The Outcast – Episode 17

THE OUTCAST – Episode 17

By Amah

“Pah I don’t want to go..I don’t want to hurt her feelings in the future, Marie is not the kind of woman I want to settle with..please Pah..allow me to have my own choice in terms of marriage, my..my heart is with another..

” I’m a very important Man in this clan people respect and honor me, if one of My children makes a mistake it will be easily notice just because everyone of us is a public figure, and we all suppose to live a life of dignity, an exemplary life, I don’t want you to make a wrong choice of Woman, it will be demeaning to my name, and will affect you in the future, I don’t just want that Mbazi, not for you or your brothers, I want you to live a life others will love to emulate…a life to be proud off, you are my first son Mbazi, a son of my right hand, I want you to be like me, wise and smart, I want you to sit with the leaders of this tribe and judge fairly, so that the people of our tribe will boast with your name, they will sing your praise in different tribes and languages, they will say “Mbazi, the great Man, the Man of wisdom and strength, the son of mukattabaziela, they will keep singing your praise Mbazi.. Don’t you want that.. Don’t you want your name to be among the great leaders of our tribe, next to my name, Just look at my father your grandfather, the great Kumulazi, he was a great leader, then my name is next to his. Now check this and see how satisfying it sound, the great Mbazi, son of Mukattabaziela son of Kumulazi and the list goes on, I just want the best for you my son… Nothing but the best..

” I totally understand Pah, I just want to be given opportunity to make my own choice, to marry the woman I will cherish forever just like you and mother..Marie is a good choice, she is a very beautiful maiden, many men will fight to have her as wife, she is beautiful to behold, I never said she isn’t but she’s not the right choice for me,

” so tell me, who do you want and I will do my findings on her background before we proceed with the marriage preparation, I don’t want to force my choice on you, tell me Mbazi..who is this maiden that captured your heart..talk to your father..

I became silent, how can I tell Pah that the only Woman I so much desired lives far away from our tribe, deep down in the wood, her name is Kumar and she’s an outcast, how do I tell father,

“Pah, she lives in a different tribe, beyond the rivers, I met her in my last trip when I visited my friend, her tribe grows different herbs and leaf for medicine, she is also good in mixing herbs and root for healing, it was from there i was given the medicine that cured mother, her name is…her name is… Kumar…Kumar…I can’t remember her father’s name..

” hmmm, Kumar..sounds good, I can see that you really love the girl, I’m glad she’s from a good tribe according to what you just said, they specified in herbs to cure different illness, if she becomes your wife she will be able to cure different people, they will come to her with their sadness and she put smiles on their faces, is a good thing my son, I’m glad you are making the right choice but I need to see this woman, I need to know her father and the kind of family she comes from, if they have bad history or having any relatives that is an outcast, having an outcast in their family is a bad history, hope you understand that, like us, from our forefathers till date we don’t have any outcast, Zila would have being but the gods did not allow such a bad omen to befall us, or staining our lineage, so we are clean and many people Will love to be part of our family because we don’t have a bad history, so when do I start my findings and when do we proceed to her place…or do you want to invite her over first.. Let’s meet her

I…will let you know when to start..yes…good idea I will invite her over… I will go over and get her..

“Alright Mbazi, take your time but don’t take long in doing the necessary thing, I’m solidly behind you my son, first before you proceed with anything concerning Kumar, go over to Marie’s place, i want you to talk to her like a man, I don’t want to tell you what to say to her but iron things out, because her hope and believe is that she is your future wife, I don’t want her to feel betrayed, I know she will feel bad but is better said now than later, I will speak to her father but go now and speak with her, don’t get her hopes dashed…

I bow to father in respect and left to see Marie as father suggested, when I got there she was really happy and I began to Wonder how she will feel if I tell her the reason I came..

” Mbazi..I’m so happy to see you, my father said you were supposed to come with your Pah, you came ahead of him..I’m glad..

“Marie..my father Will come later but I needed to speak to you privately… Hmmm.. Marie..you are a very beautiful woman, you are every man’s desire… But..

” I already know that.. I get lots of compliment from different men, but I have being waiting for this day, the day you will compliment me specially, I take extra time to prepare my self for you, I have fancied you for long, I dream of you and looked forward to the day you will eventually notice me, and it was a dream come to true when we started speaking and father and your Pah started making plans for us to marry, I can’t wait to become your Bride Mbazi, the day of the festival, the last one we attended, I dressed and danced for you, I danced like never before because i know you were watching, you are equally very handsome and you are the son of a great leader of our tribe, everybody speaks of your Pah’s wisdom and judgemental skills, I know you Are going to be like him because you are his right hand son, I will be very proud and our unborn children and different tribes will worship you like a god, I see a great future for us.. I’m a very bold person, i speak my mind, and don’t like hiding or pretending, hope you Will like my kind of person…

She laughed as she kept talking, I like her person, very Free but still my heart was stuck with Kumar, I sort different ways to tell her my main purpose of coming but I couldn’t just do it, I couldn’t ki*ll her high spirit,

When I later Left without telling her exactly the way I feel about her, i felt very bad, is totally different from the way she feels about me, saying that to her will definitely hurt her, I wish I was bold like her or outspoken like my Pah,

I returned back Pah asked me how it went I told him it was one of the hardest thing to do, I couldn’t do that to her, all I did was listen to her speak to me about how she want our future to be..she had high dreams and hopes for us and I had non, I can’t ki*ll it, I don’t know how to.

Pah told me not to worry he will go and speak to her and the father, he said i still have to explain to Marie, she deserve an explanation, Pah asked me to proceed with my journey to bring the Woman my heart beat for,

I have being wondering all around the wood, I don’t know if I should proceed to the outcast, or go back home, my animal skin leather bag is packed up, hanging down My shoulder, I just don’t know what to do,

I spoke with Riko earlier about the whole thing and he asked me to go ahead to the outcast and make my feeling known to Kumar first, then I should come back and tell Pah the truth, which will be very dangerous

How do I even Tell Pah that the woman my heart beat for is an outcast,

I faced the outcast deadly road after taking three steps I returned back again, I needed to make up my mind on what to do

Something was urging me to go ahead with my journey, what ever happens I should be Man enough to face it,

Father said there was never any bad history of the outcast in our lineage, I and Zila will bring a great curse to the family, if we end up with an outcast it will be unforgiven, and being the first son comes with responsibility,

As much as I don’t want to disappoint Pah I still have to do what I’m at peace doing but i still have fears

Something must be done quickly,

I’m still standing in the wood wondering which way to go, go back and marry Marie so that I can make father proud or go down to the outcasts and be with Kumar,

Hardest decision of my life.

To be continued

 

ALL EPISODES