You’Re Behind Time

Short story

By Joseph Wohuinangu

“Hey, KandereJ who is that beau tiful bird going there? Where’s she from?” Tasok asked as he watched the attractive, swaying movements of a girl’s hips as she passed in front of his house in Wlarina. 2 “That’s Maria, the girl your father has marked for you,”3 replied Tasok’s Kandere.

Later Tasok learned that Maria lived two miles from his original vil lage, Haniak. She stayed at the Wiriu Convent working as a “laundry girl” with the Holy Spirit nuns. Probably she had gone as far as Standard Six in school, he thought. This was the very girl his brother Deik had written about while Tasok was in school in Moresby.

Today was Tasok’s third day home from Moresby, with the thought of an adventurous city life of nightclubs and picnics still fresh in his mind.

When he thought about the idea of a marked girl, he saw his beloved vil lage as an isolated hamlet and wished

he was back with the bright city lights.

As Tasok sat down and thought more about the subject he decided to stay and talk it over with this father.

During the day Tasok had found out from his relatives that since the day his father had approached Maria for him, she had been a regular visitor to the village. When Maria did not go to Wlarina she would meet Tasok’s father at the market or after the ser vice on Sundays and give him bread, fresh meat and other things she could afford. Traditionally, this was done to impress Tasok’s family and clans men that she could manage a house, a family and moreover care for the clansmen.

In the evening when Tasok’s father was sitting alone at the fireplace he went up and said, “Papa, may I talk with you?” “Why Tasok, go ahead”, his father replied.

“Why did you mark a girl for me without my consent, especially when I could find one for myself?”

“My father and ancestors never asked their sons and daughters whom they wanted to marry”, he replied.

“But father I . . Tasok had to stop in due respect of his father who was opening his mouth to pour out some more advice.

“I want a daughter-in-law who speaks my language; one who can make yam, banana and taro gardens and most of all care for your mother and me in our old age”, continued his father who had learnt from his elder son’s wives that Tasok’s marr iage outside his local area would not satisfy the old man’s needs. More importantly, Tasok’s mother, who spoke very little Pidgin English, could not communicate with the elder daughters-in-law.

Tasok sat quietly thinking, “I pity him but the future is mine. Our so ciety is changing fast and I have to 1 Pidgin term for cousins or relatives. 2 Village thirteen miles from Wewak. s a traditional way of appointing a wife for a man.

make a painful decision.” He said, “I have two more years to finish school, father”.

“I can look after her for those two years”, his father broke in.

Tasok had some other reasons to oppose the idea but he saw no point in talking, as he knew he could not convince his father. He tried to think of other ways to make Maria or his father see that there was no

point in marrying her.

His chance came on Saturday

evening during a party. Normally a

party or a big sing-sing time is a chance where single marked girls are free to seek love with single boys.

Tasok decided to do the same with Maria, so he passed the word through his cousin, Ana, to tell Maria to see him near the coconut tree on the left side of the party place.

Tasok’s nearness to Maria under the coconut tree made him feel a strange, unwanted desire for her. She was even more eager because she crept closer to him each time he spoke.

“Maria”, he whispered, shivering.

“Mm”.

“Do you really want to marry me?”

“Yes, with all my heart”, she said holding onto him more invitingly.

But, just as Tasok was tempted to lie with her on the ground he muttered, “Did you know that I don’t want to marry you?”

“You what?” Maria exclaimed, startled as if some horrible figure was standing over her, “Yes Maria. I'm afraid I can’t marry you. You can’t talk to my friends in a strange language which you know vaguely if I take them to our house. I think you can’t bring up my children without a sound knowledge of English, counting and other learnings expected of modern Niu Guinians. 4 You are behind and I would hate to see you suffer the consequences in our future life.”

After that Tasok left Maria. He felt satisfied that he had told Maria and proved to his father indirectly that he could not marry a marked wife. He found a group of boys of his own age near the sing-sing ground and sat with them. His Kandere found him there with the boys. “My dog, did you eat that abus s T' he said.

“Sorry Kandere,” Tasok replied.

“I followed a bandicoot but it went into a hole and I could not catch it.

But I picked up some fresh scent of

pigs though”.

“Maybe the dogs ought to be shar pened and strengthened?” some other boys in the group teased Tasok’s Kandere.

“Perhaps you might like to bring

your sister”, Tasok’s Kandere replied.

That made every boy burst into laugh ter which brought the village coun cillor to the group as a baby’s cry would rush the mother.

“What are you boys laughing about? Answer now, you bunch of idiots. Hurry up!” he demanded.

The younger boys in the mob took off.

“We are only laughing at some old jokes from the past—not at those girls dancing over there”, Tasok re plied. But the councillor was not satisfied, and he told the boys to scatter to their parents. He did not want any complaints from the villa gers tomorrow. Especially from parents with single daughters. Tasok left the boys and went home to bed.

He woke up next morning feeling lazy. He was about to go back to sleep after a short light breakfast when he heard the beat of the garamutb at the Womboli. 7 Though Tasok knew that was the tone of the councillor’s garamut he could not tell who it was the councillor wanted.

His father, who could interpret the beat of the garamut yelled, “Tasok, the garamut is calling you”.

Tasok’s heart immediately began to beat fast with fear. The cold, weak feeling crept up his spine and spread to his hands and legs as his father tgrumbled, “The councillor cannot

call you down for nothing. What did you do last night? Come on, tell me.”

With false confidence Tasok re plied, “Father, I honestly did not do anything. But it would be better for us to go down and find out, if you insist”.

The old man’s traditional instinct obliged him to take his son down to the Womboli where they saw the sing-sing ground a quarter full of people. As soon as the place was full, the councillor blew his whistle commanding silence in a military fashion. Then he said, “I want Tasok from Haniak and Maria from Borom to come forward to where my chair is”. The two young people went up without hesitation.

Maria’s relatives were pouring angry words at Tasok. Even Tasok’s father joined in with his future in laws. He yelled, “You think she is your playmate and you fooled around with her. In my young days we didn’t sleep around with marked

girls. You people nowdays have no

respect for tradition and customs so you fuck around like pigs and dogs”.

The councillor had to blow his whistle again. “Shut up you bunch of bush kanakas”, he ordered. “You people settle down. I want to question Maria and Tasok.”

Again the crowd became silent and still as night. The councillor turned to Maria. “All right Maria, tell us your side of the story”. Maria tried to talk but her lips moved in a mut tering manner. No words came out.

She was shivering with cold sweat.

Finally, the councillor announced that he would hear the case and then re-tell it to the people. So he settled down to listen to Maria in the way a priest hears a sinner confess but the councillor had to repeat loudly Maria’s words to the people; “Tasok’s father asked me nine months ago to marry his son. Every villager including the councillor knew that, therefore for the last nine months I have waited only for him.

I did not think of any other men, I have helped his parents, cousins and other relatives with money, clothes and what other things I could do.

And yet, last night he did not show any appreciation of what I have done when he told me that he did not want to marry me”.

As the councillor was finishing the last words, Maria burst into tears while her father grumbled angrily from his stool. Ten minutes later the councillor told Tasok to tell his side of the case. At first however, Tasok’s 1 Nationalistic term for Papua New Guineans. 5 Pidgin term for “meat”, a reference to an animal being hunted, e A drum used for sending messages. t Name of the meeting ground.

speech was disturbed by angry words from Maria’s clansmen. The coun cillor yelled above the noise, “Shut up you-you sidauses”. Everybody then became silent.

Soon the air was broken by Tasok’s father saying “Tasok, is that what you were taught at school, to disobey your parents? So you can leave a village girl and marry some school girl who has eaten out of some other boy’s hands? Is this part of your generosity for what I have been do ing for you?”

Again the councillor had to silence Tasok’s father. “You two shut up!” he said. “You think you can disobey me, hah! Okay. Man, if you do that again I’ll see the kiap tomorrow at Kubalia”.

“Mr Councillor,,” Tasok began, “My father and my people. Truly it is our custom that I have to marry a marked girl. Now I am sorry be cause I have a different way of think ing and 1 want to marry someone of my own choice. That is why I told Maria last night that I cannot marry her”. Tasok wanted to say more, but he realised that he could not make the people see the new way of life . He was unmarried so in the traditional way of doing things the villagers have little time for such people like him. He was hoping that the councillor, a competent man, would explain the rest to the people.

For the next ten minutes, the coun cillor fished out a puai (betel-nut) from his basket and sat chewing on his stool. The sing-sing ground was filled with mutterings and hissings like the noise made by canopy layers being whipped by a strong wind.

At the third whistle, the air turned silent. Then the councillor spoke.

“You have all heard the case be tween this young man and this woman. You see, my people, this country is changing, so this has in fluenced our little society as well as the whole country of Papua New Guinea. Some of the ways of our ancestors have to change. Before, we buried our dead in trees, now we have to bury them in cemeteries. Changes have affected Tasok too. Before, he would not have been able to reject Maria. Now, he has been to big towns with other white men and educated Niu Guinians. He has seen that in the new way he can marry someone of his choice.”

As the councillor stopped to rest a bit, some more bitter words poured in from the villagers. He had to speak more loudly and threateningly. “It is this very point that causes the major trouble in our area and in our little village here”, he continued. “You know Mana, the son of my brother in-law, Lusman? He wanted to marry

someone from the coast, but his father refused so he ran away to Rabaul and has never returned. When a person is forced by his relatives to marry someone he does not want, sometimes he finds it difficult to live with her. They quarrel like dogs over pig bones. Sometimes the young man runs away. I can give you plenty of examples of such cases. We must get the point that a marked girl is no longer desirable for our young people today.”

As was his practice, the councillor paused and waited for questions but this time nobody had anything to say. “If you don’t believe me”, said

the councillor, “see how the coconuts and betel-nut palms bend today, see how the clouds drift. They are not like what they were in the days of our ancestors. have change and are still changing - Then he tur ned to Maria and said You don t have to marry because your breast is still standing. You can always find another man. I know you young girls of today. You are just com peting to see who will marry the most prestigious man. But, I must tell you that the most educated men are not always the best husbands, bo forget about Tasok and marry some one who will make you happy.