Even before
the others have seen him, the little boy squints in the scorching sun to make
certain that it's him. At first all he sees is someone on a bicycle. He looks
harder and sees it's a man on the bicycle. Of course it has to be a man. Who
else rides bicycles in this dusty old village? The little boy
stares in the direction that the man on the bicycle is coming from and as
the dust before him settles, he notices that there is something strange
about this man. The man is not wearing any clothes. He jumps and shrieks and
the others stop playing with the round balls of ochok
- Sodom apple to see what the little boy is excited
about.
"Daju
en ang'o? What is it?" Budho, the tallest of them all, asks him.
Daju, the
little boy, continues to shriek and jumps with excitement. His thin hands are
stretched and points south of where they are playing. Budho clicks his tongue
and is obviously irritated but whenever his brother gets that way, he has to
leave whatever he is doing and get to his brother's attention. He knows very
well that if he doesn't, Daju will open his mouth so wide and unleash a cry
that would leave him at the behest of his mother's mercy. Daju knows this too
well and never wastes a chance to get Budho thrashed.
"What
is it?" He asks Daju again as he slaps the dust from the back of his
short. Daju looks at him and then stretches out his hand again, south. Remi and
Jos, the other boys on the playground, get up too. Daju rarely gets this
excited and they can't wait to see what it is. They all stand behind Daju, with
Budho bowing slightly and placing his hands on Daju's shoulders. They strain to
stare along the stretch that Daju is pointing toward. The sun hurts their eyes
and all they see is the path that goes all the way to the Dispensary. They
don't see a bicycle and they don't see a man. Only a long narrow red dirt road.
Remi the
eldest of them all is obviously irritated and turns to Daju,
"Daju, stop
being stupid! There's nothing there!" He shouts at Daju. Daju looks at
him, confused and stares at the road again. His hand stretches from his side
again and he points down the road. Remi's face is taut and red with anger and
he turns to Budho.
"Your
stupid brother just wants attention like always. Is it our fault that he can't speak?"
He yells at Budho. Remi has quite a temper. He gets worked up over little
things. He says they may seem little to you but they mean a lot to him. Like
this game of ochok. He turns
to go back to the small round hole where they were squatting before Daju called
them but not before he calls Jos
"Jos,
let's go back to our game and leave this stupid child!"
Jos
hesitates for a while, he too is confused. He likes Daju a lot. In fact, Daju
is his friend. He knows that makes him angry but like a moth toward a lamp, he
is drawn to Daju in a way he can't explain. He is two years older than Daju but
that doesn't stop him from liking Daju. Not even the persistent insults from
Remi that tell him he is a fool for being friends with a momo - a dumb
person. He knows he can't blame Daju for being born unable to speak but
then he can't oppose Remi. Not when a game of knocking ochok against each other is involved - not then.
Remi is his elder brother. Not his brother brother but since his father left
them, his mother has left him to Remi's mother while she looks for work in the
far villages. She sends them money for clothes and food. Remi's mother
complains that it is not enough but she can't send her sister's son away.
Both Remi
and Jos sink back to the ground and get back to their game. Budho still stands
behind his younger brother and in a soft low tone tries to explain to Daju that
there is nothing there. Nothing on the long dirt road. Nothing but sun rays
that burn your eyes when you try to look for what is there. Daju turns to
look at his older brother and when he finds Budho telling him that he did not
see the man on the bicycle he lets out a shrill cry that leaves Budho angry and
smacks him on the face with his hand. The slap sends Daju on the ground and he falls
squarely on the dust. He lies there and continues to cry.
Remi laughs
at the scene and tells Budho "Good! Kamano!
The boy should get more of those and stop ruining our games!" His laughter
and Daju's cries fill the air and both Jos and Budho stand there not knowing
what to do. Budho takes two long strides and gets to where Remi is standing
doing a frenzy dance. He clenches his fist and pounds Remi's face. The punch
lands squarely on Remi's short nose and blood starts dripping to the ground.
Tears and blood on Remi's face replace the laughter that he was enjoying a few
seconds back.
"Never
call my brother stupid! Never ever insult him!" Budho tells Remi as he
raises his fist again. Remi holds his broken nose and scampers for safety
leaving Jos unsure of whether to laugh or run after Remi. He decides on the
latter, just so he doesn't sleep in the dog's kennel like that time when he
laughed at Remi for losing a football match. With that, he follows his brother
who is not his brother brother, the game of ochok
ruined.
Budho turns
to Daju who has stopped crying now and picks him up from the ground. He takes
the sleeve of his t-shirt and wipes Daju's face. He kneels down facing him and
looks him in the eye.
"Daju,
Daju, look at me my brother," he tells Daju. Daju looks into his brother's
brown eyes. "They will never see what you saw down that road. Only you and
I saw it. If I told them what we saw, they will say we are crazy!"
A sense of
calmness appears on Daju's face and he appears to have forgiven his
brother for the slap.
"Yes Daju
that was father you saw. He is a mad man now and he runs naked"
But why was
he on a bicycle? Daju wants
to ask his brother. His lips remain sealed. His tongue heavy.
more stories can be found @ (c)troyonyango.wordpress.com
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