Days passed as I was in South Africa . Soon I began to notice something strange , people in the village were in a good mood .
Woman made haste to fix up their daughters , man kept giving their sons advice . The whole village was bustling with joy.
I went to Mariam, to find out what was happening . Mariam, seemed to be happy to see me , “Ajax, welcome dear” . “Hello Mariam, you look happy this fine day”.
“I’m happy in a week the maiden dance will commence”. “The maiden dance?”, “Yes, it is a very important tradition of our Zulu people. Initially it’s called the snake(Reed) dance, where young maidens go and show off their beauty and dance moves to attract eligible bachelors. It’s quite a fun event,your coming by the way” .
“I’m allowed?” I asked a bit skeptically . “Yes your allowed”, “is it not sacred then?”, “It is but your like a part of our village so your invited”. I nodded , “what will I wear then?”, “I’ll borrow you some of our traditional clothes dear you don’t have to worry.
Maybe you’ll catch yourself a wife” she said with a smile . The thought did not make me comfortable , which maiden was willing to accept a weak man? On top of that I was white .
The maiden will surely be ridiculed , I nodded anyway and smiled . “Where is your brother in law?” I asked as I had not seen Sthe, anywhere .
“Probably in the jungle training , I swear his a descendant of Shaka Zulu the great king of the Zulu tribe . He must not be happy that the maiden dance is coming” , “why?” I asked curiously .
“He hates to attend the dance, he simply feels it’s a waste of time to go, as no maiden has ever captured his attention. This time probably he’ll catch himself a pretty maiden with respectful manners”.
The thought of Sthe, finding someone else kind of made me feel a painful ache deep inside my chest. I smiled falsely and felt very confused , I thought I was a straight man , why was I feeling this way towards a man? .
It was simply confusing, I let out a breathy sigh . “We should cook something different today” Mariam, kept on talking while I was busy lost in my own thoughts .
“Come , come we’ll cook now” ,she said pulling me by the hand leading me towards the cooking shed. “Mariam, can I ask you something?” I asked nervously .
“Ask away dear” , “is it wrong if a man begins to develop feelings for another man?” .
Mariam, looked at me then sighed , “we are all different Ajax, so we will feel differently and we will love different people. I believe love is love, no matter the gender,as long as you truly love the person.
Most people might say it’s wrong but what do they know? They are entitled to their own opinions so that should not matter . Love comes naturally, when it comes Ajax , embrace it don’t cornderm it” .
I nodded , “thank you Mariam” . “Your welcome now let’s teach you how to cook for your future husband” , my eyes widened at her words .
“I never said I was in love with a man or that I loved men “. “You don’t have to say it ,the look in your eyes says it all” . I blushed at that and bit my lip , my eyes narrowed down .
I pouted, “don’t look at my eyes”, “how can I not?, their such a pretty blue” . I reddened at that . “Let’s go and cook and please stop teasing me” . “I’m sorry I’ll stop” we spent the whole day cooking .
That was until arms held me from behind ,making me let out a starttled yelp. Mariam, looked up and bowed . “Brother in law” , “hello Mariam” , Sthe, said in greeting, my body shivered hearing his deep voice.
I turned in his arms and gasped , he was shirtless making me turn tomato red . “W…why a..are y..you not wearing a shirt?” I asked my voice breaking a little.
“I just came from the river Dali, why would I be wearing a shirt?”. “To cover up” ,I said scolding him now , “oh ,is there a problem if I’m shirtless?” I did not answer him and just pouted looking at the ground .
“Alright then, no need to be upset, I’ll go into the house and put on a shirt then” . He coaxed , I found myself nodding like I had just won a fight over my husband. That thought greatly surprised me.
Comment