PREVIOUSLY : A child sucks his thumb and fiddles with his ear while staring at a visitor who has been offered a cup of water by his mother. A cloud of flies buzzing around the guest’s head goes silent when she learns that a famous healer died after he was bitten by a snake.
“That’s curious…” The visitor’s voice trailed off as her gaze turned inward. “This changes things,” she muttered as she raised the cup of water and took a large swallow.
The silent cloud around her face rose and flattened out into a sheet a few feet above her head.
“…proved that he was a fake. Which healer cannot heal himself or herself? It served him right for hitting my baby.” The mother was stroking the boy’s head and had not noticed the other’s inattention.
“When did this happen?”
“About six years ago. He was the first and last healer I took my son to. ”
“I’ve been away too long…”
“Where…”
“Mmmpf.”
At that sound, the mother abandoned what she had been about to say and focused on her son. He jabbed a circle made up of the finger and thumb that had been exercising his ear in the direction of the guest. More muffled sounds which somehow managed to squeeze past around the imprisoned thumb accompanied the thrusts.
“Baba”,* said the mother. She got hold of the swinging limb and patted it gently with her other hand. “You have to remove your thumb from your mouth if you want us to hear what you are saying.”
The hand escaped and resumed its pointing. It gestured more urgently as if to make up for its brief capture. The child’s knees jerked spasmodically, loosening the cross legged knot in which his legs had been still.
His eyes blinked repeatedly. His cheeks quivered. Finally, his lips let go. A single word barely escaped the confines of thumb and teeth before the gate was closed again. Unfortunately, the word flew by so fast that the mother’s ears did not manage to capture it.
“What, baba? What did you say?” She caressed the boy’s head. She took hold of his hand and tried to pull his thumb out of his mouth. The boy pulled back so hard that his mother almost fell off her stool. She let go. “Then try and speak slowly and clearly.”
Eyes bright with maternal pride, she turned back to the guest. “I have never succeeded in pulling the thumb out. He is a very strong boy.”
*Father.
‘Baba’, as used here, is a term of endearment
