BATTLE BORN

It was a sunny afternoon. The sun was setting in the horizon shining its rays on the savanna creating a golden cover that was beautiful to the eye. In the middle of this sea of gold grasslands was a water point, where all the animals in the land came to quench their thirst. Antelopes, zebras, buffaloes, and the mighty elephants. They all came in herds. Elephants spraying water on their backs with their trunks and seeing the calf trying to do so and failing, not minding the fact that the water covered almost all its body with only the trunk raised up. Without a care in the world it played around the water, why should it? It had giants for protection. Not even a lion could come close to this little calf. Luma saw this and smiled. The animals, the land, the sunset, all this filled his heart with an unexplainable joy. He sat on top of a cliff overlooking the water hole and in extension, the vast grassland.

Luma was a young man who had brown eyes that had fire in them. His smile swept ladies of their feet, it was contagious and filled with life. He had a masculine body; a mixture of an athlete’s body and a warrior’s. He was admired by many and hated by some. But Luma wasn’t always like this. Born to a single mother, he had it rough. His father was the village drunkard who was killed by a lone buffalo when he drank too much and lost his way home and ended up in the buffalo’s path. He really didn’t know his father. Only stories from his peers who ridiculed and bullied him because of the actions of his father. His mother was brave, fearless and no man could ever bring her down and all this poured into Luma. She was neglected by her peers, shunned away by her own family. She built her home a small distance away from the rest of the villagers because she could not keep up with the insults and she wanted her own piece of mind and raise her only child in peace. He was his mother’s son. He knew how to fend for himself at a very young age. Whenever his mum was ill, he would go to the forest, look for herbs, and bring it to his mother. He was a fighter. His age-mates would bully him because of his father, a coward, a drunkard, and ‘kotico’. A kotico is a name that was given to a child not raised by a man. This made him really angry and he would end up fighting most of the boys in the village. As much as his mother tried to shield him from all the name-calling, he could not control his bad temper, after all, he was his father’s son. Luma didn’t have many friends while growing up. He was mostly a loner who loved spending his time with his mother and being one with the earth. He loved nature.

“Luma, let us go home. It is getting late.” A female voice spoke.

“I’m coming,” Luma responded as he stood up, brushed off the grass from his back and started walking towards where the voice came from.

“You know my father will be mad at me again if I get home late and even more when he learns I was with you”, she remarked, with a worried tone as she held Luma’s hand hurriedly leading him towards the village.

“Your father will not be having a problem when I pay the bride price for you then you can be mine Mukhwana,” Luma said, pulling her towards him and smiled. “That smile is what got me here in the first place.” Mukhwana thought.

She was right, Luma’s smile is what got her to be at this exact moment with him. It was started a year ago when Mukhwana was out in the forest to fetch firewood when he met up with a half-naked Luma who had come from taking a bath in the nearby stream. Luma was a shy person and Mukhwana liked what she saw.

“Hello Luma, how are you?” She asked with a half-smile on her face. Luma just stood there, staring, not a word could come out of his mouth. How could it? Mukhwana was the most beautiful lady in all of the villages. She was graceful, she was royalty in her own right. She was made from all things beautiful in the earth. From her smile down to every detailed part of her body. She was a wonder, a magnificent beauty that any man could desire. And every man did desire her. Her father had received so many offers from many men who wanted to make her their wife and she turned them all down because she didn’t ‘feel’ it. Ever since, her father became extra protective of her because he knew he had a very lucrative “investment”.

“Luma, are you okay?” She asked as she giggled at a still speechless Luma who just got paralyzed by her beauty.

“I’m Luma.” Finally, he was able to speak.

“I know your name Luma, I was wondering how you are faring.” She said with a smile.

“You are very beautiful Mukhwana” Luma said.

“Thank you Luma. I have to go back to the village now. It was nice bumping into you Luma. Have a goodnight” She walked away, occasionally looking back and smiling at a still confused Luma who just stared at her as she disappeared into the shrubs.

“- You are beautiful Mukhwana? - What were you thinking Luma? Couldn’t you have just said you are doing okay and ask her how she’s doing?” He cursed himself but it was too late, she had already gone and it was at this moment he realized it was getting cold. He went back home, still cursing himself.

 He had lost an opportunity but had he?

The days that followed both Mukhwana and Luma met up a couple of times and this time around Luma did not ‘waste’ his chances. They got to talking and loved each other’s company every day. They would always meet up in the forest edge, where the grasslands begin where there was a cliff overlooking the entire grasslands. Away from the village because her father did not like Luma because he thought Luma would end up just like his father, a drunkard. After 4 months of meeting in the forest and getting to know more of each other, Luma had developed feelings for Mukhwana and he had hoped that she felt the same for him. One day as they were at their normal spot he narrated to her a poem.

If the world ends today.

Let it end with you by my side.

With everything that people may say.

Let them know that you are my life.

From your body down to your heart.

To the very essence of your being.

From you I don’t ever want to be apart.

With you I feel like I’m living.

You are my friend.

You are my love.

That has no end.

Let the gods hear this from above.

I love you, Mukhwana.

This time, Mukhwana was the one left speechless. She just looked at him, looking at his smile, looking deep into his eyes, filled with this fire, a fire that yearned for her, to be with her, to love her. She felt how intense it was and she felt the same for him. For long she had been wanting to feel this way, but she was easily bored by most men in the village. Luma wasn’t most men. He was caring, kind, generous, respected she and most importantly, he loved her, genuinely.

 She opened up her arms, reached out for Luma, brought him closer. Her soft lips came closer to him. Luma was breathing heavily on her, his heart racing faster than usual. Mukhwana felt his lips on her, they were soft. She could feel an electrifying feeling all over her body. They kissed. Stopped and looked into each other’s eyes, they want they had for each other was loud. They yearned for their bodies to be one. Luma laid her down, started kissing her neck, breathing heavily on it, whispering “I want you Mukhwana” in her ears. His hands gliding gently over her body. Taking his time to feel her curves. His lips brushing over her neck, her lips, teasing her, giving her gentle bites. Gentle kisses down her neck, to her chest. She felt like she was in the cosmos.

“I love you Mukhwana” Luma said. They both walked towards the village, it was getting late.

When they both reached close to the village, they took different paths. Mukhwana’s home was in the middle of the village while Luma was segregated. He kissed her and the forehead and whispered “I love you”, she smiled.

“I love you too my King”. She replied, knowing how much Luma meant to her, she was his queen, he was her king.

Luma watched her as she disappeared into the darkness and he walked towards his home. Humming his favorite tune. He was happy. Why wouldn’t he? He had the most beautiful lady in all of the village as his and life couldn’t better, or was it?

As he came closer to home, it was dark and a loud silence covered the compound.

“Mama!! Are you home?” He called out to his mother as he walked closer to the house. His pace slowed, he had this bad feeling that he couldn’t shake off. Worrying that something was wrong, he sprung towards the house, flung the door open. “Mama, where are you?!!! Mama!!!!!” His voice grew louder and frantic as he walked from one room to the next.

He stepped into her room, the window was open. In the room everything was disorganized, clothes left lying on the floor, the bed was flipped like a scuffle had taken place. As he walked through the mess, he noticed blood on the side of the window. Could it be? He saw something that looked like a figure lying just outside the window. Motionless. “Mama!!!!!!!!!” he leaped over the window. He turned the motionless body and he couldn’t believe it, there she was, his mother. The woman who single-handedly raised her, who made him become the man he is, lifeless, covered in blood. He wanted to scream but he couldn’t. Pain had griped his voice. He held her in his arms, tears flowing from his eyes, in a shaky voice he called out “Mama! Mama! Mama!!!” No response, she was gone. His mother was dead. Her life taken away. Taken away from Luma. He let out a loud cry.

Who could do such a thing?

Who killed his mother?

To be continued…….