NYU Black Renaissance Noire Winter/Spring 2012 | Page 9

Marubini was with two of her friends, Chido and Danai. They were all carrying big balls of brown clay. They must be from the quarry; somebody was going to make pots. Their legs, arms and tanned kudu hide skirts were smudged with mud. Despite this Marubini looked as beautiful and as graceful as a dancer at a harvest festival. Her smooth ebony skin highlighted the whiteness of her teeth and of her sclera. Her head was shaved on all sides except on its crown where long hair grew in strands that were locked in red ochre. Her limbs were long and sinewy like those of hunters who ran long distances, chasing game. On one such occasion he sat on a stool under the shade of his thatched veranda, shaving off his beard while smiling at the mirror. The white foam of the mixture of wood-ash boiled in lard (which he also used for bathing himself ) made him look like an elder as he scraped the hair off his chin with an old iron knife. Occasio