“What happened?” he asked more intently.
It was a relief to tell him about what she had seen in the candle flame. But when she finished, she didn’t like the look on Anatov’s face. “Are you sure this is what you saw?” he asked quietly. She nodded. “Hmm. That’s… interesting.”
“Why don’t you start from the beginning, Oga?” Orlu said. “All you’re doing is confusing her.”
“That’s your job,” Anatov said, annoyed. “Teach her the rules, too. I expect you all back here in four nights. Twelve midnight, sharp.”
“What?” Sunny said. “I can’t-”
“You’re now a Leopard girl,” Anatov said, getting up. “Find a way.” Business completed, he turned to Orlu and grinned. “Guess who arrived today?”
Orlu groaned. “Already? Come on.”
“Your mother didn’t remind you?” Anatov said with a laugh. “She, his mother Keisha, and I have been talking about it for a week. Maybe your mother wanted to surprise you.”
“I hate surprises,” Orlu mumbled.
Chichi laughed. “If not for Sunny, we wouldn’t have come today.”
“Things have a way of working themselves out,” Anatov said. “It’s as I taught you: the world is bigger and more important than you.”
Orlu grunted.
“So,” Chichi asked, looking around, “where is he?”
“Who?” Sunny asked, rubbing her forehead. She had a headache.
“Sasha!” Anatov called. A voice responded from somewhere outside. Anatov sucked his teeth, irritated. “What are you doing? Get over here,” he said in his American-accented English.
“Sasha?” Chichi whispered to Sunny in Igbo. “What kind of name is that for a boy?”
Sunny was tired and confused, but she couldn’t help but giggle. It was a girly name. Still, the boy who entered the hut wasn’t girly at all.
“What took you so long?” Anatov asked sternly in English.
“I was taking a nap,” Sasha said, blinking and rubbing his eyes. He, too, spoke with a strong American accent. “Still got jetlag, man.” He wiped his face with his hand.
“Sasha, meet Orlu, Sunny, and Chichi,” Anatov said formally.
“Hey,” Sasha said coolly, thrusting his hands in his pockets. “’S up?”
Everything about him said “America.” His baggy jeans, his white T-shirt with a logo on the chest, and his super white Nike sneakers. He was tall and lanky like Sunny and he had tightly cornrowed hair that extended into long braids that went past his neck, and a gold nose ring like Anatov’s.
“Good afternoon,” the three friends said together in English.
His eyes fell on Sunny.
“Sasha’s from Chicago,” Anatov said. “He’s been sent here to… cool down. In the meantime, he’ll also be taught by and going through Mbawkwa with me.”
“Did you just get here?” Chichi asked.
“Yeah, three days ago,” Sasha said. “My first time on a plane. Can’t wait till I pass Ndibu, so I’ll never have to use a goddamn plane again.”
“What makes you so sure you’ll pass Ndibu?” Chichi asked.
“Watch me,” he said.
Chichi seemed to like this response. “How do you like it here?”
He shrugged and smiled. “It’s cool.” He laughed to himself. “No, it’s hot, damn hot. But it’s cool. I dig Leopard Knocks. Wish we had a community central space like that in Chicago. Most of us are in what I consider hiding.”
“Oh, we hide here, too,” Chichi said. “But we get by.”
“Orlu, Sasha’s things are already on their way to your parents’. You’re all free to go,” he said, shooing them out. “I’ve got things to do. I’ll see y’all in four nights.” He paused and looked at Sunny. Then he smirked. “And take care of her.”
“We will,” Orlu said.
“Of course,” Chichi added.
Before Sunny knew it, Anatov had pushed them out through the IN door.
“What’s wrong with that guy?” She went to lean against a nearby tree, feeling nauseous, tired, and irritable. Not a good combination. “And why does he have those ‘in’ and ‘out’ signs if no one uses them?”
“To him, his hut is outside the average rubbish-filled world,” Orlu said, looking back. “Only with reluctance does he leave.”
“Here,” Sasha said, reaching into his pocket and bringing out what looked like a fresh chewing stick. “Gnaw on this for a while. You’ll feel better.”
It was minty. She did feel better. “Thanks,” she said.
“Yeah,” Sasha said. “Man, I wish I’d have known. I’ve never seen an Ekpiri initiation on a free agent. I was half asleep outside when I heard your return. Splat!” He laughed.
“It was loud like that?”
“Yep,” Sasha said. “Like a load of rotten entrails dropping on the floor.”
“How come I’m dry now?”
“That’s the way it works.”
Chichi looked at Orlu as if waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t, she turned to Sasha and asked, “Are you ready to go?”
Sasha cocked his head. “Why doesn’t he ask me?” he said, looking at Orlu. “He’s the one I’ll be living with.”
“Because I don’t speak to dangerous people,” Orlu grumbled in Igbo.
“Yo, what is your problem?”
Orlu turned to Sasha. “I know about you,” he said in English, scowling at Sasha. “My parents told me everything. Why would I want to live with someone like you?”
“Orlu!” Chichi said.
Sunny leaned back against the tree, chewing the mint stick.
Orlu scoffed. “Why don’t you tell them why you’re here? Give them some details.”
Sasha thrust his hands deeper into his pockets. “Selfrighteous African,” he mumbled.
“Troublemaking black American,” Orlu spat. “Akata criminal.”
“Hey!” Sunny said.
“As if I don’t know what that means,” Sasha said, looking mildly annoyed.
“As if I care,” Orlu said.
“Both of you, shut up,” Chichi said. “Ugh, this won’t do! Sasha, what’s your story? Just tell us.”
“Why should I?” Sasha said.
“Because we asked,” Sunny said quietly, sitting down at the foot of the tree.
Sasha paused, then sighed.
“So you know,” she continued, “I was born in the States, too. I came back with my parents when I was nine. That’s only three years ago.” She paused and looked meaningfully at Orlu. “I may not talk about it much, but most days I feel very much like an… akata.”
Orlu looked at his feet, obviously ashamed. Serves him right for being so thoughtless, Sunny thought.
Sasha seemed a little calmer. “Fine. Okay. Like it matters.” He ran his hand over his cornrows. “I got into one too many fights at school. My parents were stupid enough to move into a neighborhood that was not only all white but all Lambs.”
“Lambs?” she asked.
“Folks with no juju,” he said. “There wasn’t a sorcerer, healer, or seer, for miles and miles. Anyway, so yeah, because of all that and because I don’t take crap from anybody, I got into a lot of fights. And,” he added quickly, “maybe I worked some stuff on some kids who were giving me problems.”
Orlu laughed scornfully. “He set a masquerade on three boys in his class!”
“What?” Chichi exclaimed.
“They talked smack about my parents and were harassing my sisters!” Sasha shouted.
“You can do that?” Chichi asked, impressed. “That’s Ndibu level juju!”
“Who cares what level?” Orlu said. “He’s Ekpiri like we are.”
“Man, there are books and I read them,” Sasha said. “Plus, it was only a minor masquerade.”