Liberian Literary Magazine
was already someone else's
wife, but my landlord said,
that this was no problem.
With his influence and
position, as head of an
extended family, it would be
quite easy to refund the man's
dowry and turn the young lady
over to me. All he wanted me
to say was, yes. I did meet the
girl on one or two occasions
and
she
indicated
her
willingness for the match. But
because of Tene I never gave
the matter any serious
consideration.
The party for the girls lasted
until late in the evening. It
started as a small affair but
grew to something lavish
afterwards. To judge from the
empty bottles under the
table,
we
must
have
consumed
over
fifteen
dollars’ worth of rum. Some
of it was still on the table
when the guests began going
home.
Kema invaded my room
early the following morning.
When she leaned over my
bed, the odour of rotten cane
juice from her breath got me
nauseated. I noticed her face
was bloated and her eyes red
like a ripe palm nut. “Kai,”
she cried, “the rum got my
head swimming. My legs can
hardly bear me up.” Kema
leaned over and nearly fell on
my face. Her hair was
disheveled and unsightly.
“Where is Tene?” I inquired.
“That sleepy-head one, I
can't get her to wake up,”
Kema struggled to right
herself beside me, but
unfortunately my bed was a
bit short for her tall slender
body. “Why did you inquire
about Tene?” She asked.
“No, I just thought to ask.
Maybe she too is suffering
from the same thing.”
“You know Kai, when young
girls are just learning to
Promoting Liberian literature, Arts and Culture
drink,” Kema declared, “They
don't know where to stop.” To
make me feel good, she said,
“Tene is your wife, why don't
you go to her and play with
her.”
“My wife,” I thought to
myself. I got up hurriedly,
reached for a large towel
hanging over my bed, and tied
it around my waist. When I
pushed the guest room door
ajar, I saw her wrapped up in
her dream, and but for a
narrow scanty piece of
country cloth drawn over her
waist, Tene was practically
naked.
The
multicolor
Fanti
headtie had fallen from her
head, leaving her hair a bit
rumpled, over the peaceful
round face. Ideas scurried
through my mind as I stood
there with my eyes pinned on
Tene. If I wanted to, I could
do anything to her. She
breathed
faintly,
her
voluptuous
breast
softly
moving up and down, quite
unaware of my presence in
the room.
In height Tene did not
measure both of my arms
joined together. A ring
formed by both my thumbs
and third fingers could not go
around her plump legs, but
her ankles and toes were
slender like mine.
I crawled on the bed beside
her, and my body tingled
when her warm coffee color
touched mine.
I put my arms gently around
Tene's waist. My hands
nervously touched the two
strands of beads she had
around her waist. On one of
them hung a small antelope
horn which she wore perhaps
as a charm to bring her good
fortune. When I made an
attempt to press her breast
against my chest, Tene exed
an arm and shot an imploring
5
glance at me. I rubbed her
face gently with my nose.
“Who is this, Kai! What are
you doing to me?”
I felt guilty and replied,
“Nothing Tene, I was just
trying to play with you, that's
all.” She drew away and
turned her back to me.
“Kai, we will play but just
let me sleep a little while
longer.”
“Tene you mean with all the
sleep you had last night you
are still sleepy?”
Tene gathered the cover
cloth and tugged herself
snugly into it, but I moved
closer toward her and with
infinite care pulled it back,
persuading her to turn over
and face me.
Then, Kema barged into the
half shut door to pull Tene up
and escort her to the bath
fence behind the cooking
shed, where a bucket full of
warm water awaited them for
their morning bath.
My landlady who was busy in
the kitchen told the girls to
hurry up and dress so they
could join the landlord with a
delicious breakfast of fried
chicken and new rice.
Tene insisted on coming
into my room to dress. When
she entered the door, I pulled
her towards me and hugged
her. “Gortokai, man leave
me. I didn't come here for that”,
she protested. “I gave you all the
chance in the other room. Now
let me go so I can dress.” I
opened the window opposite my
bed so Tene could get sufficient
light to make use of the only
mirror available.
While she was dressing,
Tene's
inquisitive
eyes
peeped into every nook and
corner of the room. One
object seemed to attract her,
the small decorated wooden
valise on the table at the
bottom of my bed.