“Oh, my child, what am I going to do without you here if you married a stranger and leave home?” Mama Mondo cried with a tear in her eye.
“Oh, Mother, please don’t cry, I will make sure that I will come and see you whenever possible, I am sure Huru is not that far from here!” Beko said reassuringly.
“That’s exactly what I said to my mother when I met your father and that never happened. The next time I saw my mother was in a coffin! I will never forgive myself for that failed promise!” Mama Mondo wept.
“Mother! That will never happen, I will make sure I will visit or send for you to come and stay with us for as long as you wish. I really need to do this and have my own family before it’s too late. I am not getting any younger, Mother!” Beko said emphatically.
“Ignore me, my daughter, I am just being selfish, besides you cannot pay the penalty for my own wrongs. I should never have made that promise to my mother knowing full well that your father was going to take me away from home as his wife. You just never know what the future holds, do you?” Mama Mondo said, wiping her tears away.
“Exactly, Mother, but like I said Huru is not far and we will make it a point to see each other regularly and Tamura’s family home is there and he is very close to Mabige and so will need to visit as oft as possible,” piped Beko.
“Well, in that case all should be well then, I guess there is no getting rid of you, is there, my child?” said Mama Mondo with a giggle. The two women embraced and all of a sudden, a sombre moment was turned into laughter as the two women embraced and started talking about marriage, weddings and babies.
In the evening, Papa Mondo arrived home to unusual merriment and wanted to know why. “What’s with all the hullabaloo in this house today?” Papa Mondo asked inquisitively.
“Well, come in my dearest, you must be tired after chasing after all those poor wild animals you went hunting for. Only caught four fish today and no dear or boar? You must me loosing you huntsman’s touch?” Mama Mondo said nervously.
She knew it was going to be tasking to tell her husband about Beko’s news and wanted to make sure her husband was as comfortable as possible before the visitors come. “Stop blanking the question, woman! Tell me what is going on, I know something is up!” Papa Mondo insisted.
“I will get your food, Papa,” Beko said and made a quick exit to the kitchen. Mama Mondo decided to sit her husband down and broke the news as calmly as she could. Just as Papa Mondo was about to protest about the foreigner asking to marry his daughter, there was a knock on the door and it were Tamura, Mama Haga and Mabige arriving to discuss the matter at hand. Papa Mondo bit his tongue as he didn’t want to make a show of himself in front of visitors, to his wife’s relief.
The visitors were ushered in and Papa Mondo was given his food and kept his eyes fixed on his daughter whom he had a lot to say to but could not because of the visitors. Beko felt relieved that her father could not say a word to her in the presence of visitors, but she knew the matter was far from over.
As soon as she gave her father his food, she made a fast run for the door to go and sit with Mara until Tamura and Co came back as it was customary that if marriage proposals and discussions were taking place, the girl to marry is not allowed to be in the discussions room or even in the same premises. She thought it was a perfect opportunity to go and see Mara and tell her how she felt about Mabige as they had not had a chance to have a girly chat since she met Mabige yesterday. Mara was 12 years younger than Beko, but she was so mature that most people thought she was an old woman in a child’s body.
Mara was keen to know what she thought about Mabige and asked, “So do you agree with me when I said he is really lovely and that you two make a lovely couple?”
“I guess you were right and that is why I agreed for him to go and meet my parents, I wouldn’t have if I didn’t find him attractive or wanted to marry him, would I?” They both giggled.
“So why the worried look on your face then?” asked Mara.
“I am worried that my father might not accept him since he is not from here,” added Beko.
“I am sure he will be bowled over because Uncle Mabige is so likeable, you will see,” Mara added reassuringly.
“Yeah, we will see,” said Beko.
After about an hour, Tamura and his guests came through the door talking about their discussions with the Mondos. They all looked a bit tense. Beko looked at their faces and concluded that her father had declined Mabige’s proposal. “Well?” she said inquisitively.
Tamura retorted, “He didn’t say yes or no.”
“Well, what does that mean then?” asked Beko.
Mama Haga interjected, “Your father drives a hard bargain, but we were ready for him. He wanted to persuade Mabige to move to Goza if he was serious about marrying you and change his culture as he didn’t want you to be contaminated by the Huru culture.”
“And I told him it was a man’s pride to bring his bride home where he was born and bred, not the other way around.”
“It is a pride thing and I intend to
