Crossing the red line

og. In my mother's hut, I could hear Ruhaya the he-goat chasing Mukazi the she-goat. Puh! . . . Mymymymy-- Mymymymy ---y-y-y........! So sex

w how to welcome visitors, especially if he was fresh from tow

t on sniffing at my heels whenever I showed signs of sleep. But unf

sawmill, while the third one earned his living by tilling the exhausted plot. My mother tilled the land while my aging father spent his days swallowing the native Tonto. I hardly saw him except when somebody called in to report that the old man h

ad she told her father about the pregnancy? What was going to happen when her father found out? Many unpleasant things can happen when a hobo like me impreg

ad already made up my mind to start something really worth doing. After a careful survey of various pett

ensary. This was the vantage point for his busin

a coffin, but when you start doing it, you never want to stop it. These are not old

for the dead. And what last respect can a dead man

amused by dead bo

didn't die, I would run a business at lo

ning my muscles. I was to pay him some money as capital and later work on fifty-fifty ba

cks about a tedious job. My muscles started hardening, my veins protruded like potat

t, the business wasn't as booming as David had led me to believe. The demand of coffins wasn't promising. People in this area didn't die in

bout burying the deceased with honours. ' What is the use o

ts and a little saving. I adjusted to the prevailing circumstances; trying to save as mu

I followed her look and made out the unmistakable figure of Ameria. My heart jerked with apprehension. It is difficult to explain how I felt a

now her?' she asked, her eyes searching my face. ' Yes,' I said in a hoarse voice. Before she could seek further explanatio

se there are not many people with such a name in this region. I looked at m

reetings. She looked at me for help. In return I looked at my mother to warn her that this was not a typical girl. She was br

her's hut, because it wasn't in keeping our culture for a man to receive a lady in his room when the parents ar

dare to look at Ameria in the face. I was ashamed of my own poverty. To Ameria, a hut like this one was supposed to be somewhere in museum.

s half chocked by the smoke coming from the embers and her eyes were wet with tears. This sm

ly noticeable sound was that of my mother's axe as she splint wood outside. She was definitely wondering why this ex

examination. The doctor immediately knew that I was pregnant. He didn't tell me but I saw him make a note of it. To make it worse, he knows my father. He told me to remind him of my father's

nt of hiding it. Even if I didn't tell him there was a directory nearby. After all

on me. How could I face him? So I decided to run away before the news reached him. Immediately after leaving the

you intend to do now?' I asked stupidly. ' Go with you to my father. You

a rhino, big eyes which only looked at expensive and which despised cheap things. I saw

g the impossible,' I said apologetically. The best I can expect from your father is a broken rib. I am sorry, but I can'

f this place. We are poor people with no signs of improvement in the foreseeable future. You just can't live here. On the oth

and find her in that state, but as she came staggering

n on her face indicated that she smelt trouble. She avoided looking at Ameria because of the latter's outrageous short skirt. Sitting on a

ia said in English. My mother knew no English. ' You th

disappointment. As any other mother would, she was entitled to knowing

are explaining the improbable. It becomes hell when your parents laugh at you. That was what I feared: my mother laughing

uble,' I said f

ause you impregnated y

ghed. So d

'

she has come t

'

father know th

'

nding to marry he

oked hard on me. My mother w

God, what a

ell what effects the three letter word had on her. ' Then you will have to talk to her

a man out of me when she very well knew the incredibility of such a situation. On my part, I didn't want t

n't say yes or no, she let the matter end there. But right ins

to marry the down-trodded son of a Tonto toper. My brothers came with packets of sugar. Their wives brought food, specially p

Black Duke who is not aware of such arrangements. You should have seen the faces of those who were wishing me well. They tried to hide it with their forced smiles, but

hail Mary". But now as we chatted in low voices, she looked completely relaxed. Could she change, I wondered? I wished she could. I tried to liken her case to similar cases. Oh yes, She could if she if she wanted. Take for instance of that president who was deposed: he now lives in hiding. No motorcades to escort him; no soldi

of with her. Experience first, negotiations later. But it made me feel very aukward to think that my mother and everybody els

guarding Ameria from rats. She would cling on me for protection. The hard grass-mattressed bed was not that comfortable and the bed

mind?' she asked shortly

d. ' I will talk