Chapter 5

Despite the red alert in the village, it was still easy to bag a lonely victim. After all the mothers still sent their children sometimes alone on errands to the farm or villages to get an item for the house.

Tikayo was standing on the slope watching his herd of cattle, feeding when he saw the boy pass on his way to a nearby village to acquire some items.

“There goes my next victim,” he‟d said to himself. Immediately he went into action, by laying a trap the type he used to catch animals in Boma forest. With the trap laid Tikayo hid in the nearby bush and waited the return of the boy. Armed with a dull object, he patiently awaited the return of his would be victim.

For a while he feared his victim had taken another route back to the village. Disappointed, he was about coming out to dismantle the trap when he heard the faint sound of singing in the distance, immediately he rushed back into hiding. Presently, the boy reached the spot where the trap was buried. A

piece of metal from the trap was sticking out rather than move on the boy stopped and came closer to investigate. Probing with his toe the big trap sprang free and caught his right foot. “A trap,” he muttered very amused at the stupidity of his peers to bury a trap in such a place. He would laugh at them and teach them how to lay traps in the right places. First, he must get the trap off his feet. He was so engrossed with the attempts to free his right foot, he never knew what happened and will never know. For like a curious cat, he had paid the price for his curiosity.

All the while that the boy played with the trap, Tikayo was calmly watching. The moment it caught his foot Tikayo prepared to pounce. As the boy was trying to get his right foot out of the trap, Tikayo come quietly behind him and dealt him two powerful blows on the head with his club and the boy died without a sound. Gazing at the corpse it dawned on him that he had just snuffed out another life.

“I‟ve killed again,” he said quietly to himself. Then realizing that he was standing

on the path that was frequently used by the villagers he quickly dragged the corpse into the bush he had used to lay in wait for his victim. Dissecting his victim was not a difficult task because he was always prepared for such situations. He brought out the heart and the liver from the warm body and carefully wrapped it with leaves, smiling as he dropped it into his hunting bag. After covering the boy with leaves, Tikayo then washed his hands carefully with the water he carried in his herdsman‟s calabash and then he returned to round up his cattle and take them home for the day.

Shortly after turning in for the night, the Boma chief discovered he could not sleep. Lying alone in his bed in his hut, Tikayo was racked by thoughts on the crime he was committing, killing the future generation of Boma village to satisfy a deadly desire. He was hooked on human liver like a man gets hooked to booze and women. How do I break out of this habit, he wondered as he tossed from one side of the bed to the other. Matters were made worse by the fact that

none of his wives was sleeping with him tonight maybe after a moment of passion with any of his wives he would have been able to get a good night‟s rest. Tikayo continued tossing from one side of the bed to the other trying to drive away the ghosts that were hunting him. Eventually a few hours before dawn, Tikayo drifted into an uneasy sleep filled with bad dreams.

At the second crow of the cockerel, Tikayo was fully awake and seated on his wooden bed with his head buried in his two hands. He had not slept well at all last night and just as he was hoping to make the best of the opportunity left the cockerels began to crow signalling the beginning of another day. Tikayo was still trying to come to terms with the bad dreams of the previous night when he heard a light knock on the door. He ignored the knocking initially believing that whoever it was will go away after a while. But when the knocking persisted he got up and went on to answer.

“Who is it?” he asked opening the door in the process.

“Good morning father,” his son Okanu greeted.

“What do you want that I must be disturbed so early in the morning?” Tikayo queried brushing aside his son‟s greetings. Okanu informed his father that a woman from the village wanted to see him.

“What does she want?” Tikayo asked, a deep frown creasing his face. “Father, I do not know,” Okanu replied. “Okay go on I shall be there soon,” he said.

“Yes father.”

I wonder what this woman wants from me, Tikayo reflected as he went into the yard.

“Good morning my master,” his wives chorused. Replying with a wave of the hand, he motioned the woman to come closer.

“Good morning my master and May you live long as the ruler of our village.” “Thank you and if the Gods so wish,” Tikayo replied. “I was told you wanted to see me?” he asked.

“Yes my master,” the woman replied. With the prompting of his hand the woman began to speak.

“Yesterday just before the going down of the sun I sent Utako to the next village to…”

“Who is Utako?” Tikayo asked interrupting her. “Sorry my master, Utako is my second child,” she replied. Nodding his head, Tikayo asked her to continue with her narration. “…he was to get me some ingredients for my cooking but up to this moment Utako has not shown up. I am worried my Lord help me…” and she burst into tears.

“Easy, my daughter,” he consoled. “Where is your husband.”

“He left home very early in the company of two friends to make enquiries at the other village.” Tikayo‟s heart missed a beat at the news for he now knew that the liver and heart that he had for supper belonged to his subject

- a boy named Utako. Snapping out of his reverie he faced Utako‟s mother.

“My daughter I feel your pain in that I am a father and would be terribly upset if any evil should befall my children–may the Gods not allow it,” Tikayo said as he paused.

“Ashe,” the woman responded.

“Well my daughter you go home and let me handle this issue with the elders of the village,” Tikayo promised. Utako‟s mother burst into a fresh round of tears as she made her exit out of the chief‟s compound watched by members of Tikayo‟s household.

“What are you looking at?” he barked at them. “Is this the first time you‟ve seen a woman crying – they didn‟t wait for him to finish before dispersing to face their early morning chores. “Stupid people,” he cursed under his breath.

Adjusting his bulky frame on his rocking chair, Tikayo drifted into thoughts. This ugly trend must stop; within a space of five months he had snuffed out three lives to satisfy a craving for human liver. Right there on his chair, Tikayo felt as if an enormous monster was crushing him. The noose was closing gradually and he dreaded the kind of fate that would befall him if he were eventually caught. But how do I get out of this mess, he pondered quietly. May be he will go to the chief priest but he won‟t confess he would only say he was possessed by an evil

spirit from the evil forest and thus he needed deliverance. This thought pleased him very much and he smiled in satisfaction as he got up to take his cattle out for the day.

Before leaving home for the fields, Tikayo called his village elders together for a very brief but crucial meeting. “The agenda for this meeting is Utako‟s mysterious disappearance while on an errand for his mother,” Tikayo said. He and the elders talked for quite a while bringing in the past killings of two other children.

“All the other villages have washed their hands clean of this atrocities,” Ogadi said.

“If only we could catch the killer then this nightmare would be over”. Tikayo added feigning annoyance. But for the moment it was agreed that a search party be raised to carry out a thorough search of the bushes and routes.

“It‟s a good idea,” Toma said, “it might be that the boy just missed his way due to the naughtiness inherent with children who were bound to explore their surroundings.”

“And I think we should perform a sacrifice to Rorche,” Tikayo suggested. The elders with one voice agreed to their chief‟s suggestion.

Before dispersing Tikayo told the elders to inform the chief priest on the need to perform sacrifices. “The Gods must protect the people of Boma village from harm,” Tikayo said strongly.

“Ashey,” the men chorused together as they dispersed for the day‟s activities.