“Come on, then,” Chukwu growled.
“Okay,” Orlu said, immediately putting himself between Sasha and Chukwu. “Okay, o. Okay, o.”
“Keep your hands off her,” Sasha said, pointing at Chukwu over Orlu’s shoulder.
“Sure, but I can’t help it if she can’t keep her hands off me,” Chukwu said, laughing.
Sasha turned to the side and spat. “We will see.”
Sunny went and stood beside Chichi. “What were you thinking?” Sunny snapped.
“I wasn’t exactly thinking,” Chichi whispered, but Sunny caught the hint of the smile on her lips.
“Let’s all just get back in the Jeep,” Orlu said. “We have a long way ahead of us.”
Sasha was looking at Chichi, who was looking right back at Sasha. Chukwu angrily got in the driver’s seat, slamming his door. Sunny and Orlu got in. Then Chichi. Sasha was the last to get into the passenger seat. He glared at Chukwu, but Chukwu just started the Jeep, ignoring Sasha. Minutes later, Sasha put Nas back on, moving on to the next album, It Was Written. But the vibration of the beats wasn’t nearly as delicious as before.
22
FRESH, FRESH, FINE EWUJU!
It was as if the roads were trying to kill them.
There were potholes and craters everywhere. In one place the road seemed to have sloughed off completely, and they’d had to bumble their way across the jagged remains. Somehow the tyres did not flatten, but the poor roads made the going slow and dangerous. A few times they passed parts of the road that were so uneven from erosion that they nearly tipped over. Thankfully it was dry season; otherwise the roads would have been muddy impassable gullies.
Then there were the go-slows, traffic that robbed their trip of precious time. Two hours after suffering the pothole- and crater-riddled road, they’d sat on the expressway for a whole hour and a half without moving. On the sides of the road were occasional shanties and stretches of trees, and from both of these came an assortment of beggars and hawkers. One of the beggars was a young man in scruffy clothes with knotted hair and a mad look in his eyes. He reminded Sunny of the man they’d seen in Bola’s waiting room. He leaned against Chichi’s window staring at her. No matter how many times Sasha told him to go away, he wouldn’t budge until Sasha had actually gotten out of the car and chased the man off.
The hawkers sold all sorts of things, from raw corn, pure water, and bread to skewers of beef suya, plantain chips, and roasted bush meat. One man had even held up a whole bush rat to Orlu’s window. “Fresh, fresh, fine ewuju!” he proclaimed. He’d asked for six hundred naira and even offered to skin it while they waited. The bush rat looked as if it had been killed minutes ago, still dripping blood.
Orlu had simply waved him off.
When the go-slow finally let up, they began encountering the checkpoints where Chukwu was forced to “do Christmas” for the police in order to get by without being delayed. The blatant demand for bribes especially irritated Sasha, who held a particular hatred for police officers. Chichi had to grab his hand as Chukwu dealt with the road police so that Sasha would keep his mouth shut. When they were stopped by a third police checkpoint within two hours, Sasha was ready to jump from his seat and “slap the man across the face.” This was when Orlu said they should stop and find a hotel.
They were in Benin City, only halfway there, and already the sun was going down. Thankfully, Chichi had planned ahead. “Chukwu, pull over. Sunny, give me your phone, let me call my uncle.”
Chukwu pulled into the parking lot of a roadside market. Chichi dialed the number. “I told him we’d be coming,” she said as she waited for him to pick up.
“You sure it’ll be all right?” Sunny asked.
“Of course. They have a big house and they love me,” Chichi said. “This is my aunt, my mother’s sister–” She held up a hand. “Hello? Hello? Uncle Uyobong? Good evening.” She grinned and laughed and then began to speak in rapid Efik.
“I’m not sure if I like the idea of being on the road New Year’s Eve,” Orlu said as Chichi talked to her uncle.
“I know,” Sunny said. “But if we keep driving, trust me, we will be robbed… or have to fight robbers.”
Chichi was laughing very hard as she cupped the phone to her ear.
“Do you know Chichi’s uncle?” Sunny asked.
“I’ve heard of him but never met him.”
“Good things?” Sunny asked.
“Yeah,” Orlu said, smiling. “He likes flowers.” He lowered his voice so Chukwu wouldn’t hear. “They’re both Leopard People, and her aunt’s a third leveller like Chichi’s mother.”
“Okay, everyone,” Chichi announced, handing Sunny her phone. “They have dinner waiting for us. Let’s go.”
“Which way?” Chukwu asked.
Ten minutes later, they pulled through the gates of a small but beautifully designed compound. The house was painted blue, and the compound was made pretty with tall palm trees and colourful flowers that seemed to glow even in the near darkness. The small parking lot in front of the house was black and smooth, as if it had been freshly tarred.
“Nice,” Sasha said.
“I’m going to warn you all one more time, treat my uncle’s flowers like little human beings,” Chichi said. “And God help you if you step on one.”
“What kind of man loves flowers that much?” Chukwu said with a laugh as he got out of the car. “What is he, some kind of wizard?”
They all froze, avoiding eye contact with one another.
“He’s a botanist; he studied at the University of California in the States,” Chichi said.
“Oh… okay,” Chukwu said.
Sunny let out a breath.
A pathway led to the front door and along the sides were all sorts of plants: tiger lilies, sunflowers, a bush with red flowers, and there was even a tall cactus on the right side of the path’s beginning. “Don’t touch any of his flowers,” Chichi stressed again.
“Ah!” Chukwu hissed. “Damn it!” He was ahead of Sunny, and Sunny had seen precisely what happened. The cactus had leaned forwards and swiped at his arm with a thorn! Thankfully, Chukwu hadn’t seen it do this. He’d only felt it. “I didn’t touch it,” he said. He looked at his arm with irritation. “It touched me or something. I wasn’t even–”
“Who is that?” a deep voice said from inside. The door unlocked and a man peeked out, frowning. He had a smooth, bald head and a handlebar moustache and bushy beard that reminded Sunny of the man on the Internet years ago who was always complaining about the rent being “too damn high.”
“Who is touching my plants?”
“Uncle Uyobong,” Chichi sang. “It’s us!”
He frowned and then his face broke into a smile when he saw Chichi. “Ah-ah! Chichi,” he said, hugging her tightly. A woman with a bushy grey Afro and large gold earrings came to the doorway, and Chichi hugged her tightly, too. “Auntie,” Chichi said.
“And this must be Sunny,” her uncle said.
Sunny stepped forwards. “Good evening.”
She was quickly scooped into hugs from them both. “We’ve heard all about you,” Chichi’s auntie said. Sunny glanced at Chichi and she quickly shook her head. She better not have told them, Sunny thought. No one else needed to know of her doubling besides the four of them.
Sasha, Orlu, and Chukwu all received tight hugs, too. “Chukwu,” Chichi’s uncle said, cocking his head. “You are at the University of Port Harcourt?”
“Yes.”
Her aunt took his head in her hands and looked from one side to the other. “You heal up well,” she said, hugging him.
Chukwu frowned at Chichi, who only shrugged. “Thank you, ma,” Chukwu politely said.
“Come in,” she said. “All of you. We’ve been waiting.”
As soon as they stepped in, her uncle put his arm around Sasha’s shoulder and said, “Come, you and I need to talk.” Then they walked into another room.
Sunny was too busy taking in the spectacle
that was the inside of their home to ask where Chichi’s uncle and Sasha were going. The house – could she call this a house? A greenhouse maybe. It was nice and cool inside, yes, but there were plants all over the place. They hung from the giant chandelier on the ceiling. Vines wrapped themselves around the banister of the stairs. There were potted trees flourishing against the walls.
“Wow,” Chukwu said. “The house looks a lot bigger on the inside.”
“It’s the glass ceiling,” Chichi’s aunt said. They all looked up, and indeed in the large front room, the ceiling was made entirely of glass.
“This is my partner’s home,” Chichi’s auntie said. “I own nothing.”
“She and my uncle, they aren’t married,” Chichi said, moving closer to Sunny, so Chukwu wouldn’t hear. “Remember, we are Nimm, and Nimm women can’t marry.”
“Oh,” Sunny said. “Right.” She’d been wondering this very thing. The house was lovely, but it looked extravagant. Chichi’s mother lived in a hut and was proud of that. Still, even if she didn’t own it, it seemed odd for a Nimm priestess to live so lavishly.
“My uncle built it for her but more for himself,” Chichi said. “Did I tell you he loves flowers?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a place like this,” Chukwu was saying to Chichi’s auntie.
“Well, I’m glad to broaden your mind,” she said. “Come, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping, and then you can eat dinner.”
Sasha, Orlu, and Chukwu were to stay in a large room downstairs where every wall was taken up by a bookshelf. There was a large plush couch that curved into a horseshoe big enough for two of them to sleep on and a cot set up behind the horseshoe couch, which Chukwu quickly claimed.
“Why don’t you boys get settled down?” Chichi’s auntie said. “We’ll be right back.” She took Chichi and Sunny to a smaller bedroom upstairs. “You’re fine sharing a bed, right?”
“Of course, Auntie,” Chichi said.
Sunny nodded. “It’s a lovely room.”
And it was, with its large leafy plants winding up a pole beside the curtains, creeping out through the cracked door over the balcony.
“Have you been good with your brother, Sunny?” her auntie asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean, honey. Are things okay with his school? We don’t need you dragged off to the library basement again.”
Chichi snorted with laughter.
“I’m still here,” Sunny said, embarrassed.
“Good,” Chichi’s auntie said, patting her on the back. “I know it’s hard for free agents. You know the Lamb world better than us, and Leopard People can be assholes, so your kind can be short-tempered. For good reason. It’s not easy living on the border of such different worlds.”
A black cat smoothly skulked from beneath the bed and stood in front of Sunny and looked up at her. Waiting. Sunny ignored it as Chichi’s auntie spoke.
“But you’ll get used to it,” she continued. “And you better do it fast, because I think something big is expected of you.”
“I guess,” Sunny said, glancing at the cat. It was still sitting there.
“Pick her up,” her auntie said. “What do you think she’s waiting for?”
Sunny bent down and slowly picked it up. She wasn’t too familiar with cats, so she held it like a baby. It turned and twisted into a comfortable position in her arms. She petted it, and it began to purr.
“That’s Paja,” Chichi said, taking one of the cat’s front paws in her hand. “See her paws? Cool, right?”
The cat had six digits on its paw.
“Is it… what if Chukwu sees it?”
“So?” Chichi said. “These aren’t magical. Well, all cats are of the Leopard People, but Lambs have these cats, too. They’re called polydactyl cats. It’s a natural mutation. They’re really smart, too.”
The cat purred and rested its head against Sunny’s chest, and Sunny nearly melted with delight. She sat on the bed with the cat in her arms and she stroked its soft black fur.
“I’ve contacted your mother,” Chichi’s auntie told Sunny. “She’s glad you made it.”
“Thank you,” Sunny said. She’d also send Ugonna a text. He’d probably heard from her parents that they were okay, but she’d told him she’d keep in personal contact with him.
“Are you sure about this trip?” Chichi’s auntie asked.
Sunny nodded.
“Okay,” she said. “No more talk of it. Let’s go have dinner.”
Sunny brought the cat with her.
The dining room was in the back and also completely made of glass, various types of plants and potted trees stationed in the corners of the room. The table in the centre was large and made of thick wood, as were the chairs. And the chairs were grooved with intricate designs, their edges smooth with age. Sunny found them extremely comfortable. The wood even felt warm.
Dinner was already set on the table in a large bowl and several smaller ones. The large white porcelain bowl was filled with edikaikong soup, and in each of the smaller bowls were fried plantain, puff puffs, and sliced mango. On a plate were fist-sized balls of grey garri. The soup was heavy with periwinkle snails, beef, and stockfish, and it was light in palm oil. The perfect balance. Sunny’s mother didn’t make this particular vegetable soup. Edikaikong soup was an Ibibio dish, not an Igbo one. However, since Chichi’s mother was Efik, a subgroup of the Ibibios, Sunny had had it plenty of times at Chichi’s house, so many times that she’d grown a taste for it. When she finished eating, she sat back, satisfied and exhausted. Her eyes were drooping when a sliver of the conversation happening around her floated into her ears.
“Sure, I’ll go with you.”
“Great,” Sasha said, perking up. He’d eaten more than Sunny, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on him.
“I’m going with you!” Chichi said. “You never take me out when I visit.”
“Ah, but these three are men,” Chichi’s uncle said. “It’s not the same.”
“Go where?” Sunny asked.
“To taste the local nightlife,” Sasha said. “It’s almost New Year’s Eve. Everyone’s off work and partying already. We’re in a new place, let’s go see what it’s like!”
Sunny looked at Chukwu, who wasn’t saying anything. He clearly wanted to go, just not with Sasha. Orlu even looked interested. “Um, okay,” Sunny reluctantly said. “I’ll go if everyone else is going.” And everyone else was. She groaned, but too quietly for anyone to hear. She’d rather climb into bed, read for a little bit, and then go to sleep. It had been a long, long day and tomorrow was probably going to be longer.
So this was how Sunny found herself at her first nightclub. Orlu had his arm tightly around her waist, and she was glad because the place was dark and packed with the undulating and wiggling bodies of people dancing, talking, and shouting. Not far away, she could see Sasha getting down on the dance floor, surrounded by five women who were close to twice his age. Chukwu was dancing with Chichi several feet away, but Chichi kept looking at Sasha. And who could forget Chichi’s uncle and aunt who were out there dancing like maniacs, too? Chichi’s uncle had a bottle of Guinness in his hand and was somehow not spilling it.
Sunny yawned, leaning on Orlu. Suddenly, he let go of her and started pushing his way farther in. “What are you doing?” Sunny asked.
Then the crowd surged forwards, as people moved to get a better look. She was pushed along with it, and then she saw where Orlu was going. Two guys who looked to be in their twenties were swinging at Sasha. He ducked and one guy missed, but the other managed to punch him in the gut. Then there was Chukwu jumping on that guy, turning him around and socking him in the face. The guy stumbled back as two more of his friends joined him. They paused as they looked at Chukwu, who shouted over the music, “Come on, then!” He held up his fists. The guys weren’t as dumb as they looked because none of them took Chukwu up on his invitation to fight. Orlu grabbed Sasha, and Chukwu pus
hed them both along.
Chichi’s uncle joined them, shouting for the guys to stay back. Chichi’s aunt was behind him looking angry and ready to fight, too. Sunny moved after them as they all exited the club. Once outside, Sunny was shocked to see that Sasha, Chukwu, and Chichi’s uncle were all laughing. Even Orlu looked mildly amused.
“Damn,” Sasha said, holding his aching belly. “Chukwu, I don’t think I have ever seen four grown men afraid of one younger man. I don’t even care, you get some dap for that. No doubt. Respect, respect.” He grasped Chukwu’s hand, slapping his other hand over it.
“I saw them coming at you,” Chukwu said. “You had all their ladies, and you don’t even look twenty.”
“It’s my American swag,” Sasha said with a lopsided grin. He coughed and held his side.
“Are you all right?” Chichi’s uncle asked.
“Yeah,” Sasha said. “I managed to flex at the last minute. It’s nothing a night’s sleep won’t cure.”
They quickly got into the car in case the guys Sasha had angered came out for more. Sunny was just glad to leave that place earlier than they would have. Exactly an hour later, after the short drive back, showering in lukewarm water, brushing her teeth, and climbing into bed, Sunny closed her eyes. Chichi was already fast asleep, having taken an even shorter shower before Sunny. Ten minutes later, Sunny heard someone riffling through her and Chichi’s bags not far from her head.
For a moment, Sunny just lay there in the darkness, reluctant to get up and switch on the light. She was exhausted and comfortable. Maybe I’m just hearing things, she thought. There was an air conditioner in the room that clanked and loudly dripped water. But the more she lay there, the clearer the sound came. Crinkle, crinkle, rummage, rummage.
Her juju knife was in the pocket of her night clothes and slowly, she reached for it. The light suddenly switched on. And what Sunny saw on her backpack shocked her, but only for a moment. It was a large black bat. And it was clutching her wallet, her glasses in their hard green case, and Udide’s Book of Shadows in its strong sharp claws.