Liberian Literary Magazine
a male voice. The person
cleared his throat and
repeated his inquiry. It was
not until I heard the loading
of a shot gun inside, that
identified myself.
“Gortokai, that's who!”
In a flash, I heard the
creaking of the door,
followed by a blinding glare
which
rendered
me
helpless
immediately.
“Gortokai, and what are
you doing here this time of
night?” The person inquired,
holding a flashlight directly
in my face.
“My old folks and my
sisters, they live here.”
“Any?”
The
person
inquired. “They have told
me about you. But, arn't
you suppose to be in Suehn
cleaning out a rubber
farm?”
“Yes,” I answered. The
person switched off the light
and suggested that we go
and sit under the kitchen. It
took a little while for me to
regain my vision. The
interrogator was a total
stranger to me. I asked his
name.
“Siafa
Bombo,
from
Firestone,” the stranger
explained. “This is my
second time coming here.
Just before my first visit, a
heart man broke into the
girls' room to harm them.
Since then, they have been
sleeping with the old folks.”
When Tene, Kema and
later
the
old
folks
recognized my voice, they
came out to greet me. It
was
indeed
not
an
enthusiastic reception.
The following morning
someone informed me that
the stranger was Kema's
new
man.
She
had
Promoting Liberian literature, Arts and Culture
changed them so often, it
was nothing strange to me.
During the next few days I
observed that Tene had
changed completely. I
could
not
get
her
committed to anything I
proposed to her. This would
be taken care of, when
Bleng's medicines began to
take effect, of course. To
satisfy my curiosity, I took
Kema to task one day by
asking her bluntly, “now tell
me frankly, does your sister
still love me? Don't hide
anything from me. They say,
teeth and tongue fall out,
what about mortal man?”
“I swear on the Sande
Society,” I was told. “Eh ya,
if only you could open the
poor child's heart and see
for yourself.”
I could see the hypocrisy
in Kema's face. But I knew
that Bleng's leaves would
solve all my problems. But
while I refused to worry
about the family's baffling
behavior, and their two
tongue
approach
regarding the Tene palava,
the short brown fellow from
Bomi Hills decoyed Tene
and one day took her
secretly away.
When that afternoon I
came from the bush, Tene
had moved off bag and
baggage. Anger shot up
and swelled in me like a
furious sea, and I was going
to take my revenge, by
setting Bendabli on fire.
However, I only burned the
medicines old man Bleng
gave me, but still I don't
know whether that was the
right thing to do or not, they
were certainly taking long
to take effect. To add more
fuel to my flaming anger, I
13
learned that Tene had left
with a two-month old belly.
Kema and her people
followed two days later.
They did not dare ask me to
accompany them. I did
however tell Kema before
they left that whatever I
had advanced in the
dowry the family could
have.
“No Kai, you cannot lose
your money like that.
Whoever tied cloth on my
sister, or took her virginity
and made her pregnant
shall pay a hundred dollars
damage to the family. That
is what the law says.”
Kema probably forgot the
law which says if family
people play katakata in a
woman palava, the devil
catches them. Sensing my
anger, Kema hesitated to
press the issue any further. I
felt that nobody meant to
restitute my money to me.
What happened, what
didn't happen in Bomi Hills, I
turned my back on it all and
moved
to
Monrovia.
Knocking about from one
place to another I found my
way to Gbarnga where my
father came from. There I
learned that he had
eventually returned home.
He died but left a well-to-do
brother as head of the
house.
My uncle and wives, who
had never seen me gave a
tremendous
welcome
when they saw me. The
change helped me a lot. I
was kept busy visiting
relatives who were anxious
to see me. The first thing my
uncle did was to offer me a
wife. He did this to prevent
me from returning where I
came from.