In the beginning I was an elephant just like the others. I drank from the same watering holes, roamed the same lands and told the same stories. At some point, I wandered off and smelling Greed and Lust I turned and hurried with the warning of what was on its way back. But nobody listened, nobody believed me. They only remembered the story of the great bonfire and of Greed and Lust screaming in agony as they watched their wealth melt away. When it was over, the elephants turned and walked back into the leleshwa, back to the watering holes. This was the story they hung on to not wanting to believe that Greed and Lust had found their way back. On the day of the great fire, Luke had stayed behind and when I turned back I could see tears sliding down his face. Luke turned to me and said, “It isn’t over, Greed is never satisfied and Lust is slightly worse”.
The more we played the angrier Luke became and eventually he left us or maybe we pushed him away, I cannot be sure. I watched him lumber away and I continued to drink from the same watering holes, roam the same lands and tell the same stories only I added a new one, but really, nobody wanted to listen. Once or twice, or maybe it was more often, a lion emerged but we laughed and seeing our dance, he fled. Once I followed him and smelled Greed hiding behind the acacia tree where Pablo liked to rest and Lust lurking in the leleshwa. I turned and went back. Still, nobody listened.
If you have ever smelled Greed then you know fear. If you have ever smelled Lust, then you know arrogance. I later heard they had travelled far to come and find us but I never believed it; Luke had warned me. They have hives everywhere and move like shadows. On that day, I heard Greed and I heard Lust just before I smelled them. And now, the others listened but they were circling us and in a rampage that tore up the red earth, we tried to get out but there are always casualties where Greed and Lust lurk; Pablo fell under his acacia and the sword went through him like a rock through water.
We came back to Pablo – the playfulness that we had known was gone and just his body lay in the shade. His tusks had been pulled out and we stayed for many days remembering him, his jokes, his observations, yes his temper tantrums too, his loyalty to his friends and family. Eventually, we left. We had to drag Olivia away from him, and at night, when she tried to go back we circled her, and made her stay. Her cries cut the sky in ways I had never seen and even the stars moved to make way.
Olivia grew and so did we all. I think though, that I was growing apart. Pablo and the acacia tree were in our stories now but so were Greed and Lust although we did not talk about them in front of the children. For a while, nothing happened and the sun shone and we played at the watering holes. We heard there were guards now – guards who had come from away. They wore uniforms and dark sunglasses and carried WW2 machine guns and we heard that they shot at Greed many times but were not able to stop him as Lust was always lurking behind ready with her protective armour.
Luke was right. Greed is never satisfied and Lust is slightly worse and they crept back when they thought nobody was looking. But somebody was. I aimed and struck and thought they were scared away but Greed is never satisfied and Lust is slightly worse. They came back with a vengeance and this time they set fire to our land. The flames came in waves and with every ninth one, the leleshwa disappeared before our eyes. Was it day was it night? We ran blindly, pushing our babies forward until there was no more smoke and then we lay down and tried to rest but Greed and Lust would not have it and there they were with their swords and this time it was Olivia who they slaughtered. Her head lay moments away from her body and I knew then that with her, Decency had died as well. They strapped her tusks to their backs and left, kicking up the red dust in the last bits of the evening sun.
We sang for Olivia and carried her to Pablo’s Acacia tree and there we sang some more and cried out now pleading that Greed and Lust feel our pain. But Greed and Lust are bottomless vessels and whatever might temporarily fill them empties out and they set out again, and again and again. And so they set more fires, and we kept running but at some point I realized I had to stop and face Greed and Lust in the face. And so, instead of waiting I set out to find them.
You would be amazed at the beauty of Lust and the elegance of Greed. I stood back and stopped myself from bowing when I first faced them head on. My knees trembled and I felt a shortness of breath. Greed was golden and all shades of emerald and sapphire, shining and sparkling, with plump lips and a voice sweeter than honey. And Lust was tall and strong with a tattoo around her forearm – a barbed wire fence with small butterflies. They made a beautiful couple. Lust and Greed stood and stared, held their arms out to me and whispered promises and dreams come true. I know I moved a few steps forward so enticing were Greed and Lust. And if it wasn’t for Pablo and Olivia’s memory, if it wasn’t for the Luke’s tears, I may very well have walked in.
I was once an elephant like the others. But that day, with Greed and Lust standing in front of me, I changed. I lifted my sword and cut off their feet and then for good measure their hands. They lay there flapping like a fish on a dock still attached to the hook. I left them there bleeding knowing they would be found and sewn up. I heard later the feet were pickled and served as appetizers at banquets and the hands were covered in copper and sold as ashtrays in the far corners of souks and spice markets. Do I have any regrets? Oh, I wish I had had the strength to lie down and block their route like others before me had. I wish I had had the strength to reach out to them with compassion and understanding, like others before me had. But I left my pack and with them I left myself behind. While Greed and Lust had many offspring who bore their same golden and tattooed traits, they had in their memories the original story.
Postscript
When next you are in the alleys of the souks and spice markets, way at the back where there is no longer pottery and carpets, but ageless glass lamps and stray dogs and creatures staring out from behind their shrouds, and you happen upon an ashtray made from the hands of Greed and Lust, think twice before buying it. When next you are dressed for a banquet and seated next to the senator and her wife, consider an option other than trying pickled feet dipped in coconut milk and coriander even if you are made promises of longevity in spirit, mind and body. Once you have consumed Greed and Lust it is difficult to let them go.
