Liberian Literary Magazine
to join one of the
conservative groups of
early risers because, this is
the best time to drink palm
wine.
In the circle I joined, I
met a very articulate and
likable character for whom
I soon developed a great
admiration. His name was
Jaa Buu, but everyone
called him Buu for short.
He
had
travelled
extensively, and told us
some exciting stories.
The morning following
the departure of the girls, I
accompanied Buu to his
new palm wine tree, which
by the way, was located
not far from the rubber
farm where I worked daily.
In
our
conversation
enroute, I jokingly told my
friend how I missed Tene,
my future wife.
“Yes, the younger sister,”
my friend recalled, “she is
indeed a beautiful thing. I
do not hesitate to say how
much I envy you for such
good a fortune.” I blushed
as Buu paid me such a
flattering
compliment.
“What about the other
sister?” I asked. Here is the
shocking reply I got.
“Man, she can out-drink a
fish. She is the woman palm
wine and cane juice ran
away from.
The whole time she was
here, I supplied her half a
gourd from the swamp
every morning. She taught
me a concoction which you
should try; a mixture of
palm wine, cane juice,
seejohn roots, wild bush
peppers and a drop of
perfume, to improve the
Promoting Liberian literature, Arts and Culture
aroma. If that doesn't send
fire through you, I suggest
you go and see old lady Dii,
otherwise
you
are
finished.”
“I get you,” and we both
burst out and laughed.
“Buu, this concoction, my
first time hearing of it. So
it's good for impotence too
eh?”
“Kai,” my friend grinned,
“What do you think all
these old men follow me
here for every morning,
with charged root bottles?
You
see
palm
wine
ferments quickly. When
added to cane juice, the
two work hand in hand and
draw
all
the
strong
medicines out of seejohn,
peppers and whatever you
put in them.”
“I am learning a lot about
my future sister-in-law.”
“If you stay around long
enough, Kai, you will hear
a lot more.”
“About Tene too, I
suppose?” I noticed that my
friend
refrained
from
making any comments.
He simply said, “just the
usual village gossip,” and
stopped.
I suspected that Buu had
no doubt seen or heard
something
unfavorable
about Tene, which he did
not want me to know. And
yet if I prodded him unduly,
he might reveal something
I myself would not want to
know. I merely said, “Buu,
I love Tene so much, I don't
know what to do. Her
people wouldn't come out
and tell me how much
dowry to pay for her.”
7
“Kai you are a man like
myself. We all like women.
As for my part, I don't give
them a chance to cross my
tracks. My advice to you as
a friend is this, don't let
this Tene palava become an
obsession. In the first
place, for you to marry a
girl like that, you will have
to have a strong man
behind you. I don't mean a
man with money, but
someone with powerful
medicines to work magic on
that girl.”
I reflected for a bit and
said. “Buu, I believe you
are quite right. I need
someone behind me who
can manipulate strong love
medicines in order to turn
Tene's heart solely towards
me.”
By this time we had
almost
reached
our
destination. Buu looked up
in the palm wine tree and
yelled, “o boy! look at my
old lady, she's foaming like
I don't know what. All new
trees are like that.” We got
under the tree. Buu flung
his cutlass on the ground
and immediately climbed
up by aid of a bamboo pole.
I watched him remove the
leaves which covered the
receptacle containing the
wine. He dipped his finger
into the liquid and tasted
it. “Mmmm, the old lady is
strong like bushcow milk,”
and sent down a bamboo
quart container full of
wine.
By the time I had finished
the third quart, we were
joined
by
three
newcomers. They gossiped
about everything from my