However, he was not very happy at waking up to get ready for work after sleeping so late last night. His eyes could barely open, still heavy from sleep. He wished it was his day off. Just as he was dragging himself off the bed, there was a knock on the door; it was Tyza who had come to tell him that the king wanted him to stay with his guests until midday as he didn’t really need him this early.
Tamura was relieved to have more time to sleep and he went straight back to sleep for another couple of hours before he woke up to see to his guests. Mabige was fast asleep still and Mama Haga was sitting on her own in the kitchen with porridge on the fire to keep warm as she had prepared it for Mara and Baka to eat before they left for school. As usual, Mara told her the porridge tasted better than what her brother used to make.
Mama Haga had reservations about Beko as she was yet to meet her, but she was convinced that Mabige liked what he saw and if what Mara had said about Beko was anything to go by, she felt this could lead to marriage and she would be over the moon to have someone to talk to and complain to about Papa Haga. She smiled at that prospect, but most importantly, she was anxious to meet her.
Tamura went to ask Beko to come over to his place to meet Mama Haga and obviously to see Mabige again. He made sure though that he caught her on her own lest her parents would raise eyebrows, because normally Tamura and Beko hardly talk to each other let alone visit each other’s homes. Beko was hanging outside her home for regular periods of time that morning as if she was expecting someone special to appear. When Tamura asked her to come with him to his house, she didn’t ask any questions but looked around to see if her mother or father were about and she hastily followed him back.
She was introduced to Mama Haga and Mama Haga was well pleased to see her and the two women got talking about this and that. Mabige came out and teased, “Oh, hi, Beko, nice of you to come, Mama Haga, you are looking at my potential future wife, isn’t she beautiful?”
Mama Haga retorted, “Don’t embarrass the girl. Yes, she is beautiful, you would be a very lucky man if she accepts you!”
Beko piped, “You mean if my father accepts him?”
“I am sure your father will be all right with me. I can feel it in my water that we will get on just fine. You will see,” Mabige added confidently.
Mama Haga said, “On a serious note, you will need to plan this very well or else you will land yourself in serious bother with her parents, that is if you want to marry each other of course!”
Mabige said, “I agree with you, Mama Haga, if her father sees us together I will be in serious trouble, so we need to sit down in private and see if we can take the next step before we return to Huru.”
“No problem,” said Beko shyly.
“Time is of the essence, so I think it would be ideal if I escorted Mabige to meet Mama and Papa Mondo and introduce the subject, what do you say?” said Tamura.
“I agree,” said Mabige enthusiastically.
“Make sure that this is what you really want the both of you because there is no going back once you agree to get married,” Mama Haga added.
“Now is good a time as any as far as I am concerned, she is the girl of my dreams. If she changes her mind when I have gone to gather the dowry, then she would have had enough time to decide if I am the one for her or not,” Mabige said.
“I would like to spend more time with you to get to know you better before you leave, but I like you a lot. l need to come and see where you live before I agree to marry you though. If Mama Haga would not mind me sleeping over in her home?” Beko said, gesturing at Mama Haga.
Mama Haga said, “Of course, my darling, you would be more than welcome. In that case I would love to meet your family too when Mabige and Tamura come to meet them later, at least then your parents will not refuse you coming to my home, lest they think you are planning to elope with Mabige and forbid you to come.” They all laughed and arranged to meet the Mondos that evening.
Beko went to carry on with the rest of her chores, but had a lump in her throat all day worried sick that her father would most likely refuse her to marry Mabige, which would break her heart as she felt in her heart of hearts that he was the one for her. Her father believed that the Goza people should not contaminate themselves by mixing with people from other tribes and villages in marriage as this would subsequently dilute their cultural values.
Beko on the other hand placed love above culture to her father’s dismay, seeing there were so many eligible males in the compound, whom Beko had flatly refused. She felt that Mabige had no idea of what was in store for him at the hands of her father. She decided to go and share the news with her mother first in an effort for the mother to soften the blow by pre-emptying the matter to the father in a more reassuring manner.
This way, she believed her father would not get too angry if he found out about the stranger from the wife first as she had a way of mellowing him down even in worst case scenarios. Beko secretly admired her mother’s prowess over
