Absolute Power and other stories

An Epistle of the Departed

AN EPISTLE OF THE DEPARTED My dear brothers and sisters, I know you are all in utter shock and seeing my body lying in state is something you have all failed to come to terms with. It was after a long deliberation that I decided to commit this abominable act. I could not stand it anymore and I just had to let my spirit go, and it is my hope that my incomprehensible action will one day set you, my dear brothers and sisters, free. Jepkokwo, please stop sobbing. You are the eldest of us all and you are supposed to be condoling the young ones. I know you are very much annoyed with me and you wish I had shared any emotional turbulence that I have always had. Your mind should surely have recollected memories of our formative years when I was only two and you were seven. You would always bend and say to me ‘Titi’ and carry me on your back for that long distance to and from Turlenjun River. Do you remember the day people with a powersaw came to our neighbourhood to fell trees? It was our first time to hear such a loud noise and we thought the Rapture had taken place as our Sunday school teacher had always taught us. As usual, you said to me ‘Titi’ and you ran fast towards the bushes. It was on that day that you fell and your spinal cord was permanently damaged. All the time, our parents were taking Absolute Power alcoholic drinks at the busaa club and occasionally dancing to the tunes of sarama. Anytime I see you unable to walk, that painful memory is relieved. I hope my suicide will make other parents do their roles and stop letting children take care of other children. I am certain Jemeli has heard the news and has rushed from her marital home. Now Jemeli, I would like you to kindly understand me. You know that we have shared a lot in life. The other day, I learnt you were unable to deliver through the natural birth canal. Were it not for the flying doctors from AMREF, you would now have become past tense. You were taken to the city hospital where the medics performed a caesarean section thus saving your life and that of my nephew, Barsongol. Jemeli, I want to let you know that that was as a result of the damage caused on your ‘holy land’ during the bizarre clitoridectomy. I know they literally scooped your genitalia and mended the vaginal tract to the size of a bean seed. The excruciating pain you felt made you faint for twelve hours. The pain was even more severe when passing water. An old woman had to insert a ‘calabash pipe’ on your urinary tract so as the urine does not come in contact with the wound. Now you know the bold step I have taken is a sign of the love I have for you and all other girls in the clan. My demise will make the torturers think twice before they subject another girl to this unnecessary mutilation. I now want to turn to you Kimosop whom I know has refused to shed tears because that is a sign of weakness. You know what is important in life and what is irrelevant. Please, go and have a look at yourself at that large mirror in my room. Tell me, was it fair for 34 the elders to subject you to all those rituals. You persevered some terrible pain when your six lower teeth were removed without an anesthesia using some crude Acheulian tools. As a result, you lay on a mat for a whole four months suffering from Tetanus. As if that was the tip of the iceberg, you later underwent weird tattooing ceremonies all in the name of becoming a man. Look at your shoulders and your arms. What is the purpose of those several scars? On your face are thousands of marks and your ears have hollow ear lobes. Your stomach is contoured and you are permanently armed with a spear standing on one leg like the Flamingo in Bogoria. Son of my mother, I wanted to fight these rituals and death was my only weapon. At this moment, I know the twins (Jesire and Kipkorony) have still not come to terms with my unexpected journey to the land of no...