The Gods Among Us

Chapter 11 - Red Sky At Night

Red sky at night, I said to the gathered clan.

Sailors delight, they all said in unison, and indeed it was a good omen, because a pair of Peacocks came by and spread their tail feathers at that moment, and everyone stood and Ooh'd and Ah'd at the great birds. They first arrived many years ago when a lone man and his female walked into our camp one night claiming he was a refugee from a great drought south of us, and that he had escaped many dangers and was glad to find a home now. And when one of the two birds spread its tail exposing its colors, those gathered rejoiced and were glad of the new visitors. Julie named them Peacocks.

That is the male, said the stranger who called himself Koons, and he explained that males must attract females by looking fine. The women laughed because he himself was richly adorned with feathers and cat claws.

Their children had perished on the journey there, he had told us. They had five when they started, three lost to animals, and two to hunger. But something strange happened after Koons arrived. The great River Zar, which Julie called the Nile began to rise, and almost within a week, between two Sabatta, it had doubled in size, and stays so to this day. This was attributed to the Peacocks, and they are considered taboo now because of their portent.

I continued my story.

You remember last Sabatta, I began, and Julie was being shown her new home by the Ori. She was no longer in Texas, but here, and far to the south.

She came here from the Borealis riding on UFOs. And so Julie could see what the Ori saw and always see. (World without end, said the chorus.)

And this is what she saw.

Dada, Ujiji said to Tall One after seeing him argue with Old Man. The naked boy ran to catch up with his father as he stormed off to his shelter.

Dada, why do you let him talk to you that way? Ujji asked when he caught up to his father Tall One carried his powerful charm. When he turned to talk with his son, the twisted club came between them, the claw threatened.

Dada, said Ujiji, did you challenge Maburuki?

He admired his father. Tall One had in his possession the forefoot of a great Long-Toothed Cat, which he had killed many years ago when he was a man just two years older than Ujiji was now.

You had best keep your mouth shut boy, or you'll never live to see your balls drop. Maburuki is still the Clan leader and he has the final say in all matters.

As all boys did, he spent all but the coldest days naked except for a talisman, which he wore around his neck. Only when they reached puberty would they wear a tiny purse around their waist, which is attached to their genitalia. And only then after they killed a predator; either a cat or bear would do. (Laughter among the clan because Koons came to us naked and now many of us are clothed, of course.)

The Tall One not only stood taller than most people in the Mirumbura Clan, he also had more scars than anyone else. One could read in these scars the story of how he caught and killed the great cat whose paw he now carried everywhere. When Ujiji and his brother Mutesai were younger, and it was permitted, they would trace their fingers over the raised scars and think how one day they too would be so possessed as their father.

But Dada, people talk, he said, I hear the men, your friends speaking against the Old Man when they gather. And the women whisper. People are starving and we aren't moving far enough. The Old Man must be replaced.

Then let them talk, said Tall One, Let one of them challenge Old Man if they please. The challenge is serious, do not push me, son. You should be more like your older brother Mutesai and keep your nose clean.