Liberian Literary Magazine
The old man continued
with a raised fist.
“Joma! you just leave her.
Kema will soon come to the
end of her rope. Ain't I born
her?
When I get through
swearing her, she will
forever
remember
a
mother's curse. “
“I am sorry I brought up
this question, Mba Karn, but
I have to get certain things
clear in my mind, before I
contemplate on making
farms for the coming
season. For, what is the
point starting to cut bush for
a rice farm, when the girls
particularly Tene, will not be
here to see about it?”
I did not take me long to
discover the secret line of
communication between
the sisters and learn about
the expensive gifts Tene
was receiving from a man in
Firestone
whom
Kema
wanted her to marry.
These gifts were being
kept in the home of a friend,
where Tene had secretly
moved her large trunk and
the brown valise she got
from the Bomi Hills man.
Every time I thought of the
whole affair, my mind ran to
Buu's adage, that the
secrets of a woman are
deeper than the bottom of
hell. As God would have it,
the person who kept Tene's
belongings was an old lover
of mine. She hated the
Joma girls for the way they
were treating me. It was she
who gave me complete
access to Tene's hidden
stores.
One
evening
while
carrying my bath water to
the fence, Tene put her
arms around my waist and
Promoting Liberian literature, Arts and Culture
whispered, “Kai, it's you I am
sleeping with tonight. How
do you like that?” But I
noticed that Tene looked
serious, and that she was
doing this just to appease
my growing bitterness.
You see, she could not
stand up against pressure
from anyone, because her
heart was domineered by
her sister. She was helpless
and unable not to obey
her, even though this
meant unhappiness for
herself. But by the same
token my ardent and
possessive love haunted
and terrified her even more,
and sensing my slowly
mounting desperation and
repressed anger, she tried
to cajole me through the
occasional gift of her body
into sweet forgetfulness.
While playing with the
baby that night, I asked her,
“Tene, why do you try to
fool me. Every