The Witch Doctor's Wife by Tamar Myers Read Free Book Online Page B

secured private wives of their own, or else, if they still desired marriage, they’d have to go the group route again.
    S econd Wife had just finished stirring the stiff mush, and was in the process of shaping it into a smooth ball when Cripple hobbled into the family compound. That was just like her; wait until the real work was done, and then offer to stir the pot of manioc greens or poke at the chicken bubbling in palm oil at the fire’s edge. Disabled or not, there was no denying that Cripple was a lazy woman who milked her husband’s sympathy for all it was worth.
    “Let me help,” Cripple said. Predictably.
    “No, all is ready.” Second Wife turned her back and clapped her hands, ostensibly to call the children. In truth, she couldn’tbare to look at her husband’s eyes, to see the joy in them that Cripple’s safe return brought.
    “Cripple,” Husband said, “how was your day? Did you get the job?”
    “Of course, Husband. Did I not tell you I would?” She laughed. “I have already begun; that is why I am so late.”
    “Ah. What are your duties? What is the American like?”
    The children, who always claimed to be starving this time of the day, were crowding around Cripple instead of the food pots. “Yes, tell us,” they said in one voice.
    “The American is as tall as a papaya tree, and her hair is as soft as the threads of green corn. But her eyes—they are the color of water, with maybe just a hint of sky reflected in them.”
    The children’s gasps of pleasure annoyed Second Wife immensely. They were forever begging their other baba for her silly stories. Well, Second Wife could tell such stories too, if she had time to think. But who had time to think when there was always so much work to be done?”
    “And the job?” Husband said.
    “Oh Husband, I think you will be disappointed in me, because I am not her housekeeper.”
    “ Kah ,” Husband said, “that is indeed surprising news. But I am not disappointed in you. It is the American woman who disappoints. Clearly she has no vision.”
    “Do not be hasty to judge her, Husband. I am not her housekeeper because—instead—I am her assistant.”
    “Her assistant!” Husband roared with laughter. “Do you joke with me?”
    “I am telling you the truth. She said that a mind such as mine would be wasted on the tasks of a housekeeper. I am to be trained to use a typewriter and a sewing machine!”
    “A mind like yours,” Second Wife muttered, “is not deserving of such an honor.”
    Unfortunately Husband had ears as sharp as a jackal’s. “What did you say?”
    “I said that the food is ready.”
    “Yes,” Cripple said, “it is time to eat.”
    Second Wife felt her cheeks burning with anger. How dare the woman come to her defense. It was nothing more than a ploy, a way to keep Husband convinced that his first wife was as generous of spirit as everyone believed she was—everyone, that is, except for Second Wife. Cripple was a fraud who manipulated others with her disability. The time would come, and soon, when Husband would see through her and discard her like a cracked gourd. Second Wife was sure of that.
     
    The Nigerian felt strangely happy. The fish had given him energy, and last night he’d made two important discoveries, not just the one he’d anticipated. And all because of bats.
    At first he’d been confused, mistaking the bats for swallows. But when he realized his mistake, he remembered that bats often live in caves and so there must be a cave nearby. He paid closer attention to their movements and was astonished to see that they appeared to emerge from behind the waterfall.
    How could that be? The water was coming down with such force that the spray stung his face and chest. The Nigerian scrambled over slippery boulders, trying to catch the last of the dying light. At least there weren’t any crocodiles to worry about going in this direction.
    The roar of the falls was so loud that it seemed to suppress his other