“Wow,” she breathed, as she looked at her hands. Four large chittim fell at her feet. Copper ones, the most valuable kind. This was an important lesson to learn. She put them in her purse and went to the others.
“How’d you get here so fast?” Chichi shouted, laughing.
“I did this invisibility thing! It was like flying without leaving the ground!” she said. And something else she couldn’t quite describe. She looked at Orlu and Sasha. “I shot right past you guys.”
“So that was the warm breeze we just felt,” Orlu said.
“I thought it was someone else who didn’t want to be seen,” Sasha said.
“This is crazy.” Sunny couldn’t stop grinning. Life was getting weirder and weirder. But this weirdness she really liked. If she could do this at will, nothing could harm her. Not even her father when he was angry.
“It’s not that amazing,” Sasha said coolly. “I can do that with a little powder and a few words.”
“Well, Sunny was born able to do it,” Chichi said.
Sasha just scoffed and pursed his lips. Sunny was too excited to care that he was jealous.
“You best hope she doesn’t treat you like that when you’re learning Igbo, Sasha,” Orlu said, as they started walking.
“I don’t need my ass kissed to learn,” Sasha grumbled.
They went right to Bola’s Store of Books. Sasha headed straight to the section marked ENTER AND BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK. This time, two teenagers, an old man, and two women were perusing the section. Orlu went to a section marked BOOKS OF CREATURES AND BEASTS OF THE MYSTIC WORLD.
“What are you interested in?” Sunny asked Chichi.
She shrugged. “I’ll find something,” she said over her shoulder, ambling away.
Sunny looked at all the categories: Time Tweakers, Love Juju, Ability Honing for the Unblessed, Parenting, History, Leopard General Literature, Leopard Science Fiction. Her eye fell on the same book that she had noticed last time. It was in a section labeled SCRIPTS, ALPHABETS, AND STRAIGHT JUJU. She picked it up. Nsibidi: The Magical Language of the Spirits. When she opened it, all she saw were pictorial signs. The longer she looked, the more the signs began to pulse and migrate about the page. She held the book closer to her face and they moved about even more. On top of that, the book seemed to be whispering to her.
“Huh? What are you saying?” she whispered back. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped. It was the shop owner, Mohammed.
“Hi,” she said, feeling her face grow hot. “I was—I was just . . .” She put the book down and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Was I not supposed to touch that?”
“Relax,” he said. He picked up the book and put it back in her hands. “You’re a free agent, right?”
She nodded. A man browsing beside her sucked his teeth loudly and moved to another section.
“Interesting,” Mohammed said, ignoring the annoyed customer. “Your instructor sent you all here to buy books?”
“Mhm. But I don’t know anything, really.”
“That’s an understatement,” he said, chuckling and patting her on the shoulder. “You see anything in that book that . . . wiggled a bit?”
“Yeah. And I heard . . . whispering.”
He nodded. “Few can see Nsibidi. Buy this book. It calls you.”
“What happens after they stop wiggling?” she asked.
“Eh,” Mohammed said with a shrug. “Only people like you will know. But it’s a book, so you will learn something, I’m sure.”
“Who’s the author?” she asked.
“Sugar Cream.”
She frowned. Where had she heard that name?
“She’s one of the scholars,” Mohammed said, laughing. “You really are new. She’s head of the Leopard Knocks Library Council.”
She clutched the book to her chest. “Can you help me find one other book?”
“Sure.”
“It’s called Advanced Juju Knife Jujus by Victoria Ogunbanjo.”
Now it was Mohammed’s turn to frown. “For you?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” But he looked unsure.
The book was small with leaf-thin pages. It had a picture of an ancient-looking juju knife on the front with blood dripping from its tip. Altogether, her books cost three copper chittim.
“That Nsibidi book is really expensive,” Sasha said. “You can really see it move?”
“Yeah.”
“What’d you get?” Chichi asked.
Sasha grinned. “Udide’s Book of Shadows.”
“What?” Orlu nearly shouted. “You’re kidding!”
“Who’s Udide?” Sunny asked.
“The supreme artist,” Chichi said. “A giant spider that lives underground. She’s the most creative creature on earth. She wrote an actual book of shadows? Na-wao, nice find! What language is it in?”
“Arabic, for some reason. This thing cost me two copper chittim,” he said.
“It’s more than worth it,” Chichi said, looking hungrily at the book. “I’ve never heard of anyone finding a copy.”
Sasha’s grin widened.
“You sure that isn’t stolen?” Orlu asked. “You never know at Bola’s shop, especially in that section.”
“Who cares?” Sasha said. He took Orlu’s book. “A Field Guide to the Night Runner Forest?” He handed it back to Orlu. “Ugh, it reeks of soil, wet leaves, and dung.”
Chichi snorted a laugh. Sunny snickered, too.
“What else is it supposed to smell like?” snapped Orlu.
“What’d you get?” she asked Chichi.
“Leo Frobenius: Atlantis Middleman or Sellout?” she said. “My mother was just telling me about how Atlantis is located off Victoria Island, near Lagos. Of course the Lambs think it’s anywhere but off the coast of the ‘Dark Continent.’ Frobenius was a Leopard man from Germany. He almost let the secret out to the Lambs. The man was so in love with Atlantis that he lost his allegiance. Wanted to tell the world what he knew.”
Sunny had no idea what Chichi was talking about.
“My mother’s going to want to steal this book from me,” Chichi said, excitedly. “But I get to read it first.”
“Y’all check out that other book Anatov had us buy?” Sasha asked.
“Yeah,” Chichi said. “I hope he doesn’t get us killed with that stuff. Those are jujus for Mbawkwa and above.” But she was smiling.
“That’s second level, right?” Sunny asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well, isn’t that illegal or something, since we haven’t passed it yet?”
“Not for me,” Sasha boasted.
“Working juju that’s above you isn’t illegal,” Orlu said. “It’s just extremely dangerous. If you make a mistake, the consequence is often death.” He looked at his watch and said. “Let’s go. Taiwo lives at the end of this road. It’s a long walk.”
It took over two hours. And after the first hour, when there was still plenty of road in sight, Sunny began to wonder just how big Leopard Knocks was. According to Orlu, it was a chunk of land surrounded by the river, but she hadn’t imagined that it was so huge. In the first hour, they passed shop after shop. From normal food stores to creepy huts painted black with black curtains over entrances that led into blackness.
“Those places either sell creatures sensitive to sunlight or items for riskier practices,” Chichi said.
“But the most dangerous black juju shops are closer to where Taiwo lives,” Orlu said. “They call that place Leopard Spots Village. We’re going east, Leopard Spots is a bit southeast. They might as well stamp that whole area as prohibited for the amount of illegal juju that goes on there.”
Sunny shivered at the idea of corrupt Leopard People.
“All places have a dark side as they have a light side. To get rid of Leopard Spots Village would cause chaos,” Orlu added, seeming to read her thoughts.
The brightest part of Leopard Knocks was at its center. She could see the enormous four-story h
ut long before they got to it. The Obi Library. All around the red clay structure the grass grew wild, an occasional brightly colored flower or aggressive-looking bush here and there. The library was wider than four mansions, and its floors were stacked crookedly on top of each other.
It looked as if it would fall over any minute. But through its many windows, each of which was placed almost at random, she could see people standing around, sitting, walking by or up some stairs. The Obi’s outside walls were decorated with white drawings of battles, dances, forests, fields, city skylines, outer space, and creatures of all kinds. She could stand there all day and still see something new. It was as if the building was telling thousands of stories at once.
“They have a copy of all books, charms, and histories; oral, written, or thought,” Orlu said. “They also write laws there.” He looked at Sasha. “And punish law breakers.”
“Can just anyone go in?” she asked.
“Only on the first floor,” Orlu said. “The second and third are the university, for true scholars. Third levelers, Ndibus , who want to keep evolving.”
“My mother goes there,” Chichi said proudly. “She’s one of the younger students, though.”
“Younger?” Chichi’s mother was about her mother’s age.
“It’s not like with Lambs,” Orlu said. “Age is one of the requirements to even start at the Obi University of Pre-Scholars . You have to be over forty-two.”
“Sugar Cream lives up there, too,” Chichi said.
“Oh yeah, by the way, she’s the one who wrote my book,” Sunny said.
“Really?” Chichi said. Then she nodded. “Makes sense, someone like her.”
Like what? Sunny thought. She didn’t feel like asking.
“For your information, obi means ‘heart’ in Igbo,” Chichi told Sasha.
His nostrils flared but he said nothing.
“It can mean ‘house’ or ‘soul,’ too,” Sunny added.
After the library, the land to the left of the road opened into a field of lush uniform farmland. To the right was a high wall. Both the farmlands and the wall ran as far as Sunny could see.
“A lot of the supplies sold in the shops are grown here,” Orlu said. “The soil is weird and some of these things won’t grow anywhere else. Like that flower there.” He pointed out a plain-looking purple flower with a white center. “It makes vévé dust.” Sunny remembered how they had gotten to Night Runner Forest. “And that’s the wall that protects the ideas of the idea brewers,” he said. “Listen.” He took her arm and stopped her. Sasha and Chichi kept going.
“What are we—”
“Shh, just listen,” Orlu insisted.
She strained. Then . . . she could hear it! Whispering. Similar to her Nsibidi book, but more intense. Like thousands of people having a quiet, important conversation.
“Why didn’t I hear that before?” she asked.
“You have to listen,” he said. “On the other side of the wall are dozens of people employed to just sit there and come up with new juju charms.”
“Isn’t that something they’d do in the library?” she asked.
“Charm-making is grunt work,” he said. “It’s just sitting all day and using the knowledge you already have. Doesn’t take much. Most of the people there are first levelers. But the books put out by the idea brewery are useful.”
An hour later, they finally arrived at the tall group of palm trees at the end of the main road. A hut was perched hundreds of feet up the tallest palm tree. Only three weeks ago, Sunny would have said this was impossible.
“Excuse me?” Chichi called up. “Lady Taiwo? We’ve been sent by Anatov!”
No response.
“Your voice isn’t going to reach all the way up there,” Sasha said.
Minutes passed. Sasha grew annoyed and kicked the tree trunk. “We didn’t come all the way out here to be ignored!” he shouted.
“Really,” Chichi said, “what kind of welcome is this?”
Sunny checked her watch. It was only a quarter to noon. Sasha continued cursing at and kicking the tree. Chichi’s voice grew hoarse from shouting at the hut. Finally, they sat with Orlu and Sunny at the base of the tree.
“She knows we’re here,” Orlu said.
“Oh, please,” Sasha said, annoyed.
“It makes sense, if she’s a scholar,” Sunny said.
“She’s probably not here,” Chichi said.
“This is Anatov’s way of teaching us to call before visiting,” Sasha said. “José, my teacher back home, did crap like this all the time.”
Chichi brought out a pack of cigarettes.
“Can I bum one?” Sasha asked.
“Sure.”
“Cancer, anyone?” Sunny asked, irritated.
“Don’t you know Leopard People live forever?” Sasha said. He and Chichi laughed.
Orlu loudly sucked his teeth and mumbled, “Childish.”
Clack! It sounded like two giant sticks slamming together. They looked up.
Sunny saw it first. “Hey,” she said, pointing. It was perched in the crown of one of the other trees. A bird the size of a horse! It was brown with strong bright blue feet. It clapped its long orange beak again. Clack!
“That’s a Blue-Footed Miri Bird,” Orlu exclaimed.
It jumped from the tree. For a moment, Sunny was sure it would land right on them. There was no way something that size could fly. It plummeted in a free fall and they scrambled away from the tree as fast as they could.
The bird was only playing. Swiftly it spread its enormous wings and flew into the sky. It hovered in midair before nosediving right at them.
They flattened themselves to the ground, their hands over their heads. When it was five feet above, the enormous Miri Bird stopped itself and softly landed on the ground in front of them.
Sasha cursed and got up. “Goddamn insane bird,” Sasha said, his voice shaking. “What kind of crap is that, man!” Chichi grumbled agreement as she dusted off her clothes.
The creature was magnificent, though. It clicked its beak, cocked its head, and eyed them, as if it expected something. “It’s supposed to take us up,” Orlu said, smiling at the bird.
“I’m not getting on that flea-infested thing,” Chichi said.
The Miri Bird loudly clicked its beak again and turned its backside toward Sasha and Chichi and pooed out an obscene amount of white and black droppings.
“Ugh!” Sasha exclaimed. “Oh, my God. It’s filthy!”
“I think it’s angry,” Sunny said. She would have done the same thing, if she were the Miri Bird. Sasha and Chichi were being such jerks. Still, the pile of poo was quite nasty.
Orlu took a step toward it. The Miri Bird stepped back.
“Hey!” Sasha shouted up at the hut in the palm tree. “Lady Taiwo! We’re down here with your bird. Please, will you speak with us?”
No response. Sasha and Chichi went back to grumbling about how stupid this all was. They sat on the other side of one of the palm trees, as far away from the pile of bird poo as they could. Already, it drew flies.
“Maybe we’re supposed to give it something,” Sunny suggested. She brought a biscuit from her purse and held it out to the Miri Bird. “For you,” she said. It clapped its beak and stood there looking at her. Orlu tried stepping toward it again. It stepped back.
Eventually, Orlu and Sunny joined Sasha and Chichi. They sat there for twenty minutes, munching on Sunny’s biscuits, ignoring the poo pile and trying to figure out what to do. The Miri Bird slowly stepped before them and waited.
“Do you know we walked two hours to get here?” Orlu asked it.
The Miri Bird blinked.
“Our instructor is Anatov, and coming here is our lesson for today,” he said. The bird stepped closer, squawking softly as if really interested in Orlu’s words. Orlu sat up straighter. They all perked up. “Could you tell us how to get up there?” Orlu asked carefully.
The Miri Bird stepped right up to Orlu and clicked
its beak in his face. Sunny gasped. The thing could have taken off Orlu’s nose, even his head, with one chomp if it wanted. Orlu quickly got up. “Ah, is that what you want?” he said. “You want what everyone wants: to be treated like a human being.”
The bird threw its head back and squawked loudly.
“What?” Sasha said, looking angry.
“Shut up,” Orlu warned him. “Just chill because if you don’t, we lose our ride. We should each introduce ourselves to it.”
Once they did so and politely asked the bird to take them to see Taiwo, it knelt down and clicked its beak twice. “Okay, I get it,” Orlu said. “Sunny, you and I will go first.”
Sunny climbed on behind Orlu. The bird’s feathers were soft or scratchy, depending on the direction you rubbed them. They were also covered with a thin coat of reddish palm oil, the smell wafting from its body. She held Orlu tightly around the waist.
“Scared?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
He laughed.
The bird took off and they both screamed. She could feel the bird’s powerful muscles working as it launched itself straight up. Seconds later, they landed on the porch of the hut. It was made of woven palm fiber and gave a little with each step. They stumbled quickly into the hut. Inside was a plump woman in jeans and a white T-shirt sitting on some pillows.
“Took you all long enough,” she said in Igbo. She had a Yoruba accent. She switched to English when Sasha and Chichi stumbled in. “Make yourself comfortable, students.”
They sat down. She looked past them. “Thank you, Nancy,” she said.
The bird squawked but remained there, watching.
“Humility,” Taiwo said, standing up and looking down at them. “Sasha, Chichi, you both lack it. Sunny, you have it because you’re new. You’ve still yet to realize your own potential.” She looked at Orlu and her face warmed. “But you, Orlu, were born with it. A rare gift these days.”
Orlu smiled back at her. Sunny was annoyed, but happy for Orlu. Taiwo would obviously be his mentor, as Anatov would be Chichi’s and Kehinde would be Sasha’s.