In the pre-advent of civilization

Murmurings
Jose was born in a remote place somewhere on this planet. The description somewhere points to a possibility that the gods can only tell where and when he was born. But mythology has it that it was towards the far east of the earth.
So far is this remote place, such that civilization to them looks like a dawning sun. Do you mean people are thinking of driverless cars when owning a car at Jose’s place can instantly turn one into a god or goddess of automotive in a fortnight?
If you want to know the big difference between this far east and the far west where all the big things come from, only Roger, better known as ‘Wikipedia’ can help paint the difference. Roger worked for a white settler long ago as a shamba boy until something happened that no one knows.
It is said that the whole village was vastly asleep when Bosco, the fiercest dog in Rama village, started barking seriously in the dead of the night. Most of the nights when Bosco barked in the days gone by, people never woke up to good news.
The bad news was that either the armed tribe of Oku invaded the village and made away with some flock of cattle or kidnapped the village damsels. Kidnapping is what they did best to force Jose’s people to pay a price voluntarily without a war to take back their daughters.
Unfortunately for the tribe, some of the girls who got kidnapped went to the Oku people and never wanted to return even after their people pleaded with them for double the price asked. This mostly happened if the girls found themselves in the custody of some of the able-bodied and muscular men of Oku whom the Rama girls loved so much.
These invasions in the middle of the night by Oku warriors enabled Muhammad Ali whose real name was Okumu to get himself 3 wives. The problem was that these women seemed comfortable with that. At one point even Jose’s sister, Joyce, said that she desired to be kidnapped and be Muhammad’s fourth wife. Such is the mystery of life.
On that ill-fated night, Bosco had barked ferociously for a short period before the silence of the night once again filled the village with its tranquility. No one thought it was a kidnap or invasion because the rest of Bosco’s squad could have joined to alert the men of the village.
Only Angela, Rodger’s wife was worried about what she thought were heavy footsteps at the back of her house. She froze dead silent on her bed but could little to make Joyce stop snoring loudly as GPS location for the invaders to easily locate and not confuse her with the mum since it is her who seriously desired the kidnap.
Angela waited for the worst to happen. She had heard that when the Oku warriors stroke, they did so with precision and any resistance would turn catastrophic. Joyce made up her mind not to put up a fight. She silently waited for that one blow that made the way for the warriors.
Surprisingly, she heard a soft knock followed by a male voice that sounded like her husband’s. She didn’t reply. Maybe the Oku warriors had changed tact and wanted to do kidnappings with civility. She would not fall for their trap.
The knock was made a second time followed by her husband’s voice in a very clear tone and accent. She was now convinced that it was her husband. But what happened that she was waking them up in the middle of the night? Why did he endanger his life to make this trip home?
Angela woke up and opened the window. In the dim light of the moon, she saw her husband’s sweaty face. In his hands, he carried a green polythene paper. Rodger couldn’t wait to use the door, he straight away went through the window and took a deep sigh of relief.
Angela decided not to ask her husband what was happening. Maybe he had braved the night with all its dangers to bring them some gifts in the green bag that couldn’t wait. She went into the kitchen to make her husband some hot food. Rodger looked famished and tired from the long trek as evidenced by his dusty dirty feet and the heavy luggage in the green bag.
The story continues next week….
A new edition launches today. Murmurs is a story of life and its complexities through time. Keep following…