The River Between Read Online Free Page A

with the fight.
    Kamau and Kinuthia were now wrestling. Their arms were interlocked and the two boys went round and round without either getting the better of the other. Kinuthia tried to lift Kamau off the ground and then trap him with his right leg. The attempt always failed. Kamau had his struggles too. Though not usually voluble, today he was eloquent with threats.
    â€œYou will know who I am,” he warned, at the same time using his right knee to hit Kinuthia’s stomach.
    â€œCow,” cried Kinuthia with pain.
    â€œHyena.”
    â€œEven you,” Kinuthia hissed back.
    Kinuthia appeared much more collected, and an observer would have thought that he would win. But he tripped over a sharp stone and soon was lying prostrate on his stomach. Kamau bent over him and pinned Kinuthia’s hands behind his head. His face was grim and contorted as he used his head to dig into Kinuthia’s face, making his nose bleed. The boy underneath Kamau’s knees felt pain. He thrust his legs in the air hoping to catch Kamau by the neck between the legs. Blows fell on him and he was bewildered, not knowing when and where the next blow would follow.
    Two cows that had moved away together turned their heads and watched the struggle for a while. Then they bent their heads, thrusting out their tongues to pull and maul the grass like the others.
    Just then, another boy came running from a group of cows a distance away.
    â€œStop fighting!” he shouted breathlessly as he stood near the pair. Kamau stopped, but he still sat on Kinuthia.
    â€œWhy are you fighting?”
    â€œHe called me names,” answered Kamau.
    â€œHe is a liar. He laughed at me because my father died poor and . . .”
    â€œHe called my father a convert to the white man.”
    â€œHe is!”
    â€œYou beggar.”
    â€œWhite man’s slave.”
    â€œYou . . . you . . .”
    Kamau became furious. He began to pinch Kinuthia. Kinuthia looked appealingly to the other boy.
    â€œPlease stop this, Kamau. Didn’t we swear that we of the hills were comrades?” He felt helpless. It was three days earlier that they had sworn to be brothers.
    â€œWhat do I care about comrades who insult my father?” asked Kamau.
    â€œI will do it again,” retorted Kinuthia between tears.
    â€œDo now.”
    â€œI will.”
    â€œTry!”
    Kamau and Kinuthia began to struggle. The boy felt an irresistible urge to fall on Kamau; he pulled a blade of grass and began to chew it quickly, his eyes dilating with rage and fear.
    â€œKamau,” he burst out.
    The tremor in the boy’s voice sent a quiver of fear up Kamau. He quickly looked up and met the burning eyes, gazing at him. Meekly he obeyed the unspoken command. But his face went a shade darker than it normally was. He slunk away, feeling humiliated and hating himself for submitting. Kinuthia stood up unsteadily and looked gratefully at the boy. The boy kept on lowering his face, gazing at the same spot. The feeling of pride and triumph he had suddenly felt at seeing Kamau obey him had as suddenly subsided to one of regret at having done that to him. Perhaps it might have felt better if Kamau had stuck it out and he had had to use force to remove him.
    The boy’s name was Waiyaki, the only son of Chege. He was quite young; not of Kamau or Kinuthia’s age. He had not even gone through his second birth. Waiyaki was, however, already tall for his age. He had a well-built, athletic body. His hair was tough and dry with kinks that finished in a clear outline on the forehead. Just above the left eye was a slightly curved scar. He had got it from a wild goat. The goat had run after one of the herdboys. Seeing this, Waiyaki had taken a stick and run after the goat shouting. The goat turned on him and jabbed him with its horns, tearing the flesh to the bone. His father arrived in time to save him. That was a long while ago. The wound