When I was small, maybe 3 or 4, I was hugging Mirawami from behind. I was sad about something but holding her made everything better. For some reason I bit her and she shrieked remarkably loudly. She spun around and lifted me up by my arms.

"Why did you do that, my son," she asked. This became my first memory of seeing her face in anger.

"I don't know, Mother," I said meekly as my stomach knotted. My throat grew tight to accompany streaming tears.

"What's the matter," Tarmani asked as he rushed into our hut.

Mother placed me down in front of her. She said, "Our son has bitten me.” She looked over her shoulder to see what marks my teeth had left.

Tarmani picked me up in one arm as he strode to her and inspected the damage. In a level voice he said, "Our son has good teeth but weak jaws. He drew no blood."

"I know he has good teeth," Mirawami said a little less angrily, "You needn't advise me about the health of his teeth. I am best qualified to judge." With her face near to mine she asked me again why I had bitten her.

"I am sorry, Mother," I muttered looking down through my tears. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Tarmani said in a strict manner, "I believe that I know why our son tries to devour his mother. He loves you so much that he wants to become you." I was still crying but then when I saw mother and father smiling into each other's eyes, I began feeling better again.

Tarmani put me down but Mirawami picked me right back up—this time gently.

"Tell me Bentari, why did you try to eat your mama?"

I spoke the words that came to my lips. Believing they were true I said, "I was sad, mother, but holding you made me feel better. Then I bit down hard. I thought it would make my teeth feel good, too."

It was silent only for a second when laughter erupted in our hut. Mother put me down and quickly placed an old boot by our door where it still remains. "Whenever your teeth need to feel good again, bite this boot," she said with a sparkling, stern smile.

“There you have it, my son—a better way to become your mother.” Tarmani ignited another round of laughter.


Image: Van Gogh’s 1887 painting, “A Pair of Boots”