In The Coyote, karma has arrived early, and it is dressed as a 16 year-old-girl. The clever short story by Naomi Brett Rourke is featured in the anthology: Straight Outta Tombstone. It details the life an Apache grandfather and his granddaughter and their encounter with an evil man.
The Coyote Is Rich with Apache Folklore
The reader travels back in time and learns about the destruction of the treaty between the Apache and the American government. When the treaty is broken between the two cultures, the killing begins, and knows no mercy or boundaries. Lines are crossed and innocent blood is shed.
The wife of Itza-chu, the wise grandfather of the story, is dies by the hands of a white man. While Itza-chu mourned her death, he suffers yet another loss. His son is sentenced to death by a white man. Itza-chu and his granddaughter, Cocheta, watch as his son, and her father, dies by hanging.
Both Cocheta and Itza-chu experience reoccurring traumatic thoughts. For Cocheta, she can’t stop replaying the memory of her father’s death in her mind. But as fate would have it, the same man who falsely accused Cocheta’s father of murder, crosses their path again.
The Coyote’s Revenge
The vile man harasses the young girl and her grandfather. We see his arrogance and intolerance as he berates the duo. After the man becomes increasingly violent, Itza-chu tells his granddaughter to tell the man a story of The Coyote.
Cocheta tells the tale of the Coyote and the Yellow Jacket. A cautionary tale rich in ancient wisdom. We read along as she takes us through the tale of the greedy Coyote and patient Yellow Jacket. This story serves as a warning to the man. Yet, the man does not learn from his wrong doings and continues to mistreat Cocheta and her grandfather. A mistake he may soon wish he never made.
Reader’s experience a mythical and dark path to revenge. Both satisfying, and horrifying to read. Never will I look at a yellow jacket the same way again. I felt like the world around me had transformed into a dusty one-road-town, the story completely engulfed me in the rich Apache history and twisted turn of events. The Coyote by Naomi Brett Rourke is ingenious, metaphorically rich, and beautifully written. Pick up a copy of Straight Outta Tombstone to read the story for yourself, along with many more weird-wild-west short stories.
