The Blanket of Blessings
Page 27
That night, the village was busy with their meals and entertaining friends and family from other tribes. Storytelling was rampant around the campfires and no one noticed Angie, Kimana and Leotie as they slipped away to meet by the river. Kimana’s father was a craftsman and enjoyed creating and painting all kinds of artwork. From his supplies, Kimana was able to get several handfuls of porcupine quills that her father used in his crafts. Angie took a handful and then they quietly worked their way through the back of the village until they came to the back of Enyeto’s family teepee.
Looking around and seeing no one, Angie carefully pulled up the hide of the teepee and slipped inside. Finding a nearby bed that she was sure belonged to Enyeto, she dumped the handful of quills into his bedding and then quickly made her departure before being spotted.
Siwili’s family teepee was next to Enyeto’s teepee, and after Kimana handed her the rest of the quills, Angie poured the remaining pointed needles in Siwili’s bedding. The girls then quietly made their way back to the river. Once reaching the water, they could hold their giggling no longer and held their hands over their mouths as their laughter became out of control. They danced around, celebrating their success.
As the village was beginning to retire for the night, the three girls quietly made their way back to the scene of Angie’s revenge.
“I will be in much trouble if my father knows I am here,” Leotie told the girls.
“Halona will have my hide as well,” Angie agreed. “We will hurry and be in bed before they find us gone.”
The minutes seemed like hours as they waited for Enyeto and Siwili to enter their teepees. The boys continued talking outside their tents until finally Siwili’s mother called him inside.
The girls held their breaths as they waited for the inevitable. It was only but a moment or two longer when they heard screams from inside both tents. The first to emerge was Siwili, holding his backside and yowling like an old dog. The next was not Enyeto, but his father, holding his posterior as well. Both were dancing around in front of their teepees while the mothers were trying to help them.
Their eyes were wide in shock when they saw Enyeto’s father emerge from the tent. All three girls scurried back through the village, running for their own teepees.
“Oh no,” Angie said as they ran, “Oh no!”
“We are in so much trouble!” Kimana agreed.
Angie stopped the girls. “It is our secret! No one say anything unless we are asked. Pray we will not be!”
The girls nodded and then nonchalantly walked back to their homes.
In bed that night, Angie prayed to God asking Him to forgive her and afraid of the possible repercussions.
The next day, the word in the village was that there must have been a stray porcupine or two, wandering through the teepees looking for food. The girls sighed with relief and were grateful not to have been caught.
When the newness of the incident had worn away, Angie forgot all about her prayer to God and her anger toward Enyeto returned. His continual taunting and snide remarks brought Angie’s young foolishness to the surface again.
She saw her opportunity when she found Enyeto bathing with four other boys in the river.
“We cannot go over there!” Kimana told her. “We are not allowed to go near while they are bathing.”
Angie marched right up to the edge of the river, much to the horror of the boys.
“Tsomah!” Enyeto yelled, “Go away!” The other boys also yelled for her to go.
Angie looked down on the shore and spotted the boy’s clothes. Not knowing which were Enyeto’s clothes, she gathered them all in her arms and turned to leave.
“No! No!” the boys screamed. “Bring them back!”
“You can blame Enyeto for this!” Angie called back to them as she ran from the river and out to the fields. Kimana was on her heals and telling her to take the clothes back, but she was determined to continue with her plan. She knew of a wasp’s ground nest and threw the clothes on top of it.
“What have you done?” Kimana said in horror, “they will be so angry!”
“I am not afraid,” Angie told her.
Kimana shook her head in disbelief, “I am your friend. I do not want to see you in trouble.”
Angie started to think about what she had done. Again!
“What have I done, Kimana?” she asked her friend. “Why do I always get myself in trouble?”
“You think with your heart, not with your head,” Kimana responded, “and your heart misled you.”
They walked back to the village waiting for the results of Angie’s actions. Again Angie was asking God for help. She knew that once Halona heard of what she had done, she would be in a lot of trouble.
Soon Chocheta ran to find Angie. She found her sitting with Kimana at Kimana’s family teepee.
“Angie!” Chocheta said, out of breath. “The elders know what you did. They are discussing your punishment. Where are the clothes? The boys had to cover themselves with leafs to leave the river.”
Kimana looked at Angie, and Angie looked at the ground. Remorsefully, she answered, “I threw them on the wasp’s nest out in the field.”
Chocheta looked horrified. “Maybe if you bring them back you won’t be punished.”
“I cannot,” Angie said. “The wasps were swarming all over them.”
“Maybe we should try,” Kimana suggested.
Angie nodded her head and the girls walked back out to the field, with Chocheta joining them.
When they got to the pile of clothes, the wasps were still crawling on top of them, but not as many as before.
“What are we going to do?” Kimana asked.
“I’ll get them,” Angie told her, “I threw them there. I need to get the clothes back. Stay here. I don’t want you to get stung.”
Angie slowly and carefully approached the nest. Her heart beat so fast she thought she wouldn’t be able to control it. The closer she got to the nest, the more her knees weakened and the more she shook. Before she could change her mind, she lunged for the clothes, grabbed them and began to run, with her friends running ahead of her. They were all screaming as the wasps began to swarm into a frenzy. Angie felt one sting after another as the girls ran down to the river. Angie threw the clothes down on the ground and the girls jumped into the water to avoid being stung any further.
“I’m so sorry,” Angie told her friends, “I didn’t want you to get hurt.” The girls were frantically swatting the wasps away and still screaming.
It was but a few moments later when the elders and Chief Nahele came walking down to the shoreline, along with many of the villagers who wanted to see what the ruckus was all about.
The girls looked pathetic, but Angie got the worst of it, having many stings to show for it.
The chief smiled and turned to the elders. “She has been punished.” They then turned and walked back to the village.
The boys were also among the crowd, laughing at Angie’s predicament. Angie glared at Enyeto and her anger began to grow again.
Help me God! She seethed between her teeth, Help me control my anger.
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