Survivors VIII

[aurelius]

Survivors VIII: 35-40

 

 

36

 

The whole island seemed in a frenzy.  There wasn’t as much playing around; everyone was training seriously.  Lateef and I set up a driftwood target on the beach and practiced hour after hour.  We practiced shooting straight down the beach, shooting from up the hill, shooting from across part of the bay.  We moved the target down the beach toward the lookout and practiced there.  Abari joined us sometimes, slinging stones at our target.  Lateef and I always took time out to find Abari’s stones.  After a day or so of target practice, we needed to get a new target.   

 

Abari went with his dad to find more stones for his sling.  Gareth went with Amare to find more boulders.  The alarm gong was tested—although someone always stood by to muffle the sound, since it was pretty loud.

 

Lateef and I ran down to Menes and Shakir’s lookout, asking them if they needed anything.  Babu wanted more arrows, so Lateef ran off to the smithy to get another quiver.  He reported back that the guys at the smithy were working very hard: there were extra spears, extra quivers, extra khepeshes and stabbing swords; there were basins of mud at all lookouts around the island.  Even Garin seemed to be persuaded by Lateef to put some mud on his magnificent body.  Lateef said, “He didn’t like it, but I said he couldn’t suck my cock if he wouldn’t do it.  So he changed his mind!”

 

At evening water, Xander and Zuberi showed up at their fathers’ house to talk about various plans and preparations across the island.  Some of the guys who lived by the training field thought that they should prepare for an attack through the jungle.  They got together with some of the guys who lived by the ship and the lookout there.  If the Egyptians seemed to be heading for the jungle, the plan was to have some archers—namely Kashta, Dakka, Saati and Theron—to climb into the trees and shoot the soldiers as they came into the jungle.  Other men from the lookout by the ship would use their slingshots to bring down the soldiers.  The idea was that once some of the soldiers fell, the snakes would show up and that might scare the rest of the soldiers away.

 

“That sounds like a good plan,” Amare said.  “We have to prepare for an attack anywhere.  The last time they attacked, they mainly came to the training field.  I don’t think they will put all of their forces in one place again.  After all, they don’t want to kill all of us—they want to enslave as many of us as they can.”

 

I cleared my throat but didn’t speak.  My dad looked at me and said, “Speak up, my son!”  I realized that everyone was looking at me: 

 

“I think they will attack here.  I think that’s why they had the raid that brought us here.  The bay looks like a place where they could land a lot of soldiers.  They know Amare will throw boulders at them, but I imagine they think they can get some soldiers through and then deal with Amare.”  I looked around at my family.  No one was raising objections, so I went on.

 

“And that means we need to think about killing as many soldiers as we can before they land.”  I turned to Lateef: “And that means we—you and me—we have to think of places along the shore where we can fire at incoming soldiers.”

 

“But how will we get to the shore, if the attack is at night?” Lateef said. “After all, the raid was at night.”

 

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” I said.  “Maybe we could put arrows at various places from our houses down to the shore, and we could move down to the shore, firing arrows as the soldiers try to land.”

 

“Or we could camp out at the shore every night until the attack comes.”  Garin spoke; Lateef looked at him and said, “That’s a good idea, but I like my own bed!”

 

“And I like your bed too,” said Garin, “But not if we’re under attack.  Look: if you and Jabar make your beds behind the stone fireplace, and the gong sounds, you’ll be ready to shoot the soldiers as they come toward the shore.  And any that actually land on the shore—I’ll hack them to pieces with my axe!”  Garin smiled broadly.  I wasn’t sure I liked this blood-thirsty Garin, but I was glad he was on our side.

 

“Promise me!” Lateef said, his face close to tears, “You’ll spread mud all over your magnificent body before you start hacking Egyptian soldiers.  All it would take is one spear thrown at your not-so-thick head, and my world will be over!”

 

Garin reached his big arms around Lateef and drew him into an embrace; he kissed Lateef and then looked him straight in his eyes, “I promise I’ll get muddy—just for you!”

 

Abari couldn’t stand it: “And I’ll come down to the shore too!”

 

“NO YOU WILL NOT!”  I had never heard Amare shout, but he was shouting now.  He looked at Abari and said, “I don’t think they’ll kill you, but they’ll capture you.”  And here his big arms swallowed Abari in a huge hug: “And I could not bear to lose you!”  He kissed Abari’s head: “No; you will stay in the lookout with me. You can sling as many stones as you want at the soldiers from there.”

 

Abari looked scared at his dad.  He wanted to say something but he didn’t dare.  No one dared contradict Amare.

 

My dad eased the situation: “My love is right: Abari stays in the lookout.  But maybe we should think of other ways to stop the Egyptian boats coming to shore.  I could slip into the water and tip the reed boats over and then dive deep so they couldn’t kill me.  And maybe several of us“ — here he looked at Lateef and me— “could do this.  We could practice tipping over a raft made of palm fronds.”

 

“But the raft wouldn’t be as sturdy as a reed boat, nor as heavy as one loaded with soldiers.”  Xander looked around at Lateef and me; I felt that he didn’t want to contradict our dad, but he had to.

 

“Xander is right,” Amare said.  “It’s an interesting idea, my love, but it’s also too dangerous.  I don’t want to lose you either.  I think you can do just as much damage to the Egyptians from the lookout.”

 

“OK,” I said calmly.  “I think Garin’s idea is the best one: Lateef and I will make beds behind the fireplace.  Neither of us will like it—well—“ and here I smiled at Lateef—“maybe Lateef will like it, if Garin is camped out a few feet away.”  

 

“That sounds good!” said Garin.

 

“But,” I continued, “we might as well start sleeping out and getting used to it, so that by the time the attack comes, we’re used to our sleeping arrangements and ready to take on the Egyptians.”

 

“I hate to admit it—because I really do like my bed,”  Lateef smiled, “but what Jabar says makes sense.”

 

 

 

37

 

So, as we broke up after evening water, Lateef and I went down to the fireplace, taking our bows and quivers of arrows.  After we deposited those, we walked back and picked up the mud basin, bringing it closer to the fireplace.

 

Behind the fireplace we smelled the dead shark.  I held my nose. “Is that thing still here?”  

 

“Well, our fathers simply threw it in back of the fireplace, so the cats could have their way with it, I guess.  We can throw it further back, or we can throw it into the bay.”  Lateef looked at me as if I was the one making the decisions.  That seemed odd to me—he was older; he should be making decisions.

 

“If we throw it in the bay, will it attract more sharks?”

 

“I don’t know,” Lateef said,  “I’ll run and ask our dad.” 

 

Meanwhile, I found out I could lift the carcass with some effort.  It had been picked pretty clean by Bastet and her friends.  On the other hand, Garin came down from the house and offered to throw it by himself.

 

Lateef came back: “Our dad says if we throw it into the bay it should attract sharks.”  So, if Garin wanted the job of throwing out the carcass, that job was his.  However, I asked him to throw it further out into the bay, near the ocean.  He lifted the carcass over his head and almost ran to the end of the lookout; he tossed the carcass out into the ocean, and then decided to take a dip in the bay, to wash off the smell.

 

“And now we have to do something about the smell,” I said.  “I’ll go up to the house and get a torch.  Maybe we can burn the leaves in back of the fireplace and make the smell less, at least.”

 

The torch shone against the gathering night.  I burned the leaves and bushes behind the fireplace until both Lateef and I were satisfied that most of the smell was gone.  But then Lateef turned to me and said, “You know, since the Egyptians are probably not coming tonight, I think I’ll cuddle up with Garin further along the beach—if you don’t mind.”

 

I raised the torch so I could see his face, but I didn’t need to.  He had this sly smile on his lips that I couldn’t say no to: “Of course.  I’ll curl up against the fireplace and survive the night in my loneliness!”  Here I pouted a little—until Lateef hit my arm.

 

“Jabar!  I love you but you can’t have him!”  And Lateef gave me a kiss on my cheek before he turned and ran toward Garin.

 

I arranged our bows and quivers of arrows at either end of the back of the fireplace.  The fires that burnt away the dead shark smell were out, but the ground was still warm.  I curled up with my back against the fireplace.  I so very much missed the feel of my dad’s arm covering my arm.  But I figured this was what it meant to be a solider.  I drifted off to sleep, hearing vague moans coming from the general direction of Garin and Lateef.

 

I woke up into the sunshine of the morning.  No one had attacked.  I got up, stretched, and had an overwhelming curiosity, so I walked down the beach a little and looked into the bushes a couple of times.

 

I found them: Lateef was curled up beneath Garin’s big arm.  They looked so sweet, I couldn’t wake them up.  Instead, I turned and walked up to the house.

 

Amare was just getting up.  I saw him gently—ever so gently—remove his arm from around Abari.   So that’s how they got up and didn’t wake us up: sheer gentleness.  I loved my fathers even more.  My dad was still on his bed, but he was beginning to stir.

 

I walked over to Amare and whispered, “I’ve always wondered how you guys could get up and not disturb Abari and me.”  Here I couldn’t resist hugging him: “You guys are just so gentle, and I love you both so much!”

 

I could feel Amare chuckle quietly.  Soon my dad was at my side. “It’s nice to be appreciated,” he said softly; I turned around and gave him a big hug.  But I realized I was no longer a kid: I was nearly his height; I had nearly his muscle.  I was still getting used to my new man body.

 

My dad kissed me on the cheek.  “How did you sleep?  And, more importantly”—he had a twinkle in his eye—“how did Lateef sleep?”

 

“I found Lateef curled up under Garin’s arm a ways down the beach, behind a bush.  They looked so sweet.  With that image in my head, I can’t think of lusting after Garin any more.”

 

“Well, that’s a good thing!” Amare said with a smile. 

 

“Let’s see if my special wake-up call still works,” Amare said.  And he picked up the pouch with Abari’s toys and made them rattle.  Abari began to wake up and stretch.  Amare smiled.  “Works every time!”

 

As Abari woke up, his dad said, “Come, my son!  Morning water and your toys.”  Abari perked up and soon was sitting with us.  He started playing with his soldier.

 

“Did you spend the night at the fireplace?” Abari looked up at me with sleepy eyes.  “Did you and Lateef sleep together?”

 

“I spent the night at the fireplace, but Lateef spent the night with Garin, down the beach.”

 

“You guys are going to have to talk about that,” my dad said.  “If Lateef keeps sleeping with Garin, then when the invasion comes, he may have trouble getting to his bow and arrows.”

 

“Then maybe I should just take my bow and arrows with me, when I sleep with Garin.”  Lateef and Garin entered, and it seemed Lateef was not interested in changing his sleeping arrangements.

 

“Well, OK,” I said.  “If you think a bush can protect you from Egyptian arrows—and are you going to take the mud bowl with you down to the bush?”

 

“Not a bad idea!”  Lateef smiled.  “Thanks, my brother!”  He gave me a kiss on the cheek.  Amare got up to get two more cups.

 

“No, I don’t think you should take the mud bowl with you,” I said.  “I’m even wondering if we should get a second mud bowl for up here at the house—so Abari can be protected and in case something goes wrong and we have to retreat here.”  

 

“A second mud bowl would be good idea,” my dad said.  “I wish Xander and Zuberi were here.”

 

Lateef ran off to get them.

 

Xander and Zuberi must have run nearly as fast as Lateef.  Once they had sat down, Amare said, “Can you get us a second mud basin?”

 

Zuberi looked at Xander.  “I’m not sure.  The potters are making more basins, but we’re actually running out of mud!”

 

“OK, then,” I said.  “Then we work with what we have.  I think we should move the mud basin back toward the house.  When the gong sounds, Lateef, Garin and I will run to the basin and put mud on our bodies.  I think we’ll have time before the soldiers get too close to shore.  Father Amare should stop a few of the small boats from reaching the shore.  Once my dad gets to the lookout, there will be more boulders falling on the soldiers.  That should give us some time.”

 

Xander said, “That’s all good, but a plan is only good if men practice doing it.  You guys should practice getting up from your sleeping places, getting to the mud basin, then getting back in position to shoot at the soldiers.  And you—“ and here he looked at Amare and our dad— “should also figure out the best way to arrange the stones.  Dad, is there any reason why you can’t also sleep at the lookout?”

 

Our dad looked at Amare before he said, “Not really, only the fact that my love loves to cuddle his youngest.”  Amare looked down.  “Of course my love can sleep with us in the lookout.”

 

Xander spoke again, “We’re talking about surviving an invasion.  This is no time for us to think about our preferences.”  And here he looked directly at Lateef.

 

“OK! OK! I’ll start sleeping with Jabar!”

 

“And I will too!” Garin said.  “It’s going to be crowded behind the fireplace.”

 

“I think it can handle you, big guy!” I said.

 

 

38

 

We practiced in the morning.  We found out that Xander and Zuberi were planning on sleeping at the training field.  Lateef, Garin and I also went to the potters to get a couple more jugs; then we walked over to the pool and filled them up.  We now had plenty of water for us and for the mud basin.  I kept wracking my brain, trying to figure out what else needed to be done.

 

Lateef, Garin and I also paid a visit to Akhom and Tafari.  We asked them where they were planning on fighting—down at Menes and Shakir’s or with us?

 

“That depends on who sounds their horn first,” said Akhom—which, of course, made perfect sense.  I asked him if he had carried boulders to Menes’ lookout, in case the Egyptians landed there.

 

“No, I haven’t, but that’s a good idea!”  He turned to Tafari and said, “No time like the present!”  We left as they were headed to get boulders.  Later in the day, they carried some boulders up to Amare’s lookout as well.  At evening water I heard that they had discussed who would stand where, so they wouldn’t get in each other’s way.

 

“Are we ready?”  I couldn’t think of anything else.  Lateef said, “Of course, when they attack, we’ll find out what we missed.”

 

After evening water, our fathers plus Abari went up to the lookout.  Lateef, Garin, and I went to the fireplace.  We fit together nicely.  It wasn’t as nice as my dad’s arm over mine, but I liked curling up with Lateef behind me and big Garin behind him.  I couldn’t help but smile when I realized that Garin and Lateef both snored.  I drifted off.

 

Then the gong sounded in the darkness.  They were here!

 

I turned over to see if Lateef and Garin were awake.  They were.  Then the horn sounded.  Since I heard no other horn, I hoped that Akhom and Safari would soon be there.

 

“Let’s get some mud!” I said.  We all got up.

 

Amare threw a boulder at the reed boat that had crossed the warning rope.  The boulder landed on the boat.  Some men cried out; others were tossed out as the boat started to sink.  We ran to the mud basin and started smearing mud on our bodies and arms and heads.  Then I heard one and then another boulder hit the water—thrown by my dad, probably.

 

Lateef and I got back to the fireplace; Garin was behind a bush further down the beach.  No soldiers had reached the shore—yet.

 

And then I saw one through the darkness; he was walking slowly through the water, carrying a spear in one hand and a shield in the other hand.  I could see him against the pale light of the quarter moon reflected in the water.  I drew my bowstring back, took aim and fired.  He dropped into the water.  Another soldier started toward the shore.  Lateef had his bowstring already drawn back; he aimed and fired—and the second soldier dropped into the water.

 

More boulders were thrown from the lookout at reed boats coming into the bay; of three boats, one did not get hit.  The oarsmen kept rowing.  We could see the soldiers standing up, their shields in front of them, their spears in their hands.  But they were in range.  I took aim at the head of one soldier.  Lucky for me, he seemed to keep his head steady even though the boat rocked in the water from the waves created by the boulders splashing.  I tried not to think of the soldiers who raped me.  I tried not to feel anything at all—just draw, aim, and shoot.  The first one I hit in the neck; he put his hand on his neck but the blood gushed out.  I hit another one just above the leather chest piece he wore; he doubled over.  I tried not to think of the soldiers who forced me down, who shoved my head against the deck of the ship and pushed their big cock up my ass.  I tried not to think of Abari crying as a soldier fucked him.  I tried not to think; I only wanted to draw, aim, and shoot.  So that’s what I did.  I took aim and fired.  The soldier dropped among the other soldiers.  The few soldiers left looked around and then pointed at us.  But they were still too far away to hit us with their spears.  As one was looking around, Lateef hit him in the head—another soldier fell. 

 

We would have to shoot faster; there were three boats of soldiers now; they were getting closer; it was possible one or two could get through.  Lateef and I drew our bowstrings back together and let fly together.  We got lucky.  Two more soldiers fell.  The other two soldiers dropped and squatted in the boat, covering their heads with their shields.  I noticed that in one of the boats behind them, the soldiers there also dropped and covered themselves with their shields.  They would be harder to hit.

 

But as the soldiers in the first boat got closer, they stood up—I guess so they would be able to jump out of the boat.  And Lateef and I again drew our bows together and let fly together.  We got one of the two.  There was only one soldier left in the boat.  Garin had waded into the water as this soldier watched the other soldier drop, and as the soldier turned toward the shore, Garin chopped his arm off; he cried out and then dropped into the water.  In the darkness it was hard to tell, but the bay must have been getting red.  It was still some time before sunrise.  Then Garin brandished his axe and the oarsmen surrendered.  Garin gestured that they should get out of the boat and head to shore.  There, he told them to strip and sit near the bushes.

 

I took a survey of the boats lined up to come into the bay and said to Lateef: “Run up to the house and get the khepeshes.  We’re going to have to use swords eventually.  There are too many of them.”  He left.

 

As Lateef ran off, I noticed that there were more boulders coming from the lookout.  Akhom and Tafari must be there!   And their targets included the large ships further out to sea.  I could only judge where they were from the boulders being tossed there.  One hit a ship—I could hear the wood splinter and even some of the men cry out.

 

But our job got harder: as Lateef came back he had to dodge some arrows headed our way.  We both ducked behind the fireplace.  Then we rose up and fired—at a boat of archers that were coming into the bay.  Two of the archers fell down, but we also ducked down as the arrows from that boat hit the fireplace.  So they knew where we were.  “At least they don’t seem to know where Garin is!” Lateef said.

 

“I’d love to know how many big ships are in the ocean.  Someone on the lookout hit one.  From the larger number of boulders being thrown, I think Akhom is there.”  Lateef nodded.

 

Arrows were still hitting the fireplace.  “Care to shoot a couple more?”  “Sure,” he said.  We drew our bowstrings back, stood up and fired.  As we dropped down again, I got hit on my shoulder by an arrow; it was a scratch.  We could hear one man cry out.  The way I figured it, there were two more archers in that boat.  And they were getting closer—better for us, but also better for them.

 

Suddenly, one of the archers cried out—and we hadn’t hit him.  I peeked around.  He was clutching his head as he fell.  “Abari got him!”  I nearly laughed.  “Let’s get the last guy!”  So we got up and aimed.  But he dropped his bow.  Garin lept from behind his bush, waded into the water and indicated that the bowman should put his bow in the water.  Then, as the boat headed to shore, once again, Garin ordered the archer and the oarsmen to get out of the boat, strip and join the other soldiers further down the beach.

 

“It looks like Garin has become mainly a prisoner overseer,” I said.  “But what an overseer!” Lateef said.  “Just look at him standing there with his axe!”  “Careful,” I said, “we still have a job to do!”

 

Another boat of archers was on its way.  And they knew where we lived.  I pointed to boulders on either side of the fireplace.  We’d have to crouch down more, but if we used those as well as the fireplace, the incoming archers would have to look twice.  Lateef agreed.  We fired off some shots, hit two of their archers, got hit on our arms; then we ducked behind the other boulders.  Arrows still hit the fireplace.  We got up and knelt so that we were able to see above the boulders, and fired again.  Another archer went down.

 

And then I noticed fins in the water.  Three sharks had come into the bay, attracted by the blood in the water.  They attacked.  As dawn started to spread over the bay, we could see red spots here and there. The sharks went toward those red spots, and more sharks arrived.  Soon wounded men cried out as sharks found them and sunk their teeth into their bodies.  The bay got redder.

 

And then the sharks started going for the boats, knocking them over and feeding on the men who fell into the water.  Suddenly, there were fewer boats coming into the bay.  Some boats went back to the big ships.  And in a little while we saw the two ships in the ocean turn around and leave.

 

 

39

 

We had survived the invasion—at least we had survived the invasion of our bay.  Garin ended up overseeing a dozen prisoners.  He was not pleased: “Why did you guys have to be such good shots?  I only got to hack up one Egyptian soldier!  It’s just not fair!”  He actually pouted as we gathered on the beach.

 

Amare chuckled as he came down from the lookout holding Abari in his arms.  My dad followed, along with Akhom and Tafari.  Dad started passing around a jug of water.  “And what am I supposed to do with a dozen prisoners?” Garin exclaimed, putting his arms out in frustration.

 

A man came out of the trees from the edge of the beach.  “Please,” he said, “come to the training field.  The Egyptians have captured half of our forces—your sons Xander and Zuberi are among them.”

 

Not a word was said.  Lateef and I grabbed our last remaining quivers and followed our fathers, who were racing toward the trees and toward the training field.  Amare turned and yelled at Garin: “Bring the prisoners!  Maybe we can do an exchange!”  Garin got the prisoners up and walking into the trees.  

 

As we got closer to the training field, we met some of the men who hadn’t been captured.  Our fathers strained to see if they could see their sons. “Where are Xander and Zuberi?” my dad asked Baniti, who was one of the men still fighting.

 

“I’m afraid they’ve taken Xander and Zuberi toward the ships.  They look to be retreating—as if they’re planning to leave.”

 

“Then we have to act fast,” I said.  “Baniti, come with me and Lateef and Garin.  Meanwhile, maybe our fathers can exchange our prisoners for theirs.”  Amare and my dad nodded.  Covered with mud—as was everyone on our side—they weren’t afraid to walk out from the trees and call for a meeting.  They walked by the bodies of dead Egyptian soldiers in the near part of the field.  There weren’t bodies of our men; they had been captured, not killed.

 

Meanwhile, Lateef, Garin, Baniti and I went around the training field, toward the shore where our men were sitting on the ground.  I could see Xander and Zuberi—both bleeding from their heads, their hands bound behind them.  

 

“OK,” I said,  “Stay low.  Hide.  We shoot and run; shoot and run—shoot the guards; create confusion.  And Garin, you stay back.  On my signal, yell ‘Release the prisoners’!  Everybody got it?  Go!”

 

Lateef, Baniti and I found bushes and boulders to crouch behind.  Then we started shooting.  One guard fell.  Another guard fell.  Other guards started looking around.  We moved to new places and did the same thing.  Three more guards fell.  Xander, who was on the outside of the group of prisoners, crawled on his side, with his hands behind his back toward one of the guards.  He pulled loose a dagger with his teeth and gave it to Zuberi, who had followed him.  They contorted themselves but managed to loosen their bonds.  Soon both Xander and Zuberi were free, and they started to free other prisoners.  One of the guards came over to stop this.  I shot him and he fell.  I loved it.  I had saved my big brother!  Xander got his dagger too.  Soon Xander and Zuberri were crawling our way.  Meanwhile, Lateef, Baniti and I kept shooting guards and then crawling to new places; the guards kept falling.  Finally, I raised my hand toward where I thought Garin was and said, “Now, Garin!”

 

“Release the prisoners!”  Garin bellowed from some trees behind us.

 

Amare was talking with an Egyptian soldier.  He gestured for the soldier to turn around and watch his prisoners crawling away.  Apparently, Amare was still offering a prisoner exchange.  The soldier shook Amare’s big hand.  Amare gestured for our prisoners to come forward.  The soldier gestured for the rest of their prisoners to come forward.  

 

It was an even trade: we had a dozen, and by that time, they had a dozen of our men.  Frankly, as the two sets of prisoners passed each other, I wondered why they would give up our bigger, muscular young men for their scrawny men.  But then I imagined that the exchange would have helped their morale.

 

With Xander, Zuberi and the other freed prisoners following us, we walked bending down and made our way back toward the edge of the training field.  I was so happy to see the joy on my dad’s face as he embraced Xander, and Amare’s joy as he embraced Zuberi.

 

With the prisoners exchanged, I wanted to get the Egyptians off our island.  I turned to Baniti and Lateef: “Do you both still have a few arrows left?”  They nodded.  “Then let’s let them have it!”  We drew our bowstrings back and shot; more soldiers fell.  Those remaining ran to their ships.

 

My dad was still holding Xander; he turned to me and said, “Isn’t that a bit much?  They released our men back to us.”

 

“I want them gone, Dad,” I said.  “I don’t want them on the island, and I want them to know that if they ever come back, they will pay a heavy price.  By now they know they lost half their men at our bay—and the stories about the men being chewed up by sharks will send a shiver through their soldiers for weeks, if not months.  I want them gone!”  I surprised myself how loudly I was yelling.

 

My dad let go of Xander and came over to me.  He hugged me; I started crying.  Big sobs—the way Abari had cried here on the training field over a week ago.  Then Xander came over and he started hugging me too. “Thank you for rescuing me!” he said.  “I saw what you did when that guard was coming for me!”  Well, of course, that meant I had to cry some more.  Big, beautiful Xander was thanking me!  

 

But of course, one other person had to hug me: Abari came over and wiggled his way between my dad and Xander and hugged me: “That’s OK, Jabar!  You saved us all!  Thank you, my beautiful big brother!”

 

 

40

 

We watched the Egyptian ships leave.  There must have been six ships, counting the one Amare sank from his lookout.  Five ships would return to Egypt—with fewer men.  And with stories of sharks feasting on Egyptian soldiers, and archers who sprang up out of bushes and shot down the prisoner guards.

 

And yet, I was not happy as we walked back home.   My dad kept his arm around Xander—as Amare kept an arm around Zuberi—and Abari had to walk on his own.  I was still too excited by it all.  I was still thinking of what else we could have done to defeat the Egyptians.  Lateef had been hugging Garin, consoling him because he didn’t get to fight a lot of Egyptians.  But he must have seen me lost in thought; he dropped back and put an arm around me: “Why so glum, Jabar?  You more than anyone caused us to be prepared for the invasion.  And you came up with a plan that led to freeing our brothers and half of our men who were prisoners!  This is your victory as much as anyone’s!”

 

“But I keep thinking we could have done something more, something to defeat the Egyptians more quickly.”

 

Lateef stopped and stopped me; he put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my face.  “Stop it!  Enjoy the victory.  You saved our brothers!  Your fathers are so grateful.  And you will always be a hero to your little brother.  That’s an achievement that few of us can have!”

 

Indeed, Abari was now walking beside Lateef, and he was looking up at me.  He took my hand in his.  “Lateef is right, my beautiful big brother.  You are my hero!”

 

I reached down and picked up Abari and gave him a big kiss.  “And,” he said, “I think I know why you cried when you talked with your dad.  You had been living a dream that was also a nightmare—and I know how nightmares can make you cry.”  I found tears in my eyes again, and I hugged and kissed Abari again.  “You must be growing up, my little brother!”  Abari hugged me tightly.

 

When we got back to the house, of course we sat down for some water.  It wasn’t evening, but we were all exhausted.  My dad praised me and thanked me for the plan that freed Xander.  Amare praised me and thanked me for freeing Zuberi.  Xander and Zuberi thanked me again.  I sat next to Lateef, who was all smiles.  About the only man who wasn’t smiling was Garin—who still hadn’t forgiven Lateef and me for being such good shots.

 

But I was rapidly fading—all I wanted was to curl up on my bed and sleep.  So I excused myself, hugged my fathers and told them I loved them, and found my bed.  I could hear Xander and Zuberi talking with our fathers as I drifted off to sleep.

 

In the morning, everything changed.  Abari had hair growing around his cock, and his cock was bigger.  Already Abari was bigger than I had been when I killed my snake.  And because he had seen how our brothers helped me, Abari was not as afraid of killing a snake.  He could have gone another day or two before killing a snake, but he wanted to get it over with—and he wanted to go up to the lookout with his dad and wake up the next morning bigger.  As Abari said this, he smiled, looked at me and said, “And I think I’ll wake up and be bigger than Jabar!”

 

“You probably will,” I said.  “And then I will be your little brother.”  But Abari came over to me and looked me straight in my eyes: “You will never be my little brother, Jabar.  For me, you are the hero that chased away the soldiers!”  He looked at me directly—not as a little boy but as a young man.  He hugged me with his bigger arms and gave me a less-sloppy kiss.  I started to imagine what a real kiss from my “little” brother would be like—and I liked what I was imagining.

 

“So,” I said, “Do you want to kill a snake?”

 

“Yes, I do.”

 

Amare came over and put his hand on Abari’s shoulder.  “You can wait a day or two.  You don’t have to rush into this, my son.”  Amare seemed concerned; perhaps he didn’t want to lose his cuddle-buddy, but perhaps he was also thinking that rushing into anything is not a good idea.

 

“No, dad, I want to kill a snake today.”  Abari’s answer was clear and strong.  I only hoped it was the right one.

 

So, when Lateef and Garin showed up as we were having morning water, Amare asked Lateef to run and get Zuberi and Xander: “Abari wants to kill a snake today.”  Lateef ran off.

 

When Lateef returned with Zuberi and Xander, Amare got up, found his knife in its sheath and gave it to his youngest son.  Abari’s smile lit up an already sunlit room.  Amare said, “Does everyone else have knives?”  After we all nodded, we left for the jungle.

 

I felt strange walking into the jungle.  Of course I wasn’t as scared this time.  And I knew that Abari was taller than I had been, a week or so ago, when I killed my snake.  The grassy marshland before the jungle was a lot different: it seemed almost all of the grasses had been cut: the weavers had taken them to make ropes—and one of those ropes lay at the bottom of our bay, one of the results of the invasion.

 

The jungle itself was still dark, hot, and strange to walk into.  I still didn’t like it.  I looked around for snakes immediately.

 

We went to the same place where I killed my snake.  But the men stood in different places: my dad stayed back, as did Lateef; Zuberi and Garin stood behind but close to Abari; Amare stood a little further away.  Abari looked around and said, “Jabar?”  and I moved closer.  I suddenly realized that this was one of the last things I could do for my “little” brother.

 

I heard something softly sliding in the undergrowth, and then I saw this huge snake coiling itself around Abari’s legs.  Immediately Zuberi and Garin started pulling at the coils around his legs, but the coils wouldn’t budge.  Xander rushed to help Zuberi—for a moment all I could see were their two muscled arms straining at the big snake coils.  I reached in to help Garin.  Even my dad and Lateef helped.  The snake took all of us working against him; the snake was big enough to crush Abari and then crush the rest of us in time.  With our combined strength pulling against the coils, they released their grip a little—enough to give Abari a chance to stand on his own and not be toppled and crushed by the snake.

 

But it was Amare who made the difference.  He went around and in back of the snake.  He did what Garin had done for me: he took hold of the snake’s head.  Then Amare looked into Abari’s scared eyes and said, “I am here, my son.  You can do this.  Take the knife.”  And Abari took hold of the knife his dad had just given to him.  “Now slam it into the snake’s head!”  Still looking at his dad—as if he and his dad were completely connected—Abari slammed the knife into the snake’s head.  The rest of us were still straining to keep the coils from crushing Abari’s legs.  “Now do it again,” Amare calmly said, always looking straight into Abari’s eyes, with Abari looking back into his dad’s eyes.  “And again,” said Amare—and Abari drew his knife back and slammed it into the snake’s head again.  “And again!”  And once more Abari knifed the snake’s head.  When Amare was sure the snake was dead, he let the head go.  It dropped to the jungle floor with a soft thud.   Abari collapsed into his dad and was covered by Amare’s big arms.  

 

The rest of us were panting.  Even Garin was at a loss for something funny to say.  I felt like we had escaped a tragedy—I had come close to losing my Abari, and I was shaking at my near loss.  As he had before, Lateef knew what I was feeling; he came over and put his arm around me: “It’s over!” he said, panting.  “He’s safe.”

 

Of course Abari was crying in his dad’s arms.  “I’m so sorry,” I could hear him saying, “I thought the snake would be smaller, like Jabar’s.”  Amare hugged his youngest and kissed and fondled his head.  “We never know what kind of snake will show up.  This one was nearly as big as the monster that tried to kill Zuberi and Xander.”