A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Read Free Book Online Page B

stand for this area when the time comes.’
    They went out.
    A smile slowly spread from the edges of Mugo’s mouth. It could have indicated joy, mocking or bitterness. The visitors had left the door ajar. He shut the door and sat on the bed. Gradually the meaning of what Gikonyo had said began to light the blank abyss of incomprehension. What do they want? What do they really want? he asked himself, holding his head in his hands to steel himself.
    Outside Mugo’s hut the forest fighters parted from Gikonyo, Wambui and Warui. The two shared a hut at the other end of the village. The hut had been bought for them by some ardent members of the local branch of the Party who then believed the Party was the reincarnation of the Movement.
    ‘Do you think he will help us?’ Koina suddenly asked.
    ‘Who?’
    ‘That man!’
    ‘Oh, Mugo. I don’t know. Kihika rarely mentioned him. In fact, I don’t know if he knew him well.’
    They walked the rest of the way without more words. Koina fumbled for matches to light the oil-lamp. He was small-boned, light-skinned, and had large veins that protruded on his face and hands. General R. sat on the bed, absorbed in thought. Koina stood and stared at the yellow flame.
    ‘All the same, we must find out the traitor,’ General R. said, as if continuing their earlier conversation. His voice was low and carried grim determination.
    Koina did not answer at once. He remembered the day Kihika went out, never to return. Kihika commanded more than three hundred men, split into groups of fifty or even twenty-five men. The groups lived apart, in different caves, around Kinenie Forest, and only came together when going for a big venture like the capture of Mahee. Koina was always struck by Kihika’s absolute disregard for personal danger. The way he had finished DO Robson was already a legend inthe camps around Longonot, Ngong and even in Nyandarwa. Koina felt worshipful admiration for Kihika. At such times he would swear: ‘I will never leave him. I swear to God above I’ll never abandon Kihika. I was without faith. He has given it to me.’ Yes, Kihika had given him, a mere cook, new self, by making him aware of black power. Koina had felt this the day they took Mahee. As they waited for Kihika to return, he keenly felt the imminence of that black power. Later they sent out scouts, who reported that a big operation was on. Word went round. General R. ordered his men to prepare for a quick retreat into Longonot, their other big hide-out. They learnt that Kihika had been arrested. Njeri had wept. And even he, too, a man, could not hide his tears.
    ‘Do you think that he was going to meet a woman?’ Koina now asked.
    ‘No, I don’t think so. Karanja is really our man if what you tell me about him is true.’
    ‘Everybody in Githima tells me the same story. If you touch him from behind, he shakes uncontrollably. He never walks in the dark alone. He never opens his door to anybody after seven o’clock in the evening. All these are signs of a guilty man, but—’
    ‘God! If the louse had anything to do with Kihika’s crucifixion!’ General R. said, jumping to his feet. He paced up and down the room. ‘We all took the oath together. We took the oath together.’
    Koina sat on the bed, surprised by the passion and vehemence in the General’s voice. Koina had always feared him and even felt small in the other’s presence. Both had been in the Second World War; the General had fought in Burma. But he, Koina, never rose beyond the rank of a cook. After the war, the General worked as a tailor. Koina moved from job to job. His last job was with Dr Lynd, an ugly white spinster, whom Koina hated at first sight. He and the General really knew one another in the forest. In the battles, General R. emerged without betraying emotion. When Kihika was arrested General R. had remained calm, had shown no surprise or any sign of loss. With years Koina, who had wept at the time, forgot Kihika’s death and