THE FISHERMAN’S PRIZE
(SECTION 10)
Yoansu seeing that it would be useless
to protest, consented to reveal to his father Kaimu, at least the partial
truth. “You are quite right father. Tufan is not as I’d previously claimed. She
is the niece of a powerful gang boss. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’d often
gambled; and this part of my story was true, on one such occasion, I’d won big!
This expectantly landed me in immense trouble. Fortunately, I had the foresight
to conceal large chunk of the dosh in a good place. Nevertheless, I was
shadowed from that day forth. Even though I took particular care, still, I was
abducted and brought before the top boss. I was tortured to reveal the
whereabouts of the remainder of the cash. A sudden, unexpected intervention,
rather, intrusion by her, somewhat saved my life. From then on, I felt indebted
to her. I was to learn later; she’d taken a fancy to me the moment she’d laid
her eyes on me. As she’d always brought trouble to the boss’s family, they were
glad to be rid of her in this respectable fashion. Behind my back, she struck a
deal with her uncle, and I was forced into marrying her; or else lose my
life! The concealed (kept) portion of
the sum that I’d won at gambling, was duly confiscated as her dowry.”
“Nevertheless, at the time braving Crime
boss’s wrath, I struck a bargain (of my own) with him. I will slave away as a
waiter or sort in one of the gambling houses, till the full amount is reached;
meanwhile I would be allowed to keep a small portion of it. I’ve brought this
amount with me to give it to you so that you can provide a bit more comfortable
life for mother.”
“Under the circumstances, I want nothing
further to do with her or the money!” Kaimu grumbled clenching a fist. He
wanted to add, “you too”, but with admirable reserve, he held his tongue.
“But you can’t be serious!” Yoansu
feigned dismay. “I can’t just abandon her…Not till the child is born. Please
father; go along with me on this. Besides, it would break mother’s heart, if
she knew.”
“Won’t this worthless girl spill the
beans about her origins anyhow?” Kaimu looked away, somewhat distracted.
“Not if mom distrusts her. Mom will soon
find out for herself, how Tufan is an unreliable shrew and a perpetual liar.
Then nothing she claims will ever be taken seriously or believed.” Again, he
reasserted. “And soon as I’ve repaid my debt, I shall return, I promise, and be
contented to be a fisherman like you. Please father, don’t turn your back on me
in my hour of need!” Yoansu with his hidden agenda, utilizing his cunning
tongue and half–truths, had striven to buy time.
Kaimu sadly shook his head. “He’d heard
enough!”
“What do you take me for, an utter,
complete imbecile, spinning one yarn after another? I wasn’t born yesterday,
you know!” Then lowering his head, he exhaled and grumbled to himself. “What is
it about me that everyone thinks they can pull the wool over my eyes? I have no
proof, but I know Zianko had arranged the destruction of my boat, to get in on
good terms with me.” Then suddenly looked up to ask his baffled, aghast son,
“Are you in some ways responsible for the beating he got?”
Yoansu saw no reason to deny it and
nodded in the affirmative.
“You are in with a gang?”
Again, Yoansu nodded in assent. “The old man wasn’t such a fool after
all.”
He looked at Kaimu now with renewed
respect, his heart somewhat tinged with shame.
“This crime boss; does he have a name?”
Looking away, Kaimu abruptly asked.
Yoansu saw no reason in withholding the
name. This far removed from town Kaimu could not possibly make any connection;
so, he readily volunteered “Ckarban Kuso”.
“You would have been better off to have
relinquished the entire sum of money and have nothing further to do with him or
her!” Kaimu’s darkened countenance and his dismal, curt response intrigued
Yoansu. What do you know of him? Yoansu wanted to query, but then on second
thought, Nee! He’s bluffing! He knows nothing of the latter’s notoriety. He
quickly dismissed any such possibility.
Yoansu had of course no way of knowing
that once, in the distant past, way before he was born, the vermin Ckarban had
been Kaimu’s sworn blood brother. A deep dark secret, so heinous however, had
permanently severed the link. To date it had kept the two ardent foes far
apart, and would to, till eternity.
“Tufan’s true nature came to light soon
enough, but by then,” In contrast to Kaimu, Yoansu’s focus had once more
reverted to the present dilemma. “I’d
already been seduced by her, and she claimed she was with child.” Yoansu
playing the martyr now fell silent and with his head lowered, he half turned to
avoid (averted) looking at his father.
“You are playing with fire!” Kaimu
balefully shook his head. And how!!! Even though there was a serious need to
forewarn Yoansu about pernicious Ckarban, Kaimu could not bring himself to
rehash the malignant past. His mind cast adrift; eventually he’d resolved
himself to do the right thing: he would arm Yoansu with the grievous,
unpalatable facts, but at a time just before his departure.
In silence with both hands clasped
behind his back, Kaimu had walked on. Then abruptly halting his steps at one
point, he turned and anew questioned his son.
“I assume you hold a powerful position in that illegal organization,
because of her.”
“No need to insult me. Give me some
credit!” Yoansu irately protested, no longer surprised by his father’s wit.
“I shall see to it your mom will never
know.” After that awkward silence, Kaimu finally promised.
“Thank you, father, you don’t know what
this means to me…I mean, having you on my side for once!” Yoansu ejected
heartily and rushed to embrace him, but Kaimu (jerked back) pulled away. “I’m only doing this for your mother.” Kaimu
askance looked at his son. “She would never survive the heartbreak. However, I
expect you to be gone soon. Two- or three-weeks tops. Make some credible
excuse, as you are so good at it. And take your harlot with you!”
As Kaimu turned his back on Yoansu, he’d
in sorrow, mumbled to himself.
“ You’re not him; you’ll never be him. I’ve lost a worthy son and now I must
contend with the likes of him!”
Yoansu gritted his teeth in sheer rage,
wanting to pounce on Kaimu and to strike him dead right there and then. How
dare he? After all he’d done for him. How dare he?
“Damn you, old man!” He shouted (cursed)
after him. “Damn you to Hell!”
He wanted to shout also, to really hurt
Kaimu. You think he died by accident. You are a fool indeed! But he held his
tongue. This secret he would take to his grave; however much the old man
provoked him.
~
Kaimu returning to the bedroom plumped
his laden, weary body onto the bed. Burdened with exhaustion, resurfaced past
grievances, his son’s willful deception, all of it taking its toll on his
already tormented soul- the moment his head touched the pillow, he collapsed
into a very disturbed asleep.
Meanwhile Yoansu had lingered outside
the shed while longer, fuming, cursing the old man under his breath.
Hungry for blood, he then headed
straight for that cursed Zianko’s abode.
Earlier in the day Zianko from his spy
hole had observed the dreaded son’s arrival. Fearful of further repercussions,
he’d quickly packed his gear, intending (of mind) to depart the premises soon
as the illicit deal had gone through, in two- or three-day’s time. That night,
he’d also observed the distant apparent altercation between father and son
(Kaimu and Yoansu). He took a hasty retreat when he saw Yoansu, after his
father’s departure, heading his way and quickly hid outside (out of harm’s
way).
Yoansu now with certain ferocity pounded
on Zianko’s door in the dead of night. When no answer was forthcoming, he
violently kicked the door in. Like a madman he rushed in to pulverize Zianko.
But it soon became apparent to him that the wretch had flown the coop.
(nest). In his rage he turned things
upside down, destroyed anything that came his way, wasted furniture…then his
fury partially spent, he left the premise in tatters and retraced his steps
back home.
~
After some passage of time, assured that
it was safe for him to do so, Zianko had returned to his abode to assess the
damage. The destruction that greeted his eyes infuriated him beyond measure.
Wowing revenge he secured the door shut, quickly collected a few scattered,
salvageable belongings and tried to restore some sort of order to the place. As
bad as things were, he was still (bound) constrained to staying put, because of
an expected shipment of contraband goods that was to arrive in a few days’ time.
What galled him more is that from here on he would be forced to living in these
premises in concealment and in dire fear of further repercussions from Yoansu!
As it were, after his expanded physical exercise that night, Yoansu
still seething in anger and spoiling for a fight, had reluctantly returned to
his room. His blood boiling, ready for the next kill, he was nevertheless
relieved, to find his crafty wife fast asleep.
In truth, Tufan, not wishing for another
ugly confrontation (altercation) had faked the deep sleep. Going along with
this pretense, with a wry grimace, Yoansu quickly doffed his clothes and
quietly climbed into bed. As sleep
averted him however, for a long time he simply lay there on his back, without
motion, with his hands tucked behind his head, his stern, empty gaze affixed on
the barely visible ceiling beam. Once his
anger had subsided and his breathing became more regular, shallower, his head
then begun to swim in whirls of fanciful clouds, carrying notions of how it
would be like to share an intimate love exchange with one as beautiful as
Jiense.
She was truly the most ravishing female
he had ever laid eyes on. He’d been
drawn to her enchanting face, those elongated lashes and luscious lips from the
moment of first glance. Though she’d
lacked all the false trappings of beauty, like makeup, fine garments, and
jewels, moreover, her hair had been plainly held back in a single ponytail, not
even in braids- she’d still looked the very vision of loveliness. It seemed to him
now that Tufan’s beauty totally paled in comparison, even when the latter was
all done up and adorned in her fineries.
But how can she ever hope to compete with a Goddess? To be fair,
Jiense’s natural beauty put-to-shame even the sparkles of the rarest jewels or
the stars in the cloudless night.
Why should I wait? What am I afraid of?
He asked himself anew, as he with burning intensity yearned to possess the one
that had been denied to him. But he knew why and pursing his lips submitted
begrudgingly to his reasoning mind which every time trounced (trampled) his
fervent emotions. He habitually lay awake, this time, with fond vapidity, when
suddenly a gyrate of mood overtook him. The number one boss, Ckarban, was a
licentious man; if he’d ever caught sight of Jiense, he would not rest till he
possessed her. Or worst still, he would lock her up in one of his highly
profitable brothels and whenever he so desired, subject her to his avers sexual
perversions. To his chagrin, Yoansu had not amassed the necessary manpower to
blatantly mount an opposition. Thus far he had achieved (secured) some secret
alliances but lacked adequate means (arms) for an eventual successful campaign;
and besides, timing was all wrong… It would be more prudent for him, to
presently maintain this farce, a subordinate role and the matrimonial
relationship, that allowed him the additional inroads. Meanwhile this remote
region was an ideal spot for concealing such a beauty, till it became ripe time
to pluck… hmmm…but not if Kaimu had set his heart on contrary course. What to
do? Hmm! And he mustn’t forget that mongrel dog, Zianko!
He’d turned and tossed the rest of the
night hence, beset with such worries, his brain all the while concocting,
devising many plausible courses of action and exploring various alternatives.
When eventually through exhaustion, sleep overtook him; his subconscious state
was then (tormented) harassed with a pernicious nightmare:
In it Yoansu saw himself as a giant
glittering, gilded colored fish, caught in his father's net along with the
other basic kind, his father’s face changing alternately into Ckarban, then
into Kaimu’s- Yoansu thrashing about and gasping for air, but with no hope, no
means of escape!
Destined for his parent’s skillet,
Yoansu felt the excruciating pain of his scales being shaved-off, felt the
searing ache of being cut up and his guts being violently, mercilessly ripped
right out of him by his own mother’s hand.
He suffered the agonizing pangs of being skewered then fried in oil, of
being singed (seared) to the marrow!
Finally, placed on big platter, his curses and howls went unheeded by
all the gang that was seated at the table. With such eagerness, such gusto
they, again turning back into his family, had all rushed in to consume him. He
heard his wife then exclaiming in pleasure at the exquisite taste, as she took
great chunks of his flesh into her mouth and with such relish, her molars
chewed him to a pulp. As she swallowed, he began the frightful descent into the
dismal pit of her stomach! NOOOO!
At this point, while trying to escape
this terrible predicament, he’d woken up with a start. He lay in bed, his heart wildly palpitating,
his face drenched in pearls of perspiration, when just then he heard the crowing
of the cock outside. The very cock he’d brought over, as one of the
presents. His wife, who had slept
soundly without stirring through his nightmarish ordeal and anguish, now also
missed his resentful, contemptuous glare and the grinding of his teeth as he
wished for her absence.
Kaimu also awakened by the cock's
crowing, found his head throbbing with pain.
“What the blazes! What’s making that
entire racket?” Springing from his bed, with curses on his lips, he rushed
outside improperly clad, half-naked. Grabbing hold of a broom, he (threw)
hurled it with violent force at the “blasted fowl”. The bulk of broom’s handle meeting its mark
head on; the cock let out a sharp cry swaggered and fell, plump unconscious to
the ground.
Ensa, an early riser, was rather
engaged, as she remained humped over a stove, busily preparing breakfast at the
kitchen area with Jiense.
“If the blasted bird (fowl) is dead,”
Kaimu addressed his wife on his return, grumbling, “cook it for lunch.” Then
not waiting for her response, he veered to fetch himself some water. In his
haste he nearly bumped headlong into Jiense.
Back in his room, as he hastily dressed
himself, he sighed repeatedly, murmuring to himself: “What a pity, I wish my
elder son had lived; they would have made such a handsome pair; meanwhile
Yoansu has gotten exactly what he deserves. The problem is my wife is greatly
attached to Jiense; how can I make her understand that the girl, however
likeable, can’t stay with us indefinitely…Not with so many wolves on the
prowl.”
(END OF SECTION 10)
(MORE
SURPRISES AWAITS THE READER IN THE NEXT EXCITING THE FISHERMAN'S PRIZE POST 11)
