Tale of an African Woman

Chapter Thirty Four

202 34 ai, who started to doze off after the meal, was now snoring. His sleepy body was at war with gravity as he struggled to keep it steady. His eyes would open slightly, saliva trickling out of his mouth and his effort at defying sleep obviously taking him nowhere. “Be a man,” his uncle would scold at him when his body swayed and collided with his. His effort to meet this appeal was often clumsy and did not last long. “It’s normal that he should feel sleepy after the long walk, the wait and the meal,” Tafon tried to come to the defense of the young man. “It’s his fault because even though I asked him to have enough rest hours before we set out on this journey, I still saw him running around with his sisters,” his uncle countered. “You can’t blame him because we all went through that stage when we were young,” Tafon insisted. It was around two o’clock in the morning when Mbinkar stood up and announced to the host that they were about to return home. His nephew, whose battle with sleep had almost been won, stood and stared droopily, as the two men exchanged greetings. “I lack words to thank you for this wonderful evening,” Mbinkar turned to Tafon as he stretched out his hand for a handshake before leaving the premises of his host. “I know that you’re going to present the problem to other members of the family in a way that would draw their sympathy and support.” It had indeed been a wonderful evening and if everything depended only on Tafon, he would have surrendered the maiden without further ado but he still had numerous obstacles to overcome in order to reach the finish line. First, he had to convince some important members of his wife’s and his extended family. Second, even though the potential F 203 bride had very little to say in the matter, she could openly rebel if the would-be-husband did not quite suit her fantasy. The second case seemed the most likely. “I’ll certainly do my best to bring our two families together, for the impression you’ve left on me today is great.” Pleased with the flattery, Mbinkar started slowly towards the door, his nephew in tow, while Tafon followed closely behind. Outside, the moon was full and shone brightly. The sky was clear but for some feathers of cloud which hovered around the moon and occasionally shut it out of view. Far away, the lonely hoot of an owl rang out mournfully. Ouuh oooh! The hooting rose clearly in the silence and stillness of the night. Mbinkar, whose village had been scarred by some incidents of witchcraft, had some bitter words for the nocturnal adventurers. “Listen to those wizards!” he exclaimed. “As long as they keep their atrocities out of my village I have no problem with them,” Tafon said as the three strung out in an Indian file along the tiny path which led out of his compound. “I can’t go any farther than this point, for I left my door open,” Tafon declared to his visitors when they got to the entrance to his compound. At this point, the track leading out of his compound joined the main road which ran through Yakiri from Fombot and continued all the way to Nkar. Mbinkar took the right hand of his host in a firm grip and shook it vigorously one more time. Tafon promised again to do his best to make the marriage succeed. “I hope to hear from you very soon,” Mbinkar announced, as he let go the hand and patted tired Fai on the back. When the party broke up, Mbinkar and Fai headed towards Nkar while Tafon returned to his compound. With his stomach loaded with food and palm wine and encumbered by the empty calabash he was carrying, Fai had problems keeping pace with his uncle whose strides seemed to double with each step. “If you continue to lag behind, one of those wizards we heard hooting will sneak up and quietly spirit you away without my noticing,” his uncle hinted to urge on the young man when he found out that he was far behind. 204 At a point, Mbinkar turned off from the main road and entered a small bush path, the same shortcut they...