Metutu was excited about his new religion, but the very ones he wanted to discuss it with were the ones he could not tell. Wandani had never discussed religion with him. Telling his father was out of the question, and he was afraid of horrifying and saddening his mother. So without a proper forum, his new ideas surfaced as moods.
He had locked away inside him the secret plan to go with Busara to the open savanna, wade through the waves of grass, and there see a real lion. He wanted to live the stories about the night sky, standing on Pride Rock and seeing for the very first time the sparkling canopy of stars. He wanted to hear a real roar.
He passed his mother. “Hi, Mom!” He gave her a big kiss. “Isn’t it great to be alive!”
“Yes, it sure is.” She kissed him back. “Did you learn anything interesting today?”
“It was so neat!”
Without further elaboration, Metutu climbed into his bunk and looked at the trunk of the tree. A knot that had always reminded him of a rabbit’s head stared back with unseeing eyes.
“Well, Mr. Bun,” he thought, “I’ll ask him the next time I see him! Yes, we’ll think of SOME excuse for Mom and Dad. We’ll call it an extended field trip or something.”
It would not be easy. But if Aiheu answered prayers, there would come an excuse to cement their ties and strengthen their new bond! “Aiheu, light of lights, creator of the universe, I’m the new one that met you this evening. Find a way through love!”
“I have some fresh fruit,” Neema called up to him.
“Not right now, Mom. I’m not really hungry.”
“Did you eat at Busara’s?”
“Just a little.”
“You’re a growing boy. You need your nourishment.”
“OK, just a little.”
She climbed up with a couple of melon slices. “Now you finish these, you hear?” She looked him in the face and smiled. “How are you feeling, fuzzy love?”
“Fine, Mom,” he said affectionately but distracted.
“Want to talk about it?”
He laughed. “What part of ‘fine’ do you want me to explain?”
“You know what I mean!”
As honestly as he dared, Metutu said, “Busara is a great teacher. As much as I love Dad, it’s great to hear someone that can talk all day without mentioning Old Maloki ONCE.”
She looked about, then laughed softly. “You really shouldn’t say that,” she intoned in a whisper. “But I almost envy you.”
“Besides that, I like Busara and Kima.”
“And you already like Asumini?”
“Of course. A lot.”
Neema smiled and nodded. “She is very likable. Just the sort of doe that would make a fine wife and mother someday. I think a curious sort like you would like an intellectual like her.”
“Well, uh, I guess so.”
“Just like your father likes politics and he got a politician for a wife. My vote doesn’t carry far beyond this tree, but he spends half his life here.”
“You know how to call the shots, Huh Mom?”
“Don’t underestimate me. But I would never misuse that power. If anything, I try to help your father and keep both of his feet on the ground when he starts going wild. Choosing someone who really loves you and that you can trust is the key to happiness. If I can venture an opinion....”
“Sure, Mom.”
“I think the gods made you and Asumini as a matched set. If I saw the two of you married, I could die without worries or regrets. Makedde is married to his work, and Makoko will get by somehow. He’s durable. But Metutu, you have a loving heart. Without love, you would die like a sprout in the dry season.”
“I can get along.”
“I don’t mean it as an insult. I think your heart is made to love and be loved. It’s God’s gift to you. If you turn your back on that gift, there will be consequences. Whatever you do, and wherever you go, look for love to follow you. When I am gone, and your father is off on some mad scheme, I know that Asumini will be holding your hand. And when I look down and see that, it will make me so happy.”
Metutu kissed her. “That’s very nice, Mom. But stick around for a while. I don’t want you leaving any time soon.”
“No sooner than I have to,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I’m still rather young. Maybe I want to play with my grandchildren first.”
Neema climbed down and gathered up the rest of the fruit. “Kinara, dear? Have you eaten?”
He came around the tree. “Oh, that looks good! Is Metutu back yet?”
She kept her voice down and motioned Kinara away to the privacy of the deep forest.
“When you look that way, Neema, you’re up to something.”
“Our little boy had come back a buck, and he needs someone to have the talk with him.”
“What do you mean?”
“Asumini. That’s what I mean. Just look at him. He’s so jumpy if you touched him he’d jump sky high. Metutu needs to hear the facts from someone who knows, not from his young friends. When I was his age, I thought I’d get pregnant if a boy kissed me.”
“Fine. I’ll have a talk with him sometime.”
“Sometime today.”
He returned to the tree but did not see Metutu around. Acting on a hunch, he went to the creek where he found Metutu skipping rocks. “Why, he’s still just a child!” Kinara sighed.
“Metutu?”
“Yes sir?”
“No calling me sir. Today I’m not just your father, I’m also your friend. And we need to talk heart to heart, OK?”
He sat on bank by his son, their feet in the smooth, cool water. Putting his arm around Metutu’s shoulder, he started out rather obliquely. “Now then, you remember when your grandmother died? We all grow old and die someday.”
“No fooling?” Metutu covered his face. “Even me?”
“Now don’t you poke fun. Let’s understand each other: I know all about Asumini.”
Of course Metutu thought Busara was keeping his lioness a secret.
“You may find your friendship with her a little different than the ones you have with your other friends. You may feel strange urges you don’t understand. You want to touch her, to kiss her, to be with her.”
Metutu is a bit taken aback. “Well, I think she’s really neat. I’d like to see more of her--to be able to touch her and feel her soft fur. To look in her hazel eyes. Sometimes I even wish I could lay my head on her side and go to sleep just listening to her breath.”
Kinara squeezed his shoulder. “I know the feeling, son. But you need to know where this is leading. Encourage her and she’ll be all over you like green on leaves. Your mother and I felt that way, but we decided to respect each other and wait till after we were married before our level of intimacy spread that far. Things can quickly get out of control.”
Metutu was aghast. He suddenly realized where this was going. “Oh, you mean Busara’s daughter!” Starts to laugh.
“Is there ANOTHER Asumini?”
“What brought this on, dad?”
“We’ve seen all the classic signs. Restlessness, poor appetite, mood swings. If that’s not it, what is?”
Metutu laughed. “Let’s see. I started training with Busara. He’s really neat. I got to go in a cave for the first time. I’m excited about life. I’m going to be on the council someday. No denying that Asumini is pretty, but really Dad....”
“But what about this business with the touchy-feely stuff. Like laying your head on her side and going to sleep?”
“I was talking about a lioness!” Metutu laughed uncontrollably. “Don’t worry, dad--we respect each other’s feelings and we’ll wait till after we’re married before our level of intimacy spreads that far. We don’t want things to get out of control.”
The little joke was lost on Kinara. “A lioness?? She’ll eat you in one bite!”
“No, Dad. She’s dead.”
“Oh, that changes everything.” He began to nervously scratch his head. “You want to cuddle with a DEAD lioness!”
“Not a dead body! A guardian spirit! Her name’s Asumini too.”
Kinara took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let it out slowly from the mouth. “Thank the gods.” He looked at Metutu and smiled. Metutu smiled back. “I love you, son. We can talk when we want to. Just take me aside and say ‘Dad, I’d like to talk.’”
“That’s nice, Dad. I love you too.” Metutu looked up with a wry grin. “Did mother put you up to this?”
“She sure did. That obvious, huh?”
“Well she was really acting kind of odd.”
“When I tell her, she’s going to flip.” Kinara rubbed the top of Metutu’s hair. “I had a different name picked out for you. Metutu was a mistake. I was going to name you Mawata, after your grandfather. Let’s be honest, son. You may not have Makoko’s looks, but the beauty from inside is so great that it doesn’t matter. Don’t you dare tell anyone I said this, but of my three sons, I have always loved you the most.”
“Oh dad!”
“Let me finish. You inspire love in people, and someday some female is going to latch on to you. You need to know about these things so when Asumini, or whomever it is, throws you off balance you’ll know what to do. There’s no need to rely on rumors, not as long as I’m around.”
Kinara talked with Metutu in the quiet of the forest about the renewal of life, and about love. It was one of the few times Metutu had ever seen Kinara as gentle or as shy, and years later he would look back on that talk and smile.