The Ten Incarnations of Adam Avatar (4 page)

The singing and dancing continued. I wanted to join – even Caon was there dancing, almost hidden under his many pendants and coloured feathers. He wore a well-carved mask. I knew it was him only because he was wearing more ornaments than anyone else. Caon had his desire, at least for that day, to be part of the village. I looked at my people dance, and the idea of doom seemed foolish. I remained beside Guacamari. I could not truly be of them until Maiakan spoke, to tell what my place among the Tainos was.

The priests, as many as the fingers on my hands, came to the temple. They placed pendants of gold and semi-precious stones, as well as garlands of flowers, on the zemis. The people stuck a paddle stick down their throats and vomited into a small calabash and threw the calabash into the running river and came pure in body to the zemis. The women gave bread to the priests who offered it to the zemis with the proper prayers. After this was done, more dancing followed, with songs for the gods and for those chiefs who had died and were now with Atabey and Yúcahu. Maiakan still had not come out of the smoking temple. After the dancing, the bread which had been offered to the gods was broken and shared out to the heads of the families of each
bohio
. Usually, only some of this bread was eaten and most kept as protection against misfortune. I noticed that this time, though, no one ate any of the bread – in fact, most people slipped into their
bohios
to place the bread on their personal altars at once.

After this, everybody ate, most sitting cross-legged on the ground in groups, the
nitainos
on their stools, everyone talking. It was now midday. After the meal, people went to their bohios or under the trees to sleep, as we always did after midday. But the nobles and the caciques did not sleep. They sat and talked and smoked
caoba
cigars. They were waiting for Maiakan.

When the sun was one handspan lower in the sky, everyone came fully awake once more. Guacamari announced that the
batey
would begin and everyone clapped. He sent me into the
bohio
to bring out the cotton net which contained all
seven
batey balls of the village. The other caciques had also brought balls with them, so all the courts would be in use and people would play on the sides as well.

Guacamari chose teams and told them what courts to use. Three of the courts were given over to men teams and two to women teams. Those who were waiting to play made a circle and bounced the balls between them. None of the
nitainos
took part, but to everyone's surprise Hatuey, the cacique from Cubanaca, joined the team on the largest court. He had brought elbow and knee protectors and his own stone belt. He was a very good player, skilled at keeping the ball bouncing by hitting it with his stone-belted waist, and very accurate at sending it past the other team's defenders to score between the marked stones.

Caon and I stood around the edges of the batey groups, hoping to be asked in. We were old enough. But no one asked.

‘The kin of Atabey is not good enough to play
batey
, eh?' Caon said.

‘The zemi I made for today's celebration received the most bread, but its carver is not good enough to play
batey
, eh?'

‘I know what to do,' I said.

I went to Guacamari. We had been watching for some time now and the sun was already only a handspan above the horizon. Guacamari was lying on his
duho
watching the match on the largest court. Caon stood a little way off, listening.

‘Cacique,' I said.

‘Yes, son?' he said, his eyes still on the game.

‘I want to play in a game today.'

‘You do not play
batey
,' he said, not even watching me.

I opened my mouth to say I did, then thought better of it.

‘Today is the day I should start.'

I spoke very firmly and now he looked at me.

‘Why don't you practise with one of the groups?' he said, not unkindly.

‘No. I want to play.' I hesitated, then said, ‘Yúcahu commands it.'

Guacamari straightened up. ‘How do you know this?'

‘I dreamed it after the midday meal.'

‘Are you certain of this?'

‘Yes.'

He nodded. ‘Then you must play.'

‘And Caonabó was in the dream, too.'

Caon's mouth dropped open.

‘Then he shall play too, on the main court,' said Guacamari.

Caon began to shake his head, but Guacamari glanced around and he froze in mid-shake. I, too, became a little nervous.

‘Well, perhaps not on the main court...' I said.

‘Nonsense!' said Guacamari. ‘If Yúcahu came to you in a dream on this day, it is clear that you must play
batey
on the main court. Any other would be an insult to the gods.'

To this day, I do not know if Guacamari was serious or if he just decided to play me along. His face was perfectly serious, but I am sure that I saw a little laughter in his eyes.

‘The main court? The main court!' Caon almost screamed as we went off to put on borrowed knee and elbow protectors. ‘We are going to make complete fools of ourselves.
Bigger
complete fools!'

‘Be calm,' I said, tying on the wooden cups. ‘We know how to play. We have been doing it for many moons.'

‘Only between ourselves. These men have been playing for seasons! And we have never played in a team.'

‘We shall be all right,' I said. I checked to make sure the cotton padding was firmly in place below the cups on my right elbow and right knee.

‘Oh, I am sure we shall be well-loved. People like a good laugh.'

‘We shall be all right,' I repeated.

And so it was we had our first
batey
game, in front of the entire village on the main court on a team of only ten persons, instead of thirty where we could at least have kept out of the way. I shall not tell you that Caon or myself scored the winning goal or some such story. But we performed well enough and at no point did the ball come to rest with either of us. Our team lost, but that was because of the skill and speed of Hatuey on the other side. When we walked off the court, Guacamari looked upon me with pride and I saw the head of Caon's household actually clap him upon the back. It was enough.

Maiakan came out of the temple a little while after the sun had set. Word passed through the village quickly and everyone gathered to hear the words she would speak. A large fire had been built in the centre of the plaza. Maiakan sat cross-legged on one side. The seven caciques sat on their
duhos
to the right of her and the other priests stood the left. I sat opposite, watching her over the flames. Her gaze was unfocused and her eyes looked like small eggs in her wrinkled face.

The head priest, whose name was Xiaiabo, said. ‘All are here, O
bahanarotu
.'

‘All are here,' Maiakan repeated.

Xiaiabo lifted his arms. ‘You have meditated long and well, O
bahanarotu
. Speak now so we may know what lies ahead.'

‘Yúcahu, he who has a mother but no beginning, has spoken to me,' Maiakan announced, and a sigh like a passing breeze went through the people.

‘Speak to us the words of the invisible one, O
bahanarotu
,' said Xiaiabo.

Now Maiakan's voice changed, becoming a voice that was neither male nor female. ‘Brief shall be the enjoyment of life,' she said and, although I was looking at her right across the jumping flames, I did not see her parted lips move. The villagers stirred, but were silent as death.

Maiakan spoke again. ‘The covered men shall come, rule, and kill.'

‘What do these
guamikinas
want, O
bahanarotu
?' asked Xiaiabo.

One word issued like doom from Maiakan's unmoving lips.

‘
Guanin
.'

There was a stir of surprise. I fingered the necklace that Caon had made for me moons ago. The alloy of gold, silver and copper was beautiful, but it was nothing to kill for.

‘And if we give them
guanin
, O
bahanarotu
?'

‘The covered men shall come, rule, and kill.'

Xiaiabo looked around at all the caciques before asking the next question. His job was interpretation, but in that was also the need to find a path away from the doom. ‘And what of the boy, he who was named Guaikan, O
bahanarotu
?'

‘Brief shall be the enjoyment of life. But he shall preserve the Tainos.'

And again there was a stir through the crowd. I felt my body relax and

I was surprised, because I had not known I was tense.

But Xiaiabo strove for clarity, as a good head priest should.

‘He is our protector, O
bahanarotu
?' he asked.

‘No! He is preserver of the Tainos, not protector, for none can protect against the
guamikinas
.' Now that voice, that was of neither a man nor a woman, shrieked into the night. ‘The covered men shall come, rule, and kill!'

And with that Maiakan's head fell forward and she was silent.

Xiaiabo stepped forward and, stooping beside her, put his hand to her breast. Then he rose, shaking his head. ‘Atabey has taken her.'

I sat where I was, a sudden burden on my shoulders. I was Preserver, but not Protector. What did this mean? Suddenly, I found that I would have preferred if Atabey had sent me to be sacrificed. For the burden I felt was the weight of the Tainos in all the small lands, and I did not think I was strong enough to bear it.

Life went on as always after that day. The caciques returned to their chiefdoms and Yúcahu's words spread throughout the Taino villages, even to the Mayans and the Aztecs on the greatland. The prophecy had been made – what was to be would be. As always happens, the message became confused the further it travelled. When I went to the other small lands in later days, I was to hear that the prophecy described the
guamikinas 
as ‘great traders'; that the prophecy had been made by the ‘great chief Caicihu'; that Yúcahu has promised that the Taino race would be preserved for all time. Meanwhile, there was cassava to be planted and fish to be caught and children to be seen to and
batey
to be played. Atabey had sent a preserver – the future was my worry, not others'.

But my worry after that day was not of the future, but of the present. I could not believe that nothing had changed. Neither could Caon. To be sure, we had won acceptance and respect from the village on that day. But this made people even more expectant that we would be there to plant the cassava and pick the beans and play the batey. This last we did not mind, but the rest still irked.

‘The only way I can get my carving done is by working on zemis,' Caon said one evening, as we sat on the river bank talking about the situation. This was a moon and a half after Maiakan's prophecy, and I had done much thinking in that time.

‘I have a way to get us out of planting and hunting,' I said, and Caon looked at me with hopeful eyes.

‘You know what I like best about your plan, Guaikan?' Caon said, when we had finished our talk.

‘What?'

‘That only the two of us in the entire village could probably do it.'

I shrugged. ‘Only the two of us would wish to.'

For the next few days, we worked in the fields. Caon even went fishing, although alone, and brought back some large and tasty fish that greatly impressed his kin. I was very active around the
bohio
, planting and making many containers from calabashes. Guacamari noticed and smiled approvingly on me. He thought I was taking my destiny seriously. When I went to him many days later and told him that Atabey had spoken to me in a dream, he became very excited.

‘What did she tell you?'

‘She wants me to make a journey,' I said.

‘Where?'

‘To the greatland.'

‘I shall get my
canoa
ready,' he said, as though he would leave that moment.

‘No, I said. ‘Atabey said I must build my own. It is to be a
canoa
like no other.'

‘But you are still a boy.'

‘That is why I need your help.'

His eyes shone. ‘Did Atabey say so?'

‘Yes,' I lied.

‘You shall have the help of all the men in the village,' he said, speaking loudly as if Atabey might be a little deaf.

‘No. She wishes me to build the
canoa
only with one other person.'

‘Who?'

‘Caon.'

‘Caon! Why?'

Now I too spoke loudly, for the benefit of the tongue-waggers whose ears I knew would be pricked up around Guacamari's
bohio
.

‘Because there must be special carvings on the canoa and Caon has been gifted by Atabey herself.'

‘How may I help?'

‘You must choose the tree and have it brought to a place where Caon and I can work without interruption. And you must arrange for us to go to be taught the ways of the sea so that when the
canoa
is finished we can make our journey.'

‘It shall be done!' Guacamari declared grandly. He, too, knew the tongue-waggers would be listening.

Several suitable trees were cut and brought to the village the very next day. I made a great show of choosing one, walking around the pile and pursing my lips. Caon walked with me. The other youths stood watching some distance off.

Finally, I stopped. ‘That one,' I said, pointing.

Caon whispered in my ear.

‘And we shall need three logs of
duho
wood as well,' I added.

The four logs were carried by six priests down to the cove where Caon and I played
batey
. Guacamari went with us. The priests put the logs where we wanted them and Guacamari ordered them to build a small lean-to.

‘We can make a
bohio
later on, if Atabey wishes,' he said.

‘No,' I said. ‘But you must forbid anyone from coming to this place while we do Atabey's bidding. Except yourself, of course.'