Caribbee

by Thomas Hoover

  *

  "Shango, can you hear me?" She knelt beside her mat, her voice pleading. How, she wondered, did you pray to a Yoruba god? Really pray? Was it the same as the Christian God?

  But Shango was more.

  He was more than just a god. He was also part of her, she knew that now. But must he always wait to be called, evoked? Must he first seize your body for his own, before he could de­clare his presence, work his will?

  Then the hard staccato sounds came again, the drums, their Yoruba words drifting up over the rooftop from somewhere in the distance and flooding her with dread, wrenching her heart.

  Tonight, they proclaimed, the island will be set to the torch. And the branco will be consumed in the fires.

  The men of the Yoruba, on plantations the length of the is­land, were ready. This was the day consecrated to Ogun, the day the fields of cane would be turned to flame. Even now Atiba was dictating final orders, words that would be repeated again and again by the drums.

  After the fires began, while the branco were still disorganized and frightened, they would attack and burn the plantation houses. No man who owned a preto slave would be left alive. With all the powerful branco slaveholders dead, the drums pro­claimed, the white indentures would rise up and join with the Yoruba. Together they would seize the island.

  Oh Shango, please. She gripped the sides of the thin mattress. Make him understand. No white will aid them. To the branco the proud Yoruba warriors are merely more preto, black and despised. Make him understand it will be the end of his dream. To rise up now will mean the slaughter of his people. And ensure slavery forever.

  In truth, the only one she cared about was Atiba. To know with perfect certainty that she would see him hanged, probably his body then quartered to frighten the others, was more than she could endure. His rebellion had no chance. What could he hope to do? Not even Ogun, the powerful god of war, could overcome the branco's weapons and cunning. Or his contempt for any human with a trace of African blood.

  Atiba had hinted that he and his men would somehow find muskets. But where?

  This afternoon, only hours ago, she had heard another signal cross the island, the musket shots the branco had devised to sound an invasion alert. Following that, many groups of cavalry had ridden past, headed south. The sight of them had made her reflect sadly that Atiba and his Yoruba warriors had no horses.

  Afterward she had learned from the white servants that the soldiers of the Ingles fleet had again invaded the island, this time on the southern coast. This meant that all the Barbados militiamen surely must be mobilized now. Every musket on the island would be in the hands of a white. There would be no cache of guns to steal. Moreover, after the battle—regardless of who won—the soldiers of the fleet would probably help the mi­litiamen hunt down Atiba and his men. No branco wanted the island seized by African slaves.

  Shango, stop them. Ogun has made them drunk for the taste of blood. But the blood on their lips will soon be their own.

  Slowly, sadly, she rose. She pulled her white shift about her, then reached under the mat to retrieve the small wand she had stolen from Atiba's hut. She untied the scarf she had wrapped around it and gazed again at the freshly carved wood, the double axe. Then she held it to her breast and headed, tiptoeing, down the creaking back stair. She had no choice but to go. To the one place she knew she could find Shango.