Akata Witch

always knew what you were. Sunny’s a free agent. She didn’t know anything.”

Even Sunny couldn’t argue with that.

What Are Masquerades?

Up to now you’ve known masquerades to be mere symbolic manifestations of the ancestors or spirits. Men and boys dress up in elaborate cloth and raffia costumes and dance, jeer, or joke, depending on whom they are manifesting. Up to now, you’ve believed masquerades to be nothing more than myth, folklore, theater, and tradition. Now that you are a Leopard Person, know that your world has just become more real. Creatures are real. Ghosts, witches, demons, shape-shifters, and masquerades, all real. Masquerades are always dangerous. They can kill, steal your soul, take your mind, take your past, rewrite your future, bring the end of the world, even. As a free agent you will have nothing to do with the real thing, otherwise you face certain death. If you are smart you will leave true masquerades up to those who know what to do with juju.

from Fast Facts for Free Agents

4

Leopard Knocks His Foot

“I thought today was supposed to be fun,” Sunny mumbled when they got to the bridge. She tugged at her raffia dress. “Ugh, this is so scratchy.”

“Would you rather have fun or learn the meaning of your life?” Chichi asked.

“There’s no ‘meaning’ to any of this.”

“I’ll carry that across for you,” Orlu said, taking Sunny’s heavy purse.

“Thanks.”

He rubbed the smooth black stone buried at the bridge’s beginning and stepped onto the bridge. As he walked, Sunny could have sworn that she saw something weird happen to his head. Her entire body went cold. Walking easily along the super-narrow bridge, strolling casually, he soon disappeared in the mist.

As Sasha followed Orlu across the bridge, Chichi turned Sunny’s head to her. “Focus on me,” she said.

“What happens when you cross?” Sunny was glad Chichi wouldn’t let her look. She suspected that if she watched Sasha, she’d see the weird thing happen to his head, too.

“To cross the bridge-well, you need to know some things,” Chichi said. “We’ll tell you everything once we get to Leopard Knocks.”

Where have I heard that before? Sunny said to herself.

But to her surprise, Chichi started telling her now. “Okay, as they said, Lambs are people who have no juju. You were never a Lamb, but you have to be initiated to become a functioning Leopard Person. That dress you’re wearing is a dress for new initiates.”

“Did you have to be initiated?” Sunny asked.

“Yes, two years ago. But I’ve always known of my Leopard inheritance and I’ve always been able to do small things like make mosquitoes stay away, warm my bathwater, things like that. Initiation meant something different to me than to you. It’s more a mark of beginning my life’s journey. Yours was, too-but it was also the actual beginning of your Self.

“Every Leopard Person has two faces-a human face and a spirit face. I’ve always known my human and spirit face. When I was born, for the first week of my life, I wore my spirit face. My parents didn’t know what my human face looked like until my seventh day of life.” She paused, looking at Sunny’s shocked face.

“Oh, relax,” she snapped. “It was the same with Orlu, Sasha-all Leopard People with pure inheritance. Anyway, the spirit face is more you than your physical face, it stays with you, it doesn’t age, you can control it as it controls you. But it’s impolite to show it in public. It’s like being naked. I think it’s because in this form, you cannot lie or hide anything. Lies are a thing of the physical world. They can’t exist in the spirit world.”

Sunny thought it all sounded like something a crazy old man would think. Imagine some inebriated old man shambling down the street, a bottle of palm wine in his hand, shouting, “My face is no longer of this world, o!” Maybe Chichi, Orlu, and Sasha were all on drugs.

Chichi went on. “The bridge is a ‘link.’ It’s a patch of the spirit world that exists in the physical world. That’s why Leopard Knocks was built here. Leopard Knocks is on an island conjured by the ancestors.…” She shook her head. “Any of this making sense to you?”

“Sort of.” Actually, Sunny thought Chichi was utterly insane.

Chichi smiled. “So, to cross you have to call up your spirit face.” She looked around. Sunny looked around, too. They were alone.

“I’ll show you mine,” Chichi whispered.

“Okay,” Sunny said, though she wasn’t sure if she wanted to see it, especially if it was supposed to be like being naked.

“Don’t think I’ll ever do this for you again, either,” Chichi said. “And don’t you ever dare tell Sasha or Orlu what it looks like.”

Sunny considered giving an even more cutting response, but then she realized that Chichi was dead serious. “Okay,” she said again.

Chichi stepped back. Right before Sunny’s eyes, Chichi’s face melted, shifted, and morphed into something inhuman. Sunny stifled a scream.

Chichi’s spirit face looked like a perfectly carved ceremonial mask.

It was long, about the length of her forearm, and made of a hard marble-like periwinkle substance. The two eyes were square indentations colored in with what looked like blue paint. Two white lines ran from the eyes to the sides of a pointy chin. The nose was long and outlined in white. The mouth was a large black grin. And it wasn’t just her face that had changed. Her body language changed, too. She was suddenly quick and precise.

“I am Igri,” Chichi said in a deep male voice. She laughed, doing a backflip. Sunny stumbled away, startled by Chichi’s sudden flexibility and agility. Chichi was always quick and on point, but now those qualities were exaggerated. The oddest thing was that Chichi’s spirit face still somehow looked like Chichi. She did have a pointy chin and a long face. She changed herself back, and for a moment the girls just stared at each other.

“What’s Igri?” Sunny asked.

“My spirit name.”

“So I have my own spirit face, too?”

“Yeah.”

Sunny held the chewing stick Sasha had given her, and though it was all frayed, she put it in her mouth. She was glad it was still minty. “So, how do I-”

“Do you remember how you felt when Anatov brought you back?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Like the best ballet dancer on Earth.” Chichi smiled. “Wait a minute, you and Orlu-and Anatov-”

“Yeah, we all saw,” Chichi said, looking guilty. “I only looked for a second before I turned away.”

“But you said it’s like being naked.”

Chichi smiled sheepishly. “Yeah.”

“Oh my goodness! I’m so embarrassed!”

“Come on, we’re your friends.”

“Look at all the stuff you said before you would even give me a peek of your spirit face! Yet there I was for everyone to see! It’s like my butt was exposed!”

“Different context,” she said with a laugh. “And your spirit face is nothing like your butt.”

“At least Sasha wasn’t there,” she mumbled. “So… what did I look like?”

Chichi gestured at Sunny’s umbrella. “It’s funny. You know how you told me you need this when noon hits?