Ngũgĩ Thiong - Wizard of the Crow

The only other person who knew of Kaniürü ‘s wealth was Jane Kanyori. She had taken some courses in accounting at the Eldares Polytechnic, where Kaniürü used to teach, but their acquaintance came later, at her workplace as a teller in the Aburlrian Bank of Commerce and Industry. Kaniürü kept an eye on her as she rose in her job, not in adoration but in reference to the future. He courted her with uncharacteristic patience, taking her out to lunch or coffee and even sending her Christmas and birthday cards. Kaniürü liked the fact that Jane Kanyori was only a secondary school graduate who showed no interest in university education and seemed completely innocent of Nyawlra’s women’s lib nonsense.

When he learned that she was promoted yet again to senior sales representative and could access duplicates of coded signatures and could okay checks, Kaniürü acquainted her with his needs. Kanyori would not countenance any vulgar misuse of her access to the bank secrets, but she could help by not asking too many questions about the signatures of anybody in whose name he wanted to open an account.

Though satisfied with Kanyori’s help and loyalty, he remained worried. The greater the flow of Burl notes his way, the more he became anxious about this bubble of good fortune bursting, his wealth disappearing into thin air. His anxiety made him toss and turn in bed for entire nights; he needed something more secure than bank vaults and the accounting schemes of a loyal friend.

The mention of symbolic coins made him recall that, in the pre-video interrogations by Peter Kahiga, Tajirika had also talked of benefiting from protective magic. He had dismissed this as one more example of Tajirika’s stupidity. But now “protective magic” was as cool water to a thirsty person; he felt a touch of gratitude toward Tajirika. Why had he not thought of this before? Should he not seek a bit of protective magic for his person and property to augment Jane Kanyori’s aid?

And so he thought of the Wizard of the Crow: Kaniürü might not have been a deep believer in magic, but cautionary measures, hardly expressions of cowardice, had to be taken, and he made his way to the wizard’s shrine.

“My life is in my hands?” Tajirika asked defiantly. “Did I arrest myself, put myself in handcuffs, and drag myself to the dungeon?”

Sikiokuu’s personal reception area was a veritable living room, with settees and plastic flowers in a vase placed on a low coffee table. Generous curtains and a liquor cabinet completed the decor.

The minister exuded unbridled self-confidence in the way he walked, sat, and gestured, stroking his earlobes or rolling his tiny eyes. For a moment Tajirika feared that something was up with the government. Had a coup d’etat taken place? Was Sikiokuu the man in absolute charge?

Sikiokuu did not respond immediately but first poured his guest a little brandy, handing him cigarettes and a lighter as well. Tajirika grabbed everything offered as if he feared Sikiokuu might change his mind. He had not had a drink or a cigarette in a long while.

“You are quite right. You are not under self-arrest,” Sikiokuu told him. “But there is a reason for your being here. I am sure that Intelligence would not have detained a person of your stature without proper cause. What did the Waswahili say? Dark clouds herald rain, or, more appropriately, where there is smoke there must be fire.”

“So where is the smoke that led them to me?”

“Nyawlra.”

“Has she been captured?”

“State secrets,” Sikiokuu said vaguely.

“Hear me out, Mr. Sikiokuu. If she is under arrest, I am glad. Then I can confront her and refute anything she may allege against me. You have employed workers, I am sure. Can you honestly say that you know where and with whom they sleep every night? Or what’s going on in their heads?”

“Mr. Tajirika, the M5 have relative autonomy; they reign over us. They gather information about us all, at work or play. They bring us information, but we don’t know how much they have kept to themselves. Obviously, we have to make decisions on the basis of that information. Personally, I believe you, Mr. Tajirika. And let me confide in you as a friend. Nyawlra, your former secretary, has not yet been caught, but you can be sure that sooner or later she will be. She cannot outrun the State. So the good news for you is that she has not said anything against you. Still, you are in deep trouble.”

“Why? What have I done wrong?”

“Keeping bad company. Showing poor judgment in your choice of employees and even friends in government. And what is more, being unable to control the company your wife keeps.”

“Mr. Minister, please explain. Stop talking in riddles and proverbs. What do you mean, the company my wife keeps? I can tell you that Vinjinia is a true housewife. Her routine is very simple. She goes to the fields, to the market, and to the office in my absence and to church on Sunday.”

“Is that what you think? They say that a husband is always the last to know.”

“What are you implying, Mr. Minister?” Tajirika said, almost jumping from his seat.

“Sit down, Titus. This has nothing to do with her seeing other men. If that was all there was to it, I would not even mention it. In Aburlria married women have become easy lays, but to be very frank I have never heard it said that your wife has even been found in a compromising situation.”

“So what are you talking about, then?”

“Pictures. I have some photos here and I would like you to look at them and tell me what you know about them.”

Sikiokuu went to a drawer by the wall and came back with an envelope, which he handed over to Tajirika. Tajirika took out a picture and looked at it long and hard. Then he quickly went through the others, shaking his head from side to side. Then he began all over again. No, his eyes were not lying to him; yet he still could not believe what he saw.

The photos showed Vinjinia seated somewhere in the open in front of a group of dancing women, all dressed in traditional garb. Sikiokuu did not disclose that he had personally ordered these photos taken on the day Vinjinia had confronted Sikiokuu outside Kaniürü’s offices. The pictures were taken from different angles and in such a way that Kaniürü and Sikiokuu and the other dignitaries who were present on the occasion were not in any of the scenes depicted. But Vinjinia, either alone or with the dancing women, was in every one of the ten pictures, and it appeared as if the women were dancing solely for their guest of honor, Vinjinia.

Tajirika felt as if his tongue had been stuck. His lips opened and closed without the utterance of a word. His hands were trembling. He sat down and threw the pictures on the table. His lips still quivering, he looked at Sikiokuu, and said without conviction:

“I still don’t believe it.”

“What don’t you believe? That she is your wife? Or those are not her photos? Or that these are not the kind of women who brought shame to the site of Marching to Heaven?”

“I don’t believe that Vinjinia would do this to me.”

“Maybe you’ll be kind enough to explain a thing or two. The security men tell me that all along you have denied any knowledge of the women who did the deed. They say that not only have you denied personal knowledge but you have issued denials on behalf of your wife. And yet you did admit that when you were ill, Nyawlra and your wife ran the business, the very twosome who took you to the wizard. How do you know that they were interested in healing you? How do you know that their purpose was not to confuse your mind with a magic potion? And even if you believe in their innocence and good intentions, can you say the same for the sorcerer? Can you be sure that he did not bear you some kind of grudge, and now saw his chance, deceiving the women? And you know how gullible women are.”