Wizard of the Crow

his big eyes lit up as I had never seen them before, but I did not then try to make too much of it because I, too, was very happy, and doubly so for knowing that my work, despite my travels and endless storytelling, had brought a little happiness to everybody, and of course I was also happy with my new rank, and, as if to add a little of what the English call icing on the cake, I would now be reporting for duty at the State House and be answerable to only the Ruler.”

8

When Kamltl woke up the following morning he thought that he was in a hotel, so luxurious the room seemed to be. He thought he was dreaming and when this dream ended he would find himself atop the charred remains of the shrine, the cat again snuggling by his side. But his splitting headache convinced him that he was fully awake. He sat on the edge of the bed and rested his chin in cupped hands. How had he gotten herer

He vaguely remembered a person telling twisted stories about the note he had written to Machokali; he even recalled walking toward the man in order to correct him, but what was it about the incident that made Kamltl so angry? Again the phrase “True! Haki ya Mungu” reminded him vaguely of a policeman whose presence in the bar he could not account for. He also recalled motorcycles and faces resembling Njoya and Kahiga. What was their relationship to the policeman, and what had brought all three to the same bar?

He stood up to open the windows and peer outside to see if he could tell where he was; they were small and too high up the wall for him to reach, reminding him of a prison cell. He grew despondent, full of disgust with himself for having lost the trace of his goal-to find Nyawlra-by succumbing to alcohol.

Two soldiers entered the room, threw some rags and soap at him, and told him to wash up and get ready, but for what? He had hardly finished washing the caked vomit from his face when they ordered him to accompany them as if he were a free man. He should not be foolish and try to create a scene or escape. They went through corridors and hallways past other police and soldiers.

How surprised he was when he was ushered into a room and found himself face-to-face with the Ruler and Tajirika! He noted that the Ruler was still suffering from self-induced bodily expansion: Was this why he had been abducted, to attempt over more time to effect a cure? Was this the reason for the Wanted posters? But what was Tajirika doing here? In his state of alcoholic grace, Kamltl had hardly ever read newspapers or listened to the radio, so he did not know that Tajirika was now the governor of the Central Bank. Tajirika, he thought, was truly baffling: What connection was there among the many Tajirika faces he had encountered? Tajirika who was Nyawlra’s employer, Tajirika who insulted him with a mock literacy test outside Eldares Modern Construction and Real Estate, Tajirika who had visited him in search of a cure for his malady of words, Tajirika and his bucket of shit, and Tajirika now seated in the august presence of the Ruler?

Suddenly terror seized him. Had Nyawlra been captured? And could this explain why Tajirika was here?

He was offered a chair, and the soldiers were dismissed. The Ruler started the conversation. He introduced Kamltl to Tajirika, and Tajirika smiled as if encountering an old friend. Their jovialness convinced Kamltl that they were playing a cat and mouse game with him regarding Nyawlra.

“I believe that you and I last met in New York City,” said the Ruler affably.

“And I before you left for America,” added Tajirika, still smiling.

“There are a few things you can help us with,” continued the Ruler in the same friendly tone. “But let me first correct myself. When I introduced Titus to you, I forgot to mention his new title. I trust you know that Tajirika is now my new governor of the Central Bank. So let’s start our get-together with money matters, but I should let the Lord of Money explain.”

“You remember the money I paid you for healing me, three big bags?” Tajirika was about to mention the word dollars but he held back in the nick of time. He had not paid him in dollars and he did not want the Wizard of the Crow to start by disputing the currency in which he had been paid. “And you remember you told me that you buried the bags somewhere in the prairie?” Tajirika added. “Tell us this: why did you really bury the bags in the ground?”

“You know, like a farmer planting seeds in the ground?” added the Ruler encouragingly.

“Please tell us: were you hoping that the money would grow?” Tajirika asked circumspectly.

“You know, like money breeding money or whatever?” the Ruler added suggestively.

Who has ever heard of money being buried in the earth, like a grain of wheat, in order to multiply? Had the Ruler and Tajirika lost their minds? This suspicion was deepened by the fact that they would not let him get in a word in response. It was as if their need to know whatever it was that they needed to know had trumped up their capacity to listen. As if the Ruler had been reading Kamltl’s thoughts, he hastened to add:

“Before we start getting into the details, let’s first get to know one another better, because even though you and I were together in New York, my minister, the late, I mean, the honorable Machokali, never allowed us to properly bond. I seem to remember that you had nice, smart clothes. What happened to them? Or do you prefer crumpled ones, in keeping with your trade? Let me be clear on this: if you explain everything that you know thoroughly, you will not leave our presence empty-handed. But wait a minute. Let’s first make sure that we are talking to the right person, and so I shall now ask you, as they do in a court of law, to say your name. Are you the Wizard of the Crow?”

If only he knew what they were up to! If only he could remember how he ended up here! If only he knew Nyawlra’s fate! Was she alive, in custody, or free? If only… Without certainty, anything said might compromise both him and her.

“Didn’t you hear the Ruler’s question?” asked Tajirika, feigning anger. “The Ruler is asking you: are you the Wizard of the Crow?”

Kamltl opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something and started to wheeze as if he were suffering an asthmatic attack. Then out popped one distinct word: If! Whatever they asked, he responded in the same way: he would attempt to speak, would hiss some sounds, and then out would come If!

The Ruler and Tajirika looked at each other in dismay, sharing the same thought. Each recalled his bout with the illness that had defied every doctor except the Wizard of the Crow. Now, it seemed, the healer needed healing at a time they needed him most to share vital knowledge. Frustrated, they did not know what to do. They tried a few more questions, and his response was always the same.

“His words are stuck,” the Ruler said.

“What shall we do?” Tajirika asked. “How shall we free the trapped words from his mouth?”

“Oh! Not to worry” the Ruler said menacingly. “I might just have to pry his mouth open and pull his voice box out with my own hands.”

The Ruler summoned the soldiers who had brought the Wizard of the Crow before him and asked them to take the man away.

9

The next morning Kahiga, Njoya, and A.C. reported for duty at the State House and were led in to the presence of the Mighty One. Njoya and Kahiga were surprised to find the Ruler without his usual counselors, Sikiokuu and Machokali. Tajirika seemed to have taken their place at the right side of the Ruler. But how had Tajirika risen so quickly? Through magic, or potent concoctions? This Wizard of the Crow is playing havoc with people’s lives, they both thought; his magic lifts some people a few steps up the ladder of power while bringing others down a rung or two. Not that they were thrilled by Tajirika’s ascendancy. They had, after all, tortured him in the past: would he exact vengeance? There was nothing they could now do about it, so they resigned themselves to what may come.

Their task was to guard the Wizard of the Crow at all times, night and day. There must always be two guards inside the chamber with him and one outside. They were to be the Ruler’s ears. All the sorcerer’s utterances, while awake or asleep, were to be conveyed only to the Ruler, not to be discussed among themselves much less with