I glared at her. “Fuck you!’
She laughed. “How kind of you to offer, but no thanks.” She smiled at Marjani. “I gave up longing for a man years ago.”
Marjani smiled back, and it came to me that they were more than friends.
“We need to tie him up,” Esi said. “I won’t leave you alone with him otherwise.”
Marjani tisked with her tongue as if to suggest Esi was being overprotective, but she cut off an excess piece of the rope that bound my hands and then tied that snugly around my ankles.
“Looks good,” Esi said, checking the knots, “but keep an eye on him.”
“I will, dear.” Marjani leaned over and gave the smaller woman a peck on the cheek. “Mind your way in the dark coming back.”
Esi kissed her back, took two chipped dinner plates from a shelf, and then strode off.
I sat on my concrete block and glared at Marjani.
“Now, now,” she said. “It could have been worse. If you’d tried running away in the wrong part of the city, most likely you’d be locked in a brothel right now, fighting off your first customer.”
The word brothel made a cold knot form in the pit of my stomach. Hobart had never mentioned such places.
“Tisk, tisk.” Marjani shook her head. “Don’t look like that. Esi and I will find a nice family without a son to barter, but with enough money to pay well for you.” She tilted her head and looked me up and down. “Your clothes are very peculiar. Are you one of the keesai who come from another world and appear out of the air?”
I nodded. I didn’t see any reason not to tell her, and pissing her off might make her less picky about who she sold me to.
She gave a sort of pleased chuckle. “That’s good luck, that is. You keesai are more likely to have sons, so everyone will be eager to get you. And we won’t have to worry about clan loyalty or incest rules.”
I cleared my throat. I needed information, and just sitting there wouldn’t get me any. “What clan are you and Esi in?”
An odd look crossed her face—not anger, but something almost as negative. “I was born a Rufaro, but I don’t consider myself one now, any more than they worry about me.”
“Why not?”
She turned toward the wall and picked up a brown glass jug. “Clans are made up of households, not individuals. Do you want some water?”
“Yes, please.”
She poured water into a metal cup and brought it over to me. “Here.” She tilted the cup to my lips, and I drank, steadying the cup with my bound hands.
“Thanks,” I said when she moved the cup. I tried to think of a way I could get to the knife in my pocket and cut myself loose. “I’m really tired. Could I lie down for a while?”
She looked down at my bound ankles. “You won’t be able to walk.”
I got to my feet and teetered for a few seconds. “I could hop to the bed.” I nodded at the mattress and took a tentative jump.
She bent down and picked me up over her shoulder. “Ow!” She set me down again. “What was that?”
“What was what?” But I was pretty sure I knew because the knife had jabbed me, too.
She didn’t bother to answer me. Her hands moved up and down my body like a cop frisking a perp. One hand dove into my jeans pockets—not as much of a thrill as it could have been with the right woman—but she didn’t find anything until she checked my jacket pockets and pulled out the knife.
“No wonder!” she said, pulling my makeshift sheath off of the blade. “That’s a good knife—a little bonus for us.”
She put it on the table and continued to search me. She found the sandwich in my other jacket pocket and put it on the table next to the knife.
“Not much to run away on,” she said, finally letting go of me. She bent down and picked me up over her shoulder again, walked the few steps to the back of the cavern and tossed me onto the mattress.
I landed with a thud that nearly knocked the wind out of me, which wasn’t entirely bad because the mattress smelled really musty.
It looked as if I had arrived in my second Makoron home. So far it was a downhill journey. Just as I had that thought, the ceiling started to shake.
“What the hell is that?” I shouted.
Marjani glanced over her shoulder at me. “What is what?”
The whole room seemed to be vibrating, and there was a weird noise—almost like being inside a kazoo. “That humming noise—and the vibration! Is it a cave-in?”
She grinned. “Oh, that. Don’t worry it’s just the train.” She looked up. “We’re under the track.”
I knew Egume had an extensive network of magnetic levitation trains, but I had never seen one, and I had no idea how much noise they might make. Abruptly the sound and vibration stopped, and I went back to breathing normally.
A little while later, Esi came back with the two plates full of food. The two women sat down and ate, chatting all the while about what they would do with the money they would get for selling me. They decided that buying a small house would be best, but they couldn’t agree on where it should be.
I lay on the mattress and remembered my first night alone on Gyasi’s much more comfortable bed. If my mother had been there, she would have said I had jumped out of the frying pan and landed right in the fire.
I WOKE up with a stiff neck and stiffer arms. I was still lying on the mattress, trussed up hand and foot, but the two women were no longer lying on either side of me, as they had been when I finally fell asleep the night before.
“The trick will be delivering him once we make the sale,” Esi’s voice said. “Getting him out of here unseen won’t be easy unless we go at night.”
I stifled a groan and moved so I could see better. Sunlight streamed in through the cracks in the makeshift door Esi had put in place right before bedtime.
The two women sat on the two stools, drinking something from metal cups. The squat looked even more primitive in the daylight.
“We should work on a disguise,” Marjani said. “He’s a stick, but we could add padding in the right places with no trouble.”
Esi made a gurgling nose, half snort and half laugh. “How will that help hide his beard?”
“We’ll have to get a razor or some tacha.”
“He’ll still make a damned homely girl.”
It was silly, but I felt a little insulted. And I wondered what tacha was.
Marjani got to her feet. “Stop being difficult, Esi. This is our very own miracle, and I won’t have you putting obstacles in our way.”
Esi stared into her cup. “I hope so. In the light of day, I’m wondering if it wouldn’t have been better to knock on the door and ask for a reward for returning him.”
Marjani paced the room and waved one arm, a wild sweeping gesture. “A reward? They’d have been as likely to accuse us of stealing him! No, a house that big wouldn’t look kindly on the likes of you and me knocking on their door in the middle of the night.”
Esi sighed. “You’re right. I know you’re right.” She got to her feet and put one arm around Marjani. “This is our chance to finally have a place of our own, a real place with a roof and four walls.”
Marjani threw both arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Don’t forget a real door.”
They laughed and kissed each other on the mouth. I know a lot of guys get hot watching women kiss each other, but probably those guys hadn’t spent the night tied hand and foot on an old mattress. It sure didn’t do anything for me.
I moved so I made some noise, and groaned when my stiff muscles protested. “Uh, hello. I need to pee.”
Marjani let go of Esi. “Our little treasure is awake and needs to pee.”
Esi picked up a metal can that was sitting on the floor by the concrete block. “Here. You can go in this.”
I was horrified. “In front of you?”
They both laughed. They untied my ankles and hauled me to my feet, but Marjani didn’t want to untie my hands. Only when she couldn’t figure
out how to unzip my jeans did she finally untie me and let me unzip myself. It wasn’t easy with my fingers so stiff.
I insisted on standing at the far end of the cavern and turning my back on the two of them, before I even tried to pee. Just as I got a stream going, a shadow moved on the wall. I glanced over my shoulder and realized that Esi was watching me.
“It’s not fair, Jani!” She sounded half amused and half resentful. “Not only can he stand up, he can aim!”
“Not that useful a job skill, but amusing to do, I’m sure.” Marjani didn’t sound nearly as intrigued.
After I zipped up, I turned around.
Esi was putting a bowl, a lump of soap, and the jug of water on the table. “Here, come wash your hands.”
Her tone reminded me of my mother, even though she was probably more than ten years younger than Mom. Marjani looked fortyish, but Esi couldn’t be more than thirty-one or maybe thirty-two. She wore her black hair short, like so many women in Egume, and when she smiled she was almost hot.
Marjani wasn’t bad looking—she had a thick mane of black hair and dark eyes—but she didn’t smile as much, and she was so solidly built it was hard to see her as anything but a threat. She picked up the half-full can and took it outside while I washed my hands. She moved the door out of the way to do it, which let in a lot more sunlight.
“You need to eat something so we can tie you up again,” Esi said, turning toward the shelf. “We saved your bread and meat for you.”
She had her back to me, and I suddenly realized I had a shot at getting away, so I jumped up and raced toward the doorway. I stumbled because I was so stiff, and Esi turned back and saw me.
“Stop!” She jumped in front of me with her hands out.
I kept going and knocked her down. I got to the doorway just as a dark shape blocked the light.
Marjani grabbed me by the throat and squeezed.
“Argh!” I could barely make any sound. I couldn’t breathe, either.
Marjani dragged me farther back into the cavern. I had a brief glimpse of Esi lying on the ground with blood trickling from her head and then everything went black.
I HEARD voices when I came to. Esi and Marjani were arguing.
“I don’t want to leave you alone with him.” Marjani sounded angry and worried at the same time.
I stared at the concrete beams of the ceiling. I was lying on my back, but my arms were above me. They had to have put the door back. I could barely see in the dim light.
“We need money.” Esi sounded okay, so I couldn’t have hurt her badly. “We need to buy things for a disguise. The tower job is the only one that’s hiring day laborers right now, and you know the job boss there.” She chuckled. “And besides, you tied him up really well.”
I tried to move and discovered Esi was right. My hands were tied above my head and my feet were tied down, too. I couldn’t so much as roll over. I groaned when I tried.
Marjani’s face loomed over me, scowling. “Listen to me, you stubble-faced scum! If you hurt Esi while I’m gone, I’ll hunt you down and kill you.” She patted my crotch. “These will be the first to go. I know men are very protective of them.”
I tried to pull away from her, but I couldn’t move an inch.
Esi’s face leaned over me next to Marjani’s face. She had a sort of makeshift band-aid on her forehead, but otherwise she looked fine. “Don’t be so shufaw, Marjani. I promise I won’t untie him. We’ll be fine.”
I wondered what shufaw meant. Maybe bloodthirsty.
Marjani hugged Esi and then went to the door and lifted it out of the way. She turned to look back at us. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Put the door in place and keep out of sight.”
“Yes, First Mother.” Esi said the words with something close to sarcasm.
Marjani didn’t bother to answer but only vanished from the doorway.
Esi went over and shifted the heavy frame of boards so it covered the doorway. Sunlight shone in through the cracks, but it still got dimmer.
I tipped my head back and saw that my hands were bound together at the wrists and then tied to a stake driven into the ground. When I stretched my neck to look at my feet, they were staked down, too. The ground under me felt cold.
Esi went to the shelf and came back with a book. She pulled one of the stools closer to me. “I’m going to read. If you like, I can read out loud. Otherwise, I’ll read to myself.”
I thought she was being pretty nice considering I had knocked her down. “What’s the book?”
She read from the front of it. “My Life as a Soldier, by Folame Urbi Kondo.” She looked up and grinned at me. “It was very popular when it came out a few years ago, because it’s partly about a famous scandal. But if you want something lighter, I could read from one of Marjani’s love stories.”
Something told me Marjani’s love stories wouldn’t have any men in them. “This book sounds fine. Go ahead and read out loud.” I stretched my muscles as much as I could. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Esi opened the book. “I’m already on chapter three. To fill you in, Folame Kondo was born into a large household, but by the time her father finally sired a son there was no way her family could barter a husband for the elder girls.”
“What does that mean?” I interrupted. “Why did her brother’s age matter? Wouldn’t the older girls get priority?”
Esi gave me a look like she suspected me of asking facetiously. “Of course not. No one trades a son for a future husband; it’s always for a man old enough to be married. A woman whose brother is twenty years or more younger than she is would be too old to be sure she could have children by the time he was of an age to marry. Unless she had a very well-paying job, no household would want her.”
“Oh.” I thought back to Teleza and her sisters. At least Kafele was only fourteen years younger than Zuwina. But with me gone, she might have to wait until she was over thirty to get married. No wonder they had wanted to jump start things by sucking me into their new household.
“Now, here’s chapter three.” Esi put her head down and began to read. Folame Kondo had a rather flowery way of expressing herself, for a soldier. She had never met a superlative she didn’t like. Her situation always sounded dire, even when she was just looking for somewhere to live. I listened because there was nothing else to do, but it wasn’t that interesting until Folame decided to enlist.
“Why did it help to join the army?” I interrupted. “Was it just because it gave her somewhere to live?”
Esi gave me an impatient glance. “Joining the army isn’t like getting a job. If you join the army, you can never join a household—the army is your household. You join for life, and they take care of you when you get old.”
I thought that over. An all-woman army still seemed totally weird. “What happens if a woman in the army gets pregnant?”
Esi laughed. “Most soldiers don’t make enough money to afford insemination fees. But if one did, she’d have the baby and raise her in the barracks. I told you the army was like a household.”
“What if she has a boy baby?”
Esi gave me an annoyed look. “Then her clan would take him when he was old enough to leave his mother—six or seven—and foster him in one of their households.”
I couldn’t imagine moving into Adeola and Hobart’s house at six. I had a feeling Teleza would have looked a lot less hot if I’d grown up knowing her like I knew Lorrie.
Esi went back to her reading. I let her go on for quite a while, almost losing track of the story, until one sentence got my attention.
“‘I met Bejida Urbi Siti when I was forty-five,’” Esi read.
Instantly, I recalled Mr. Walters’ daughter saying her mother’s name. It looked like I might find out what had happened to her.
“‘I was old enough to know better, ’” Esi read on, “‘but still, her beauty, her charm, her kufa won me over. In spite of her youth, I became an ardent follower, and supported her in the Urbi elections.’”
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“What’s kufa mean?” I interrupted, opting for the safest reason to ask questions.
Esi let out an annoyed sound, almost a sigh. “It means that quality that some people have that persuades everyone around them to follow them.”
“What did she mean by the Urbi elections?”
Esi rolled her eyes. “Clans in Dodomah are different than they are in Egume. Individuals vote, not households, and they elect a single leader instead of a council.”
She went back to reading and I let her go on, still wondering how I could find out more about Bejida Urbi Siti.
Folame Kondo’s career prospered, and she was made an officer. Folame recounted how she made many friends, in spite of often rejecting some of them as lovers.
“‘Many officers found it comfortable to take lovers from their own companies, but I have never thought the practice a sound one. How can one give orders to a bed partner? Feelings so often obscure good sense, resulting in calamity and heartbreak.’”
It sounded reasonable to me. Considering all the soldiers were women, it also sounded a hundred and eighty degrees from the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy formerly in place in the U. S. military.
When Bejida Urbi Siti became the youngest Ocan Garun Dodomah had ever had, Folame was appointed as captain of her personal guard. The next sentence made me sit up and take notice.
“‘I had thought Bejida shared my views, as she had never married and had never been known to take a lover, but when the keesai who would consume her life and annihilate her career arrived, it became clear she had other reasons for staying unattached.’”
Did ‘the keesai’ mean Mr. Walters? I craned my head to watch Esi read as if somehow it would help me follow the story.
“‘The keesai appeared miraculously from thin air, as these men do, and was taken to the Ocan Garun. Bejida met him in a public audience, with another keesai present, a man who had married into the Urbi clan. However when the Urbi man was unable to speak to the new keesai, instead of seeking out another keesai for assistance, Bejida announced that she herself would teach the man to speak Neluan, as she had kayel gazan.’”
Turnabout Page 12
