2– Soft Hair

That night, I dreamt that I was sitting at some place. But I wasn't free to move around. I was confined to my chair. Something was not letting me move. I don't know where I was, there was darkness all around. I was looking around nervously as if I was scared. My chair then started rattling and shaking. I held on to the handles and shut my eyes. But it wouldn't stop. I started to hear screaming and shouting but I couldn't see the people around me as it was dark. The rattling of my chair got worse, and I started to scream too. I was screaming at the tip of my lungs, but my screams were muffled. I couldn't hear my own scream. I started struggling to breathe all of a sudden. I was suffocating. I felt like I was going to die.

When I opened my eyes Furah was there shaking me in an attempt to wake me from this nightmare. She and the lady looked very frightened. The chief was also there. The lady wiped my face and put a cloth to my forehead. All of a sudden, I felt very cold and started to shiver. Furah sent the lady out and she came in later with the same bowl which had water earlier on, but it was steaming hot. She put it next to me on the bed and covered me with the bowl under a blanket. It was hot under the blanket with that bowl. And the smell was strong and minty. I felt the smell make its way into my nostrils and sting. I suddenly started sweating. I wanted to come out from the blankets, but someone wouldn't let me. I started fighting but they wouldn't let me come out from the blankets. The bowl of hot water spilled on the bed and some spilled over my foot.

I cried out in agony, but they would still not let me come out. I kept fighting but nothing happened. They kept me there for a few more minutes and then finally removed the blanket.

I didn't feel cold anymore, and I stopped shivering. I started to cry and fan my foot where I had gotten burnt. Furah saw the tipped over bowl and my burnt foot and sent the lady away quickly. Furah started saying something to me with her palms together, she was apologising. The chief just stood one place and continued observing with a condescending look. He kept shaking his head.

The lady came back with some ointment and started applying it to my burn. She was very gentle and kept blowing it as she applied. Furah put her hand on my shoulder and tried to ease me through the whole process. I kept jerking my foot away and crying out.

After it was all finally over, Furah helped me off the bed and the lady removed the sheets and blanket and took them outside. She came back in and put a mat on the floor, and they laid me down on it and covered me with another blanket up to my neck. Furah patted my forehead and smiled at me. Then they all left me to sleep. But I didn't. I tried but I couldn't, the thought of my nightmare kept jerking me back awake. Besides, lying on mat felt like lying on stone cold floor. It was uncomfortable and I kept tossing and turning, trying to find a position that would feel more comfortable.

The tossing and turning kept me up until I heard a loud crowing outside. After the crow, the lady immediately walked into the hut and became busy around the hut. She didn't notice that I wasn't sleeping. She hummed as she cleaned up and straightened things up around the hut. After that she went outside.

I sat up and then tried my best to stand up. I limped around the hut. It was huge and there were carvings everywhere. Carvings of different types of animals and objects all in one dull colour, they were beautiful though. I ran my fingers across a few of the carvings.

There was another curtain in the hut. I peeped behind it and saw a short pathway. In the pathway there were two more curtains. In the first curtain I heard a loud snoring sound. I figured it must be the chief sleeping. I went to the next curtain and peeped inside but there was nobody in there. Just more carvings and a bed. Does the lady sleep in here? I entered the chamber. I saw an arrow and bow made from bamboo on the bed. I touched the arrow and felt the sharpness of its edge.

All of a sudden, I felt a cold wet hand on my shoulder that sent shivers down my spine. I turned around and caught his eyes. His eyes were made of fury and judgment.

He said something that I didn't understand, and he looked upset. He was pointing at me wildly and shouting. He suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me back out of the pathway to the main chamber and left me there. He was still shouting. Furah suddenly appeared and asked the chief what was going on. He said... and she came to me, and I ran into her arms for refuge. She held me tight and didn't say anything to the chief. After the chief left the hut, she stood me in front of her and said something that sounded reassuring. I nodded even though I hadn't understood a word. She took me to the curtain, behind which I had seen light. As soon as I stepped out, I was amazed. It was so busy outside.

I saw many other huts scattered in the area, a lot of children playing around and older women sitting by steaming pots on rocks with fire. Other younger looking women and girls were hanging cloths and materials on strings of line tied apart by long beams. As soon as they all noticed me, they didn't stop staring. Even the small children stopped playing and started to watch me.

The lady that had applied ointment to my burn was also outside, sitting near the hut. I noticed she was busy washing the blankets I had messed when I threw up and when I spilled the mint water. Furah took me to her.

Furah turned me towards herself and put her hands on her chest. “Furah. Fu… rah. Furah.”

“Furah...” I said after her.

Furah nodded and smiled. She then turned me towards the lady and pointed to her. “Ga...mu. Gamu.”

I smiled because I understood her finally.

“Gamu.” I said looking at Gamu.

Both Furah and Gamu nodded looking at me.

Then Furah put her hand on my chest and looked at me with question in her eyes. I understood her question, but I did not know the answer to her question. I put my hand over hers and shrugged.

We looked at each other for a while and then Furah burst out laughing, Gamu joined her too. I joined them soon afterwards.

The other villagers were just watching from a distance.

After the laughing was over, Furah looked at me with confidence in her eyes.

She touched my chest again and said: “Rena.”

“Rena?”

She nodded, and I smiled. I liked that name. I liked that I also had a name now. Rena.

Furah then told Gamu... and mentioned my name. Gamu nodded and Furah went back inside.

Gamu urged me to follow her as she went to hang the sheets on the line. The girls that were already there all came closer to Gamu and I. Others that were far away all ran towards us. The other girls sounded ecstatic and kept speaking over each other. They were all speaking to Gamu at the same time but when Gamu spoke they all kept quiet and paid full attention. Gamu kept mentioning my name. They repeated my name several times after she said it. At times they laughed and kept looking at me. A few even came to touch my hair and feel my clothes. That's when I noticed they were all dressed similar. They all had animal material wrapped around their chest and a matching one for a skirt. Their bellies and navels were exposed. Their skirts were short, and they were barefoot. Their hair was pitch black and bushy and fell over their shoulders and down their back.

I looked at myself and felt uncomfortable. I realized how dirty I was. I was wearing blue ripped jeans that were more than ripped, they were torn and had holes in them, they had smudges of dirt: black, brown, and green, the vest I was wearing was also torn and dirty. I touched my hair, and it felt like a mess, my ponytail was halfway gone. I touched my ears and only felt one loop earring. I looked at my exposed arms and they were bruised and red. I kept my head down. The only thing I had in common with these girls is that I was also barefoot.

I wished that Gamu could hurry so that we could finally get back into the hut. To my surprise she even left the sheets she was busy hanging and continued chatting to the girls.

After a while of feeling like disappearing, an old woman came out of a nearby hut and shouted at the young girls. They scurried back to work and some that were not supposed to be there scattered away.

Gamu looked at me and smiled. She then hung the last sheet, and we went back to the hut. She fetched three buckets and handed me one and then we went out again. She took me with her, pass the huts and into the forest.

She kept walking, and I kept limping after her. She kept talking, I don't know about what. But she seemed happy and carefree. She suddenly halted and so I also stopped behind her.

She turned towards me and put the buckets down. She held her ear and pointed to the trees above us. I understood that she wanted me to listen to something. I put the bucket down and started to listen.

What I heard was beautiful. I heard the squeaky little sounds of birds singing and other squeaky sounds that must have been monkeys or squirrels. The whistling of the leaves on the tall trees were clear and the sound of the wind was calming. All those sounds mashed with each other: the result was tranquilising. We listened for quite some time and then she smiled at me. She then started to sing and continued to walk. I took my bucket and continued to limp after her. She had a beautiful voice. It was loud and powerful. At one point she stopped again and began dancing to her song. I watched her and laughed at her funny moves.

After we were out of the forest, we reached a very beautiful river. The sun was bouncing on top of the water. It looked magnificent.

We came close to the water and put the buckets down. She urged me to go in the river. She gave me a small cloth and urged me again. I pulled my vest over my head and Gamu started to laugh. I looked at her and she just shook her head and urged me on. I removed my clothes and went into the river to bath. The water was warm. I used the cloth to clean my body and face. I undid my ponytail and dipped my whole head into the river. When I stuck my head out of the water, I saw Gamu sitting on the riverbank with her legs crossed and examining my bra. I started to swim and float on the water. Gamu stood up to watch me. She looked marvelled, like she wanted to join me.

“Come.” I called out to her with my hand.

She shook her head.

When I finished, I came out and she gave me a bigger cloth to dry myself. After that she gave me a skirt and a material made from some brown furry animal skin. I didn't know how to wear the material, so she helped me. She stepped back and looked at me. She smiled and reached in one of the buckets and took out something made out of wood, and she used that to brush my hair. She brushed it and left it to fall over my shoulders. Now I felt like the other girls. The only difference was my hair was not bushy or black, it was straight, and it was blonde with a strip of black. After that she stepped back and smiled at me and nodded. She looked satisfied with the makeover she had given me. I felt good too. I smiled back.

We then took the buckets and went to the other side of the river where the other village girls were. I waited for Gamu to take a bath with the other girls. I watched them play in the water. They splashed water on each other and screamed and laughed. I wished I could join them. But why didn't Gamu let me take a bath here instead?

***

When she was done, she took me to the well. The well was in an empty place at the top of a hill. It was built from rocks and went a long way down. I watched her draw out water. She kept talking and I just stood there watching her. We were the only people there. She finished filling up the first bucket and I watched her lower the second bucket in.

“You are already on your feet?” I heard a familiar voice.

I turned around and it was Yoké with another guy next to him. They were dressed similar too. They were topless and wore skirts made from animal skin, but their skirts were not too short like the girls'. Yoké and the guy had a toned chest, belly, arms, and legs. They looked as if they didn't miss a day at the gym.

“Hi, Yoké!” I was so happy to see him again.

“You remembered my name?” He asked me with a small smile.

I nodded eagerly.

He walked closer to us and greeted Gamu in their language. Gamu didn't reply, she just lowered her eyes and nodded.

“I have a name now.” I told Yoké with excitement.

“Really?” His eyes beamed open. “What's it?”

“Rena.”

He looked at me and frowned. “Who gave you that name?”

“Furah. It's beautiful right?”

He nodded with zero enthusiasm. “In that case, Rena, meet my best friend Uma. Uma, Rena.”

Uma also had hair like Yoké, bushy and upright. He had strong facial features and was much darker than Yoké. His eyebrows were also bushy but did not touch like Yoké's.

“Can you also speak English?” I asked Uma.

He scratched in his bushy hair and smiled at me shyly and said...

“I'm the only one who can speak English in this village. I told you that.” Yoké said leaning against the wall of the well. “And today you look like a true Toko.”

I beamed at the compliment. “Just my hair.”

He laughed. “Don't worry. One day at a time.”

Gamu kept looking towards us and looking away.

Uma didn't stop looking at me and said... to Yoké and Yoké nodded.

“What did Uma say?” I asked.

“He said your skin is very light, too light.”

I felt a little bad and looked down at the ground.

Yoké nudged me suddenly. “You see there, on that mountain... You see that?”

“Yeah...” I replied.

He was pointing. Far off in the distance, on a large mountain was flat surface and on the flat surface I could see a small hut.

“That's my hut.” He told me, he looked so proud.

“Do you also have carvings of animals in your hut?” I asked him, coming to lean against the well too.

“Why would I?” He asked me, completely puzzled.

“There's a lot at Furah's hut.”

“I know.”

Gamu then said something.

“She said that you should go now. See you before the sun goes down.”

“Okay, bye.”

Uma did not take his eyes off me. I turned away and watched Gamu lift the one bucket and put it on her head.

“Lady.”

I turned back.

“Uma says he wants to feel your hair.”

“Okay.” I came close to Uma, and he suddenly moved back and started laughing.

“Not too close, lady. An older person sees you do that and will take it straight to the elders and then next morning there's a discussion on when to chop your head off.”

I quickly backed away. Uma reached out and touched my hair and said...

“He asked why your hair is so soft.”

I touched my hair instinctively.

“Can I touch your hair?” I asked Yoké.

“Mine?”

“Yes.”

I took a step closer and touched his hair. It was rough and wet. He had a lot of hair. I finally made it to his scalp.

He took a small step away from me, although we were not that close.

“That tickles.” He laughed and removed my hand from his hair.

“Your hair is too hard.” I told him.

He ran his fingers through my hair. “Well Uma was right, yours is very soft. And why is it this colour?”

“I don't know.” I told him.

He then squinted and looked closer. “Actually, your hair is two colours.”

He didn't look away; he kept running his hands through my hair. “Actually, this is really interesting.”

I laughed. “I know. It's weird. Everyone keeps looking at me.”

“You have no idea.”

Gamu carried the other two buckets in each hand and started storming back without me.

“Bye!” I said as they waved at me.

The rest of the way back Gamu didn't talk, or sing, or dance, or smile anymore. She was quiet the whole way back. I limped after her all the way to the hut.