion, I watched the sickly drunk man escape into his
taav
, which was as old as he looked.

How could a lively woman like Ma Lamlemn be married to that man? He could be her father, or older brother. Was it for money? It wasn’t my business, I reminded myself before my wandering eye travelled round the different shaped heads, head ties, mouths, lips, and faces in the meeting.

Most of the women were ugly and held a perpetual bored expression on their faces. Whether it was because they worked tirelessly in the farms like slaves or it was as a result of being in polygamous marriages fighting everyday with their co-wives, commonly known as
kifesin
, or being beaten by their husbands, I couldn’t tell, but what I did know was that my face would never look as bashed as Ma Yoh, or as twisted and bundled up like the other woman seated two seats away from Ma. Ma’s skinny friend and a few other women stood out from the crowd, and I wondered what they had done different to still look good and feel good now.

Some of the topics varied from ways to increase harvests, what children were doing these days, and all types of other things. I didn’t agree with half the things that were suggested, but I was generally silent about my opinions. Ma would knock me out if I told her that digging holes and dropping seeds in them and then covering them up could increase harvests, but if I told Pa and he repeated the exact same thing, then she would have suggested it to the women when one woman complained about poor harvests this season.

Instead, the women generally agreed that the fertility goddess had been annoyed and they appointed one woman with a mouth that was cut off to speak to the goddess on their behalf.

My insides were bubbling with anxiety as the things that I had to tell Kadoh were piling up by the second, and I quickly scanned the room to see if her mother had come. No, she had not. I couldn’t wait to tell Kadoh about how the women had chosen a half-faced woman to talk to the goddess on their behalf. I would make sure not to leave out the creepy way she stared at me when I tried to stare and understand her face. I would explain to Kadoh
how cold my blood felt in my veins and how strange the bottom of the woman’s head looked. It was just cut! And there was nothing, no teeth, no bone just nothing! Kadoh would probably have a theory to back up such a phenomenon and I couldn’t wait to hear it.

When the pots of food were opened, the women scrambled rowdily like hungry dogs and a few minutes later, nothing was left but intestines, the head, and the gizzard. Ma’s mouth was full when she looked at me, and a look of shame enveloped her face when she realized she had forgotten to feed me. If Pa were here, I would have been served first before all these women.

Ma mumbled something under her breath before approaching me. Her mouth smelled like palm oil when she said she was sorry.

“I will cook for you when we go back to the house,” she said.

“But there are still parts in the pot, Ma,” I explained, eyeing the gizzard.

“I could eat the gizzard,” I said with smiling eyes, but I shouldn’t have said that because all the women looked at me as if it had just been revealed that I was a cheetah instead of a child. Even skinny-branch hands, who had carried me when I was a child did not look as pleasant anymore.

Ma smiled at me nervously, putting a protective arm around me. “My daughter is very smart,” she said.

Almost immediately, hope began racing in my heart. For the first time in my life, ma had just defended me!

But Ma made us leave instantly. We didn’t even wait to see the woman who was getting the money this month. Ma said nothing to me as we walked off and as soon as we were out of eyesight, she pounced on me like an angry lion punching every corner of my head until it began to feel like it wasn’t part of my body anymore.

“You will see what your father will do to you today!” she threatened, walking even faster and compelling me to follow her.

“
Shaa’
! Pass in front of me! Nonsense!” she ordered, sighing angrily. My head hung low, my hands on the side of my head, which throbbed painfully as I followed her. I had almost forgotten how cold Ma could be, and here I was
hoping for something different, something softer, for once, like Kadoh’s mother. I thought of the warm
re’
she had given me this morning, and somehow, my pain didn’t feel as crippling.

I watched some children playing happily in a corner, their excited squeals contradicting the dullness of my life, and I hoped that their mothers were not as cold as this fish who bore me. What was the issue anyways? Why couldn’t women eat the gizzard of a fowl? Who made that law and why was it made? Was it not a part like any other? Were our own taste buds different?

Ma made me kneel down with my hands up in the sun, until Pa returned from
Mfu
. At that point, the front of my head was aching so badly that I couldn’t process my thoughts clearly. Pa was dancing when he came in and calling everyone’s name in a cheerful voice. When he called mine, I began to cry. His voice was very compassionate, and I loved him even more.

“
Kisham ke kingha
,” he called out. “Aha! Where is everybody?”

He walked about until I heard his heavy footsteps approach the side of Ma’s
taav
where I was still kneeling, drenched in sweat. Pa looked at me as I whimpered, his gaze holding a level of empathy that no one could seem to achieve.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked, his jolly mood turning sour. “Yefon, stand up and come with me.”

He helped me up. “Soli!” Pa howled, his voice as intense as the wind that had been blowing this morning when we had left. It took me a split second to remember that Soli was actually Ma’s real name. It was so seldom used that it had lost its value, and Pa only called her that when he was really upset.

“What is it, daddy?” she responded softly, as she ran out of her
taav
, looking noticeably happy to see him.

“What is the meaning of this?” Pa asked, pointing at me. I saw a few heads poke out of their
taavs
. Pa noticed as well.

“Get back inside!” he roared and they all did, even quicker than they had looked. I saw Ma let off a strand of fear.

“What is the meaning of this, Soli?” he asked, his gaze piercing deep through her soul, and she couldn’t seem to understand it. She stammered, guiltily.

“Yefon, say what you did today,” Ma urged, in a defeated voice. Pa’s angry gaze immediately shot to me. I did say what happened then Pa was quiet as if he was hoping that more had
happened.

“Is that the reason why my daughter has been in the sun all day, her hands raised, without food or water?”

“Pa.”

“Shut up!”

His intervention was ferocious; his newly grown beard more obvious as he tensed his jaw. Then he lowered his voice and eyes, and I looked to the floor to see what caught his attention. There was nothing peculiar there but some small stones and a few dirty pots stacked up ready for washing.

“If you had remembered to feed her at the meeting, maybe that would have never happened. Did you think about that?” His voice was quiet but you couldn’t miss the anger that was building up inside. Ma looked blank and speechless.

“That’s right. Only your children are wrong. You can never be,” he added vindictively.

“But, Pa,” she tried to explain something and Pa hit the wall, causing even me to flinch in fear, hoping that he had not slapped her. When I opened my eyes, Ma looked like one of those scared rabbits when it got hit in the skull by my slingshot.

“From now on, if you ever take any of my children to any of your meetings, you will have it hot from me.” He started out, and before he escaped from view, he looked over his shoulder to add, “She is your daughter. Start acting like it.”

Upon Pa’s disapproval, the world went silent. Ma and I stared at each other for a minute or two both visibly shaken by what had just happened, and my
sha
η
g
glowed such that it was hard for me to breathe again.

For days after that, I spent my time in trees with my slingshot, playing with my red
sha
η
g
. I was too dreary to hunt, yet I couldn’t stand Ma, neither could I find the words to say to Pa. Yes, he had stood up for me, but he had seemed so different and cold that I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

From the dirty treetops, I overheard many conversations, which I wasn’t supposed to hear.

“She is very stubborn and lazy,” Ma explained, throwing her hands around as she explained to Ya Sero one day when no one else was supposed to be home. I saw their crowns clearly, glowing with shiny thread, and the familiarity of their voices
irritated me for some reason.

“I’ve done all in my power to talk to her, but she won’t listen, and now my husband hates me!” Ma said before bursting into uncontrollable tears.

I was simply annoyed and felt like shooting her in the head with a stone and ending her miserable life.

“My sister, talking isn’t always communication,” Ya Sero explained, holding her and hushing her so that she didn’t cry so much.

It seemed too pretentious, so much so that I couldn’t bear to hear another word. Without caring that they would know I had heard them, I jumped down from the tree, whistling carelessly as both women jumped in fright, a startled expression on their faces.

I felt relieved when I found Kadoh at a small creek nearby, washing her feet. I had so much to tell her. Kadoh’s lively eyes shone at me from behind a clay mask the color of the water beneath her feet.

“Would you like a soak?” she asked happily, some green vegetable caught in her teeth. I pointed at it, shrugged carelessly, and joined her, rubbing my blistered feet with one of Kadoh’s concoctions before putting them in the water. A slow moan escaped my lips.

“So, you were looking for me?” she asked, more of a statement. I glanced at her stomach, which looked like a soft pillow. I felt an urge to touch it. She would probably laugh so hard. Oh Kadoh!

“Yes o! I saw a cat and…”

“It ran away when you called it Kpulajey.” She finished effortlessly, completely unmoved by my widening eyes as she convulsed with laughter.

“Do you think it was her?” I asked, excitement rushing through me.

“How would we ever know, sis?”

“Wonders will never end.”

“Indeed!”

I had already forgotten how beaten down and depressed I had been before seeing this guardian angel of mine.

“How did you know that I was going to say that?” I asked again, a few minutes later. The gentleness of the creek and the way the huge rocks stood comfortably around it had given me
inspiration.

“I know everything,” Kadoh responded simply, with a wide grin on her face. It looked similar to an inverted banana, and I giggled at my odd imagination.

“Care for a swim?” Kadoh asked coyly, taking off some of her
sha
η
g
s.

Without responding, I dived into the rivulet, completely immersing myself in a habitat that was Sola-free, Ma-free, and only peaceful. I enjoyed the drowning sound of splashing water all around my ears. The water was so calming. It caressed my skin like one of Kadoh’s cooling lotions.

Feeling one with nature, I glided through the water, paddling my feet and stirring my hands while admiring a school of small, strangely colored fish swimming methodically.

Kadoh soon joined me and we began following them under the water, abruptly turning each time they did. I felt alive and free. My freedom had always come in moments like this, when I could be me. Suddenly, nothing in the world mattered anymore than this habitat with peaceful cold water.

Kadoh touched me, and I turned around to look at her. She pointed towards me, and I looked behind, the heaviness of the water blurring my vision, so I looked at her again, not seeing what she was trying to show me.

She pointed at me again then swam up to the surface to get some air. I looked around again then to my chest. My
sha
η
g
was glowing and light was bursting out of the carefully smelted beads. Was I seeing things? I swam up to the top and inhaled loudly, wiping my eyes as I tried to look at my
sha
η
g
.

“The
sha
η
g
,” I tried to explain to Kadoh. “It’s glowing!”

“I know, I saw it,” she said, her eyes glistening.

“I don’t know what to do.” I panicked completely, uncertain whether one of those mermaids we hear about had cast some kind of witchcraft on me when we were under the water.

“Then do nothing,” she replied, hushing me. Kadoh was obviously drawn in by the
sha
η
g
, oohing and aahing as her round head examined it closely. I wondered if she was going to touch it, and I feared what would happen if she did. She reached out to touch it, and as she did, she shouted, falling to the ground in a giant thud. My heart began racing fast. Quickly I dropped to my
feet, and shook her.

“Are you okay?” This could not be happening!

She opened her eyes, smiling widely. “I was just joking.”

Relief swept over my shoulders, and I was about to frown at her but it dawned on me how happier I was that she had been joking.

“Silly thing.”

For a brief moment, I admired Kadoh’s face, and I wondered if I could survive without Kadoh or Pa. I would surely kill myself. Was there another way? It didn’t seem likely.