Kintu and Nambi; Secrets #30

Continued from; A Tender Farewell #29

By Mugabe Victor

Kayikuzi stood frozen in place as he watched Nambi and Kintu walk off to their fresh new beginning. The rainbow would soon go up for their return to earth. These few seconds were enough at least for Kayikuzi to watch his little sister disappear into the sunset with her new love. His face stayed stoic , however his heart was racing with uncertainty. He had challenged his father’s will a few moments back and his brother could only be controlled by a wild goose chase. All the variables were shifting and he couldn’t predict what would happen next. Deep inside he could taste it, an undeniable gut feeling reminding him, that now he was truly alone. A sharp warm numbness still enveloped his left knee cap. An echo to the brief fight he had with Gulu. Before his eyes, a flash of the mirage of sparks, Kintu’s cries and Nambi’s tears. The night he learnt to accept Nambi’s choice and dared to tamper with Gulu’s crooked mind. He’s conscience would not let him rest. 

From a distance, The vague silhouettes of the two lovers were starting to drown in the light of the setting sun; when the crackling of dry leaves struck Kayikuzi’s ears. 

Walumbe stepped out of the darkness of the forests, pinning himself within Kayikuzi’s shadow

“Your senses have turned disturbingly dull,” Walumbe commented, “Where is your head?”

Kayikuzi chuckled a little, in an attempt to mask his demeanor with an air of aloofness, “Walumbe, my brother, have you successfully figured out how to foil Kintu’s plans?”

“Why do I have to tell you?”, he paused, “it is clear whose side you are on, and apparently you now keep your promises,”

Keeping his back at Walumbe, his grip tightened around his spear.

“Before all this nonsense, we made deal and you betrayed me,” Walumbe growled, ” But when it came to Nambi, you hold steadfast towards your PROMISE,”

“That was years back, get over it,” 

Walumbe’s eyes widened. His blood was boiling. His teeth ground with extreme detest. It was clear that he was at his final straw.

“You’ve always looked down on me, you’ve always held everyone, even Nambi above me, you’ve always hated me, why?”

“What?!”

“Tell me, why?” Walumbe burst out,making his way menacingly towards Kayikuzi. His fists tightened at his sides as his feet pounded the ground. He grabbed Kayikuzi’s shoulder in an attempt to make him turn, to see his face. He wanted answers and he was going to get them. In a flash, Kayikuzi’s arm shifted, slapping away Walumbe’s hand and shoving him backwards. 

“Don’t touch me,” Kayikuzi growled as the suppressed tears flooded his eyes.

“Why?!” Walumbe exploded, throwing a punch at Kayikuzi that got him a flood of nose bleeding. A soft shift in his footing quickly announced to Walumbe the effect of his action. The punch had landed and thus had been effectively executed. 

“Why are you silent brother?” Walumbe gloated, “Contrary to what it may seem, Nambi is not the only sibling that can throw a punch.”

Kayikuzi’s face stayed hidden as he used his arm to clean the blood from his lip. Under close scrutiny, one could see his hand rapture into anarchy. His fingernails were tearing at his palm once again in a desperate attempt to keep his cool. Suddenly, a quick ghastly sound caught Kayikuzi’s ear. With a short glance in its direction, a foot landed squarely upon his face, breaking his stance and landing him on the ground where he fell with a thud. Walumbe stood over him in glee, taking in the rare sight, him winning a fight against Kayikuzi. 

“So that is how you want to play?” Kayikuzi drawled with a  tremor to his voice as he took hold of his spear, using it to get on his feet. Walumbe knew what that meant. He reached for his last chance at victory swinging another kick at Kayikuzi that landed in his abdomen. Reaching for another hit, his swing was stuck in motion by an immovable grip.

 Kaikuzi swung the little god into the air, flipping him over in one maneuver. Dust effortlessly rose around the two as they both struggled to get up. Kayikuzi, taking note of his knee injury, tried to shield it behind his spear, getting himself ready for an undeniable assault. 

Walumbe burst forward raging at him with endless punches that either landed nowhere or were easily blocked by his brother. Finding it useless to attack, Kayikuzi went on to mock his brother’s attempts by slapping him every time a punch didn’t land. 

In a  final attempt at Kayikuzi’s face, Walumbe lurched out his last blow that unfortunately failed to hit its target,as it was easily dodged by Kayikuzi, causing him to land flat on his face. 

“Get up,” Kayikuzi growled while poking Walumbe with the back end of his spear. A smile grew upon the evil doers face as he felt the object tag at him. In one single swoop he could end this all. Lowering his palms upon the ground, he could feel the short spasm of energy that informed him of the irregularities in the ground. 

Conveniently, there was a perfectly placed fault line in the area.  Reaching for a pebble that lay in close proximity, he thrust the object high above; missing Kayikuzi’s face. 

“Now you are throwing stones?” Kayikuzi said with amusement, “for goodness sake have some self-respect,”

Walumbe smiled on as he went on to execute the rest of his plan. Swinging like a pendulum upon his palms, he threw a kick right at Kayikuzi’s foot and in a drastic burst of energy the brother took to the air, using the spear as his support, he threw his body over the attack, balancing it over the sharpened end of the spear. And just as he finished that one final arc, a slight glow in Walumbe’s eyes spelt victory. The little pebble thrown by Walumbe met the desired fault line causing a collapse of the earth right around its area. The shock destabilized the ground at the spear’s helm, causing the balance to shift at that delicate moment. 

Blood splattered like a fountain as the blade edged through Kayikuzi’s already injured thigh. Screams of agony echoed through the forest as the notion of defeat finally settled in Kayikuzi’s mind. Clasping his thigh to limit the bleeding, Walumbe laughed as he got closer to him. 

“If you want me to go get help, you’ll have to pay your debt, tell me that one little dirty secret Paapa will not tell us,”

“Walumbe?” Kayikuzi gasped, “Seriously? Are we still talking about that?”

“Are we still talking about that?” Walumbe mimicked in a high pitched voice to mock Kayikuzi’s question, “Tell me or die, I am pretty sure I can get away with killing you since father is angry at your insubordination,”

The two stayed stiff , tearing at each other with their glares until suddenly Walumbe changed tactic, “Oh well, I guess you leave me with no choice, I am a god of many trades, I have no time for this,” he retorted and sauntered off into the darkness of the night. 

As he made his way past the first tree, a strong wind blew past his ear as Kaikuzi’s spear landed into the tree trunk with a crack sound,capturing his attention. A look of confusion marred his face as he realised it had narrowly missed his neck. 

Turning to scold his brother his eyes widened with shock, the now aching and bleeding Kayikuzi launched at him; pinning him against the tree, right next to the spear, “You want to know that secret so badly that you are willing to kill me for it?”

“Yes, because it is the reason why everyone detests me, and the reason why my family won’t stand my sight,” Walumbe barked back as he fought to push Kayikuzi’s arm from his chest. However, his struggle flailed as the crazy look in Kayikuzi’s eyes sunk in. He was truly angry this time. Lowering his face towards Walumbe’s ears he whispered the fatal truth that somehow had torn a rift between him and his brother.

“You are no god, nor a son of Gulu, you are an abomination that had to exist for the birth of Nambi, you should have been thrown down to earth with Kintu at birth, you sicken me,” he finished as tears finally broke from his eyelids. Letting go of Walumbe he started to giggle as he trudged away, careful not to harm his leg any further.

Walumbe stood frozen to the tree trunk, spear still pinned next to his face. Falling upon his knees, the news started to sink in. It finally made sense.

To be continued next week on Wednesday