9
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
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
“Good morning,
“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
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,
“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.
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
