Akata Witch

Sunny closed her phone, wiped her tears, and put all her questions out of her head. She had to focus. She turned to her friends. “Tell me about Ekwensu.”

“She is what Satan is to the Christians,” Chichi said. “But more real, more tangible. She’s not a metaphor or symbol. She’s one of the most powerful masquerades in the wilderness. If she comes through, if Black Hat succeeds-think of what you saw in that candle. Now see that controlled by some demented super-monster that no person or thing can stop.”

They had twenty minutes before they reached the gas station. Sunny held her head in her hands.

19

Under the Hat

It wasn’t hard to find, even in the rain. Trouble is never hard to find.

All they had to do was follow the line of cars. It started where the funky train dropped them off and led them to the shiny, spotless gas station. They huddled under Sunny’s large black umbrella as they walked-the umbrella she once used to protect herself from the sun.

“What’s the point?” Sasha asked. “These people will probably get stuck in the mud on the way home. These are all Lambs.”

“I think the fuel station is selling really cheap,” Chichi said.

“So?” Sasha said, frowning. “Is it really worth it?”

“Fuel is hard enough to find,” Chichi said. “Cheap fuel is gold.” She paused. “I wonder if having people around helps with whatever Black Hat is planning.”

“Probably,” Orlu said. They were almost there. “Stop. Wait.” Orlu paused. “Cross the street. Hurry up.”

They waited for two cars and a truck to zoom by, which splashed them with water. Quickly, they scrambled across the street and stood in a muddy parking lot.

“Ugh,” Chichi said, slicking muddy water from her arms. “How rude is that?”

“Doesn’t matter now,” Sunny said. “We’re already soaked.”

“What is it, Orlu?” Sasha asked.

“I don’t know,” Orlu said. “As we were getting closer, I kept feeling-you know when I undo things, it’s not always voluntary.”

“Something there?” Chichi said. “Protecting the place from Leopard People?”

“I think so,” Orlu said. “You didn’t feel anything?”

“But you can undo it, right?” Sasha asked.

“I’m scared,” he said simply. Sunny felt sick. Orlu was a proud person. For him to admit this was serious. He let out a deep breath. “If I do this-everything starts. I know it.”

“Then do it,” Sasha said. “That’s what we’re here for.”

“What about the element of surprise?” Sunny asked. She was thinking about how surprise had helped her team score its first goal.

“You can’t always get things the way you want them,” Chichi said.

“We’ll be like cowboys walking into a bar full of criminals,” Sasha said, laughing almost hysterically. He had a crazy look in his eye. “Forget surprise. Let’s just go in there. We’ve all got big guns.” He took out his juju knife. Sunny, Chichi, and Orlu did the same.

Like the team they were, they clicked their knives together. As the knives touched, they seemed to become one thing-one being made of four people. They all jumped back and looked at each other.

“Let’s go then,” Orlu said quickly.

Sunny closed her umbrella, dug its point into the mud, and left it behind. They held their juju knives ready.

People watched from the dry comfort of their cars. Several frowned, blinked, and wiped their eyes. Sunny could imagine what they saw: four kids, one who seemed to glow because of her albino skin. One moment, the kids’ faces looked like ceremonial masks and their motions utterly changed, the next they were just kids again.

More than a few people drove off. Some, not wanting to lose their places in line, moved their cars up to take the spots, killed the engines, and fled. Others sank down in their seats, but not so much that they couldn’t see what was about to go down.

When the four of them got within a few yards of the gas station, Orlu stopped, a nauseated look on his face. Suddenly, he started moving-grasping, slicing, chopping, punching at the air with both his free hand and his juju knife. He was fighting with something. Gradually, he fell to his knees, still fighting.

“Can we help?” Sasha shouted.

Orlu didn’t answer. Sunny had never seen him move his hand and knife so fast. He was like Bruce Lee, except Orlu didn’t look so confident.

Then she felt it-a very slight shift in space, as if they were all moved forward by about a foot.

“Hey! Did you see that?” someone exclaimed from behind them.

“What?” someone else shouted.

“I’m getting out of here!”

More cars started. Several screeched away. In front of them, people still pumped gas. A gang of men came running out of the station, and there was a loud sucking sound. Orlu fell flat on the soaked concrete.

“Orlu!” Sunny shouted.

He’d rolled onto his back, breathing heavily. “Help me up,” he wheezed.

Sasha and Sunny pulled him up. He felt very warm, steam rising from his wet clothes. He leaned on them, rubbing his eyes. Otherwise, he seemed okay. He looked to the side of the gas station, pointed, and said, “You see it? There.”

Before, there had been only an empty lot full of trash and weeds. Now, in the middle of the trash and weeds, was a patch of tall wild grass and an obi. It wasn’t a normal obi. It had the usual thatch roof, but it was held up by steel pillars; there were drawings burned into the metal. Inside, they could just make out a large man and two small shapes on the floor. Lightning flashed across the sky, followed a second later by a bone-shaking crash of thunder. Sunny jumped, clutching Orlu tightly. Now he held her up.

“The storm’s right above us,” he said. “This is where it is.”

A green-yellow blur streamed out of the obi and came rushing right at them, chirping and squawking. Sunny wiped her face to make sure she was really seeing a flock of angrylooking parakeets.

“Bush souls!” Sasha shouted.

“I see them,” Chichi said quickly, holding up her knife. The flock undulated and rolled around the trees, spiraling at them. “There are five.”

“Hey! You kids!” someone shouted. “Where are you going?” It was one of the thugs from the gas station’s store.

Orlu broke into a sprint, and Chichi, Sasha, and Sunny did the same.

“We’re going in,” Orlu shouted.

“We’ll cover you,” Sasha said.

Sunny saw Sasha whirl around and slash at something, a gash appearing on his arm, just as he disappeared in the hail of green-yellow birds. Chichi threw some sort of juju at another black shadow and then was covered by flying parakeets, too. Before Sunny could figure out how to defend herself, something cold hit her in the head. Everything became redness and pain. Then Orlu was shaking her and dragging her on. She fought through the lingering pain.

They ran for the obi. She could see the shapes now. They were children. Toddlers. Lying on the floor. One in a dress, and one in shorts with no shirt. So small and innocent and, perhaps, dead.

They stepped into the obi.

Her eyes met those of the man who had murdered her grandmother.

Black Hat Otokoto had dark, smooth, shiny skin; arm muscles so thick they pushed at his clothes; and a barrel of a potbelly. His chubby-cheeked face was unsmiling and his eyes were set deep between folds of fat. He sneered