Totem, Part 12

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For the next two weeks, Azibo, Jahi, Rashidi, Chibale, and Kasim kept watch over the estate in anticipation of the master’s return. Each weekend, tensions would rise as they considered the prospect of his arrival, then ebb as more days followed in his absence.

Like a well-oiled machine, the estate functioned remarkably well without him—if anything, general morale...