A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND SINS

SIN 3

THE FLYING COOKING STICK

We were arguing on a Saturday morning with Innocent about who would feed the cows and do the house chores; and who would look after our two-year-old sister, who rarely shut her mouth or put on a smile in the absence of mum. A slight tap on her back would make her wail the whole day like a lost lamb – she made sure mum heard her from wherever she was. Mum and dad had left to look for land for leasing now that we were on a long holiday. After the beatings I got for committing SIN 2, mum had said we were too idle, and Saturn had hijacked our minds and was using them as his workshop to manufacture sins, mischief and chaos.

“I will look after Tina,” I said just to make my brother believe that was the easier duty.

“No! I will take care of her. She usually cries when you carry her,” Innocent protested, ran to the kitchen, grabbed Tina and carried her around. Little did he know he was locking himself in a pot of misery.

“Okay. I will do the other chores – the difficult ones,” I said, picked an empty sack and a panga and fed the cows and goats. For sure, Innocent was celebrating in his heart because it was drizzling. I knew he would soon dash into the sitting room, pick a cassette tape, play the late Emachichi sings and sing along in peace.

Three hours later, I was done with the chores. The sun was out. Innocent was still waving a monotonous toy in front of Tina, trying to trick her into drinking some sugarless white porridge while singing Amenisameheee. I was sure in his heart, he prayed hard that nothing like ‘Nataka mum’ (I want mum) crossed Tina’s mind because she would yelp for 12 hours.?

As I was resting under a shade in the compound, our friends Keli and Mose came. They seemed excited.

“We are going to swim. Who will join us?” Mose asked.

“Me! I have finished my work,” I said.

Innocent looked at me with a frown. “I will tell mum you went swimming the whole day,” he said, almost crying. He looked at Tina, who seemed bored with each passing second – just waiting for a click, then she would yelp the whole day.

“I have finished my work. Did I choose for you what you are doing?” I asked, but Innocent murmured something that sounded Chinese while closing his eyes. I gave the cows water as we prepared to leave.?

All of a sudden, Tina threw away the toy and cried. I wasn’t ready to stay, no matter what. Innocent carried Tina around the compound and showed her chicks, birds, flowers, bees, and planes in the sky, but nothing interested her. She wanted mum, and that was final. Innocent sang her a lullaby song with his croaky voice, sounding like a starving cockerel learning to crow. That was when I knew he was desperate. With every line he sang, Tina cried even louder. Tears formed in his eyes as he hysterically stamped his feet on the ground. I ran into the toilet and laughed my heart out. I knew he would kill me if he found me laughing.

We left for the river with my friends. We took three hours swimming and catching small fish. When it was time to return home, I remembered I had left Tina and Innocent crying, and for sure, mum and dad had arrived and were mad at everyone and everything. I knew mum was shouting and throwing dirty utensils out of the kitchen, and dad was ‘smelling’ cables just to confirm if someone switched on the Great Wall TV. I suspected Innocent had said I did nothing apart from going to the river to swim.

“Guys, you can leave. I have to fetch some firewood. Otherwise, I will be killed,” I said to Keli and Mose.

“If you must go with the firewood, we can help you – teamwork. Our parents are not strict. For me, I will go home with nothing, and nothing will happen,” Keli said. He raised his shoulders and tramped like a ‘monopolistic’ ram into a nearby bush. Hurriedly, we fetched the firewood and climbed the steep slope, everyone carrying a heap on his head. As soon as we arrived at the gate, we heard innocent yelling and begging for forgiveness. For sure, he had committed a terrible SIN. Mum and dad questioned him as they beat him in turns. Tina was also constantly crying.

“Let us walk in, guys. Don’t shy,” Keli said. Keli led the line as we followed each other in a single file with firewood on our heads like Safari ants carrying their dead leader. I stayed in the middle. Suddenly, I saw a cooking stick flying toward my face. The way mum threw it directly at me without hitting Keli, who was in front … I don’t understand to date. I crouched, and the cooking stick hit and broke a fence pole.

Trap! Trap! Trap! We forcefully dropped our firewood next to the kitchen door to announce our ‘usefulness’. Innocent looked at me, and he seemed more worried than before. The beating was halted for a moment.

“Mambo, bring your head here,” mum hissed, holding a stick in her hands. Dad had his usual rubber baton. Tina’s lips were bleeding. It reminded me of the mutura lips in SIN 1. I trembled. Innocent has committed a horrible sin, I thought.

“Where were you when Tina fell off the bed?” mum asked.

“I went to fetch firewood. Tina was okay when I left,” I said.

“Innocent said you went to swim in the river. Do you know how dangerous that is?” dad said.

“We just took a bath, but we were going to fetch firewood. Innocent chose to look after Tina as I did all the chores.” Innocent was beaten like never before.

He begged, pleaded, and made a million promises that he would be an obedient boy for the next a hundred years but mum and dad were determined to teach him a lesson now.

We heard Mama Mose calling. “Please go home. Your mother is calling,” mum said to Mose and Keli. A few minutes later, I heard two loud squeals from the neighbour’s house. I could tell the voices were of Keli and Mose. Keli’s was the loudest. Didn’t Keli say his parents were not strict? I thought and remembered how he lumbered into a bush like an untouchable hulk. I wanted to laugh but had to postpone the laughter lest it would have ended in tears.

After the beating, Innocent was released. He took off into the maize farm like a beheaded chicken. He stepped on a sharp maize stalk protruding from the ground. It pierced through his foot.

“Mambo! Mambo! Mambo!” I heard him scream on the maize farm. I dashed to look at him. I saw blood streaming out of the upper and lower side of his foot. I tried to pull out the piece of maize stalk, but it was too painful to watch. Poor Innocent was in double pain. I carried him back to the compound.

“What were you looking for on the farm?” mum asked.

“The whipping was not enough. He had to look for more pain,” dad added.

We took Innocent to the hospital using a bodaboda. The doctor removed the stalk. Innocent squealed like an injured rabbit. He lost control of his body’s ‘cutouts’, sending everyone, including the doctor, for a compulsory 3-minute break while covering their noses.

After treatment, the doctor said to Innocent, “Please go and wash your legs. This swollen one is dirty and scaly. It looks like high-yield cassava.”

I wanted to laugh, but when I looked at mine, I had to nod on behalf of Innocent to avoid being attacked by the doctor. Innocent stayed at home for three days to recover. Little did we know that Innocent’s recovery would lead us to SIN 4.