In the next five villages in the middle of the night, Hilda, Maria's sister sat in the kitchen after feeding her children. She was waiting for her husband. This was the third time in a span of one week that the man had come home late. At least the other time he arrived a little before eleven in the night. She sat by the fire, startling it any time it was about to die. She wished him well. Her anger was now subsiding. She just wanted him home. She wanted him home in the presence of her boys.
As she took a nap on her lap, one of the elder boys came to sit with her. He was finding it difficult to sleep. They sat in silence before Hilda woke up from her nap. She took the boy in her arms as the door was knocked.
He was here.
Mailu stood by the doorway. He was reeking of alcohol. The stench was so strong that Hilda had to cringe her nose. She took her son to their room and came back for her man. He was tired and hungry. She warmed up his food and washed his hands and waited in silence as he munched and swallowed. She was satisfied that he was home. For the past six years, Mailu had been a supporting husband which allowed Hilda to stay even when she felt like she was being forced into it.
Mailu finished eating and dozed off on the chair. Hilda placed a blanket over his body and went off to sleep. On the bed, she kept thinking of the various scenarios she would find herself in now that the drinking season that came with the festival was almost here. The festival was going to keep her husband out most of the time. He had not talked about it but she knew, she knew what it all meant.
Hilda was married a year before the festival and as the festival approached she was pregnant with their first child. This limited Mailu from the nightly events of the festival and thus he spent most of the time with her but years went by, Hilda became adapted to caring for her children even when he was away on work or during the long trading times. He would stay three weeks into the market and come back with new merchandise for the local market. And as the festival approached Mailu had offset his goods in a bid to be free during the whole season. Hilda saw it as a waste but she found it difficult to tell him what to do.
Mailu turned on the chair as he tried to be comfortable. It was not three in the morning. Hilda was not yet asleep. He woke up and went to their bedroom. He hustled his way onto the bed and slept soundly. Hilda watched him sleep and smirked. She was not ready for what lay ahead.
Five in the morning, Malile woke up from where he was asleep. He was to make one final round before the other elders joined him. He had made three rounds during the night, took his supper of boiled meat, salted herbs, and drank a gulp of a bitter drink. He did this as a sacrifice for the coming boys. They were to be presented to the forefathers for blessings before being turned into men. He had slept for two hours and was no won the final round before he was joined by the nine men from yesterday evening.
He quelled the fire and heaped soil on it, picked his stick, and wrapped the blanket around his puny body, and started the walk as he muttered something under his breath. He went past the first corner and spat. He repeated this in the next three corners as he waited for the elders at the last corner near a clearing that served as an entrance in the forest. He stood there as the first rays of the sun hit him. He was happy to have been the first one at this location. He was here as a sign of blessings and as the sun shone on his face, he was re-energized.
The other nine men came in, Tom was in the lead. They all head sheets or blankets wrapped around them with gumboots. Today they were to spend the whole day in the forest. They got to where Malile was and spat at the same spot.
"Greetings my fellow elders, it is with great honor and happiness that I announce that the forest is calm. No harm for our boys. The forefathers once again have come to our rescue. If you may lead us, Tom, step forward."
Tom moved quickly to stand in front of his fellow elders as Malile took his former position.
"Greetings, we all know why we are here. I hope you all left everything in order at home as we are to spend the whole day here. Thank you for making it early. If we may please proceed let's get into the forest and make it ready for our boys."
The elders formed a straight line as they walked into the forest forming a straight line. Tom led them away. He moved with precision, not cutting any herbs but forming a path. He led them to a clearing in the center of the forest. This was two kilometers off the entrance into the forest. They squatted in the middle as they dug out soil from a recent hole. Buried was the meal for the day and a pot of the local brew. The thick alcohol made from fermented maize flour forming a sour porridge that was sweet in a way. They arranged the various items they had on a piece of blanket and then split each headed in their own direction leaving Malile and Tom at the center.
The elders made for the woods as they muttered words. They moved around, within, tree by tree, thicket by thicket to cover the whole forest. In the movement, they had their animal for sacrifice brought to them and with that, the men came back to the center. Malile was tending to the fire as Tom prepared the knives. A fat wooly sheep was brought to the center by one of the men. They tired the animal's feet and laid it on one side. Malile took a knife from Tom and slit its throat allowing blood to flow freely into the whole that had been harboring their pot for the past one week. The blood flowed in one stream as expected. They skinned the sheep and prepared the fire for roasting.
It was now nine in the morning, time was moving slowly. The sun was trying so hard to penetrate the thick forest. Underneath sat ten men, eating roasted meat in silence after pouring libation to their forefathers. They sipped the brew in enjoyment. This was to be done and they were doing it just as they were taught by their forefathers.
The forest stood on a radius of two kilometers with the center having a clearing that was hidden from the sun, on the north of the forest was a river that passed by as it went by Malile's house. The forest had tall canopy-forming trees with a bunch of thickets that made it difficult to walk into it. Being a forest where traditional rituals were performed, very few people had the courage to walk into it leave alone hunting. The forest had animals that could be hunted, animals that went into hiding when the festival began, for a day or two no one saw the animals but after the circumcision, they would crawl, walk and hop back.
Fortunately, the rituals only took place at the center of the forest allowing the animals to hide on the peripheries. Men of all ages as long as circumcised or were on the list of those to be circumcised were in attendance of the historical festival that took place twice a year after five years of waiting. They would sit in silence as they wait for the first bot to be attended to then break in a loud song that was absorbed in the forest. It was a festival they all enjoyed.
The ten men were done eating but maintained the fire just in case. They kept the fats for the sheep on a stick over the fire for it to drip. It gave a hissing sound. They were absorbed in their own world as no conversation was permitted at this moment. They sat together but each was in their own world.