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.