He crawled through the entrance into the shelter.
‘I’ve made the fire, Zokho. Two nights now I’ve eaten with Koerikei and his family.’
‘Why don’t you ask his daughter to make your food? She’ll be only too happy to do it.’
‘Karees is not who I’ve chosen.’
‘You should ask her to be your wife.’
‘I don’t know why I’m so stupid, Zokho, that I’m staying with you. You have made a fool of me in front of the others. How can I ask Karees to be my wife when I’m with you? The white boy has gone. He didn’t take you. He doesn’t want you, Zokho. You are of the lizards and the dust, not his kind. Why can’t you see it? Don’t you like me, even a little?’
‘I like you.’
‘What then?’
‘I don’t …’
‘You don’t what?’
‘I don’t want to be with you any more.’
He turned and crept out of the hut.
At his hearth Limp Kao, roasting sheep guts, saw Toma come out of the skerm. It was disrespectful to call out to someone at his own hearth, where he should have privacy, and he waited for Toma to look up, then waved at him to come and sit at the fire.
‘I have too much, Toma. You must help me eat this.’
Toma looked at the roasted intestines and took the portion offered to him. It was hardly enough for the old man, but to refuse would be to insult him.
They ate slowly and finally Limp Kao broke the silence.
‘Zokho is young, you must have patience with her.’
‘For how long, old father? I am getting old waiting. It’s many seasons now that we’re mated. There are others who would be happy to cook my food and have my children.’
Limp Kao nodded.
‘Karees, for instance. Koerikei has not found anyone yet for his daughter.’
‘You are not interested in Karees.’
Toma picked up a stick and stirred the coals.
‘Zokho’s difficult, old father. Today like this, tomorrow like that. And stubborn.’
‘One thing about this land, Toma,’ Limp Kao leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes. ‘You know it’s not going anywhere. The rain will come and give it life and we will eat, and the rain will stay away and every tree and blade of grass will suffer by its selfishness. In the end, it’s still here with us. Generous. Stingy. Ours.’
Toma nodded.
‘It’s hard to be trapped between the teeth of the jackal and the favours of the gods,’ Limp Kao continued. ‘One who understands the soul of the veld knows he can’t change it. He doesn’t try. He fixes his bow. He watches. He waits.’
Toma sat while the flames grew smaller and smaller, until only a small pile of ashes remained. When a respectable time had passed, he got up and bid Limp Kao a peaceful night. With some feeling of relief in his heart, he returned to his skerm.
He lay for a few minutes in the dark beside Zokho, then slipped his hand between her thighs.
‘What’s this?’ he asked, pulling his hand away. ‘Why have you tied a branch to your genitals?’ He felt around her waist, discovering the leather strap holding the contraption in place. ‘What have I done to you that you are doing this? Why are you keeping me away?’
‘I don’t want to.’
‘You are my wife.’
‘My insides hurt. And you have woken me up.’
‘Woken you up?’ He pushed his hand between her thighs and pulled at the leather strap. ‘You’re disobedient. I will not take your stubbornness any longer! Come here, and let me come to you.’
Zokho pushed him away.
He hit her over the head with the branch, pulling her roughly towards him. ‘Why do you think I chose you for a wife? Just to live with you?’
‘My insides hurt, I said!’
‘Your insides don’t hurt, you are thinking of him!’ He hit her again, his open hand stinging her face.
Zokho curled up like a ball. When he entered her against her will, hard and savage, doing his business with fast jerks, she cried silently, helplessly, while the voices of Tau and the others hummed pleasantly in the background.
In the morning, when Karees got up early to urinate, she saw Zokho come out of her skerm. She watched as her friend draped her kaross over her shoulder and walked from the camp. She said nothing to the others when Zokho’s absence was noted and there was speculation that she had gone looking for food. She knew. Zokho had told her. When Roeloff had touched her, his eyes had spoken to hers.
Chapter Eight
