TLADI

Chapter 5

This was how they solved disputes and kept the peace in the village:
The two hostile parties would be sent out into the wilderness together from sunset to sunrise.
The rules were as follows:
A piece of rope made from animal hide would be tied around their arms; binding them together. If the rope snapped, they would have to spend another night in the wilderness together. They were to stay together. Should one be seen without the other at any point during their little trip he/she would be killed on sight. They were to leave holding hands and return as such. The intention of the whole excursion was to make them resolve their issues, not to punish them (although it often felt that way). However, such a thing could not be forced; it could merely be encouraged. That was what this was; very strong encouragement. When hostility results in physical conflict then one must know that it is seriously overdue for extreme measures to be taken, and taken they would be.

Why did the beginning of the night have to be so beautiful if I was to spend it with this man? Tladi thought. What's worse, there was something in the air that night. It was the kind of magic that weaves itself around you and refuses to let go. They had travelled as though going on a long journey, slowly, as though saving as much energy as possible for a long ordeal. In many ways they were heading for a long ordeal.

Back at the village 'The-red-eyed-mob' burst into Umthunz'omnyama's hut and struck a dramatic pose. She was sitting on her reed mat, mixing a waxy mixture in a small clay pot. With her long delicate brown hands, she put a tight small rope into the wax and placed the clay pot beside her.
"So, what is the nature of the charm?" 'The-red-eyed-mob' asked Umthunz'omnyama. His deep voice rumbling down Umthunz'omnyama's back.
"Why should it concern you like such?" Umthunz'omnyama asked, with her deep, rough, solemn voice, looking at him through her beaded dreadlocks. 'The-red-eyed-mob' gave a short deep bark of laughter. He moved around with a hunter's stealth; his face hovered before Umthunz'omnyama's before she could blink.
"Ah, but you know that everything that concerns you..." he paused dramatically, listening to the echoes of his deep voice, "...concerns me." This last bit was emphasized as though it was a fact that repeatedly had to be made clear. Umthunz'omnyama smiled, but it was hidden behind the shadow of her beaded locks cast by the yellow candle light.
"Must you always know everything like such, Oyena?" Umthunz'omnyama's deep, rough, solemn voice rasped. No one ever called him 'The-red-eyed-mob' to his face.
"Must you always avoid answering questions?" He replied, pushing away her locks of hair to reveal her face. His strong, old, yet youthful face was centimeters from hers.
"It is a charm to ensure that no one dies in the wilderness tonight." Umthunz'omnyama lowered her eyes from those of 'The-red-eyed-mob'. The mood had changed suddenly.
"I know I shouldn't..." 'The-red-eyed-mob' lifted her face with a large, gentle fingertip.
"Oyena," the Sangoma whispered his name, "I'm scared." Her face was solemn. 'The-red-eyed-mob' looked deep into Umthunz'omnyama's dark eyes, his light-brown eyes questioning.
"You are afraid that the children's mutual hatred will overcome their sense?" He rumbled, holding Umthunz'omnyama's heart-shaped brown face in his hands, his brown eyes penetrating. Umthunz'omnyama shook her head gravely, slowly.
"No, nothing like such. I'm afraid of something I saw in my visions..." she trailed off into a silent whisper and looked her dark eyes into the dark night sky. The moon was just rising. It was large and glowing orange on the horizon.

Tladi looked at it with one beautiful dark eye and continued to be lost for words in the quiet, uneasy awkwardness. Stima took a deep breath.
"We need firewood," he said, in the most normal voice he could muster. Yet it somehow managed to come out as a deep grunt. Soon they were sitting by a fire, eating roasted meat from the morning's hunt in silence. A thunderstorm brewed beyond the horizon. It had been slowly but steadily brewing since they left the village and it continued to do so. It was going to be a long night.

Sunrise came and brought with it their two tall forms walking separately, the rope broken, not holding hands. It was clear that none of them had slept. Something was different. It was not just that the bristling hostility had disappeared; something else had taken its place. It was something strange; hard to decipher, but it was there, irrevocably. It affected the whole village; spread a nervous agitation through it. However, not so much as it did to Umthunz'omnyama. That afternoon she had turned to 'The-red-eyed-mob' and solemnly said:
"Last night I should not have done like such..."
"What is it you speak of?"
"The lighting of the charm, it would have been better if one of them had died that night..."
'The-red-eyed-mob' turned sharply, dramatically. It had the feel of a group of dancers dramatically turning simultaneously. Umthunz'omnyama's eyes searched those of 'The-red-eyed-mob'. She felt like a host of people were looking back. She looked away, opened her mouth to speak, thought better of it and instead said:
"You don't know what I've seen; I've been taking chances with the future of the 'The Most Secret Truth'. You don't know what I've seen and now they have to go back for another night..." Umthunz'omnyama went still and quiet. 'The-red-eyed-mob' felt there was nothing left to do except maybe to hold her and so he did. It spoke more than words could say.