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Chapter Thirteen
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129 Dogs in the Sun Chapter Thirteen W e feared for Masutu’s life. It was not unusual for anyone who got into a fight with Tankeh Winjala to end up in the grave. So far only I alone had stood up to him. So the fear was deep in people. Those of us present at the dance recalled how Masutu went up like a feather in the wind and came back down with the weight of wet garri paste. I was surprised that he rose at all after that. To see him on his feet was still a wonder happening. As the days passed, the fear increased. But the fear about Masutu’s life was eaten up by an even bigger one: no-one had seen Lemea since the day she disappeared into the dark night. It was just as if she had never existed at all – so thorough were the traces of her absence. All the powers of the village had been enlisted. Reinforcement had even been sought from Tazim and Fetet. The Council of Chiefs grouping all the paramount authorities of the known tribes had resolved that each ruler dispatch his biggest seer to Nwemba for the search. This had been done and all the seers had seen had been nothing but Lemea’s absence. Mother had grieved and stopped. She did not kill herself as the village feared. She just sat at her door singing songs of loneliness, songs of loss. But seeing the rate at which sorrow was eating her, it would not be long before she slept and did not wake again. Uncle Abua and I shared waking her up: he would come today and shake her out of sleep, and tomorrow it would be my turn. 130 G. D. Nyamndi He for one did not put Lemea’s disappearance past Tankeh Winjala. And his conviction was strengthened by the sorrow now hastening his brother’s widow to her death. Tankeh, bringer of sorrow. If you wanted sunshine to run away, bring Tankeh; bring Tankeh to a feast and the meat turned into bones. As one of the survivors who took part in the naming, my uncle had the details in his palms; and as Lemea’s absence lasted, memories of Tankeh’s birth came more and more alive, and he could not suppress the troubling similarity between the two moments. In particular, he saw an interesting parallel between the emptiness left by Lemea’s disappearance and the terrible void created by the moon of the mudfish, the moon Satmia, Ikom Winjala’s wife, was to deliver. “A great drought descended on Nwemba,” he recalled, “a great drought that reminded us of what Ikom had gone through in his struggle to raise a big family. Year after year for eight years his wife was pregnant. Year after year for eight years he buried a child. The year Satmia took in this boy called Tankeh, everyone expected her to deliver another victim for the graves. For many days the sun sat straight and tight overhead, chasing away the rainclouds and burning all the bushes into a vast sight of yellow leaves. For the first time Mantum revealed its nakedness, which many villagers ran away from for fear of the fury of the disgraced river spirits. But as the days went by curiosity had the better of their fears and one by one they tiptoed to the edge of the sunken river where first with the corner of their eyes, then with their full eyes, they saw mudfish jumping and tumbling like children in the rain. “A few intrepid ones ventured onto the bed in the part nearest the bank and seized mudfish with their naked hands. The river gods remained silent. A day passed, two, many, and no god spoke. The young men had discovered a new trade. They scooped up mudfish from the riverbed with their naked hands. This they did for one full moon, in the abandoned hilarity of the dry season sun. [174.129.140.206] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 09:39 GMT) 131 Dogs in the Sun “Then gently, the rainclouds started to gather over the hills of Meamba. The young men took notice, but decided to take home one final catch before the river sprang to life with the return of the rains. “All that Nwemba counted as young men gathered on the riverbed on the last day to dig up mudfish with their naked hands. Who shall I...