Chapter Twenty-Two

He folds his arms across his chest and says, "A fake one at that.”
"I'll have you arrested right this minute for spreading lies about me."
He steps towards me and stares me in the eye. "I know it what I saw."
I've entertained him long enough. "Guards," I scream.
He laughs bitterly. "I have evidence."
My nosrils flare. How dare he threaten me. Could he be the essence thief?
The Wendigos are running towards us. The crowds stop and stare. Murmurs break around us.
Mlondo smiles. "A mermaid's tear, a werewolf's hairstrand... Gold eye contacts, blue hair dye."
I hesitate.
His grin is slow. The way he does it desperately reminds me of Commodore. "The bakantwa is the sword of D'ziko."
I hold up my hand and motion for Wendigos to turn back.
I turn to snatch his arm and move further away from the curious stares. We walk off trail into the open vield. We both look around to make sure we're alone.
I sigh. “How do ya know?”
He grins tapping the sword dangling from his hip. “I know everything, no?”
I frown. "Like Kaseke?"
He pauses. "No, better."
“Fine. What do ya want?”
He doesn't immediately answer. The minutes drag. His eyes are on anything but me. I watch him, waiting. He's wearing the same attire as me. His chest is bare like mine. He's a guy, what the hell is he doing here? Shouldn't he be with the other boys deciding on whether he's ready to go to the mountain for his circumcision?
Mondo sighs. “I...I wanting ya to luwu me to participating in the Reed Ceremony.”
“Allow...?” I ask. He nods. “Gods. How's that possible? Ya're a guy. Ya don't have a vagina for them to test.”
He crosses his arms. “Then I'm tell ya the faking.”
I glare at him. He glares right back.
"And Commodore ...?" I ask.
Mlondo blinks and looks away. "What about he?"
"You love him don't you?" I take his hand. "And you know he wouldn't appreciate anyone hurting me, in any way."
He looks at our interlinked hands and sighs. "I wasn't gonna tell anyone." Then he turns, ripping the necklace from his neck, the bracelets.
Commodore would never forgive me for hurting Mlondo like this. “Fine. Fine." I call out to him. "As long as ya're aware this is blackmail.”
He runs toward me and links his arm to mine. “Noo, girly, we're just help each others.”
“Okay, sure.” it's weird because I only agree because Mlondo is a big part of who commodore was. I stole the bakantwa to avenge his death. For some reason to deny Mlondo to be a part of the Reed Ceremony would be no different than me denying and not accepting his relationship to my brother.
“One more things,” he says.
“Oh yeah?”
“I'm not a he. Call me she.”
I nod but a million questions explode in my head. Surely Mlondo knows she can't be accepted. She must know the King will order her execution. I stop dead.
"What is it?" Mlondo asks, frantically scanning the woods.
I swallow, hard.
She takes my face in her hands and her soft eyes search mine. "Imani...?"
"Do you really love my brother that much?"
Mlondo looks toward the heavens and smiles. "This life is useless and I know Commodore is waiting. I feel him calling out to me. I hear him crying out for me. You know when you find yer mate, it's like a high. Better than any drug." She steps away from me. "Never let go of that feelings. D'ziko is it, isn't he?"
I can't help my smile. I nod.
She walks away, a sad smile on her lips, beckoning me over her shoulder. "I'm happy for you."
We walk in silence until we near the royal palace. The other maidens start singing a traditional song and dancing to it. The older women are already standing inside the gate and waiting for us. They begin clapping as we all approach.
“How'd ya know I'm not the real Bakantwa owner?” I whisper.
She shrugs. “Becausing, I seen ya "heal" the Griffen. He Who Shouldn't Be Saw was walking above like…like he was flying but walking. And he had the Bakantwa. And then he touching the Bakantwa to yer Blacksteel one and then bam, colours are in the change. Blue. Gold. Beautiful is the tree-of-life now.”
“Why were ya following me?”
“Following ya? Aibo Iman. I was walking behind ya. Big differential.”
I frown looking at her sword.
"Visions, too." She smiles. "Whatever I dream, shall come to pass."
I hesitate.
"I won't tell a soul." She squeezes my hand. "I'd protect yer secret with my life. I owe ya for trying to bring my man justice."
I nod as we enter the gate and the current of excited maidens surround me. Every year thousands of young women around Noddon are tested to find out if they are a virgin. Some respect this as a cultural practice, others find it degrading. Participating in the ritual is totally a choice. I'm only doing it this year because I know the essence thief might be here, scouting for magic essence to steal. I have to be ready. I have to be one step ahead. I have to be vigilant.
Queen Mother stands before us. “Maidens,” she says, “The Reed Ceremony is about much more than testing yer virginity. It is about bringing yang women together, about spending time getting to know each other. Yer virginity doesn't define ya. But staying a virgin protects ya from many things, namely unplanned pregnancies. It's about what it means to be a woman, about the need to have self-esteem, to be proud of who we are, and not to let men make us feel less good about ourselves. Ya don’t bare yer breasts just for the fun of it. We bare them because we are making a statement. No man has a right to me body until I decide.”
Queen Mother pauses. Her eyes seem to be looking at all of us at the same time. Her gaze lingers on my hair. I avert my gaze. Mlondo pinches my arm. Again, even though she didn't say a word, I know what she's saying; don't ya dare back down from the staring contest.
This is strange but then it occurs to me. She really is speaking to me. In my head. The sword she collected a year ago allows her to whisper her thoughts to me. She's also telepathic.
I look at Queen Mother and she seems confused. She nods once and then frowns at me. Mlondo laughs next to me. What has she whispered to her?
What makes Mlondo unique is that when she whispers in yer head, ya don't hear her voice. Ya hear yers. Its like yer own thought. A thought that feels authentically yers but at the same time it feels forced.
“We are different,” the queen says. “Our size, our shapes don’t matter. We are beautiful creatures, we women. No matter what men can say about our lopsided boobs, about how fat we are, today we come together to celebrate our bodies.
We are conditioned to ever prove ourselves, as if our value is contingent on our ability to meet the expectations of others. Like we are indebted to anyone who acknowledges our value, because they also have the power to take it away, because our value only exists in the esteem of others. I call bullshit on this too. No one has the power to tell ya how ya should see yerself. Only ya have the power to believe them. Look yersef in the mirror, tell yerself ya're beautiful. Tell yerself ya're sexy. ya'll never satisfy people. So, say it, thank the Gods, I look good.”
I smile and repeat after her as she says it again. And again. And again. “Thank the Gods, I look good.”
Queen Mother claps twice to get our attention back to her. The room falls silent. “As the bakantwa has found a new home. It is now the sword of Imani, so help me give a warm welcome to the goddess.”
They whistle and clap hands.
What the hell is going on? Why do I need to say something? I'm not even good with words. My hands start shaking. My eyes scan the room, some girls sneer while others fall to their feet and weep my name. The room chants. Yer make us proud, another mouths. So to them, the bakantwa belonging to a woman is about making a stand.
I frown down at Mlondo as I stand. She simply smiles. Oh hell no. That's what she was whispering to Queen Mother? This girl!
My heart is hyperactive. Why are they all looking at me? Pretend they're naked. I close my eyes and will myself to see them naked. When I open my eyes, they still have their clothes on. I want to die!
“A couple of years ago I lived in fear of the disappointment of other people. At Kaseke's face, I'd see my own reflection. We look so much alike ya'd swear we were twins. I see a round face, slated eyes and fat lips -- I look just like a man. Not ugly nor beautiful. Not here nor there. My features take a moment to make sense.