Chapter One
I rushed out of the room into the men’s toilets to escape the loud Michael Jackson music playing in the cafe. Immediately, the smell of chlorine hit my nose bringing back memories of the pool. The pool that swallowed her up. Images flashed through my mind. First Mum, Dad, Nick and I sitting by the pool laughing, eating our sandwiches. Then, the race. We were seeing who could swim to the other end of the pool first. Mum was winning and then something weird happened. A huge wave rolled over my mother and she drowned.
Now at the toilets, I tried to stop them but tears kept rolling down my cheeks. I have never cried so much in my life. A few minutes later, I washed my face and tried to look as if nothing had happened. I walked out of the toilets. Only I knew what really happened to Mum.
“Hi Dan.” It was my father. “Are you okay, Dan?” he asked.
“Yeah, Dad,” I replied.
“No, really son, what’s wrong?”
“I told you Dad, nothing,” I answered.
“Just tell me,” he said in a concerned voice. I told him I was thinking about Mum.
“Wass’up, bro?’’ My brother appeared next to me, trying to be cool. “You don’t look happy,” he said. I ignored him and soon he forgot.
A waiter came to our table, offering drinks. I ordered a Coke, my brother a Sprite, and my father a glass of still water (How boring!). When my Coke arrived I took a sip. I was still thinking about my mum.
My mum was one of only fifty people left in the Xusin tribe that inhabit Topswe state, Mexico. They believe in three gods: the god of water, the god of earth, and the god of the heavens. My mum once took a trip out to Houston and met a man, my dad, whom she married. A year later she had me. We all lived in Houston. Six months ago, when I was 14 and three quarters, mum took Nick, my younger brother and I back to Akahamba, her village. We went to see her father who was the leader of the tribe and was dying. My mom would then inherit the golden sabre tooth fang that had been prized and protected by her ancestors for hundreds of years. It was while we were in Akahamba that I saw something that changed my life forever.
“DANIEL, FOR THE LAST TIME, WE’RE ABOUT TO LEAVE!” shouted Dad. The whole cafe stared at us. “Stop dreaming,” he said, a little less loudly. I drank the remains of my drink. Dad, Nick, and I walked out into the car park.
Chapter Two
In the afternoon, Dad went out jogging and Nick went to karate class. That left me to feed our pets. I have a black cat called Hecate. I’ve had her for a long time. My brother keeps chickens. I think that they’re weird animals to keep as pets but my brother really likes them. It took me a long time to find the cat food. In the end, I found it behind the bread bin. Carefully, I poured the cat food into a blue bowl and placed the bowl on the ground. Afterwards, I put some cream into another bowl and placed that one on the ground as well. I called Hecate. She came in through her cat flap rapidly and I patted her on the head. When she started to eat, I went outside to give some food to the chickens. They liked seeds more than bread so that was what I gave to them.
I couldn’t sleep that night. Not just because Hecate was meowing loudly as he tried to catch a moth, but because thoughts about my mother were still in my head.
My thoughts were about our last day in Akahamba: the day before the accident at the pool. My mum was bathing in the river. I was bored so I walked around Akahamba. Everyone in the village was friendly. When they saw me, they waved. I waved back and carried on walking. When I got tired. I sat down on the ground. There was a tree stump next to me, and a few boulders. I leaned against them.
I heard a noise. It sounded like a fire crackling. Then, a man’s voice. He was singing some kind of a song. A prayer, I guessed. It got louder and louder and quiet again. I peeped around the side of the boulder to see. It was my uncle, who lived in Akahamba. He was standing by a fire. I didn’t greet him because it would disturb his prayers. Instead, I waited and listened. My mother’s name was mentioned. The fire became blue for a minute and then orange again. “Speetsir ekeye Esminah,’’ he chanted. An offering of fish and seaweed was thrown into the fire. Then my uncle took a woven cloth which had his name on it :“Maximus”, and a picture of the sea, and placed it next to the fire, still chanting “Speetsir ekeye Esminah.” After a while, I walked back to the house I was staying at, guessing my mum would be out of the river and I would be able to make supper with her.
When I saw her, I told her what I had heard and seen. “Uncle Maximus was chanting some sort of spell near a fire. Your name was mentioned and when he said it, the fire went blue. Uncle Maximus also threw some fish and some seaweed into the fire. I described the cloth with the picture of the sea. He also said something like ‘Speak sir okay yeah.’” My mother’s face went pale. She was silent. “What, mum?” I asked, “What does it mean?”
“It is a spell to the water god,” she replied. Her voice was quivery. “An evil spell. When someone wants to kill someone else, they need a woven cloth with their own name on it. The cloths are very powerful and have been banned for the last 20 years. My brother means to kill me. He said speetsir ekeye, not ‘speak sir okay yeah.’ That means ‘kill her’. The sacrifice of fish and seaweed means that the prayer is to the water god. Maximus wants to rule the Xusin tribe and inherit the golden sabre tooth fang.”
“I will counteract his spell. I must do it quickly, or the god of water will decide to listen to Maximus and it will be too late to do anything.” She went outside to prepare an offering to the water god. She came back half an hour later looking pleased. Then she whispered to me: “Please, Daniel, say nothing about this. We do not want Maximus to know that we know what his plan was because news in this village travels fast and if he knows we know, then he will try again. We’re safe, so let’s put this behind us.”
We left the village the following morning after saying goodbye to my Grandfather. He died two weeks later.
Chapter Three
Hecate jumped on my chest and woke me up. I pulled her off and placed her on the ground by my bed. Then I threw off the bed linen and leapt onto the floor. I flung open the curtains expecting it to be a warm and sunny day. Much to my disappointment, the day was as grey and foggy as a pigeon’s feather. I sat back down on my bed. Last night my dreams had not been good. The nightmares were a replay of what happened in real life. I dreamt that after spending one more night in Akahamba, my mother and I went back to our home in Houston.
They were very excited at our arrival and Nick suggested that to celebrate, we should go for a family outing. The cinema was closed so we went to the local pool. We ate peanut butter sandwiches and then raced each other to the opposite end of the pool. Mum was ahead and then, there was an announcement that the wave machine was going to be switched on. All of a sudden, a huge wave started to roll out towards my mother. It went on top of her. It had lost its momentum by the time it reached us because we were way behind her. When the water calmed, her body was floating on the surface. The ambulance came but they were too late. My mother was dead. We were told that the day before, a member of staff had forgotten to empty out the water from the wave machine and that the next morning they added even more water to it, thinking it was empty. So, when they turned the wave machine on, water came gushing out like a fist into a punch bag.
The dream was such a vivid reminder of the day I lost my mother. The door creaked open and Dad stepped into my room. “Hi Dan. Aren’t you gonna get up now? It’s 10 o’clock already. I’ve made a Spanish omelette for breakfast.”
I smiled and stretched. “Daniel, I was thinking about yesterday. Is there anything you’d like to talk to me about, Dan?’ he asked.
I thought for a moment and then nodded. I had told him about Maximus and the spell before but he didn’t believe me. That was six months ago. My father did not believe in magic and had been too grief-stricken to talk to me about it again. I felt that now was the right time to tell him again.
“Ok, Dad. I just want to tell you how Mum really died.”
My father sighed. “I know how she died, Dan. A stupid member of staff forgot to empty out the water from the wave machine and after more water was put in, too much water came out when it was switched on. “
“No, Dad. It was Maximus. He wanted to rule the tribe. He asked the God of Water to take Mum.”
“No, Daniel. I know what happened. I don’t want to hear this story again. You’ve been through a lot. Let’s move on.’
He started to get up.
“Dad,” I said. “I won’t talk about this anymore if you take me and Nick to Akahamba one last time.” I wanted to prove to everybody that Maximus had killed my mum when we got there.
“I’ll think about it,” said my father.
Two weeks later we were in the car on our way to Akahamba. Dad had agreed to take me there to stop me talking about Mum and Maximus. Maybe he also liked the idea of a holiday and was just pretending he didn’t.
Chapter Four
After five hours, we were in Akahamba. Dad parked the car and we all got out. A friend of my mother’s was waiting for us. Her name was Jasmine. She had a smallholding where she grew maize and wheat. We had arranged to stay at her place for the holiday. She greeted us and led us into her house. A hot meal was on the table. It smelt amazing. “Sit down and help yourselves,” she said.
“The soup looks delicious, thank you,” said Dad, smiling. We sat down together and ate.
When lunch was over and we had all chatted a lot with Jasmine, Nick, Dad and I went for a walk. I told Dad that I wanted to explore alone and we agreed to meet at five o’clock in Jasmine’s house. Really, I did not want to explore. I wanted to tell Tsen, a village elder, about how mum died. I walked to his house, nervous yet excited. Slowly and softly, I knocked on his door. A few seconds later, Tsen opened the door. When he saw me, Tsen’s mouth hung open in shock. He probably had not known that I would come to the village that day. When he recovered, he smiled a big smile. “Daniel! Hello! How nice it is to see you again. Wow, you’ve grown. Come in, come in,” he said.
“Hello,” I said, grateful that he was so happy to see me. After declining a cup of tea, I told Tsen what had actually happened to my mother. Tsen told me that my uncle Maximus was now ruling Akahamba. He also told me that what I was saying was very unlikely, but if you are a village elder, and people respect you, you have to respect them too, so he told me that he would arrange a discussion with my uncle the following day.
The next morning, Maximus, Tsen, and I were sitting in Tsen’s house. (I’d told my father that I was going to walk by the river and see if I could spot any salamanders). I had already explained what I knew about Mum’s death and Maximus had already denied asking the god of water to kill her. “Your mother was a great sister. I would never want her to die,” he said. “I did not say speetsir okeye, I said “steeptil wonteyen.” that means bless her,” he said.
“But you used the woven cloth!” I argued.
“No, that was definitely not a woven cloth, or as we call it here, a culta; they are banned in this village. It was a… It was an um… sepitntarisa. Yes. A very long word to remember,” he said.
“A sepitntarisa is an embroidered cloth used for blessings,” said Tsen. This has been sorted out, I must excuse myself now,” he continued, getting up. “This meeting is over.”
I knew that Tsen was going to talk to my Dad about me accusing Maximus of killing mum. When Tsen had gone out of the room, Maximus walked towards me. “You must really miss your mother, I miss her too,” he said.
“Yes,” I replied, not sure whether to trust him now.
“Your mother used to play the guitar. She was famous for playing it in Akahamba-- not many people were as good as her,” he told me. “Her guitar is with me. Now I would like you to have it.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“The guitar is in my house; come, I will give it to you,” said Maximus.
We ambled out of Tsen’s house down a winding pebbly path and into the woods. It was not long before we reached a tall house. Maximus took me into the house that had once belonged to my grandfather and we walked upstairs. I was led into a small room with green curtains. My uncle opened an old looking brown cupboard. Inside was a handsome guitar. It had yellow flowers painted around the sound hole and blue ones on its head. Maximus took out the guitar and handed it to me.
“Thank you so much! I love it!” I said. Now I felt embarrassed that I’d even thought Maximus was responsible for my mother’s death. He seemed so kind. After talking about the guitar for a while, I needed the toilet. Maximus told me where it was. I was just walking back from the toilet when something caught my eye. It was lying under a sofa in a bedroom. Immediately I recognized what it was. I grabbed it and stuffed it into my pocket before walking into the room that my uncle was in. Then I remembered that I should go back to Jasmine’s house now because Dad would be back soon. I told my uncle this and he handed me my mother’s guitar. We walked to the front door and said goodbye to each other.
When I reached Jasmine’ s house I knocked on the door. She opened it and I stepped in. “Hello,” I mumbled. “Hi,” she said. I placed my guitar on the floor and slipped off my shoes. “Wow! Where did you get that?” she asked. “Your Mum loved playing it!”
“Uncle Maximus gave it to me,” I replied.
“Really? I didn’t know he was that kind. We’re not that happy with the changes he made since he became the leader. He’s destroyed the tranquillity of Akahamba by letting tourists come whenever they want. The tourists litter all over the village. Maximus has set up post card stalls everywhere and done lots of things to make more tourists come. I think he just wants money and fame,” she said.
“I think that too,” I said, surprised that I was not the only one who knew that Maximus was not as good as he seemed.
Chapter Five
That night I placed what I had taken from my uncle’s under my bed safely. It was a culta. I was sure of it. The culta was the same one that I had seen while my uncle was praying to the god of water. I was one hundred percent sure after seeing it that my uncle had been lying to me. He was responsible for my mother’s death. It was the evidence I needed to prove to my dad, Tsen, Nick and the tribespeople that Maximus was guilty. Unfortunately, Tsen was away at a meeting so I would have to wait.
In the morning of the following day, I managed to quiz the postman, a fisherman and Jasmin’s about Maximus and about how he was using his power. They all told me what Jasmine had told me and that they weren’t happy with it.
I was going for a walk because Dad and Nick had gone swimming (I hated swimming after what happened to my mother). I hdn’t got very far when I saw Maximus walking towards me. He did not look happy. He took me behind a bush. “I heard that you’ve been asking about me!” he shouted. “I know you know what really happened. If you tell anybody, I’ll…,” he said, taking out a dagger with blue gems on it from its sheath on his waist. Maximus always took it around with him but I didn’t know he used it. He pointed it at me.
“I will tell everyone, it’s not right what you did. You killed my mother! You killed your own sister!” I yelled back. I prayed for anything to happen that would stop the dagger that was coming slowly closer and closer towards me…
Chapter Six
There was a rustling in the bushes. We both looked up. It was my father with Nick. “STOP THIS NOW!” he shouted. I broke free from Maximus’s grasp I and ran with my father and brother as fast as I could back to Jasmine’s house. Maximus did not follow us. He stood there, shaken.
We stopped at Jasmine’s doorstep, panting. It took a long time for us to recover from our shock. Finally we sat down on the dust earth. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” Dad said to me. I just nodded in reply. “I saw him threatening you and I was scared, really scared, son.” We sat in a lingering silence. All of us needed time to let the shock of the day sink in.
Jasmine opened the door and we went in. Seeing us so quiet, Jasmine asked what had happened. My father told her over a cup of steaming Jamaica tea. After that, I told them both about the culta I had found in Maximus’s house and that I needed to show it to Tsen.
Dad, Jasmine, Nick, and I strode to his house. When he opened the door we told him what had happened as briefly as we could. I then showed him the culta. Tsen’s mouth hung open in shock. “I…I…thought that…”
“Yes, we know,” said Jasmine.
“That vicious man! He does not deserve to be leader. He does not even deserve to be in this tribe!”
He sighed deeply and shook his head. His shoulders drooped. “Maximus does not belong here. He’s evil. He will have to face the whole tribe. I’ll call a meeting with our people telling them about what he’s done,” he stated.
And this is exactly how it happened that evening: Firstly, a gathering of the people with Dad, Nick and I for once involved in my mother’s tribe. Secondly, a discussion amongst the tribal council. Thirdly, the decision to banish Maximus, who had not turned up. For the meeting. He had left before that evening. Or so we think. We never saw him again.
Chapter Seven
Back at Jasmine’s house, we sat talking about the events of the last few days. That was when I asked a question. By the look on their faces, they probably had been wondering themselves about the same thing: Who would become the leader?
Whilst we were deep in our discussion, there was a tap on the door. Jasmine got up and opened it. Tsen was standing on the doorstep, looking solemn. We all stood up.
Tsen started talking: “I have had another meeting with the Council. We have agreed that you should be the leader of Akahamba.” He was looking at me.
My jaw dropped. Dad took a step back. Bowing his head slightly he told Tsen, “I’m not sure Daniel can take on the role and all the responsibilities. He’s fifteen years old. His life is in Houston. He still has High School.”
“He is the rightful leader. In a few years, he can decide whether this is the place for him or not. We will wait.”
Chapter Eight
We agreed that the best thing to do would be for me to come back for ceremonial events with Nick and Dad. I will get to know the people that my mother had once known. It is as if the Gods of Earth and Heaven had brought a part of her back to me.
That is a really good story.Are you going to make it a series?
ReplyDeleteI have read it sooooo many times that I have half memorised the beginning! I looove it. : )
ReplyDelete