Wet Harmattan

RACE

Arumin felt the wind smash into his face almost like a wall and he leaned low on his Ujimi, his nose almost touching the animal’s neck. He looked to his left and could make out Alado’s shape as the young man rode, almost flat on his beast. They rode without reins or saddles and Arumin’s thigh muscles were beginning to complain from the strain of keeping him mounted. Fonaya rode before them upon his silver colored Ujimi and the gap was already widening. Arumin grit his teeth and urged more speed from his mount. She snarled and burst forth. Unlike Fonaya and Alado’s mounts, his was lean and relatively small. They rode the more powerful war ujimi, excellent for long rides but inefficient when it came to races. His Ujimi soon drew level with Fonaya and the older man spared him a short glance before focusing on the horizon, his face set in steely determination. Arumin heard Alado’s whoop from behind and smiled.

The man did not even care if he was losing. He gritted his teeth and focused on the race. He would break Fonaya’s winning streak but he did not quite know how he was going to do it. Fonaya’s Ujimi was both exceptionally fast and possessed the endurance of its kind. Arumin saw vague shape of the fallen tree that blocked the road up ahead and he knew that would be his chance. His Ujimi was excellent when it came to long jumps and Fonaya would have to get closer to the tree in order for his ujimi to jump it. Arumin looked at Fonaya from the sides of his eyes and saw that the man had leaned down until he was almost flat on the back of his ujimi and his eyes had narrowed in concentration. Arumin saw the tree draw closer, turning clearer as he approached it and at that moment, he urged his ujimi into a jump, clearing the distance effortlessly. His Ujimi landed and burst into full speed again, leaving Fonaya a few yards behind him.

He felt wild pride and he let a small smile cross his face. He crossed the two palm trees that marked the finish line but what he saw made his jaw drop. Alado was standing beside his Ujimi, rubbing the beast’s neck and grinning at Arumin. The man had a mischievous glint in his yellow eyes and his smooth, flawless skin shone with sweat. His upper body was bare, revealing a broad chest and very small waist that reminded Arumin of a mountain lion. Fonaya crossed the finish line then, surprise and irritation written clearly on his face.

“Look at.” he said, jumping down from his Ujimi before it stopped. His body was bare as well and he had an almost similar build with Alado, save that his skin was littered with scars and he was slightly shorter than his younger brother. Arumin, still mounted, narrowed his green eyes at his older brother. His light green eyes were a testament to his mixed blood, a mixture of the yellow of the Ngapa and the blue of the Zakanmi tribe. His skin was a much darker reddish brown and he possessed the muscularity of the Ngapa and the height of the Zakanmi, causing him to tower over his brothers.

“Idiot. There was a shortcut, eh. That was cheating. You did not win, far as I’m concerned.” Fonaya said and sucked his teeth. Alado shrugged, grinning.

“We said that the winner would be the first to cross the finish line. I crossed first. It does not matter how.” He said and wiggled his eyebrows. Arumin huffed and jumped down from his Ujimi.
“I should have expected that.” He said, frowning at Alado who burst out into laughter, opening his palm.

“You should have, little brother. I even half expected you to but it seems all that salt you eat has clouded your brain.” He said. Arumin sucked his teeth, taking a black cowrie from his pocket and placed it in Alado’s palm.

“Salt” Fonaya said as he placed his cowrie in Alado’s palm, raising an eyebrow in silent inquiry. Alado grinned and Arumin shot him a powerful glare but the man totally ignored him.

“You should have tasted the soup I ate in his huts yesterday. Ah! It was as if he cooked salt and added a little other things. I almost lost my taste buds.” He said and both men burst into laughter as Arumin regarded them quietly. A small smile soon spread across his lips.

He heard the ujimi before he saw it. He always blessed the eyes for seeing fit to grant him good hearing in compensation for his abysmal eyesight. The others turned later and saw Asai riding up to them, her back straight in an excellent posture. Despite the fact that women were discouraged from riding ujimi in Ngapa, restricted only to horses, Asai had taken it upon herself to learn and perfect the art of Ujimi riding. Fonaya frowned as she approached them.

“Asai, you are not wearing your anklet. This girl, something is wrong with you.” he said and walked to where she had stopped her ujimi. She looked away from his fierce, yellow gaze and stuck out her lower lip.

“ I didn’t want to wear it na. It itches.” She said, sucking her teeth. Fonaya scowled at her and raised his arms to carry her down. She looked at him for awhile and Arumin wished inwardly that she would just accept his help. She seemed to hear his thoughts for she leaned forward, letting him carry her down.

“Fonaya won again, I expect.” She said, eyeing them. Alado grinned then, opening his hands to show her the black cowries. She gasped, raising her hand to her mouth then she giggled, eyeing Fonaya who was frowning. Arumin jumped back upon his Ujimi and she raised an eyebrow at him.

“You will not leave me here. I came looking for you.” She said, anger creeping into her features. Arumin looked down at her a while before he stretched his hand.
You will ride down to the farms with me, then. I have to check on the laborers. This small diversion is already bad enough for father’s displeasure.” he said and she turned to look at her own ujimi awhile then turned to see the resolve in his eyes. He was not about to let her ride her own ujimi alongside him. It wasn’t right. She shrugged and reached for him and he effortlessly pulled her on to the beast and nodded to his brothers then urged his mount forward just as Alado was beginning to say something.

He rode silently for a while, his mind wandering to the message his uncle had sent by flatlar, impatient for the general’s return.

“He arrived just earlier today, you know?” Asai said behind him and he frowned a bit before he understood her and wondered if perhaps she had the ability to read minds as well. He grunted and nodded. She prodded his rib with a finger, causing him to slightly turn his head, eyebrows raised.

“Don’t tell me that you were serious when you said you wanted to join the army.” She said, hands wrapped around his waist to keep from falling. Arumin shrugged.

“Then I won’t tell you.” He said and increased speed so that she would be too focused on keeping balance to speak. He did not want to talk anymore as he already felt he had spoken too much that day.

He dismounted when they got to the fields, a vast sea of green, spotted with the red-brown of workers as they dug up cassava and he inhaled, closing his eyes. Harvest had it’s own scent and he enjoyed it. Many of the men bowed to him as they walked past. Before he could reach out to carry her down, Asai was already on the ground, glaring at him. Her face was hard and a slight sheen of sweat made her forehead glisten.

“Why?” she asked and Arumin stiffened, biting his lip. He turned around to see if any of the others had heard the question but it seemed none of them did. He looked down at Asai’s left leg and frowned before he raised his eyes to meet hers. She stood, glaring at him, teeth clenched, the Ngapa anger burning brightly in her eyes. It was one thing Arumin did not have, that temper that filled the Ngapa was always out of reach for him. He had never truly lost his temper and seeing it in Asai made him strangely jealous.

“I refuse that question” he said and walked into the fields to meet the supervisor. He spoke a little with the man, the back of his mind thinking to go and soothe his sister. He hated seeing her angry and it made him guilty to be the cause of this present episode.He nodded to the man, muttering his approval then he walked to where Asai stood, arms folded, facing away from him. He could tell from the way her jaws moved that she was gritting her teeth. He came to stand beside her and blew out breath through clenched teeth.

“I will answer that question after tonight, after the harvest, after my induction. I will answer it and I’ll play for you.” He said and she raised an eyebrow at him. It had been long since he played the flute for her and he knew that she loved to listen. She shrugged and looked forward, pouting.

“That is if you survive your induction of course. Alado was stuck in his huts for three days. You? You will just die like a chicken.” She said and he raised his eyebrows, gasping playfully.

“Look at this girl o. anyhow, we will see.” He said and narrowed his eyes in mock resolve. She looked at him awhile then finally laughed, deep and soothing before she punched his shoulder. She began to hum a soft, quiet tune and he joined her, both of them nodding to the melody.