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Chapter 37
- LANGAA RPCIG
- Chapter
- Additional Information
321 C Chapter 37 t noon on 7 December, Matipa emerged from her house in the middle of household chores, now a vain preoccupation in a bid to forget about Bomani Kumanda and the worst that could’ve happened to her son. She was washing dishes beside the house when she looked up and saw a figure in stripped hospital garbs approaching the compound. Many people left whatever they were doing and watched the figure, a man who kept turning stiffly as if to check his bearings, like one lost. He walked as though his limbs were in plasters. Had Madzibaba Remegio resurrected demented from the dead, or was it by error the rumour of the teenager’s death had reached the compound when he was actually recuperating in hospital? The figure got closer, a man struggling to walk upright and in one direction. From his bearing and gaiety, she saw she had erred by supposing it was Remegio. The approaching man was Mr Evans Emedhi. Like many people, she stared at him from her doorway, a safety precaution. Apparently, illness or shock had stricken the man. “What in the name of God am I seeing?”Matipa whispered to herself horror-struck. In stripped hospital garbs and barefoot, Emedhi was an unbelievable sight. Many people stood outside their dwellings and looked at him aghast. Matipa heard a male neighbour remarking he looked like an insane vagrant. She scrutinised him from the distance. His hair was tousled. When he turned to look over his shoulder, she saw an adhesive bandage on the back of his head. The office orderlycum -errands man didn’t seem to recognise anyone, which was strange and disturbing. Matipa thought Emedhi’s first port of call would be the mill manager’s office, to report to Mr Gilchrist Keneas, the man who sent him to the hospital. Emedhi shuffled to his residence and vanished A 322 into his sitting-cum-cooking hut. When he entered, his wife, three children and grandchildren yelled and scurried out for safety. Stembile and the children peered cautiously at him through the open door. A lasher who lived next to the Emedhis ran in the direction of the office. Matipa kept staring, trying to make sense of the strange development. Around Emedhi, many witnesses of the anomaly were in shock and shaking their heads. Perhaps the orderly was saying unsettling things. What happened to him in the past two days? At first, Matipa watched indoors Emedhi’s sleeping hut. However, when it struck her her husband was indisputably the author of Remegio’s immolation and Emedhi’s returning stricken, she was obliged to champion consoling Emedhi’s family despite her own grief. She also had to be in the forefront of figuring out what befell the office orderly. It was common knowledge he had gone to Kadoma by commuter omnibus two days ago on 5 December after Mr Keneas asked him to visit Remegio on his behalf. Matipa and about a dozen baffled sympathizers converged at Emedhi’s sitting hut to learn first-hand of his predicament and possibly render assistance. They stood behind the man’s family and peered into the hut. Mr Evans Emedhi sat still on a low wooden stool staring blankly outside. Everyone was mystified. “What happened to you?” Stembile solicited. “I’m your wife. Don’t you recognise me?” The orderly remained motionless. “Talk to us,” a man said. “We need to help you. What happened in Kadoma? Why’re you in hospital clothes?” Emedhi made no sign of comprehension, neither did he look at the speaker nor scan the faces of his bewildered spectators. “The grandchildren are afraid,” Stembile coerced. “Say something for their sake. Were you involved in a car accident?” Matipa noticed that Emedhi stared without blinking and his breathing was heavy and rhythmic. In that posture and motionless, [52.15.235.28] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 19:19 GMT) 323 she took it his inactivity was that of a catastrophe reposing. She was ready to flee should he rise from the stool. “A powerful diviner must be fetched immediately,” another man suggested. “This doesn’t look good.” Mr Keneas arrived at the hut to verify for himself, a pistol visibly tucked in his trousers. The weapon gave Matipa some assurance of security. People cleared way for the mill manager to enter the hut. Everyone expected the manager to force his subordinate to talk, but the manager stopped abruptly at the door, his...