“Hello,” she whispered when she saw its great, round face just below the wild waters. The river beast. It was the size of a house and who knew what its full shape was. She’d never asked her friends, her teacher, or her mentor. She’d never wanted to show them that she was too curious about it. Their little game was between it and her, Anyanwu.
Every single time she crossed the bridge to Leopard Knocks, even when she crossed as mist, it came up to watch her. Closely. Not casually. Not nicely. Initially, she had been afraid. The first time she’d crossed the bridge, it had nearly tricked her into falling into the river, and Sasha had saved her by grabbing her necklace. Lately, she was defiant, often stopping to look right back at the glaring monster who never broke the surface to show its certainly hideous face. Since her encounter with its cousin the lake beast, she was downright audacious when she crossed the bridge.
“Why do you wait?” Sunny said as Anyanwu. Her voice was deep and buttery, the voice of a sultry female radio DJ who played smooth jazz and midnight love songs. “I am right here. What is it you seek from me?”
It was hulking below her. She could see the girth of it now. She chuckled.
“Sunny?” Chichi called behind her. Her voice travelled through the mist as if from somewhere else. And technically it was, for the bridge linked the mundane world to the magical oasis that Leopard Knocks sat upon, which existed on no Lamb map.
“What is it you want?” Sunny asked, kneeling down to look the river beast in its submerged face. This beast’s cousin had dragged her into its water. The djinn had dragged her into a sort of water that led to the wilderness. And now here was this damn thing, constantly threatening her with the same fate.
“Do you know who I am?” she said. She knocked her knuckles to her wooden spirit face. “I am Anyanwu.” Sunny could only watch this other side of her taunt and heckle the river beast. Inside she shook and cowered. Normally, she felt right in line with her spirit self. Anyanwu was strong and old, and Sunny loved how she taunted the river beast. Anyanwu was Sunny. But, right now, Sunny was exhausted. She had no fight left in her. Not right now. And Anyanwu was picking another fight.
She rose up on her toes and then pointed her juju knife at the creature. The bridge shook, and Sunny felt like her heart would explode because not only was it shaking, something was cracking. Anyanwu gracefully crouched, her juju knife held firmly in her hand. There was something thick, green, and wet wrapped around the narrow bridge to her right. It looked like a mossy rope, a vine thicker than three fire hoses… no, a tentacle!
Oh come on, not again, Sunny thought. But Anyanwu laughed as the river beast finally surfaced. It was indeed the size of a house, as its shadow indicated. Craggy and pocked with calcium deposits and barnacle-like crustaceans, its horrible cranium was also covered with something like green-purple seaweed. The thing looked like a hideous sea garden. Its giant toothy maw was downturned and closed as it glared up at her with its dinner-plate-sized silvery eyes. She could smell it, too, like sea flowers if sea flowers had a scent. Sweet, briny, and oily.
It grunted and huffed and puffed out water at her, nearly blowing her from the bridge. The briny flower smell invaded her nostrils.
“Sunny!” she heard Orlu call. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” she called back, still looking it in the eye.
None of them could come and get her. Only one person could be on the bridge at a time. Sunny was alone here. But she’d asked for this. Anyanwu had. A green seaweed-covered tentacle reached for her, and she danced back.
“You missed,” she said. Then, without a thought, she leaped. This was Anyanwu’s impulsiveness, but it felt great to Sunny. She wasn’t a super-fast thinker like Sasha and Chichi, but there was a joy she experienced when she acted impulsively, and she felt it now. In mid-leap over the tentacle, she glanced down at the raging river below. She remembered how cold its waters had been when she’d moved through it during her initiation. With its wild, churning grey-white currents, no one would hear if she fell in and they would certainly spirit her away within seconds.
She landed gracefully on the side of the narrow bridge where she’d entered, the river beast’s tentacle on the wood behind her; she was steps away from where Orlu, Chichi, and Sasha stood waiting to cross. She looked back and laughed, her voice Anyanwu’s deep baritone that made her sound like an arrogant middle-aged chain-smoking woman. The river beast grunted wetly. Then it shivered with surprise and the crescent-shaped pupils of its silver eyes widened. Sunny stopped and nearly fell to her knees. The images that burst into her mind stung sharply like angry attacking bees behind her eyes. Then she could have sworn she heard the river beast laughing, or maybe it was shrieking because it, too, was experiencing the vision that moved through it to reach Sunny.
It flooded in like river water. There was haunted music. The flute and the talking drum filled Sunny’s mind. Even the water below vibrated to the beat of the masquerade’s tune. Then she was looking at Ekwensu, the terrifying spirit she’d faced here last year. She grabbed the sides of her head and shook it; she shut her eyes. “No, no, no, no.” She was already so weak. The vision kept coming, though. Ekwensu looked the same; a house-sized mound of packed palm fronds standing in a place of green grass. The only difference was that she seemed to be constantly spilling out red beads from between her dry fronds, some tiny as ants, some big as horseflies. And she was rising from the grass now. Two of the red beads seemed to fly at Sunny, and she flinched, snapping from her vision.
One of the bigger beads hit Sunny square between the eyes, and for a moment there was a strange sensation of her drifting to the side when she wasn’t. The bead bounced on the bridge’s wood and rolled into the river. The second bead flew into the water, plunging in feet away from the river beast. This seemed to wake it and when it did, it fled back into the deep. Sunny stared at where the river beast had been, where the bead had flown, because the bead was real, a physical thing. Then she turned and ran off the bridge. Chichi screamed with relief as Sunny emerged from the bridge. “What happened?!” Chichi shouted. “We thought the river beast took you!”
“It tried,” Sunny said tiredly.
Sasha and then Orlu came running. Sasha only touched Sunny’s wet hair and hugged her head to his hip. Sunny leaned against him as Orlu knelt before her and took her hands. “What happened?” Orlu asked. His eyes were red and twitchy.
“Ekwensu,” Sunny whispered. “She’s back. She threw a bead and it was real and…”
Chichi used a drying juju on Sunny. She had to perform the spell twice because the first one left Sunny still damp and mildew-smelling. The second one left her dry, perfumed, and warm. “Thanks, Chichi,” Sunny said. Chichi only looked at Sunny with stunned, puffy eyes. They hugged and didn’t let go of each other for several minutes.
“Wait,” Sunny finally said, pulling away from her friend. “I have to do something.”
She stood up and brought out her juju knife and did the flourishes. When Anatov had shown her, she’d noticed that the shape he’d drawn in the air reminded her of Nsibidi. It was a skeleton of lines that was then dressed up with loops and swirls. When she finished, a strong force blew through her flesh, leaving a green mist in the shape of herself facing her. She stepped away from it, feeling her nose tingle.
“What is that?” Chichi asked.
“Residue from the wilderness,” Sunny said. She blew and the green lost its shape and began to separate and mix into the air.
“You were in the wilderness?” Orlu asked.
“Partially, I think. Maybe that’s how I saw Ekwensu. It was like she pulled me in.”
“Like turning someone’s head to look,” Chichi said.
Sasha nodded. “She waited to catch Sunny when she was weak. It wasn’t you she wanted to see; it was Anyanwu.”
“I think the river beast was also a diversion,” Chichi added. “So Sunny could be too weak and distracted to stop Ekwensu from tearing into the physical world.”
&nb
sp; The four of them were quiet for a moment.
Chichi turned to Orlu. “So what happens if you don’t get rid of the residue?”
“She’ll get sick,” Orlu said. “Physically.”
Sunny sneezed and rubbed between her eyes.
“Bless you,” Orlu said.
“Let’s cross and get you something to eat,” Chichi said, helping Sunny up. “Then I want to hear all the details.” She glanced at the river and then leaned closer to Sunny and whispered, “It’s time to deal with the river beast.”
Sunny nodded. “It’s such a sellout, siding with Ekwensu like that.”
“Do you think you can cross?” Chichi said. “I mean, you don’t have to…”
“I’ll cross,” Sunny said. “This time I’ll glide so it’s fast.” The soccer field and Leopard Knocks were the two places she felt she belonged. She was not about to let the river beast rob her of one of those. She rubbed the black stone and stepped up to the bridge. But she knew as soon as she raised her head and looked at the narrow bridge that even if she wanted to, her foot would not move. She felt pain at the tips of her sandalled feet, as if she’d knocked them against a wall. She stumbled back, her eyes wide.
“Wha—” She looked at her friends, tears filling her eyes.
“Sunny, what is it?” Chichi screeched, grabbing her hands. “Are you all right?”
“She’s… she’s not there,” Sunny said. “I can’t bring her forth. My spirit face… I can’t… What’s happening? Anyanwu, where are you?” Her toes ached and she felt the world swim around her; the spot between her eyes where the bead had hit her felt warm and itchy.
“Here,” Orlu said, putting an arm around her waist. “Lean on me.”
“You can’t call your spirit face?” Sasha asked. “How can that be?” He looked at Chichi and blinked. “Oh, I can’t even imagine that.”
Chichi nodded but frowned for him to shut up, and this made Sunny panic even more. She couldn’t cross the bridge without Anyanwu. Who was she without Anyanwu? Where had Anyanwu gone?
“She has to be with you somehow,” Chichi said. “Your spirit face isn’t just a face. It’s you, your spirit memory, you spirit future, your chi. You’d be dead if she weren’t there. You’re probably just in shock. You need some jollof rice and stew and Fanta. Come on, we don’t have to go to Leopard Knocks today. I know a nice Lamb restaurant where we can get some good food.”
Uzoma’s Chinese Restaurant was small and almost full to capacity. They managed to get a table near the back of the restaurant.
“Sasha and I come here all the time,” Chichi said, trying to sound cheerful. “Though the food is terrible.”
“I ordered the egg rolls here once, and they were just a boiled egg stuffed in a hard roll,” Sasha said, putting an arm around Chichi.
Sunny attempted and failed a smile.
“You all right?” Orlu asked.
“No,” she muttered. She felt dehydrated and ready to fall asleep right there at the table.
The four of them looked at one another with wide eyes and solemn faces. None of the people in the busy open-air restaurant could have imagined what they’d recently been through.
“I feel like an alien,” Sunny said. “I don’t belong anywhere.” She was dry, warm, and smelled good, thanks to Chichi. She was wearing her favourite jeans and a white T-shirt, and they were dry. Unlike others in the restaurant, her thick, bushy Afro was blonde with a comb given to her by Mami Wata herself. Her skin was pale yellow pink, and her eyes were hazel. She’d just seen Ekwensu succeed in coming into the physical world, and she couldn’t find Anyanwu.
“You belong with us,” Orlu said. “You’re a Leopard Person.”
“Ekwensu is back,” she whispered. “She will kill everything. But first she’ll kill me. You sure you want me with you?”
“You don’t know for sure what you saw,” Orlu said. “You can do things with time, sometimes. You don’t know if that was the future or… what.”
They were all silent for a moment, the happy chatter of everyone else swelling around them. They ordered puff puffs, one of the only Nigerian dishes on the menu. In America, Nigerians explained to non-Nigerians that they were “Nigerian doughnuts,” a description that Sunny always found annoying. It was verbal shorthand that sold puff puffs short. They were sweet, soft, perfectly round pastries that were simply what they were. Sunny also ordered a large bottle of water. When the waiter brought the puff puffs and water, she drank it all and ate five large puff puffs, feeling more like herself with each yummy bite. The others quietly watched her as she drank and ate.
Finally, Sunny took a deep breath and leaned forwards. The others did so, too. “Do your spirit faces ever talk to you?” she asked. When they looked at her with perplexed eyes, she sat back and gazed at them for a long time. She bit her lip, frowned, and then just spilled it all; she told them how Anyanwu was her and she was Anyanwu, but Anyanwu spoke to her and she spoke back. Why not? Who else would she tell? Who else had her back? And now Anyanwu was gone. Sunny was glad for the noisy atmosphere; it covered up the cracking and wavering in her voice as she spoke. Then she told them about her dreams of the end of the world. When she finished, she wiped the tired confused tears from her eyes and ate the last puff puff.
“Who are you, Sunny Nwazue?” Chichi asked, imitating the djinn from the basement as she took Sunny’s hand.
Orlu was staring at Sunny.
“I’m two people, and one of me is missing,” Sunny said.
“Maybe you just need rest.”
“Yeah. And you’re a free agent, so your spirit face is new to you,” Sasha said. “Maybe that’s why it feels like a completely separate person. And yours is old, that’s a lot of memory.”
“And not just old, busy,” Chichi added. “We’re all old. Orlu and I have been to see the seer Bola, and we know things about our past lives. We just don’t talk much about it. Sasha, too.”
“Yeah, I saw a Gullah seer in North Carolina,” he said. “She told me I’d done all sorts of crazy stuff over the centuries. Slave rebellions of all kinds and some other wahala in the wilderness. On some level I’m aware of it. It’s all good.”
Sunny smiled, feeling a little better.
“I used to talk to my spirit face when I was little,” Orlu said.
“Me too!” Chichi said.
“But Ekwensu,” Orlu said. “What is it between you and one of the most powerful, scariest beings around?”
“Anyanwu is powerful, so she will have powerful enemies… and friends,” Chichi said proudly, squeezing Sunny’s hands.
“Word,” Sasha said. “What you did to those confraternity guys, Sunny, that was you, not Anyanwu.”
“I was just protecting my brother,” Sunny quietly said.
“No, that Capo guy got so spooked that not only did he become born-again, but his hair has gone grey! I was at Chukwu’s hostel yesterday,” Chichi said. “He said—” She froze, then her eyes cut to Sasha.
Orlu dropped his face in his hands and shook his head. “Oh God.”
“What?!” Sasha screeched, his voice cracking.
“Oh, come on,” Chichi said, her voice shaking. “It was just–”
“Just what? Girl, tell another lie! All you do is lie! You’re a pack of lies, and you think no one notices.” Sasha glared at her with pure disgust and rage. “Anuofia!”
“Kai!” Orlu screeched. “Sasha!”
“We’re sitting here asking Sunny who she is; we should be asking you, Chichi!” Sasha snapped, ignoring him. He stood up. Chichi stood up, too.
“Who do you think you are?” Chichi said, pointing in his face. “You don’t own me!” She turned and thrust her backside rudely at Sasha.
Sasha’s eyes grew wide, his nostrils flaring. He looked ready to explode.
“Come on,” Orlu said, pushing the fuming Sasha along. “Let’s take a walk.” Sunny was beyond relieved when Sasha allowed himself to be shoved along. “I’ll get him on an okada back home.
Chichi, can you get Sunny home?”
“Yes, yes,” Chichi snapped.
“Sunny, we go to Bola’s on Saturday, okay?” he added. “I think it’s time.”
“I meet with Sugar Cream on Saturdays, and you meet with Taiwo.”
“Yeah. We’ll go in the morning,” Orlu said. “It’ll just be one long day.”
Sunny slowly nodded. Chichi kept her back turned as she muttered, “Nonsense.”
“You haven’t seen nonsense yet,” Sasha shouted over his shoulder.
“Biko, please, just stop, o!” Orlu said, pushing him along.
“What the hell did I do?” Sasha asked Orlu.
“Just be quiet until…”
Their voices lowered and faded as they left the restaurant. Only then could Sunny relax. She hated seeing Sasha and Chichi fighting, although it was more than inevitable. She’d seen Chichi getting into Chukwu’s Jeep at least twice in the last two days. If her father had any idea his son was visiting home without stopping by to say hello to them, he’d be appalled. Chukwu was supposed to be immersed in his studies. He was, but he was also falling in love with Chichi.
At the same time, Chichi treated Sasha with the same affinity. And though just about every teenage Leopard girl younger and older in the area was infatuated with Sasha and his American bad boy ways, it was only Chichi whom Sasha gave his real time to.
“So, Chichi, what are you going to do?”
“About what?” Chichi asked as she applied some fresh lip gloss. Even from where she stood, Sunny could smell its fruity aroma.
“You know what.” Sunny rolled her eyes and Chichi smirked.
“Maybe I’ll let them fight it out Zuma wrestling style,” she said. “To the death. I’ll be like you and have my own guardian angel.”