Written In the Stars 4
I woke up with a start. My heart was racing, my body drenched in sweat. Nightmares. I shuddered at the thought of last night's dream, and looked around to try and distract my mind. I realized that instead of waking up by Dacia and Tembe, I was all alone.
I sat there for a while, scanning the area for any big animals, when I was startled by a loud scream coming from far behind me. I waited, curiosity taking over, to see what was going on.
When I saw him break through the trees, I couldn't help but laugh.
"Help me!" He was screaming, flailing his arms about in every direction, Tembe not far behind him, his trunk going wild. Dacia was running after Tembe and she didn't look happy. Actually, she looked spooked and worried more than anything.
I tried to tell her to stop, to calm down, but she just kept running. That's when I realized they were heading straight for me. Oh, crap. I thought.
Draco passed me, and not long after I found it wise to follow him.
I could hear the villagers yelling at the elephants to stop, but nothing was working. This wasn't like either one of them. They don't just start going off on a rampage. No, something must have startled them…but what?
It didn't take long before we were running in the forest at the other end of the village. Draco was panting hard and I could see his legs starting to drag a little. I had to act fast. If I didn't, the elephants would catch up to us and, we'd be dead meat, without a doubt. I grabbed Draco by the shirt and turned left. Dacia and Tembe just kept on going.
I leaned against a tree and slid to the ground holding my side; my lungs were burning! I looked at Draco. Apparently, he was just as bad. He was collapsed on the ground, his eyes closed, and his chest rising and falling fast. "What…did…you…do?" I gasped.
"Nothing. They just started chasing when I was trying to get some water." Draco panted.
I looked over toward where both elephants had gone and after a second of catching my breath started to get up.
"Where are you going?" Draco suddenly asked.
I turned around to find his eyes wide open staring straight at me. I just stared right back "To get my elephant back." I said, and then I turned and started to jog.
Dacia was like my child. I worried for her, and she worried for me. If something was wrong and bugging her I wanted to know what it was, and how to fix it. But what startled her that badly? Was it just Draco's sudden appearance at the river? Did something sneak up on her? Or was it something else all together? The possibilities to this one were endless.
I soon found them in a small clearing. Tembe was huddled under Dacia for protection, and Dacia was keeping a watchful eye. Something had to have snuck up on her, spooked her, made her feel threatened. There is no way she'd act like this because of Draco.
"Hey." I said softly as I slowly walked up to her; I didn't want to send her into another freak attack. "It's ok. I'm here." I began to stroke her trunk. After a minute or two she began to loosen up a bit; she wrapped her trunk around my waist and Tembe, who'd crawled out from under his mommy, wrapped his around my leg. "See? Everything is alright." I patted her on the head.
"Are they alright?" I heard from behind me. I turned around to find Draco walking up. He must have followed me here. Huh…That sent my mind onto a long trail of thought, and apparently it showed on my face.
"What?" He asked, looking himself up and down to make sure nothing was missing.
I quickly shook my head clear and tried to act indifferent. "Nothing. They seem to be alright; just a little scared. Did you see anything down at the river other than them?" I asked.
He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No…"
Other people had reached the clearing by now, Leon being one of the first.
"Everyone alright?" He asked. I nodded and looked at Dacia. I could still feel her heart racing. "What happened?"
"They just got scared for some reason." I shrugged. I didn't know. I hadn't been there at the scene.
It took awhile, but we were able to get them back to the village where they could rest up a bit. As everyone started walking their own ways, Leon placed an arm around Draco.
"So, Draco, are you going to go hunting with us?" My brother asked. What was he doing? Of course Draco would say no. He was too chicken to hunt. It always takes the bravest men to go hunting…especially, when your only weapon is a spear. Draco looked at my brother and shook his head like he was crazy. "If there's one thing you need to experience while you're here, it's hunting. That, and if you don't the chief will be very offended." One of the little boys took Draco's hand and began to drag him to a hut to get ready. I stopped Leon.
"Is that true?" I didn't believe the chief to be that uptight.
"No." He chuckled and went to get ready. Apparently, no matter what his decision was, Draco was going.
The sun was setting by the time they got back. At first, I saw them carrying something on a stick—it looked big; a wonderful catch—but then I saw what one of the tribal men was carrying. The body of Penha stayed limp in his father's arms.
Imani, my mother's best friend, fell to her knees and cried for her little boy. He was hardly recognizable, he was so scratched up.
When I looked back at their catch, I saw that it was no regular deer or buffalo. It was a Leopard. No one had to ask what happened. Everyone filled in the blanks. It wasn't that hard.
Draco couldn't look at anyone. He just quietly walked into his hut, his eyes firm on the ground in front of him. But, he couldn't hide forever; he had to attend the celebration.
While everyone in the tribe danced, Dumisani, Penha's younger brother, sat over to the side hugging his knees. Draco leaned over to me. "Why do they celebrate his death?"
"They're celebrating the life that he lived and the fact that he's in a better place now." I told him. "In heaven, it's a place of peace and love. His family knows that it's a good place for him. That's why everyone seems so happy. Well…most everyone." I said as I looked back at Dumisani. His mother sat next to him, her face still wet with old tears. The chief had pulled Imani aside, leaving Dumisani all alone.
Through the fire I could see his wet cheeks, and my heart just went out to him. I walked over and sat next to him. Without missing a single beat, he hugged me tightly and I rocked him back and forth. Many of the other children sat down next to me, also in need of comfort. I stood up, Dumisani still in my arms. "Follow me." I told the others. They did, and we created another fire a little off from everyone. That way they were free to say anything to me…including Dumisani.
"Why do people die?" One of the girls asked when we were all settled. I looked up and thought how to best put what I wanted to say into words.
"…because God has a bigger plan for them. In heaven, they are needed to do so much for Him." I told them. It was the best I could do.
Dumisani kept his arms around me, his eyes never looking away from the fire. "But why my brother?" He suddenly asked. Ouch. Now that was a hard one. Again, I looked up and tried to think of things to say.
"Because God knew that Penha always gave the greatest hugs and He wanted one." Ashanti said as she sat down, her little sister hopping into her lap. Ashanti always had a way of helping me out when most needed in situations like these.
"And after he gives God a hug, then God wants Penha to hug everyone that needs one." I added. Ashanti and I sat at the fire until all of the children were asleep, and their parents had taken them to bed. I was about to head there myself, but Ashanti stopped me.
"Do you hear that?" She asked. I listened closely, but shook my head. She took my hand and led me to the edge of the village. Randa, Penha's older sister, was humming to herself as she swayed in the moonlight. It's light was so bright you could see tears as they came down her face. "I'm going to bed. Stay with her?" Ashanti asked. I nodded as she gave me a hug and a kiss before leaving.
"What is she doing?" For the second time that night, I jumped and glared when I found Draco walking up behind me. "What?" He looked confused.
"Do you have to do that?" A tint of annoyance in my voice. He smirked as he folded his arms and leaned against the tree. Then he looked at me with expectant eyes; I remembered his question, which I was yet to answer. I just turned my head to stare at Randa again. I grinned as I felt his impatience building. Finally, I replied "She's dancing." He gave off an exasperated sigh as if to say he knew that much already. "Don't ask me why she does it. I just know she does it when she's really happy or really sad. You guess which one is for tonight." The tears made her face sparkle.
Draco and I stayed out there most of the night watching her mourn until she finally decided to go to bed.
Ashanti woke me up the next morning. I just groaned and covered my head with the blanket. "Come on. Get up. We have a big day ahead of us." I looked at her through my sleepy eyes.
"It's time for our walk! Remember?" I nodded. "Good. Now get up." She said dragging me out of my cot. I let out another groan when the sunlight hit my eyes.
"What? I can't even get dressed?" I asked walking back in the hut. She laughed and waited for me to change. "There now, that's better." I said, stepping out again. Linking arms, we started on our way, but Ashanti's mother stopped us.
"Ashanti come. We must talk about your wedding." Ashanti groaned.
"Rain check?" She asked. I nodded and she ran off to join her mother. Having nothing to do now, I looked around the village. There was no way I was going back to bed. I was too awake. Children were running around and trying to invent new games. Right now the younger boys were working on trying to get a ring around Tembe's trunk. Tembe loved it so I didn't try and stop them. Then my eyes fell upon the fire from the previous night. Dumisani was curled up next to it again.
"Hey." I said sitting next to him. He looked up, but just continued to hug his legs. I wrapped an arm around him and we just sat there in silence. But his father soon called him over, Dumisani hugging me around the neck before running off. I sighed and resigned to make my way to the hut. I gasped when somebody grabbed me from behind, dragging me toward the trees, their hand over my mouth so as not to make a scene. When they let me go I wasn't all too surprised to find that it was Draco. What did surprise me was the little girl sobbing at his feet. It was Sama, the chief's youngest daughter.
"Fix it." He said as he pointed at her. I looked at him with disgust.
"Fix it?" I asked.
"Yes, fix it." He repeated as if I didn't hear him the first time.
"Draco, she's not a toy; she's a little girl." I said and squatted down to her. "What happened?" I asked. It was directed to Sama, but Draco answered anyway.
"She dragged me over here because she wanted to show me something, but she tripped and started crying. She's been getting on my nerves for the past five minutes." Sama's tears continued to flow as she gripped her knee.
"Thank you, Sama." I said sarcastically to him. He just rolled his eyes and folded his arms. I turned back to Sama. "You ok?" I asked her. She shook her head. I smiled. "Don't cry." I rubbed her knee and kissed it as if a mother would. Soon she stopped crying. "Better?" I asked. Sama nodded and gave me a hug and a kiss before running back to the village. I got up about to head back to the village, but Draco put a hand on my shoulder and turned me around.
"How did you do that?" He asked.
"It's a female thing." I shrugged. Again, I started to walk back to the village, but once again Draco turned me around.
"Why do you care so much for them? These people I mean?" He asked with intense eyes.
"Because unlike you, I actually have a heart." I said and he didn't stop me this time as I turned to leave. If there was anything I had learned about the Malfoy's, it was that they only had black holes in the middle of their chest.