Come Saturday morning, Sunny was up at seven A.M. She showered, threw on some jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers, and made a fast breakfast of fried plantain and egg stew. She poked her head into her parents’ room and said a swift good-bye. They were half-asleep and barely muttered a sentence. Exactly as she planned. Then she was off.
Sasha, Chichi, and Orlu were outside Chichi’s hut when she arrived. They were crowded around a newspaper. “See?” Orlu said. “She’s right on time.”
“We were debating whether your parents would let you come,” Chichi said. “I was saying that you’d come whether they let you or not, but you’d be late. Sasha didn’t think you’d come.”
“I left before they were really awake,” Sunny said. “But I can’t be late getting back this time.”
“Or what?” Orlu asked.
“Or my dad will flog the hell out of me,” she said. “And my mom will die of worry. Black Hat this, Black Hat that. Sheesh.”
“Did you see the paper today?”
“No,” she said, leaning forward to look. “How’d you guys get one so early? My dad usually brings it home in the afternoon.”
“Sunny, Sunny,” Chichi said, shaking her head. She laughed. “I’ll sign you up for a Leopard Knocks Daily subscription. You’ll get it nice and early each day.”
BLACK HAT DOES IT AGAIN
YOUNG BOY FOUND WANDERING MARKET WITH EYES GOUGED OUT
A seven-year-old boy from Aba who’d been kidnapped ten days ago was found wandering aimlessly through the Ariaria market. Both of his eyes had been brutally removed. The wounds were cauterized. A black hat symbol was drawn on his right arm with a dye that doctors are finding impossible to remove. This is the known symbol of the ritual murderer Black Hat Otokoto. Ahmed Mohammed, 45, found the boy and immediately called the authorities and took him to the hospital.
“At first I was not sure if the boy was some sort of evil spirit,” Mohammed said.
The boy is the seventeenth Black Hat victim. He is only the fourth to be found alive. All of Black Hat’s victims have been children under the age of sixteen. Ritual sacrifices and occult activities have long been a problem in Nigeria, but never has Igboland had a serial ritual killer like this.
The Christian community condemns-
Sunny felt sick. “They have to catch this guy.”
“I know,” Chichi said, rolling up and squeezing the paper. “A seven-year-old! It’s awful.”
“It’s shameful,” Orlu said. “This is why I can’t say that I don’t believe in the death penalty.”
“Damn. They actually have serial killers here?” Sasha asked. “I thought that was an American thing. Ha.”
“Oh, shut up,” Chichi snapped. “There are serial killers everywhere.”
When they arrived at Anatov’s, he was playing one of Fela Kuti’s half hour-long songs. Sunny loved Fela. This was one of the few things she and her father had in common.
“Good morning, Oga,” Chichi said.
“Chichi, it’s good to see you.”
She beamed.
Anatov held up a hand and the music lowered some. “My students,” he said, “good morning.”
As always, the hut smelled strongly of incense. Sunny’s nose started to run.
“Sit, sit,” he said. He lit yet another stick of incense and smiled devilishly at her. “Y’all really impressed Kehinde,” he continued, sitting in his wicker throne. “In particular, you, Sasha. He’s agreed to be your mentor for your second level when the time comes. It’s best to have a scholar as a mentor. Most are only able to get a father, mother, grandmother, family member. Kehinde was a troublemaker back in the day, too. You two will work well together. Watch for a letter from him, eh?”
Sasha looked ready to burst with pride and excitement. Sunny wanted to kick him. People only looked like that in cheesy Disney family movies. Orlu glanced at Sunny. She just shrugged. It seemed Anatov had chosen Chichi to mentor, and now Sasha, who had only just come to Nigeria, had been tapped by Kehinde. Sunny felt a little sorry for Orlu.
“Teamwork is the only reason you four lived to see Kehinde,” Anatov said. “There are seriously unsafe places in Leopard Knocks. Places where people try to steal chittim instead of earning it. Where they have forgotten why they receive chittim in the first place. Knowledge is more valuable than the chittim it earns. You four please me. Even you, Sunny, in all your shining blissful… ignorance.”
Sunny found herself laughing with the others.
“Nonetheless, I had to risk losing you all.” He paused. “You four have your work cut out for you. Help each other. You each know things the others do not. You each have talents that can keep the others safe. Sunny, Orlu, Chichi, teach Sasha to at least speak Igbo. Sasha, learn it and learn it fast. Do you speak any other languages?”
“French, a bit of Hausa; I’m pretty good with Arabic,” Sasha said.
“Arabic?” Chichi said. “Really?”
“My father taught me,” he said. “He’s in the military. He was stationed in Iraq for four years.”
“Can you write in it?” Chichi asked.
“Yep. Even better than I can speak it.”
“Nice,” Chichi said.
“Igbo shouldn’t be hard for you to pick up,” Anatov said. “You’ve learned a non-Romance language, you can learn more.” He paused. “Okay, today’s lesson: go and see another friend of mine.”
They all groaned.
Anatov laughed. “No, no, it won’t be as dangerous, unless you go down the wrong side road. Go and see Taiwo. Another scholar, yes. She lives in Leopard Knocks.”
“Why are we meeting these… scholars?” Sunny asked.
“Don’t question my teaching methods,” he said, icily.
“I wasn’t, Oga!” she stammered. “I… I was just…”
“Don’t,” Anatov said. “And get that hair reshaped. Your’Fro’s been looking jacked up.”
Sunny touched her hair, wishing there was a mirror nearby.
“Chichi,” Anatov said, “give Taiwo this package.” Whatever it was was tightly wrapped in newspaper.
Chichi took it and held it to her ear. “What’s in it? Is it alive?”
“None of your business,” Anatov said. “Taiwo lives at the end of the main street. On the way, I want you all to stop at Bola’s Store for Books and buy two books each. Advanced Juju Knife Jujus by Victoria Ogunbanjo and a book of your choosing. Read them both and write a one-page report on each, due in three weeks, on the Saturday. See you Wednesday.”
Sunny stood before the tree bridge to Leopard Knocks feeling sick. Sasha and Orlu had already gone ahead. “I’m going to show you how to call up music,” Chichi said.
“Okay,” she said with a sigh.
“You don’t have a juju knife yet, so just watch.” She brought out her knife, held it up, and sliced the air. “It looks like I’m cutting the air. That’s the beginning of the juju.” She flicked her wrist the slightest bit. “That creates a juju pouch for me to speak words into.” She held out her hand. “When you get good at it, you do it fast enough where you can speak the words into it without having to catch it first. Once the words are inside, the juju lives and acts on its own. Hold out your hand.” She put the invisible juju pouch into Sunny’s outstretched hand. It felt wet, soft, and cool.
“My first language was Efik, so I speak the trigger words in Efik,” she said. “Your first language was Igbo, so-”
“English,” Sunny corrected.
“Really?” Chichi said, cocking her head.
“Well, yeah.”
“Okay, your trigger words will be in English.”
“So what are the words?”
“You ready to cross?”
She hesitated. “Yeah.”
“Just say ‘Bring music of my heart.’ But I’ll say ‘Bring music of Sunny’s heart,’ since this is for you. You should still try to bring forth your spirit face yourself. Call it like you’d call me or Orlu, like it’s a good friend.” Chichi spoke the words in Efik and the music started.
Sunny looked out at the fast-moving river and tree bridge. In her head, she said, Come to me! It came as if it had been waiting. From deep within, she heard a low voice whisper, “Anyanwu.” Anyanwu, that was her spirit face’s name, her other name. In Igbo, Anyanwu meant “eye of the sun.” It was a cool name. Definitely fitting. This time she walked in what she knew was a straight, regal manner. She inspected herself as she moved, for the rushing waters below didn’t scare her.
“Hello?” she said, testing out her voice. It sounded rich and a little lower. She considered herself, who she was, what she had learned in the last few days. She stopped and allowed herself to drop into that deep concentration she knew so well. With her spirit face, she was sure of what she was doing. It made sense.
She looked down. She couldn’t see her feet. She laughed and rushed forth. She was wind, mist, air, partially here, but also there. The music was in her ears like the soundtrack of a dream, as she zoomed to the end of the bridge. She got there in seconds, the music still playing. She shot past Sasha and Orlu, behind a nearby tree. All she had to do was think it and she became visible again.
“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 hut 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.
Chichi got up and held out the package Anatov had given her. Taiwo gently unwrapped the newspaper and smiled. Inside was a brown paper bag. “Since he gave this to you to give to me,” she said to Chichi. “It’s your job to present it to Nancy.”
“Me?” Chichi said, taking the paper bag. She looked back at Nancy, who remained there waiting.
“Pour them in your hand and go to the door.”
“But I don’t like birds,” she said. “Especially that one. It poos like an elephant! Why can’t Orlu do it?”
Nancy made a snapping sound with her beak and ruffled her feathers.
“This isn’t a discussion,” Taiwo said.
Chichi looked disgusted as she reached for the bag and poured some of the contents in her hand. She held one up. “Are you kidding? Prunes? You want me to feed that bird prunes?”
Sunny bit her bottom lip, working hard not to laugh. She had to work even harder not to laugh as Nancy roughly pecked prunes from Chichi’s hand with her enormous beak.
“All creatures have a place,” Taiwo said, ignoring Chichi’s sulking. “That’s why all of us could die right now and life would go on. You all must be putting the pieces together by now.” She whispered something and soft jazzy music began to play. She winked at Orlu. “You think you’re all too young.” She looked at Sasha and Chichi. “But you two little superintelligent vagabonds know, don’t you?”
“You talking about us being an Oha coven, Oga?” Chichi asked, perking up.
“Yes.”
“It’s obvious,” Sasha said.
“And poor Sunny has no idea what we’re talking about, right?” Taiwo said.
“Basically,” Sunny said.
“The irony,” Taiwo said, laughing to herself.
“What’s ironic?” she asked.
“That’s not for me to explain,” Taiwo said. “All in due time.” She paused for dramatics. Sunny wanted to roll her eyes. These scholars all seemed to like making things seem so huge and mysterious. It was beginning to get on her nerves. “You four will be West Africa’s first pre-level Oha coven.”
“It’s true?” Orlu exclaimed.
“Hard to believe, right?” she said. “None of you knows how to read the stars and none of you will be tall enough to possess the natural ability. If you did, you’d know that something is coming.”
Sunny felt her heart flip. “I do,” she said.
“Oh,” Taiwo said, and then she nodded. “I stand corrected. Anatov told me about you and the candle. Wilderlings can show the future to those without the ability of premonition.
“We Leopard folk need to be extra vigilant these days, but sometimes we need to act. Sunny, an Oha coven bears the responsibility of the world on its shoulders at a specific point in time. Coven members are people of action and authority, but they are also people of selflessness. I trust you all have heard of Black Hat.”
They all nodded. Then Chichi gasped. Sasha grabbed her shoulder and they both just stared at each other.
“That’s why!” Chichi said to Sasha.
“Goddamn!” Sasha said. Then they both looked at Taiwo, who was laughing.
“Both of you, so quick,” Taiwo said. She looked at Orlu and Sunny. “They’ve both just realized that Black Hat is a Leopard Person.”
Orlu nodded. “I considered it but wasn’t sure. Didn’t want to say anything.”
“How do you know?” Sunny asked. “Just because he’s a ritual killer? All ritual killers can’t be Leopard People, can they?”
“No, most ritual killers are misguided or crazy Lamb folk. But we know about Black Hat. He was a scholar. Years before you all were born, Otokoto Ginny passed the last level. He was thirty-four years old, a year older than I was. He shouldn’t have been allowed to even take the test.” Taiwo sucked her teeth in annoyance. “He passed, but he was never fit to be a scholar. His hunger for wealth and power were as strong as his hunger for chittim. Otokoto had the biggest appetite for these things. I don’t know what was wrong with him. He has to be stopped, not just for the sake of the children he is drawing from but for the world. This is the job we are giving to you four.”
Sunny’s mouth fell open. Orlu cried out in frustration. Sasha laughed and said, “Bring it on.” Chichi slapped hands and snapped fingers with Sasha.
“We don’t know what it is he’s planning, but these killings and maimings point toward the blackest, most secret type of juju,” Taiwo said. “The kind that requires ritual sacrifices of human beings. The fact that he is targeting children means he is working with juju that draws its power from life and innocence. In three months, we’ll expect you to go after this man. It’s not so much about finding him as it is about waiting for the right moment to strike.”
“How do you know when that is?” Orlu asked.
“We don’t, but we think we’ll know it when we see it.”
Orlu frowned. “The scholars, you mean?”
“From Leopard Knocks and other distant places. We’re all working together on this one. We met and decided on you last year. Except Sunny. We had an idea about her, but couldn’t see her clearly until you, Chichi, introduced her to your mother.”
Sunny had to say something. “You expect us to capture this Black Hat, who is like you, one of these people who has passed the highest of the highest level of juju ability? That’s-I mean no disrespect-” She paused, the irritation that had been brewing in her for weeks suddenly flaring bright. She felt used. “That’s insane! And-and I’m beginning to know how you people think! You’ll just find some other kids to do it if we’re all murdered! And why am I included in this?! I don’t know anything!”
“This is bigger than you,” Taiwo said, turning very serious. “But you’re part of it, too. It would be unfair for me to expect you to understand this just yet, but you will.”
Sunny exhaled loudly but looked away, working hard to shut her mouth. What else could she say that was coherent and not full of swear words, anyway?
The next morning, when she woke and stretched, something fell off her bed. It was a rolled-up newspaper from Leopard Knocks, an early edition. Taped to it was a receipt that said:
Welcome, new subscriber. We appreciate your business. Please pay Chichi Nimm a sum of one small silver chittim. Have a nice day!
Conclusion
So there you have it. All you need to know to get started. As I have repeated incessantly throughout this book, there is no direction you can turn that does not face you toward certain death. The best thing to do is be who you’ve been, don’t move, stay where you are, drop all ambition as a Leopard Person. Relax. Do not strive too high. Learn but do not use. And only learn the basics. It is best to remain in your protective shell. Ambition is not your friend. Be glad the Leopard world has been opened to you, but remain a mere spectator. And for the hundredth time, I repeat: KEEP YOUR SECRET LIFE FROM YOUR LAMB RELATIONS AND ACQUAINTANCES. Not only are there dire consequences for breaching secrecy, but you risk upsetting a very delicate, crucial hard-earned balance. Now go well, free agent. Be well. And again I say: Welcome.