When Gods Bleed

by Njedeh Anthony

  “Take it from me, it’s for your own protection.”

  Ihua called three other Omees and told them to take John to his new confined home. When john left the chambers, Ihua asked the two younger men, “So what just happened?”

  “You want to stop the traffic of salt around the kingdom, so you can stretch the war,” Tunde said.

  “Then again, the people of Alloida will end up attacking faster than they were supposed to,” Ikenna added.

  Ihua got up from where he was seated and asked them, “A man crossed a river to pluck a paw-paw fruit. When he got there he plucked four and he could not cross the river with all four fruits. He could only swim across the river with one of these fruits. So what should he do?”

  Ikenna answered. “He takes the fruit one at a time across the river.”

  “Good, then what happens if this continues?’

  “He starts getting tired as he swims back and forth,” Tunde answered.

  “Get every man, woman and children with strong hands and tell them to start digging on the borders a wide trench, deep enough to cover over a thousand standing men. When this is done, assign a battalion to guard the boundaries.”

  “As much as Vacoura is a lot of things, he has honor. When he says thirty days so shall it be.”

  His messenger returned, talking with his head to the ground.

  “I bring you dreadful news.”

  “Speak,” the chief commanded.

  “Your Tikpapa was found dead with his head buried in his feces.”

  Ihua angrily told his messenger to get out. He faced the two Omees again a little confused.

  “You were telling us of Vacoura’s honor,” Tunde said.

  Ihua could feel the echo of the two Omees laughter hidden in the serious faces they pretended to put on. He was even beginning to wonder if the men were really enemies. It is terrible what war does. Imagine honorable Vacoura organized the death of my Tikpapa while I am here waiting for thirty days. Only the gods know whether the ancient pig has already planned my death with someone around me. One thing I am sure of, it cannot be either of these two. The bastard had to kill the only man I could trust.

  Ihua sighed, then faced his two general’s without the title.

  “Start organizing the digging now.”

  The two men were filled with youthful joy. They were going to war to kill people and probably get killed. Ihua realized these men were crazy and dangerous; he was lucky they were on his side. As Ihua discharged them to do his task, Ikenna looked back at the chief.

  “You did not have any informant. You just tested the white man to see if he was the one supplying the salt.”

  Ihua ignored him and left, now knowing who would be his successor. He regretted that none of his sons had the fire of an Omee, but even so, he had to take care of at least one of them.

  Chapter 24

  It had been nine days since the meeting at the conference room and Pokzee never mentioned anything about the battle with any of his men, including the elders. Although he did not get married again, he was still living in the bosom of pleasure with different women. One night the elders came to his home while he had a female guest. He asked them to come back at another time, but they insisted on waiting. When he finally met them in his chambers, he greeted the four elderly men then sat down.

  “So what brings the four anchors of our province to my humble home?”

  “Only a fool will see a stone coming into his eyes and not react. Pokzee, we have been fools for about nine days, but our hearts are as heavy as yours. There is a war coming and nobody knows what we are planning to do,” the oldest man said.

  “Is it not Oludu? I will take care of his province on my own,” Pokzee said, his mouth full of roasted antelope.

  “Our forefathers who have served us kola nut with blessing had nothing to gain by this gesture, but even today we do it and so shall the generations after ours,” the darkest elder said.

  “Forgive me. Please take some kola nut,” Pokzee said.

  “This is not about Kola nut,” the elder continued. “How can you estimate the height from the heavens to the earth?”

  “Let us hit the ground, Pokzee,” said the elder with a scar across his face. “We are all aware that the war is in twenty-one days from now. We know we are a powerful province, but Oludu’s chronicle is not something we should ignore.”

  “What chronicle? Is it that he killed an animal when he was young or that he is the son of an Omogor?”

  The shortest elder finally spoke. “No wonder, he does not know.”

  “Know what?”

  “I was beginning to wonder if they had settled,” the scarred elder added.

  “Know what?” Pokzee shouted.

  The darkest elder started, “Okon sent his general and Oludu, along with about fifteen Omees, to the village of Asuqo.”

  “Correction, there were only ten Omees with them,” the scarred elder cut in. “Okon sent them to the village head to collect the taxes.”

  “Okon never sent his son to places he felt were sensitive. Upon the death of an animal at the boy’s hands, he still treated him like an egg,” the shortest elder said.

  The darkest elder continued. “Asuqo was a village that had no Omees and everybody there was a farmer. They were not up to a hundred people in that land.”

  “So Oludu, the general and the other Omees got to where the village head was and asked about it,” the scarred elder added.

  “The man walked to where the general was and spat on his face, ran out and shouted a signal,” the shortest elder said.

  “It was GBOWE,” the darkest elder reminded him.

  “Thank you,” the shortest elder said, not even caring who he was telling the story to. “From nowhere Omees, all pretending to be criminals, appeared in the scanty environment. They were about a hundred.”

  “Stop exaggerating; they were about fifty,” the scarred one said. “All twelve men ran toward the exit away from the village. At that point they formed a straight line prepared for battle.”

  “When their adversaries saw the blockade,” said the shortest elder, “they stopped chasing them and stood side by side with their prey. At this time the twelve Omees were looking the fifty men in the eyes with traces of fear. Then their leader appeared. It was obvious that Oludu did not know who he saw, but the general recognized him and let the boy know that the man was his father’s second eldest brother.”

  “Since Okon’s father disowned him, the two brothers had never met again,” the scarred elder added.

  “So Oludu’s uncle told them he didn’t want to waste the lives of honorable Omees and all he wanted was Oludu,” said the shortest elder. “The general told him never and screamed for Oludu to run back to the town. Their adversaries attacked and the boy started running. All the Omees prevented anyone from passing through but their enemies were too many and they started dying one by, but they still kept the blockade.”

  “When he was close to the town, Oludu turned and started running back. The general always said to him, ‘Only a boy runs from the battles of a man.’” The darkest elder seemed proud to have remembered the statement and continued. “At this time Oludu was still quite young, although he already was an Omee. When he got back to where his Omees were, he saw only his general and three other Omees still fighting with over thirty Omees or criminals. The boy entered the battle like a hawk grabbing its prey. His hand was his shield and the sword was passing through anything. At a point, they said his sword dropped and he started using his bare hands. He did not seem to feel the arrows they shot at him and at that point they knew the man had protection from a great god. The few men alive ran away. His uncle tried to escape, but the general shot him in the foot with an arrow. Oludu went to his uncle, pulled the arrow from his foot, and told him to bury the Omees that had died while protecting him. He then made him burn his clothes and go back home naked.”

  “Is that why you have all come to my Haku?” Pokzee asked, playing with his fin
gers.

  “No,” the oldest elder said. “We have a visitor for you.”

  One of the elders went out of the chambers and brought in someone with the face covered.

  “You may unveil yourself. You are in the most discreet grounds.”

  Pokzee could not hide his shock; he was not expecting this. And they said victory was not on his fingertips.

  “Is this a social visit or you have something for me?” Pokzee asked, knowing the answer.

  “Oludu will attack you on the twenty-first day from now as he said, but he will pass through the black-eyed swamp because he knows you won’t be expecting him to pass that way. I suggest you wait for him at the edge of the swamp in the forest in three day’s time,” the person said.

  “Why three days?” Pokzee asked.

  “You know why,” the person replied, covering the face that was not meant to be seen.

  Pokzee watched his spy walk away and did not know what to believe.

  Chapter 25

  Chief Vacoura was in his Haku with his Tikpapa, envoy and general. They were all quiet, waiting for something. Vacoura was agitated; he could not sit anymore. He paced around the chamber, rubbing his hands together. Then he abruptly faced the envoy.

  “This was all your idea.”

  “My Liege, the day has not ended,” the envoy replied.

  “How could I have listened to you? My honor will be disintegrated.” Vacoura said.

  The envoy glanced at the other two men to bail him out, but all of them pretended not to notice his signal.

  “How could I believe a Wovamee would be able to kill a Tikpapa? My useless Tikpapa could not even advise me not to play in troubled water,” the chief continued.

  The short Tikpapa tried to explain, but words would not come out of his mouth.

  “I don’t understand what is going on. The general was supposed to have thrown out Ihua from the chieftaincy position. The spies we have are no longer sending any messages back to us and to top it all we paid a Wovamee to kill a Tikpapa and I have heard nothing. I feel like killing someone.”

  A messenger ran in. “An old beggar requests to see you.”

  “Do I look like I am ready to waste my time with an old man?”

  “He said I should tell you that he has a gift for you from Obi.”

  “You stupid boy, can’t you for once get things right? Send him in.”

  The old man came in. He was not as old as he was pretending to be, but he was good at acting it. He bowed to the men in the room, but he was more concerned with the chamber as he surveyed the area with his eyes.

  “You don’t have to feel uneasy. Nobody can hear or see anything in this area of my Haku, so I guarantee you maximum discretion.”

  “Ihua still refuses to really put me in the picture.”

  The old man still felt uneasy talking with the Tikpapa and general in the room, but the envoy was acceptable because he was the contact man.

  “Listen to me, I trust these men with my soul, so what you say in front of me you can say in front of them. That’s why they have their positions.”

  “That is easy for you to say. Am I not Chief Ihua’s envoy? As I came here, so also any of these men could do the same,” the man replied.

  “Are you trying to categorize me with you? You?” the general asked.

  Vacoura ignored his general. “You have a point and I am sorry. When next we meet, we do it alone. What do you have to tell me?”

  “The elders had already agreed to impeach Ihua and replace him with the general, but as of now the general is nowhere to be found,” the man said. “Ihua came out in public and announced that he would find his general by any means necessary, even if it meant taking him from your Haku.”

  Vacoura grinned. “So I killed his general. Continue.”

  “His most trusted comrade died with his head in feces.” They all laughed and the Tikpapa asked who it was, even though they made it obvious they knew the answer. “It was Ihua’s Tikpapa.”

  “What took you so long before you could report?” Vacoura asked.

  “These are war times and I have to be very careful. Also, they are digging this trench between the boundary of Ahoda and Alloida.”

  “What trench?” Vacoura faced his envoy. “What trench?”

  “My Liege, I am not aware of any trench. I have not been able to get information from Ahoda until now. Their security is tight.”

  “Are you deaf? The man said they were building the trench on the boundaries.”

  “Chief, I really think it’s the general’s job to scout those areas, not mine,” Vacoura’s envoy said, defending himself

  Automatically, everyone in the room faced the general.

  “The boundaries between them and us are extremely large and they belong to none of the provinces, so we did not have any cause to check those areas.”

  When he finished the statement, everyone was still looking at him. He tried to hide his face, but the rays from all the men touched him. He dropped flat to the ground.

  “Forgive me, my Liege. I was incompetent in my duties.”

  Vacoura ignored his general and talked with his spy.

  “How long have they been digging this trench?”

  “Over eight days.”

  “How many people are digging it?”

  “Most people in the province.”

  “How deep and wide is it?”

  “It’s the height of a man and about a thousand paces wide.”

  “How could you pass through this wide hole without anyone seeing you?”

  “That’s why I came at this time of the night and I am disguised.”

  “Do you have anything more for me?”

  “I heard he has locked up his business associate, the white man. That is about all.”

  “The land you require at the Ijeska falls is yours to collect when the war is over. Now go before they realize you are gone.”

  Ihua’s envoy bowed and left, walking over the general who was still on the ground.

  When the spy had gone, Vacoura gestured to the general to get up.

  “Let us review what the envoy spoke of from the beginning,” the chief said, rubbing his chin. “The general is dead, so our initial plans for impeachment can’t hold. Luckily for us the Wovamee killed the Tikpapa, although I felt that was impossible. So they could probably send one of those women to kill my Tikpapa.”

  “He was weak, that was why they killed him. Let any of them come near me, I’ll bury my foot in their vagina.”

  “Just in case, Envoy, have you settled the Ikaza who got the Wovamee?”

  “Yes, I have and I gave him a little extra to let us know if their next hit would be on us.”

  “Beautiful. Now why would he lock the white man up?” Vacoura asked the men around him, but they seemed lost. “What kind of people are you? Can’t you ever think of anything?”

  “Okay, what does the white man do for Ihua?”

  “He engages in trade transaction with Ihua,” the Tikpapa answered.

  “What does a foreign trader provide that Ihua does not have?”

  “Salt,” the Tikpapa answered.

  “Who provides the salt for the whole kingdom?” Vacoura asked the envoy without looking at him.

  “Oludu was the major supplier to some provinces and other kingdoms. The white men provide the other provinces their salt, but they don’t come near us. The closest was a group of criminals who were involved in the trade, but they have been eliminated by you,” the envoy replied.

  “You used the word was all over. Next you will be telling me we don’t have any salt in the province…or do we?”

  “We do, but it can’t last us up to ten days.”

  “And you just decided to share it now?”

  “At that time I felt it was something we could easily get access to from the white man. We can easily get it from Ogwashi.”

  “Ogwashi is in this war because we are in it. They have their problems and we should not burden them wi
th ours.” Vacoura bit his lips then he continued. “Ihua is forcing us to attack before it is time.”

  “Let us go now. We are ready for them,” the general shouted.

  “It melts my heart to realize that you want to succeed me with this naïve approach to confrontations. Someone should help me. Why are they digging a trench that wide?”

  “To prevent us from importing salt,” the envoy answered.

  “It goes beyond that,” the chief said.

  “They want us to delay the war. With the trench, it makes it more difficult for us to enter Ahoda. With time we are going to get desperate because they have cut our supply of salt,” Tikpapa answered.

  “Now the Tikpapa has told us their motive, what do we do?”

  “If we stay too long, we fight desperately and stupidly, but if we attack now, we could escape the hindrance that the trench would cause.”

  “Finally, you speak like my general. We attack now when they await a war at a later date.”

  “But the men are hardly ready for war today,” the envoy reminded him.

  “If our men are hardly ready today, then imagine how lost Ihua’s men will be,” the general answered.

  “But there is no honor in such an action,” the envoy murmured but everyone ignored him.

  “I will go and tell them to start singing the war songs,” the general said.

  “No need. That may cause unnecessary attention. Let us go and bring back victory then they will sing the victory song instead.”

  They all went preparing for war except the envoy, who was not an Omee and went back to his bed. The dwarfish Tikpapa walked out of the Haku with the men, then he returned under the guise he left something behind. He met Vacoura dressing for battle and asked, “What about Bugadashi?”

  The question seemed to have taken the chief by surprise. He took his time before he replied.

  “He will stay behind and guard the Haku, with the Omees over here.”

  The Tikpapa nodded in agreement and was leaving when the chief called him back.

  “Do you think I am being a weak chief by hiding my only son from war?”

  “As you said, my Liege, he is your only son.”