Sunny hugged Chichi. Sasha and Chichi exchanged more than hugs. Sunny and Orlu just avoided each other’s eyes. Standing out there in the rain, it was as if they were waiting to be sent into battle, to their deaths.
“Okay,” Sasha said, standing up straighter. “Everyone lighten up. God.”
Orlu sighed. Chichi put her arm around Sasha’s waist and said, “Children are dying and being maimed, right?”
“Right,” Sasha said. “We’re lucky, really. We’re going to have a chance to prove what we’re made of. Some people never get that, man. Not in their whole life. But what’s up with this rain?”
“That’s what bugs me,” Orlu said.
Sunny was about to say something when Sugar Cream came up behind them. She held a white umbrella and wore white pants and a long top with fringe. She smelled like flowers, even in the rain. “They’re ready for you,” she said. “Let’s go.”
The library felt different. People weren’t smiling and no one spoke, even when they reached the university on the second floor. Students walked close with their heads together, whispering. And when they saw the four of them, they stared, some occasionally giving them fake reassuring smiles.
To Sunny’s surprise, there were buckets and towels all over the floors and on the stairs, catching drips. She’d have thought that the library, of all places, would be protected from something as simple as heavy rain. She hoped the books were okay.
They followed Sugar Cream to a large door on the third floor. “Your best behavior,” she sternly told them. “Don’t ask any questions until you are told you may.”
She opened the door. Another indoor jungle. Sunny had to work not to groan. She was reminded of the tent at the Zuma Festival, and that brought back memories of the terrible masquerade.
But this jungle was more controlled—the foliage grew only around the edges of the room. A toucan sat in a tree near a window. The bird looked at them suspiciously. In the center was a large oval table. Around it sat seven people, all of them ancient except for Taiwo, Kehinde, and Anatov. Sugar Cream motioned them to sit in the four empty chairs.
A bent woman with black skin and milky blind eyes laughed loudly and said something Sunny couldn’t understand. The language she spoke was full of click sounds, most likely Xhosa. The man beside her wheezed with laughter, slapping the table with a rough hand. Sugar Cream sat down in a chair beside the blind woman and said something. Sunny only understood the last word: “English.” Two of the scholars on the far side of the table, both women, sucked their teeth loudly.
The blind woman said something else in her click language and the old man beside her added his two cents, pointing accusingly at Sasha. Sugar Cream responded soothingly. The two old women on the other side of the table joined the conversation. One of them switched languages and started speaking something that sounded like French. Kehinde, Taiwo, and Anatov remained silent.
As the heated conversation ensued, the toucan whistled and flew a circle over the table. It landed in an empty seat next to the two women on the end. Sunny gasped as the bird slowly grew into a large-nosed old Middle Eastern- looking man with green eyes. He wore a white turban and a white caftan. He slapped his hands on the table and scowled at Sasha.
Sugar Cream politely said in English, “It must be this way. Sasha’s American. And this one here is American, too, though she’s Igbo also and speaks the language.”
The toucan man scoffed. “They don’t teach them to understand others, they teach them to expect others to understand them,” he said in English. He humphed and said, “Americans.”
“Hey,” Sasha said, growing annoyed. “I’m not deaf! Don’t insult my country.”
“Yes,” the toucan man said. “You are deaf. Dumb and blind, too! Now shut up!”
Sasha jumped up, angry.
“Sasha, sit,” Anatov said firmly.
“Now!” Kehinde said, pointing a long finger.
Sasha sat down, looking pissed. There were even tears in his eyes.
“Let me open your ears, mind, and eyes a little,” the toucan man said, leaning forward. “Your beloved country, Sasha and Sunny, the United States of America, has made Black Hat economically wealthy enough to push his plan forward.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Ali,” Sugar Cream said.
“We’re actually way behind,” Ali said, looking away and thumbing his long nose.
Sugar Cream got up and stood behind them. “These are the four of the Oha coven brought together to handle Black Hat,” she said. She touched them each on the head. “Sasha Jackson. Sunny Nwazue. Chijioke of Nimm. And Orlu Ezulike. If you object, speak up.”
The room was silent, but Sunny could feel the deep scrutiny. The two women on the left had closed their eyes. The blind woman had turned an ear to them. The old man next to her was staring. And Ali, the toucan man, hummed to himself. A small breeze flew through the room, rustling the leaves of the palm trees in the corners.
“That one carries rage,” Ali said, gesturing at Sasha. “At small, small things like his country and his awareness of the politics.”
“They fight plenty,” said the blind woman.
“They make up just as much,” one of the women on the left said. “There’s love, too.”
“And lust,” Ali added, laughing slyly. “That’s good.”
“Mhm,” one of the women on the end said, nodding. “You’re right, Ntombi and Ali—love and lust. They have checks and balances.”
“Otherwise, they’ll be dead moments after they meet Black Hat,” Ntombi said.
“So this is Ozoemena’s granddaughter, eh?” the blind woman said, nodding at Sunny. “Looks nothing like her.”
How can she tell? Sunny thought, irritated.
“I was born blind, but I see better than everyone in this room,” the blind woman snapped. Sunny felt her face turn red and she looked down.
“What does it matter that she doesn’t look like her?” Ali said. “I hear she’s an athlete like Ozo.”
“That one,” the man next to the blind woman said, pointing at Chichi. “Fast, fast, fast, and sharp like a Ginen-made sword.” He clapped his hands together. “Oh, I’m impressed. But royal blood will mean extra danger for her.”
“Royal blood means royal responsibility,” Anatov said, speaking for the first time since they’d walked in.
“The free agent,” the blind woman said. Her voice was shaking. “She’s—she’s seen it.” They went silent. “Haven’t you?” the blind woman asked.
“Seen what?” she asked, feeling her throat constrict.
“You know what I speak of,” she said. “It’s why you all are here today. It’s why Black Hat has been kidnapping, killing, and maiming children. He is only one leg of the centipede, and the centipede’s head is yet to emerge.”
“It’s going to happen? For sure?” Sunny said.
“It will,” the blind woman simply said.
“You’ve really seen it?” Ali asked, his voice softening for the first time. Sunny nodded. “I’m so sorry. No one so young should witness the end of the world.”
“The beginning,” the blind woman corrected.
“Can someone speak straight?” Sasha said. “We’ve been told we have to fight Black Hat. We four, not you all. Sunny is the youngest, Chichi is the oldest”—he looked at Chichi, but she said nothing—“or maybe she’s the youngest and I’m the oldest. I’m fourteen and a half. Why us? What can we possibly do? Who is Black Hat?”
“He’s right,” Orlu said, standing up. He placed his hand on Sasha’s shoulder, a sign for Sasha to keep his mouth shut. “We need information.” He addressed the two women on the left and the toucan man. “Great Oga Ntombi, Oga Bomfomtabellilaba, Oga Ali.” He turned and addressed the blind woman and the man beside her. “And Great Great Oga Abok and Oga Yakobo, you are all very, very old and wise beyond imagination. You’ve traveled a long way. But what seems clear to you is confusing to us.
“Please, tell us how Black Hat is only
one leg of the centipede, as you said, Oga Abok. Why do we have to do this and not a group of older, wiser people? Tell us what to do!” Orlu sat down and the room was silent.
“Checks and balances, you see?” said the woman Orlu had called Bomfomtabellilaba.
Abok, the blind woman, spoke. “There will be a nuclear holocaust, but there will be something else, too. It will bring green and everything will change. Many laws of physics will shift and become something else. This place will become a new place. Sunny isn’t the only one who’s seen it. Several old ones have seen it, too.
“Whether Sunny knew it or not, she has always been a Leopard Person. Just as her grandmother was. All free agents are what they always were—Leopard. And she is a child of the physical and spirit world. Sunny, you have friends and enemies in the spirit world, for before you were born you were a person of importance there. What kind of person were you? Well, that is something you’ll have to figure out. A friend or enemy of yours showed you that vision in the candle. It changed you, no?”
Sunny nodded. It had been the first sign of what she was.
“Now, as I said, many know of what’s to come. Some see that they can take advantage of it. Imagine chaos, and then in the middle of it all, someone comes with a logical blueprint for a new order. What would you do? You would follow that person, no? The closer the change comes, the more Black Hat types we will see. I say he is a leg of the centipede because I believe he is one of several, a minion. Above him is the true leader.
“Black Hat’s real name is Otokoto Ginny. As you know, he passed his fourth levels, which means he is expert; he is master; he is powerful. But something went wrong, and now he is corrupt, too.
“Otokoto was a Nigerian oil dealer who did big business with the Americans. But he had greater aspirations than financial wealth, just as he sought more than just chittim. He wanted power. That remains his greatest hunger, and his hunger has opened him up to terrible powers of the earth. There is a forbidden juju, a black juju. It is old and secret. He had only part of the juju and needed the book he stole from the library for the rest. The juju is to bring the head of the centipede through—Ekwensu.”
Chichi and Orlu gasped so loudly that Sunny jumped.
“Why would anyone do that?” Orlu asked in a strained voice. Chichi looked about to cry.
“The hunger for power will lead a person to dark, dead places,” Abok said. “He’s lost control of himself. He is lost. He will attempt it. Especially now that he has that book. If he brings Ekwensu through, Ekwensu will build an empire. She did it once before, thousands of years ago, and it was only by coincidence that Ekwensu was sent back.” Abok paused. “People say it was a combination of lightning, an angry willful girl, a rotten mango, and perfect timing.”
“What’s expected of you four is simple,” Abok said. “Two children have been taken. It happened two hours ago. Your job is to bring them back safely to their parents.
“This rain is no coincidence. It is sent by Ekwensu. The thunder and the lightning and the water cleanse the atmosphere in preparation for Ekwensu’s arrival. It’s like rolling out the red carpet for a great queen. You see all the leaks? No natural rain could penetrate library walls.
“In about six hours, Black Hat will perform a ceremony on these two children. He will have them drink Fanta laced with calabash chalk, a substance that will enhance the spirit life within the children. Then he’ll kill them. And when he completes this ceremony, he’ll have gathered enough force to bring Ekwensu through.”
“Will . . .” Sunny hesitated. But she had to know. “Will he recognize me?”
Sasha, Orlu, and Chichi all looked at her, baffled.
“He might,” Abok said. “Though you don’t look like your grandmother, there are other ways to know a spiritline when it runs strong.”
She clenched her fists. “How do we find him?” she asked.
“He owns a gas station near Aba,” Taiwo said. “Start there, follow his tracks. Use the element of surprise. He is arrogant and has no respect for young people. He will not be expecting you, and when he sees you, he will think you harmless.”
“Why didn’t people do this for—for all of the other children?” she asked.
“Timing is everything,” Abok said. “It wasn’t time.”
“We had people try, but they all came to a bad end,” Ali added quickly.
“Timing,” Abok said again. “This time, it will be right.”
“We hope,” Ali said.
Sunny frowned. “You mean you’ve sent other groups like ours? And—”
“We have and will continue to until Black Hat is taken down,” Yakobo said. “More is at stake than your lives.”
“Black Hat is a shrewd sorcerer,” Abok said. “He has protection, but we have watched for loopholes. The children that returned maimed but alive were all rescued by Oha covens.”
“Did the rescuers escape, too?” she asked.
None of the scholars replied. That was answer enough.
Sunny held the phone closer to her ear and turned away from the others. They were on a funky train, speeding down the road in the rain. The line remained quiet, but she knew someone was there. “Mama, hello? I can hear you breathing.”
“What do you want?” her brother Chukwu said. “What did you do?” There was the sound of a struggle. “I want to know!” her brother demanded.
“Let me talk to her,” she heard her other brother Ugonna say.
“Give me the phone,” she heard her mother snap. “Sunny?” Her voice sounded thick and she sniffed loudly. “You there?”
“Yes, Mama.” Silence. “Hello? Mama?”
Silence.
“Is—is it raining there?” her mother finally asked.
“Yeah.”
“Of course it is,” she said quietly.
“Mama, do you . . .” Sunny tried to speak, but it felt like something was softly squeezing her throat. It was the pact she’d made with Orlu and Chichi.
Silence.
“J-just come home,” her mother whispered. “Make sure you come back home.” Silence. “Be brave. I love you.”
Sunny closed her phone, wiped her tears, and put all her questions out of her head. She had to focus. She turned to her friends. “Tell me about Ekwensu.”
“She is what Satan is to the Christians,” Chichi said. “But more real, more tangible. She’s not a metaphor or symbol. She’s one of the most powerful masquerades in the wilderness. If she comes through, if Black Hat succeeds—think of what you saw in that candle. Now see that controlled by some demented super-monster that no person or thing can stop.”
They had twenty minutes before they reached the gas station. Sunny held her head in her hands.
19
Under the Hat
It wasn’t hard to find, even in the rain. Trouble is never hard to find.
All they had to do was follow the line of cars. It started where the funky train dropped them off and led them to the shiny, spotless gas station. They huddled under Sunny’s large black umbrella as they walked—the umbrella she once used to protect herself from the sun.
“What’s the point?” Sasha asked. “These people will probably get stuck in the mud on the way home. These are all Lambs.”
“I think the fuel station is selling really cheap,” Chichi said.
“So?” Sasha said, frowning. “Is it really worth it?”
“Fuel is hard enough to find,” Chichi said. “Cheap fuel is gold.” She paused. “I wonder if having people around helps with whatever Black Hat is planning.”
“Probably,” Orlu said. They were almost there. “Stop. Wait.” Orlu paused. “Cross the street. Hurry up.”
They waited for two cars and a truck to zoom by, which splashed them with water. Quickly, they scrambled across the street and stood in a muddy parking lot.
“Ugh,” Chichi said, slicking muddy water from her arms. “How rude is that?”
“Doesn’t matter now,” Sunny said. “We’re already s
oaked.”
“What is it, Orlu?” Sasha asked.
“I don’t know,” Orlu said. “As we were getting closer, I kept feeling—you know when I undo things, it’s not always voluntary.”
“Something there?” Chichi said. “Protecting the place from Leopard People?”
“I think so,” Orlu said. “You didn’t feel anything?”
“But you can undo it, right?” Sasha asked.
“I’m scared,” he said simply. Sunny felt sick. Orlu was a proud person. For him to admit this was serious. He let out a deep breath. “If I do this—everything starts. I know it.”
“Then do it,” Sasha said. “That’s what we’re here for.”
“What about the element of surprise?” Sunny asked. She was thinking about how surprise had helped her team score its first goal.
“You can’t always get things the way you want them,” Chichi said.
“We’ll be like cowboys walking into a bar full of criminals,” Sasha said, laughing almost hysterically. He had a crazy look in his eye. “Forget surprise. Let’s just go in there. We’ve all got big guns.” He took out his juju knife. Sunny, Chichi, and Orlu did the same.
Like the team they were, they clicked their knives together. As the knives touched, they seemed to become one thing—one being made of four people. They all jumped back and looked at each other.
“Let’s go then,” Orlu said quickly.
Sunny closed her umbrella, dug its point into the mud, and left it behind. They held their juju knives ready.
People watched from the dry comfort of their cars. Several frowned, blinked, and wiped their eyes. Sunny could imagine what they saw: four kids, one who seemed to glow because of her albino skin. One moment, the kids’ faces looked like ceremonial masks and their motions utterly changed, the next they were just kids again.
More than a few people drove off. Some, not wanting to lose their places in line, moved their cars up to take the spots, killed the engines, and fled. Others sank down in their seats, but not so much that they couldn’t see what was about to go down.
When the four of them got within a few yards of the gas station, Orlu stopped, a nauseated look on his face. Suddenly, he started moving—grasping, slicing, chopping, punching at the air with both his free hand and his juju knife. He was fighting with something. Gradually, he fell to his knees, still fighting.