“In your room?”
“Yes,” he said.
“What if Ugonna sees you?”
“He’ll be sleeping.”
“Not if you wake him up. And what if Mom or Dad comes out of their room? I know they heard us come in. Sometimes Mom checks on me. She’ll come and listen at the door. She doesn’t think I know, but I do.”
“Shit,” he hissed. “Well, what do you want me to do? I need that money.”
“I’ll get it.”
He considered it for a moment. “What will you say if Ugonna wakes?”
“He won’t. You know I’m better at sneaking than you ever will be.”
Chukwu nodded. “True. Okay . . . There’s a loose floorboard near the window. The front right leg of my bed is on top of it. The money is inside.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll be right back.” She paused. “Shut your eyes and close your ears.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
He frowned at her, but then did as she said. She ran to the door, made sure it was locked, glanced back quickly, and then passed through the keyhole before he opened his eyes and asked her why she was asking him to do something so weird. The feeling was one of compression and coolness. It wasn’t the same as when she’d done it that first time, back when she thought she was working the first juju of her life but was really using her natural talent. Since then she’d done this many times and it was easier and easier. However, the feeling was sharper, too. More deliberate.
She came out on the other side of the door and then ran toward the room Chukwu and Ugonna used to share that was now just Ugonna’s. She checked to make sure the door was locked. It was. She passed through the keyhole. Ugonna was sprawled out on his bed, sleeping noisily. He preferred to study on the floor, so this was where his schoolbooks and sheets of paper were scattered. His large-screen TV’s screen saver flashed images of shiny sports cars into the darkness of his room. Good, she thought. She could see. Soft jazz music played. Even better, background noise, though she shouldn’t need it. She ran to Chukwu’s bed and waited.
She was still insubstantial, gravity affecting her but not as much as it would if she were all there. If Ugonna awoke and looked right at her, he’d see nothing, but he might sense her presence, even if he was a Lamb. Especially knowing how attuned he’d been lately. All the more reason to move faster.
She felt herself warm up and the smell of Ugonna’s room slam into her. Sweat, cologne, and there might have been an orange rotting behind something somewhere in the room. She looked at Ugonna as he shifted positions. He was sensitive, all right. He was asleep but he knew she was there, that’s how Anatov described this kind of thing. She didn’t have much time.
Gently but firmly, she pushed the bed and touched the exposed floorboard. She felt around the edges and located the notch and lifted it up. There was the money. Rolls and rolls of American dollar bills and naira, held together tightly with rubber bands. She grabbed them and quickly began rubbing them on her arm. She rubbed and rubbed, watching her brother. He shifted in his bed again but then came to rest and didn’t move.
She breathed on the wads of cash and then got up. He was now tossing and turning, trying to thrash himself awake. Unsure of what to do, she took the chance. If she failed and he saw her, she’d certainly be caned this time. Having Sugar Cream as a mentor, the very person who would decide on punishment, wouldn’t ensure her of any sympathy. As a matter of fact, it would probably get her the harshest punishment. Sugar Cream was the best teacher she could have hoped for and one of Sunny’s favorite people, but she was also a hard, hard woman. There was a reason she was the Head Librarian.
Sunny ran toward the door, bringing forth her spirit face. She leaped over Ugonna’s piles of books. Then she dove through the keyhole just as her brother sat up. Once on the other side, she ran off. She had seconds where she would not be heard. When she made it to her room, she waited quietly until she became substantial. Then she quickly grabbed the Mami Wata comb in her hair and used one of the teeth to pick the lock. She opened the door and went in.
“Did you get it?” Chukwu asked.
She looked down at her hands. Along with her comb, she was carrying the wads of cash. It had worked. She smiled, hearing a chink outside her door as a chittim fell in the hallway. She’d never carried anything with her before when she glided between the wilderness and the physical world like this.
She threw the money on Chukwu’s lap. He grinned. “Thank you!”
She sat beside him on her bed. “You’re not leaving until you tell me everything.”
“No.”
“Why?”
He looked at Sunny with eyes so ablaze that she nearly jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. “Why?” she asked again, grasping the rim of the bed to keep her steady. “What happened? Armed robbers? What . . .”
“Sunny. . . if I tell you, I’m putting you in danger. Even seeing me here tonight isn’t good,” he said, looking away. “The less you know, the better it will be if they come looking for me here.”
She touched his hard muscular shoulder and he winced. “Don’t,” he whispered.
“Is anything broken?” she quietly asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe one or two of my ribs.”
“Will you see a doctor?”
“Yes. When I can. I promise.”
“Please, Chukwu, what happened?”
The pained look crossed his face again. And he thought for a long time. He glanced at the door. And then he started talking. And the very thing that Sunny suspected and had feared from the moment he left for school turned out to have happened.
10
BROTHERLY LOVE
Okay, Sunny. I’ll tell you . . . but only you. You . . . you have a lot of secrets, but you know how to keep them, too.
I understand why Daddy wanted me to live in the government hostel, instead of the privately owned one. I’m not a fool. If you don’t live life, you will be nothing. And to live life, you have to live with people. Real people. Yeah, I wanted to live with the high and mighty, the wealthy, the comfortable. Who wouldn’t? Have you seen the satellite hostels, Sunny? They’re self-contained. They’ve got laundry, a restaurant where they will make whatever you ask for, new furniture, you get your own room . . . or something like that. Of course, I wanted to live there. But it’s expensive. It’s a waste of money.
When Daddy said I had to live in the government hostel, I said fine. Whatever. It’s all good. I knew he was trying to teach me a lesson. He thought I was soft after all those early years in America. I was just happy to get the hell out of the house and be on my own. My hostel room’s hot and ugly. The beds are hard. You share the room with five guys, some are second and third year. They’ll bring girls in there at night. I’m not even going to give you the details of that. You’re too young.
Anyway, you know how I like to work out. There was a place in the basement of one of the off-campus hostels. They’ve got all sorts of free weights in there and a lot of the heavier weights where they’d use cement blocks and sand bags. Really serious stuff.
Adebayo and I started going there in the evenings after class, maybe three or four times a week. We both liked to pull heavyweight, so we had the same routine. You know Adebayo, right? We’ve been in the same class since we were little, and we played a lot of soccer together. Remember when I left for university? He was the one who went with me. Yes, him.
He and I, whenever there were parties we’d be the man show, you know, bodyguards, because we are so big and people are so afraid of us. And I was the head of the soccer team, so no one wanted to mess with me anyway. Adebayo and I, we were brothers from another mother. We thrived in that gym, like weeds. It was so hot in there, even though it was underground. It was just a bunch of guys, pulling weight like gorillas. Raw power. There were no women, so sometimes we?
??d be pulling in our underpants while these big fans would be blowing on us. It stank of sweat and the walls were real grimy. Sunny, you’d hate that place. But I loved it. My classes were tough; I’d go there to relax my head. Life was good . . . at first.
It all changed last week. Adebayo and I went there that early evening. It was Friday, so I was in a good mood. Later, we were going to meet up with some ladies; there was a party, too. We were working out. Pulling 10/10. We had just started at about 160 pounds. Then we’d load more, gradually. I remember, we were on our fifth round when Adebayo excused himself. He said he had to go to the bathroom. I just kept working out. I was at seven reps, pulling really hard, straining, screaming. I wanted to get that burn, you know? When you bench, it’s no pain, no gain.
Not only had Adebayo left, but now I saw two guys come in. Not as swollen as me, but they were big enough and obviously a bit older. Taller. They started applauding me. I kept pushing up on the bar, putting on a show. I was the only one in the gym, but it was just two guys, Sunny. You don’t know me; I can defend myself really good. I know boxing as well as I play soccer. You and Ugonna never knew about the places where the matches took place, but I used to win lots of money boxing. How do you think I got that money I put in the floor? You all just thought my bruises were from soccer. Who no know, no go know, right? So I wasn’t afraid. But then another two guys came in. One of them was Adebayo, and he seemed to know the other three guys.
They all approached me. The three strangers were dressed for the street, so they must have come from outside. They were smiling and seemed nice enough.
“Well done,” Adebayo said. But he didn’t tell me the names of these guys.
“You are a strong man,” the tallest one said, looking down at me as I struggled to put the bar and weights back on the bar rest. They didn’t help me. “We are proud of you.”
I smiled and sat up. I was wearing nothing but my boxer shorts and my muscles were bouncing. “Thank you,” I said.
“We have something to tell you and it’s very important.” The other ones just stood behind him. “You need to know the rules and regulations of campus.”
I immediately relaxed. This was all it was about, campus stuff. And I wanted to do well in school. These guys were here to help me. Great. Good. Since I’d gotten there, I hadn’t had a mentor or any older student offer to show me how things were done and what was best. So this was a relief.
Right after that, we all went to a local cafeteria that we called the Cholera Joint. It was just down the road. The place is nothing special. They serve things like rice, beans, bread, and eba. Good, cheap food. You bring your plate to the stand and tell them what to put on it. Then you sit at one of the plastic tables and chairs and eat. It’s mainly for us local students, but you get kabu kabu and okada drivers who come there often, too.
So there the five of us were. I saw all of them as my friends because Adebayo was my friend and they were his friends. I remember what everyone ordered. All of them chose rice, plantain, and beef. I chose my favorite, rice and beans. They make them nice at the Cholera Joint. I paid for all the food. It was a lot of money for me, but I had it. You know me, if I have it, then I spend it and when I don’t have it, I don’t miss it. Plus, I was in a good mood. These guys wanted to help me fold smoothly into university life. I don’t know why I didn’t put two and two together at the time. I do not know. Maybe I was blinded by hope.
Anyway, by the time we finished, it was almost eight o’clock and getting dark. We walked down the street about a half mile. The area was mainly occupied by the other two-story satellite hostels, the occasional tree. It is not a busy street. As a matter of fact, the street was so empty that we only met a few people along the way and there were no cars. It was a warm night, so because I’d recently worked out and then eaten, I was sweating. Eventually, they stopped under a low shaded mango tree. By this time it was completely dark and under that tree, no one could see us. Still, I wasn’t scared. Adebayo was with me, and I just knew I could handle the other three if I needed to . . . if they turned out to not be so friendly.
One of them flicked on a torch and flashed it into the leaves above.
“Look, we’ve been watching you,” the tall one said. “We have something important to tell you.” At this point I glanced at Adebayo, and in the dim light that reflected from the flashlight, I saw him look away. “You’re a strong guy, physically. Smart, get good grades, you were near the top of your high school class, the ladies like you . . .” He paused. “And we hear your little sister is albeeno, maybe even one of those child witches you hear about.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “She’s not . . .”
“No, no, relax. It’s good. A child witch is power. We like what we see when we see you,” he said, holding a hand up for me to stop talking. “We want only your success. And you will have all the advantages in school if you join us.”
“Huh? How . . . Where? Be clear, I’m not understanding,” I stammered. My mouth suddenly felt dry. Sunny, it was only at this time that I realized what was really going on, and it was something I heard was very common, but I never imagined would happen to me.
“We are the Great Red Sharks,” he said.
Shit, shit, shit, I thought. You’ve probably even heard of them. “Fine . . . good,” I said, still not sure what to say or think.
“Do you understand? The Red Sharks is one of the strongest confraternities in Nigeria.”
He’d confirmed it. Now I was scared. Dad warned me about all this confraternity nonsense before I left. You and Ugonna have heard the stories of students going missing or getting killed in fights. It’s scarier and more common than all that Black Hat stuff from last year. Dad said they’d approach me and that I was to always say no. But it’s not the same when you are right there looking into their eyes and they are looking into yours and they know who you are. My best friend, Adebayo, was in the Red Sharks. And that meant they knew everything about me already, because he did. How had he kept this kind of secret from me for so many weeks?! I didn’t even notice any change in his behavior. I saw him often enough that I didn’t know he snuck off anywhere else. But then again, it’s a known fact that all confraternity meetings happen in the night.
I almost ran. I considered it with every part of my being. I must have tensed up because Adebayo grabbed my arm and held it tightly. “Calm down,” he said. “It’s not what you think. You’ll have a chance to get any grade you want. You’ll get to be a lecturer! No one can harm you. You want money? Many of the Red Shark members are from filthy-rich families. They’ll happily blow their wealth on you if you join.”
I admit, I was a little dazzled. Especially by the idea of being a lecturer. I could already see the pride on Daddy’s face when I told him about it. You know how he is. “I’ll think about it,” I said.
“You have three days,” the tall one said.
For three days, I thought about it. I went out that night, met up with the girls, and partied. I studied hard the entire weekend. I worked out at the gym with Adebayo, and we acted like nothing was happening. Come Monday morning, they showed up at my room. Adebayo wasn’t there. It was the tall one and one of the others.
“What is your response?” the tall one asked.
I asked them to explain exactly what they wanted again, and he didn’t hesitate or get irritated. The tall one pulled me into the hallway and quietly told me that this was an invitation to join the Red Sharks. Then he and the other guy waited.
I laughed and nodded. “Okay.”
They both smiled and we all shook hands, snapping fingers at the end. I began to relax again. Maybe Adebayo is right, I thought. Maybe it isn’t so bad.
“We’ll come back tonight,” the tall one said.
At one thirty A.M., the tall one pounded on my door. The noise woke and angered my roommates; they got even angrier when they learned that it was for me. I quickly dressed an
d left with the tall guy. When I got outside, it was dark because the power had gone out. But there were three sets of eyes in the dark, and they belonged to three big guys. “You must agree to join the others,” the tall guy said.
I nodded. They blindfolded me with a red handkerchief and tied my hands. At this point, so much was going through my head. I was thinking I’d made a terrible mistake. Sunny, I kept seeing you, Mummy, Daddy, Ugonna, everyone. I kept wishing I were with you all and not where I was. I started wondering if I’d ever see any of you again!
We must have walked about three miles. It felt like it. It was a long way. When they took the blindfold off me, we were in the bush. One that I didn’t recognize. They untied my hands. I looked around. Someone had a lamp, and I could see faces now. There were ten guys. Three of them were my professors, two of them were classmates, Adebayo was one of them, too.
They were all wearing red shirts, black trousers, black caps, and red armbands. One of them was singing some native song, and some were dancing and clapping to it. They were all older than me, except for Adebayo, but none was swollen like me and I was sure none of them knew how to box. If I had to fight, I would.
“What is your name?” a stocky guy of about nineteen asked me. He was light-skinned, probably Igbo, and had several keloids on his chin nestled in his slight beard.
“Chukwu,” I said.
The man turned to the others. “His name is Chukwu.”
They all stepped closer and grunted that they’d heard him. I tried to make eye contact with Adebayo, but he wouldn’t look at my face. Neither would my professors and friends. It was like they were pretending not to know me.
“I am the leader, the Capo,” the man with the keloids said.
“Okay,” I said.
“Lie down,” Capo said.
“Why?” I asked, surprised.
Before I knew it Adebayo, my best friend, stepped up to me and slapped me hard across the face. I didn’t even think; I hit him right back with a powerful uppercut blow. He fell to the ground. I know how to take a man out. Adebayo is my best friend, but I was terrified and angry as hell. No one slaps me!