The Bride Price: An African Romance (Chitundu Chronicles) (15 page)

It was over two hours before anyone came in. It was not a man.  It was a middle-aged trim woman carrying a large purse covered with eye-catching grommets. Gift promptly relieved her of her bundles and poured a glass of tea with sugar for her.  The woman did not ask Gift about the day, she could see things were as usual for the midmorning hours.  Still, there was a good looking man sitting at the counter. Flo asked him if he needed anything. 

“Is the owner of the bar about?” Dodge asked.

“Yes.  Is there something I can do for you?”

“I want to talk to the owner of The Big Banana,” Dodge repeated.

“You are.”

“I see.”  Dodge was nonplussed for a moment. This woman did not resemble the girl in any way, but maybe this was the girl’s sister, or worse, her mother. “I am interested in finding a girl to assist one of my relatives,” he said.  “What would it take for you to let Gift come and work for my mother?” he asked. He didn’t want to indicate who the real party was, the price might go up.

“What kind of work are you proposing?”
“My mother needs some help with various chores, nothing too heavy, but more than she is able to do for herself.  She has an extra room and it would be full time work.”
“I need the girl.  She is indispensable to my business.” Flo looked sideways at Dodge to see if he was buying this story.  She had been worried about the girl’s expense. If she was pregnant, this could be a good way to pass the problem on.  Not that the girl wasn’t a help, it’s just that other girls could fill in with her duties, and with a baby coming, passing on the girl to an elderly parent could be the ideal situation.

She offered Dodge another beer. “Of course, I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of the girl’s advancing herself.”

Now that Dodge saw that the owner had no real ties to the girl, the only thing to be determined was the price.  “Are you going to be in tomorrow?  I will need to make sure my mother has not found someone else to fill the position.”

“I should be around in the afternoon.  Let’s say around 2:00?”

Dodge nodded in agreement and Flo refused payment for the beer.  She collected his glass and he left to go and locate Festal.

Festal had been fretting about in the mercantile store for over two hours; waiting for Dodge to return.  When he saw him coming, he dropped the clippers back in the bin and rushed towards him.  Dodge could see his eagerness, and his attempt to conceal it.

    “Did you have any luck finding a helper?” he asked.

Dodge nodded slowly, then began to bait the hook.  “She is a little younger and a little smaller than you might want,” he said.  “I promised her guardian it would be light work, and she would be well cared for.  I didn’t discuss the cost, as I wanted her to see it would be an opportunity for the girl to get ahead.  She is a pretty big help with the business at the shop as she runs it herself and has not had time or opportunity to become a town girl.” Dodge tilted his head to see how this non-information affected the older man.  He knew that Festal had probably been a little overwhelmed by the rapid growth of his family.  Five young children, including the set of twins, could be overwhelming, especially after being single for so long.  Dodge wanted the man to picture a young and unspoiled woman joining their household.  There was no mention of the bar or Dodge’s suspicion that the girl had been serving Flo’s customers upstairs in the evening hours or when business was slow.

“I can’t go too high, you know I paid a ransom for Myrna. Not that she wasn’t worth it,” he quickly added.

“Oh, nothing like that.  This is an orphan girl without family or expectations.  She will consider herself very fortunate to have such a situation.  We are talking housekeeper and maid here.  I was going to have you suggest a price, but I may have to help you.  I would say a bull, two goats and a barrel of beer should work to get the transaction started.  Of course, her brothers or a relative may demand more if they get wind of this. How does that sound?”

Dodge was thinking that Flo would settle for a barrel of beer, but there was no point in wasting the profit that was to be made in these arrangements.  He could feel his palms itch in anticipation of the trade. He had left some room for Festal to counter the offer. Festal did not ask to see the girl, but he wasn’t willing to part with a bull.  They settled on two goats and a barrel of beer.  She would arrive at their compound the following morning, provided Flo would agree.

Flo did agree and Dodge spent a pleasant evening with her before delivering Gift to Festal.
 

When Festal returned home, he presented Myrna with a servant, a girl of thirteen named Gift.

“She is to do the heavy work and help you with the children,” he explained. “Dodge located her for us.”

Myrna looked at her husband in disbelief, then waited until he left to question the girl. 

“Have a seat.  Have you eaten? “

“Yes, my stomach is satisfied.”

“What is your name?”

“I am Gift.”

“Have you cared for children?”

“Yes.  My mother had six.”

“Where is your mother now?”

“She is late.  All my brothers and sisters are late.”

“Then you have come to find a home.  You are welcome. You will help me care for the children and do chores.  Are you able to read?”

“I was taken from my school when I was eight.  I have only finished one form.”

“If you would like to learn to read and do math, I can teach you.  You will sleep with me in this room and you will be safe.”

“What shall I call you?” Gift asked.

“You can call me Myrna, or you can call me sister, it is up to you.”

“Thank you, Sister,” Gift said looking down at her hands.

“Do you know how to prepare food?”  Myrna asked glancing over at the sleeping twins.

“No.  My older sister helped my mother with that.  I can pound corn and carry water.  I also can figure change.”

“Those are good skills.  Do you believe in God?”

”Yes, but I have lost him lately.”

Myrna glanced at the girl’s profile and saw that she was not as slim in the waist as her arms and long legs would suggest.  Another baby, just what this house needed. She stifled the thought as she remembered Lily and what she would give to have that child back in the rondavel, and gave thanks immediately for her fortune in having healthy twins.

“Gift, do not go to the river alone, and do not leave the children alone.  They are too little to be near the cattle, the fire, or by themselves.  Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sister.  I will be careful.  I am grateful.”

When Festal came in for the evening meal the house was peaceful.  The twins were nursing, one on Myrna’s lap, the second dandled and cuddled by Gift.  Festal washed up and sat down to eat while the women took turns watching the children. It was a quiet meal, one of the first in months, and when they were done, Festal put the stools away. Then Myrna announced that Gift would be sleeping beside her, and that he could have the small rondavel for himself. “That way our caring for the children in the night will not wake you.”

Festal looked at the two women and headed for the rondavel.  It is not what he imagined, but he could not argue with the logic of the arrangement. In the morning, Myrna saw him talking to the girl.  Gift was bringing the firewood from the storehouse.

“I am not married,” Myrna heard Gift say to her husband.

That afternoon when Myrna was hanging out the washing, she saw Festal leave for town with the donkey cart.  They needed supplies, so she didn’t think anything of it.  Gift had asked previously for the afternoon off to get the rest of her belongings from the Big Banana Bar.

CHAPTER 26
GIFT MARRIES FESTAL

When Festal returned that evening, he had Gift on the seat beside him. She was smiling and showed Myrna her wedding band.  “We are now real sisters,” she said. “Festal has made me the second wife.”

Myrna dropped the sheet she was folding and went into the house. She had no words to describe the bitterness and the gall that percolated up into her chest. The twins were sleeping and it was relatively quiet. She walked back out the door and headed for the calf pen.  She could still see the doorway of the house above her as she walked down the path, and Gift standing there beside Festal. Beside her husband.   Myrna’s eyes were red with rage.  What remarks would her sister Violet make about her now? Replaced at twenty-one by a stunted teenager all of thirteen, who had worked in a bar, and who knows where else?  Had she really believed that this girl would only be a serving maid to help her with the children? 

She gave herself full rein to revile this girl, her husband, and Uncle Dodge. Oh, there were precedents, to be sure. Myrna knew her Bible. She thought of Tamar’s rejection after being raped by her brother, of Laban’s betrayal of Jacob, and his anger at finding the older sister under the veil, the disappointment of Sarah at having no children, and her disgust with Hagar once she was pregnant. All the stories of rape, of betrayal, of jealousy and deceit piled up in her mind like rotted corpses.

She stacked up her weapons then she took fire at Festal.  He was ignorant, illiterate, old, and single minded. She had been sold to him, and she had cost him dearly. He was getting his money’s worth with six children in six years. What had he bartered for this wench? Once she let the full weight of her anger and fury go from her, the balance began to restore itself. Was she better off without Festal? No. Did she want someone else to take her place? No. She knew she loved him. She knew he loved her. He had been good to her, as best he could. Like Joseph in the Bible, he had privately handled any questions he had on why their child had arrived so soon. He had not abused her or the children. She had never said she did not want another woman in the house. She had probably said more than once that she could use some help.

Now, here was a girl, dumb as a stick, to be sure, who had come into their lives and who needed love and protection.  She knew nothing about this girl, but she knew what was right. The passages about the Shummanite woman who made room for Elijah and continued to show hospitality, even when her child was mortally ill, came to her. “All is well.” It became a phrase she could use to clear her head. What thought could she use to displace her anger? Then she recalled Wellington Taylor and the advice he had given. 
Be the Prince of Love.

Wellington Taylor, her tutor, had once told the class they could write him and ask for advice. One student had asked for advice in love, and named Wellington the Prince of Love. While the message had been humorous, Myrna had often wished for more knowledge of how to love well. Here was her chance to practice love. This girl had obviously had some tough experiences. She was now part of the family. Could Myrna love her and have her feel loved?  They would be raising their children together. The girl was legally married to her husband.  If she could believe that what anyone intended for evil, God could make good. Myrna would be the love that this house needed.  She would be the Doctor of Love and heal the wounds of herself and Gift. She would not allow her heart or her lips to condemn what this foolish girl had done, what this foolish husband had done. She would not hate Dodge, but she would never allow him to destroy the peace in her home. She would accept the gift that had been given to them both.

It was enough for now to remain silent and wait for understanding.  She heard her twins wailing, but ignored them. Let this new wife figure out how to make peace in her household. She could feel her milk coming in. She looked back up at the house and saw Festal carrying both of the twins, trying to balance one on each arm. Myrna let him carry them down the steep path and come to the meadow where she was sitting. She took one twin from him and nursed him, then reached for the second. When they were both fed, Myrna handed them to her husband and followed him slowly up to the house. She sat on the bed while Festal tucked them into bed. He then left the room. 

Myrna told Gift to go and bring her the box at the end of her bed. Then she gave Gift a nightgown to wear and put the impala necklace around her neck, spraying some of her floral perfume on the girl. She could not have said what possessed her to put the love amulet that Festal had made her on the girl, but she was compelled to do it.  He had to know that love was not so easily shared, or it could be lost. At best, it was altered.

That night, Gift slept in the small rondavel with Festal.  In the morning, the girl was up early. She came into the house. “Festal will not be at breakfast. He is going to town to straighten something out with Dodge.” Gift picked up Samuel and rocked him in her arms. Myrna noticed bruises on her neck as the oversized night robe slipped off the girl’s thin shoulder. The impala necklace was missing from her throat.

“Gift, we can talk. Or we can just do the chores and wait until we both are used to this new arrangement. Let me know if you need something from me.”

Gift looked at her in disbelief. “I thought you arranged this. I know Dodge is your Uncle. Didn’t you know they wanted me to marry Festal?”

“What is done is done. No one told me Festal was taking another wife. You are young. We have to be careful not to get pregnant too soon after the twins. Maybe he was thinking of me or the children. Maybe he thought he was helping you out.” Neither of the women had mentioned that Gift was pregnant. Maybe the girl was like her, and didn’t know. Myrna thought somehow that Gift had more experience with men than she had at that age. What was clear was the girl did not know how to manage Festal. She would talk to her about that once she was sure what she said would not be the topic of their nuptial conversations. She wanted to trust this girl, but she really knew nothing about her, other than Uncle Dodge had been involved.

Gift was silent and plunked herself down on a stool without being asked. Myrna made her a cup of tea, and waited for the girl to talk.

“I didn’t want to leave here,” she said.  “I told him I couldn’t sleep with him because we weren’t married.”