BATTLE BORN II

Three weeks later.

Birds chirp in the nearby tree. The darkness in the room disappears as the rays of the sun creep in as it rises. Everything comes to life. The flowers blossom, there’s life outside. Inside the house, there’s despair, ire, loneliness, and grief. A bird perches on the window frame, Luma lifts his head up and notices the collared sunbird chirping. Its dark green collar and yellow bird. For a split second Luma’s pain had drifted away right there, looking at the bird. Then it flew away and the pain crept back in. It was at this moment he heard the door knocking. Must have been for a while because whoever was knocking on the door was now banging on the door. Luma stood up, a bit frail he was. He hadn’t eaten in days, had not taken a bath and the stench in the room was testimony to that fact. He dragged his feet towards the door and whoever was banging on the door was close to breaking it down.

“Alright, I’m coming!!! Don’t break the damn door!!!” a visibly irritated Luma said.

As he opened the door. Mukhwana sprung it open. Worry written all over her face.

“Why won’t you come out of the house Luma? Ever since your mother’s funeral you have been locked up in the house and every time I came knocking at your door you did not open. So I gave you space to mourn but I got too worried. I had to come see you my love.”

Luma gave her a blank stare and in an undertone he asked, “This is not the first time you knocking?”

As surprised as Mukhwana was, she understood. To lose a parent, the only parent you have ever known in your life. That has guided you and molded you must have been devastating. The despair in the once fiery eyes could tell it all. Almost like a huge part of Luma died with his mother. She understood. Mukhwana led Luma outside and led him towards the nearby stream. She bathed him. He led him back into the house, changed his clothes, rearranged the house, and cooked him a hot meal.

“Do you want to go to the forest edge?” Mukhwana asked. She knew Luma always loved that spot. This is where he went to think and it is of significance to both her and him.

Luma gave a nod and they both stood. Locked the house and walked to their favorite spot.

“See, the cheetah is normally afraid of the lion, it cannot attack a lion because it knows it will be overpowered but when a cheetah is protecting her cubs, now that is something else. She will fiercely guard her cubs and will even fight off a lion even when she knows the lion can overpower her, she will stand her ground. The cubs hide behind her because she’ll protect them. I wonder, is there a cub in that moment that wishes they could protect their mother and fight off the lions themselves?” Luma said as he stared at a cheetah with her cubs on top of a small hill.

“There’s nothing you could have done Luma.” Mukhwana said as she held his hand.

“If only I was a few minutes later, maybe, just maybe I would have saved her life and right now my mother would be with me and not rotting away buried.” Luma exclaimed.

“I never really knew my father. I heard stories of how much of a drunkard he was. Mama raised me, she was my father and my mother.”

Tears start rolling down his cheeks.

“She is the reason I am the man I am. She has always protected me. Guided my path and I couldn’t even protect her. What kind of a son am I?!!! Tell me Mukhwana, what kind of a son am I that I let my mother die. What kind of son doesn’t protect his mother? A disgrace is what I am. It should be me in that grave, not my poor mother! Not her!!!!! ME!!!!” Luma said as he burst into tears.

Mukhwana pulled him closer towards her bosom. He laid there, crying and she just held him and could not help but cry also. She had never seen Luma this delicate, this vulnerable. It was special. In a society where men are deemed weak to be seen crying and here was a man crying. Showing his emotions to her, letting her in. She felt this moment on a different level and she loved Luma the more.

Luma stayed in Mukhwana’s arms. From when the sun was above till the sunset. Luma’s head rose from her bosom. He looked at Mukhwana and smiled. He found his rock. The woman that held him together when he was in shambles. She was the one for him. In a time of tragedy, she was the cushion that broke his fall.

They rose up and headed towards the village. Both in each other’s arms. No words spoken. Why speak when their love was as loud as thunder in a savanna storm. As they approached their junction, Luma stopped looked up in the skies. It was a clear sky, stars could be seen appearing and the demilune moon was bright.

“Mama, I’m sorry I wasn’t there but I won’t rest till I get the person that took your precious life away. Never.”

Mukhwana held his hand tightly and she didn’t let go. Instead of going to her home, she decided to sleep with Luma for the night. She knew if her family found out, she’d never be allowed to leave the house. She was disobeying her father, her own family will be disgraced if they found out she was sleeping with a man she isn’t married to. Her father’s ‘investment’ would lose value but she didn’t have a care in the world. Why would she? She was home.

That night Mukhwana and Luma were once again one. Their souls were in tune. Vibrating in the same physical frequency. Their hearts dancing to the same beat, there steps in sync. It was a merge of a waltz and an adume. It was magical. A fairy feeling. It was love.

Days passed and Mukhwana hadn’t gone home yet. Luma’s bright smile and fiery eyes were slowly coming back. Mukhwana was filling the empty places left by the death of his mother. He was finally affording a smile, a constant smile. Even with the happiness, Luma would still be caught in his thoughts, trying to figure out who killed his mother, what motive had they to kill her? These thoughts would constantly creep in but Mukhwana always found a way to thwart these thoughts away. They would go take baths together. Every moment they spent together was memorable. A moment that they wished would last forever but Mukhwana had to return to her father. She knew by now the father was really worried and the last place he could think come look for her was at her king’s home. After days of spending together, it came to an end. Both were sad but she had to.

After she left, Luma sat on his bed, the pin-drop silence was loud. He could hear his heartbeat in the silence like the drums during the festive season. The thoughts running through his mind were driving him mad. So he went to the forest edge and at this point he stayed there, all night, looking down on the savanna, the water hole. Hearing the sounds of the hyena, ‘laughing’ the night away, the lion roaring, probably warning any other lion not to trespass. This became a habit. Spending the nights at the forest edge. His thoughts could escape and roam freely into the night compared to feeling enclosed inside the house.

One night as he was laid there, watching the night sky, he noticed an orange color light up the sky. He stood up, looked from which direction it came from and it was from his house. It wasn’t just the orange light that got his attention but the smoke and here there’s smoke, there’s bound to be fire.

He ran as fast as he could. Brushing through the bushes. Heart racing hoping he will be able to salvage at least something. As he got closer he could noises. People shouting in excitement. For a minute Luma hoped it was the same people that killed his mother. This made him even run faster towards his burning house. Once he got to a clearing, he saw his house burning. He saw three men holding torches and he came at them like an animal. Seeing his house burn, his mother’s memories burn; that ignited another fire. A different kind of fire. His blood was boiling with rage. He beat the three men and left them lying on the ground, writhing with pain. As he went to punch his next victim in the crowd of people that had already gathered closer to him, a commanding voice stopped him.

“STOP!!!!!!” the voice spoke.

“Stop right now you dog!” Luma tried to look who was talking and to his surprise, it was Mukhwana’s father, with Mukhwana by his side, crying, and had clearly been beaten.

“Who hit you Mukhwana?! Tell me so that they can meet the gods.” An angry Luma said. Breathing heavily.

“I did it. I hit her and you cannot do anything about it. Who do you think you are? You are a drunkard’s son. You are not part of the village, just another boy that doesn’t deserve to even live with people. An animal. Tell me Luma, who do you think you?” Mukhwana’s father asked mockingly.

“I am my mother’s son!!” Luma shouted his response.

“Aaah, your mother. Tell us, what kind of a son leaves an old woman alone and goes to wherever only to be killed. You are a disgrace, just like your father. A disgrace. A disease. “Mukhwana’s father said.

Luma had heard enough. He leaped towards him with a clenched fist only to be held back by four men.

“Coward, come face me!!!” Luma said, struggling to get out from the men’s grip.

“Do you know why I’m here Luma? Well you see, Mukhwana here started acting funny a week ago. Vomiting in the morning, moods change and resenting things that I’m pretty sure she liked. So as the caring father I am, I inquired as to why she was acting like that. Until her mother told me that she was pregnant. All the symptoms she showed suggested so. Imagine the shock on my face. My beautiful Mukhwana. Pregnant. How? Again, as the good father that I am, I asked her politely who the father was and she went silent. I remembered she had been away from home for almost a week and she had refused to tell me where she was. Now, you see all these marks” pointing out the bruises on her face. “I gave them to her. It pained me much to have to bruise this beautiful face but I had to. She finally broke and guess who I hear the father is. The orphaned Luma. My heart almost stopped beating. I was shocked. So I got the village together to come and harm you the way you have harmed my family and I.”

“You are pregnant?” Luma shockingly asked Mukhwana.

She nodded with tears flowing down her bruised face.

“You are going to meet your parents soon Luma. Say hi to your mother for me, she was a sweet woman.” Mukhwana’s father mockingly said.

“Nooooooo!!!!!!!” Mukhwana screamed.

This was the last straw. The anger that was in his heart erupted and was able to push the men away. He beat the men that held him. He was an animal. A lion and his eyes were on Mukhwana’s father. He started to run towards him, bringing down anybody that came across his path. The animal inside had been awaken and it was roaring loud. His paced increased and he leaped, fist behind him ready to throw a punch. Mukhwana’s father stood there, shocked.

Then, darkness.

To be continued…