Love's Joy

by Emil Toth

  “You knew the old man would be angry with you. Why subject yourself to his rage?”

  “He needed to hear what I said to him. He will lie in his bed tonight and ponder my words. He will be one of the first men to join your select group. Please refrain from telling about this incident until I am no longer among you.”

  Neither woman spoke on the way back to Ravi’s home. Amira kept running the scene and Kaathi’s words over and over in her mind until they entered his home. They settled down and Kaathi joined in the conversation. “After Ashlee told me about you, I was eager to speak to all of you. I am not surprised to hear you speak of events changing the course of your lives. I have noticed this happening to people after having a dramatic event in their lives. We tend to lead our lives the same way day after day until we are dealt a great tragedy.”

  “I have found it true as well,” offered Amira.

  “And it makes me happy to hear the four of you are getting together to support each other,” added Kaathi. “Ashlee tells me you pray as a group. Group prayer is powerful and effective, especially if you have a specific goal.”

  “On occasion we do have a goal,” interjected Amira.

  “Devra and Nena how did you come to be part of this group?”

  Devra answered, “With the death of my husband, I questioned God and did not get any answers. I stumbled upon Nena after she lost her man and was drowning in a sea of questions. By good fortune we struck up a conversation with Amira and found she was having discussions with her neighbor, Ravi. We have been meeting every fifth day ever since.

  “The wonderful thing about getting together is we do not restrict our questions. We can ask anything.”

  Kaathi smiled. “It is a blessing to have others to help you with your struggles. Do you pray and meditate at your meetings?”

  “Not all the time,” answered Nena.

  “I would like to suggest you do it at every meeting. Would you mind if we did a silent prayer session now and focus on changing the attitude of men here toward women.”

  No one objected, and they quieted themselves. Kaathi quickly moved deep into an exalted state. Not long into their session, Ravi settled his mind, recited his prayer and was flooded by Kaathi’s true nature. Unable to contain his emotion his eyes filled with tears. Her loving energy engulfed all of them and each felt it to their ability.

  Kaathi opened her eyes first and watched as the others concluded their meditation. “Do you do healings?”

  “We do not,” replied Ravi.

  “You can do absent healing by sending energy to someone at any time. It is always better if the person requests it, although it can be done without the person’s knowledge, so long as your intentions are for the person’s highest good. I have found the more you engage in healing the better the energy will be.”

  “How long does a healing last?” asked Devra.

  “As you grow accomplished, you will have a sense when to stop.”

  “Can we do healings with the person present?”

  “Of course, as long as you and they are comfortable with it. It should always be a pleasant and exhilarating experience.”

  “Do we place our hands on the person?”

  “If the person is comfortable with it.”

  “Do I send the person my energy?”

  “Under no circumstance; it will deplete you. I always ask for Creator’s energy to heal someone.”

  They heard shouting and screaming coming from the direction of the village center. They exited the house and followed the shouting to the village center.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Pauli and Sandor left Caleb talking to the Nubilon council. Pauli convinced Sandor to walk through the village with him to observe the Nubilons to get a true picture of what the people were like. The first thing they noticed was the scarcity of women on the avenues. They entered the village square and it was true there as well.

  Pauli looked around. “Why do you think there are so few women outside?”

  “Not sure. I wonder if some are banned from being outside?”

  “Should we ask one of the men or a woman?”

  Sandor responded, “If there is some sort of repression, a man might not tell us the truth. He would give us his version. A woman would give her version.”

  “You go ask a man, Sandor, and I will ask a woman.”

  “On second thought, I do not think we should stick our noses where they do not belong.”

  “How else are we going to find out what these people are like?”

  “I do not…” Sandor did not finish what he wanted to say. He shook his head and watched Pauli walk toward a lady making her way through the village square. Sandor made his way to a local man in hopes of talking to him.

  Pauli headed for a spot where his path would intersect with the woman. As he drew near her, Pauli saw an air of despair and a sense of abandonment in her eyes. The woman noticed him looking at her. Panic possessed her eyes and she veered away. He halted in his tracks and watched her hurrying away. It could not be more obvious she did not want to have anything to do with him. She looked defeated and petrified. His mind went to his recent visit to Hamor. The only women he spoke with were the ones attending the Relationship Sessions. He wondered if the women not attending the sessions had the same look of defeat and panic on their faces as this woman.

  He had been a traditionalist in Kahali and never thought of looking for despair in the women he knew. He had always thought his mother and his wife were treated well. Batu exploded onto the scene, and it was then he considered he had not held women in esteem and saw other men did not. Jacob raised his consciousness after he heard Batu’s expulsion speech and started talking about Batu’s courage and the rights of women. After his talks with Jacob, he slowly grew aware of how women had suffered and were continuing to suffer suppression in his own village.

  Due to what he had seen on the woman’s face walking swiftly away from him, he should have sensed she was representative of all women in this village. He abandoned his intuition and instead followed his urgency to speak to a Nubilon woman to discover the truth of how women were treated here. He looked around and saw a woman walking through the center with her head bent down not watching where she was going. Why is this woman not looking up? Is it because she is as beaten as the other woman running from me? I have to talk to her and find out for myself how women are treated. He waited until she was ten steps away and put himself in her direct path.

  The young lady was upon him before she noticed him. Surprised, she stopped. The woman was in her twenties and before she could turn and walk away he spoke in the common language, “Hello, I am sorry, if I scared you. I want to ask you a few questions.”

  Her face turned to fear. “No, no.”

  “Why not?”

  She did not answer. She veered away from him.

  He took a step to follow her and a man yelled, “Jezebel, jezebel!”

  He turned and saw four men running toward him. One of them screamed, “Defiler, defiler!” Another was yelling jezebel over and over.

  Pauli saw the look in their eyes and knew he had stirred a hornet’s nest. He turned and prepared to defend himself. Other men in the square were also yelling and running his way. The man kept yelling jezebel as he ran toward the woman. He caught up with her, slapped her, threw her to the ground and viciously kicked her. Pauli reacted, ran to her rescue, slammed his shoulder into the man and drove him to the ground. The other men reached the melee. Two men pulled Pauli off the first man and held him. A third man drove his fist into his stomach, doubling him up. He sensed the knee coming to smash his face and turned his head. The man intended to drive his coupled fists on the back of his head. Pauli brought his foot up into his crouch before the man’s blow landed. The man moaned and fell to the ground. More men arrived and drove their fists to his body. One landed a hard blow to his kidney sending shards of pain through his body. He was thrown to the ground and they used their feet to kick Pauli. He scrambled away
and got to his feet.

  The woman screamed and wailed as her husband unmercifully beat her. She covered her face as he brutally kicked her head.

  More men appeared. One man came up from behind Pauli and grabbed him around the neck and held on. Pauli tried to wrestle free and was ferociously pummeled. He could not defend himself. They forced him to the ground. There were men on all of his arms and legs as well as the man with a strangle hold on his neck. Another man jumped in the air and drove his feet into Pauli’s stomach painfully knocking the breath out of him. Another man smashed his elbow to Pauli’s temple knocking Pauli senseless. While Pauli was helpless, the man smashed his face again and again with his elbow. The group released Pauli. He did not move. It did not deter the men. One man kicked him using the heel of his foot. Other men joined him and mercilessly kicked Pauli on every part of his body.

  Sandor was talking to the Nubilon man and heard the men shouting. He turned to see four men running toward his friend. Suddenly, the whole square erupted. He dashed to the melee and crashed into the men kicking Pauli. He tumbled to the ground, jumped up and sent his fist into one man’s face. He buried his other fist in a man’s stomach and was jumped by three men and driven to the ground. Two men pinned his arms as five men kicked his body. He lashed out with his feet at the men. They managed to grab his ankles and held them. Each kick drove his body to one side or another. A kick crashed into Sandor’s throat, crushing his larynx. He stopped struggling. It made no difference, they kept on cursing and kicking him until they satisfied their hatred.

  Caleb, was discussing the acceptance of Leah and Isaac into the Kahali village due to Kaathi’s persuasiveness and assurances, when he and the three Nubilon assembly members heard the screams and shouts coming from the square. The council members left him sitting there. Caleb ran after them. They got to the village center and made their way through the gathering mob of shouting and swearing men. Caleb shoved men aside to get to the center of the mob. His heart sank, when he saw Sandor and Pauli unconscious in the midst of the crowd. Some men were still stomping on his friends.

  Outraged, Caleb jumped in the middle of them and yelled, “What the hell are you doing? Get away from them.”

  If the Nubilon councilmen not been with him he would have received the same battering as his friends. Five men yelled at once describing what had transpired to Zafir and the councilmen in their native language. Caleb pushed men aside and dropped on his knees to examine his friends. He glanced at the woman and instinctively knew what happened. He also knew what was about to take place was not going to be any better.

  Zafir directed himself to Caleb. “The men say one of your men breached our law.” He pointed to an angry man. “He reprimanded his wife and his friends did the same to your men.”

  “Reprimanded?” yelled Caleb incredulously. “They brutally beat the hell out of my friends. What stupid law did they break?”

  “The one which states a married woman cannot talk to any man except her husband and her relatives.”

  “None of them deserved to be beaten. What your men did is disgusting and insane. My men did not know anything about your law,” shouted Caleb, “and they have beaten my men senseless. Their actions are reprehensible, intolerable and barbaric. Pauli and Sandor were councilmen and the best of my Warrior Hunters.”

  In spite of the immense blunder and how he felt, Zafir knew what the other assemblymen’s feelings were. “Ignorance of the law is no excuse. The men punished them and now want your men thrown out of our village. I am afraid I will have to enforce the law and ask you to leave.”

  “They beat my men senseless and you want us to leave? What punishment are they to receive?”

  “None,” Zafir answered in a subdued voice.

  “You people are insane,” yelled Caleb. “You do not have to tell me twice. I want to leave as fast as I can. You have not heard the last of this,” vowed Caleb.

  It was what Zafir was afraid of hearing. He feared the incident was going to trigger a war.

  Before Caleb had a chance to say anything more, Kaathi, Ashlee, her uncle Ravi and the ladies arrived. Ravi plowed through the noisy and agitated men, making a path for the ladies. Kaathi looked at her friends lying on the ground. Her eyes found Zafir and observed him for a long while. He saw her looking at him and sensed her disapproval. For some reason, he could not fathom why her eyes disturbed him.

  Ashley saw Sandor, Pauli and the woman lying on the ground had been brutally beaten and was appalled. Instinctively, she knew what had happened. Memories of the physical, mental and sexual abuse she had lived through gripped her. She shook with fear, as her body remembered the countless beatings and torment she experienced. Tears welled up in her eyes, as she grappled with flashing images from her past. It was all too much. She doubled over and vomited.

  Kaathi heard Ashlee retching as she administered to the stricken trio on the ground. She knew at some point she would have to talk privately with her about the emotions flaring up inside her. She noted Pauli’s aura was gone, indicating he was dead, and she went to Sandor whose aura was quickly fading and checked for a pulse. He was barely alive.

  Kaathi’s presence and command of the situation quieted the Nubilon men. Here and there muffled voices rose among them.

  Kaathi took command of the situation. “Ravi, we need two stretchers.”

  “Of course.”

  Ravi knew two men with stretchers and quickly walked away to get them.

  The mystic healer checked the Nubilon woman. Her husband moved aside. She turned to Zafir. “Can you have your medicine man look after her?”

  Zafir considered the request. He was surprised the husband was not protesting. “Yes.” He wanted to amend what had happened.

  Ravi returned with the stretchers.

  Zafir did not want any more blood on his hands. “I want all of you gone tomorrow.” He said the orders loudly to satisfy the villagers not his guests. He struggled with his emotions, as he watched the beaten men carried away. He was stricken with sadness. These people had come in peace and because of the stupid rigidity of the men in his village the Kahali were going home filled with anger and their dead. He scurried off to get away from the idiotic mob and pray to his God.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Amira helped carry the stretcher bearing Pauli. She noted he did not have a pulse in his neck. Of course, his pulse could be very weak. For his sake, I hope so. The small party of stretcher bearers arrived at Ravi’s house. Their faces reflected the gravity of the situation. Caleb went with the others to Ravi’s home.

  “Put Sandor on the table,” Kaathi instructed Ravi.

  Ashlee looked around. “Where should we put Pauli?”

  “Set him on the floor. He has expired.”

  Ashlee moaned. Tears filled her eyes. She had gotten to know both men well on the trip. She sucked in her breath to keep from moaning again.

  The Nubilon women set him and the stretcher in a corner of the hut. Kaathi got her medicine bag and worked on Sandor as the others observed. He had three broken ribs on his right side and two on his left. One of the ribs on his right side had punctured his lung. His eyes were swollen shut, and blood was trickling from his right ear. His whole body seemed to be one huge wound. She was concerned about his crushed trachea. He made strange noises with each breath. She feared his trachea was closing and he would not see the great sun set. She wrapped his chest to restrict the movement of his ribs and was greatly concerned with fluid and blood accumulating in his chest. She checked his arms and legs and did not find any other broken bones. His face was bloated from the blows and she could not determine if his cheeks were broken. She assumed they were. She looked into his mouth and saw blood. She turned him over on his side to prevent him from choking on his own blood. She cleaned the scrapes on his face, legs and arms and put a film of healing salve on them. Her face revealed her worry. She heaved a sigh and sat down.

  Kaathi gave everyone a quick look. “Sandor needs a lot of prayers and healing
energy to survive. Anyone who wants to assist me and Ashlee in sending energy to him can do so.”

  Ravi went to stand next to the table with Sandor on it. His friends followed.

  “Good. If you are comfortable with laying on your hands please hover them over his body or rest them gently on him. When you are so inclined you can end the healing.”

  Kaathi stood at Sandor’s head and hovered her hands over his head and closed her eyes and asked Creator for the energy necessary to heal her friend. The others took up places at his feet and sides and did the same.

  Kaathi was the first to end the healing, and Amira was the last to raise her hands from the unconscious Sandor and sit down.

  The Great Sun had moved a quarter ways in the sky and Kaathi sensed Sandor’s passing. She checked his neck and wrist for a pulse. She lifted her fingers and shook her head. With tears in her eyes she announced, “He has expired.”

  Caleb shook his head in grief. “What am I going to say to Sandor and Pauli’s family, and Jacob? They were the best of our warriors, and they died senselessly. I know our people will want revenge and more will die needlessly on both sides. I do not want it to happen.”

  The Elder looked at Kaathi for help.

  “Caleb, the Nubilons know how angry you are, and the death of our friends will haunt them. Many of their conversations will concern their fear we will retaliate. They know our population is greater than theirs and we can field more warriors than they. The best thing we can do is pray for them and for Pauli’s and Sandor’s families.”

  Caleb was doubtful prayers were going to help. His mind raced as the others turned inward for the second time and prayed. Upon conclusion of the prayers, Ravi asked, “Do you want to give them a Nubilon burial or your own?”

  Kaathi looked at Ravi. “I believe they would want to be buried on the river in hope their bodies would reach Kahali ground.”

  Ravi knew it was a huge stretch. If Kaathi thought it was what the deceased would have wanted, he was not going to oppose it.