The Other Woman

Grace Ogot

Description

Grace Ogot is a well-known Kenyan novelist. In this collection of nine stories, she explores themes of social, cultural and spiritual importance. Her imagery is designed to unveil evils which bedevil modern society, such as violence, lust for power and wealth, and family turmoil. Her stories are imbued with the culture of Kenya.

Informations

• Publié par: East African Educational Publishers
• Date de parution: 15 juin 1992
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789966566126
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The Other Woman
PEAK Library
Fictional Works
1. Secret Lives – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
2. Matigari – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
3. A Grain of Wheat – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
4. Weep Not, Child – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
5. The River Between – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
6. Devil on the Cross – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
7. Petals of Blood – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
8. Wizard of the Crow – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
9. Homing In – Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
10. Coming to Birth – Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
11. Street Life – Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
12. The Present Moment – Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
13. Chira – Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
14. A Farm Called Kishinev – Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
15. No Longer at Ease – Chinua Achebe
16. Arrow of God – Chinua Achebe
17. A Man of the People – Chinua Achebe
18. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
19. Anthills of the Savannah – Chinua Achebe
20. The Strange Bride – Grace Ogot
21. Land Without Thunder – Grace Ogot
22. The Promised Land – Grace Ogot
23. The Other Woman – Grace Ogot
24. The Minister’s Daughter – Mwangi Ruheni
25. The Future Leaders – Mwangi Ruheni
26. White Teeth – Okot P’Bitek
27. Horn of My Love – Okot P’Bitek
28. Without a Conscience – Barbara Baumann
29. God’s Bits of Wood – Sembene Ousmane
30. Emperor Shaka the Great – Masizi Kunene
31. No Easy Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela
32. The Herdsman’s Daughter – Bernard Chahilu
33. Hearthstones – Kekelwa Nyaywa
34. Of Man and Lion – Beatrice Erlwanger
35. My Heart on Trial – Genga Idowu
36. Kosiya Kifefe – Arthur Gakwandi
37. Mine Boy – Peter Abrahams
38. Takadini – Ben Hanson
39. Myths and Legends of the Swahili – Jan Knappert
40. Mau Mau Author in Detention – Gakaara wa Wanjau
41. Mission to Gehenna – Karanja wa Kang’ethe
42. Goatsmell – Nevanji Madanhire
43. Sunset in Africa – Peter M. Nyarango
44. The Moon Also Sets – Osi Ogbu
45. Breaking Chains – Dorothea Holi
46. The Missing Links – Tobias O. Otieno
47. I Shall Walk Alone – Paul Nakitare
48. A Season of Waiting – David Omowale
49. Igereka and Other African Narratives – John Ruganda
50. Before The Rooster Crows – Peter Kimani
51. A Nose for Money – Francis B. Nyamnjoh
52. The Travail of Dieudonné – Francis B. Nyamnjoh
53. A Journey Within – Florence Mbaya
54. Kill Me Quick – Meja Mwangi
55. Going Down River Road – Meja Mwangi
56. Striving for the Wind – Meja Mwangi
57. Carcase for Hounds – Meja Mwangi
58. The Last Plague – Meja Mwangi
59. The Big Chiefs – Meja Mwangi
60. An African Child – Camara Laye
61. Return to Paradise – Yusuf K. Dawood
62. Eye of the Storm – Yusuf K. Dawood
BIOGRAPHICAL WORKS
1. Detained: A Writer’s Prison Diary – Ngugi wa Thiong’o
2. Not Yet Uhuru – Oginga Odinga
3. My Life as a Paraplegic – Esther Owuor
4. Never Say Die – Wanyiri Kihoro
5. Beyond Expectation – Njenga Karume
The Other Woman and Other Short Stories
GRACE OGOT
Published by
East African Publishers Rwanda Ltd.
Tabs Plaza, Kimironko Road
Opposite Kigali Institute of Education
P.O. Box 5151,
Kigali, RWANDA
email: [e-mail]
website: www.eastafricanpublishers.com
East African Educational Publishers Ltd
Brick Court, Mpaka Road/Woodvale Grove
Westlands, P.O. Box 45314
Nairobi – 00100, KENYA.
East African Educational Publishers Ltd
C/O Gustro Ltd.
P.O. BOX 9997
Kampala, UGANDA.
Ujuzi Books Ltd
P.O. Box 38260
Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA.
© Grace Ogot 1976, 1992
All Rights Reserved
First published 1976
First published by
East African Educational Publishers Ltd. in 1996
Reprinted 2001, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
ISBN 978-9966-46-988-5
Printed in India by
Rathna Offset Printers
Contents
Pay Day
The Middle Door
The Other Woman
The Fisherman
The Honourable Minister
The Real Electric Train
The Ivory Trinket
Fishing Village
The Professor
for my sisters
Rose Orondo Sophia Odero and Sister Joseph
whose love and affection inspired my childhood
pay day
It was a thunderous noise, sharp and deafening, though it did not last. The shattered old mahogany door crumbled into a heap and the deadly rock that had caused the damage rolled on dangerously towards the other wall, crushing whatever stood in its way. The voice of a girl, a very young girl, screamed out in terror, and the clear childish sounds tore the silent night. It suddenly cut off, without a whimper or a sob. The rock had stopped rolling too. Its assignment was now done.
For a moment, Awino felt as if she would go mad. The room receded and swam back in dizzy circles, and her bed seemed to have moved from the wall. She had made a great effort to jump up when the rock rolled through the shattered door and the child screamed, but her body refused to obey her will. Her whole being was drained of life; only her heart refused to stop beating.
“My baby, my baby,” she moaned helplessly, unable to stand and gather the remains of Anyango, her little niece whose body had been rent apart by the rolling rock!
There was a rustle around the door. Awino stared in horror as two masked figures entered the one-roomed square hut. She screamed, but no sound came out of her parted lips. Then she saw another group of masked men enter the room, and the tips of sharp pangas gleamed in the dim light. Suddenly powerful torches were shone on Awino’s eyes, blinding her.
“Give us the money!” a man’s voice demanded. “Give us the money at once!” and he slapped Awino so hard high on the right cheek that for a moment she had a complete black-out.
“No money,” Awino groaned, and she broke down completely in violent jerks and sobs.
“You were paid today, you liar. You give us all of it or we will chop your head and your legs.”
“We get paid tomorrow,” Awino whispered, between sobs. “We get paid tomorrow.”
“Liar, you old liar,” said an angry voice from behind. “Move out of the way, you coward, let me deal with her.” The leader of the gang pushed his way towards the bed-side. He slapped Awino on the eyes, on the face and mouth and made a deep cut on her neck with a panga.
“Now will you give that money — eh! you Christian woman? Christians don’t tell lies! Come on now – tell us where the packet is, and I shall leave your head where it belongs.”
The panga cut deep into Awino’s neck. Her eyes, almost blown out of their sockets, could not now focus. She could not see even the powerful light of the torches. The warm fluid that ran out of her mouth could only be blood oozing from the butchered gums. Her whole body was on fire, and the perspiration, blood and tears ran down her face and found a common meeting-place on the pillow.
“Tie her legs, and her arms. She must be keeping the money on this bed.”
Awino jerked her head to ease the panga edge from her neck, but quickly changed her mind as the jerk made the deadly weapon cut deeper into her skin. A rope joined her numb legs together, then her hands.
“Throw her on the floor,” the head of the gang said, removing the bloody panga from Awino’s neck. This indeed lifted the weight of the panga from her neck – but the pain remained, burning and stinging as though the sharp poisonous edge had left behind a kind of detergent strong enough to destroy human tissues. They whisked her off the bed and threw her roughly on the hard floor. Her sobs now came in short gasps that shook her whole frame. Then there was a scream – sharp and deafening, and for a moment the gang were disorganized in panic. They became aware of another being in the room.
“Who is there?” A man kicked Awino where she lay in a heap. But before she could answer the gang had discovered Anyango lying under the bed where she had miraculously crawled when she narrowly escaped being crushed by the deadly rock. Her eyes were bulging out and her mouth open wide in horror.
The leader of the gang shouted, “Drag her out! Silence her!” The young fellow holding a small torch hesitated. “But she is just a baby, sir.”
“Come on now,” the leader grabbed the young man’s shoulders roughly. “No playing babies in this game. Remember your contract – or – or. . .”
The young man hesitated again. Anyango’s bulging and innocent eyes cried for mercy. But he had to honour his contract, and the oath of allegiance he had sworn. He dragged the young girl from under the bed mercilessly, slapped her and kicked her before tying her hands and legs together. She must have long passed the point of pain, for she did not even whimper when she was kicked in the direction of the battered body of her aunt.
The gang was out for scalps.
The chilly wind blew directly on their half naked bodies, but they were not cold. Awino vaguely saw them out of the corner of her eye. They moved like ghosts from place to place searching everywhere for the pay packet. They pulled out blankets and sheets one by one from the bed. There was no money. Their sadistic glances emphasised the grimness of the situation. Awino’s badly damaged left eye caught sight of a nimbus, and this gave her courage.
“Let them take my life, but spare this child. She is not mine,” she whispered in prayer. Then Awino let her head fall back in sheer exhaustion and pain.
“Give us the money, you old bitch.” They all kicked Awino and the child. They felt cheated. It was as though she had known they would come.
“I h