22

FRESH, FRESH, FINE EWUJU!

It was as if the roads were trying to kill them.

There were potholes and craters everywhere. In one place the road seemed to have sloughed off completely, and they’d had to bumble their way across the jagged remains. Somehow the tires did not flatten, but the poor roads made the going slow and dangerous. A few times they passed parts of the road that were so uneven from erosion that they nearly tipped over. Thankfully it was dry season; otherwise the roads would have been muddy impassable gullies.

Then there were the go-slows, traffic that robbed their trip of precious time. Two hours after suffering the pothole- and crater-riddled road, they’d sat on the expressway for a whole hour and a half without moving. On the sides of the road were occasional shanties and stretches of trees, and from both of these came an assortment of beggars and hawkers. One of the beggars was a young man in scruffy clothes with knotted hair and a mad look in his eyes. He reminded Sunny of the man they’d seen in Bola’s waiting room. He leaned against Chichi’s window staring at her. No matter how many times Sasha told him to go away, he wouldn’t budge until Sasha had actually gotten out of the car and chased the man off.

The hawkers sold all sorts of things, from raw corn, pure water, and bread to skewers of beef suya, plantain chips, and roasted bush meat. One man had even held up a whole bush rat to Orlu’s window. “Fresh, fresh, fine ewuju!” he proclaimed. He’d asked for six hundred naira and even offered to skin it while they waited. The bush rat looked as if it had been killed minutes ago, still dripping blood.

Orlu had simply waved him off.

When the go-slow finally let up, they began encountering the checkpoints where Chukwu was forced to “do Christmas” for the police in order to get by without being delayed. The blatant demand for bribes especially irritated Sasha, who held a particular hatred for police officers. Chichi had to grab his hand as Chukwu dealt with the road police so that Sasha would keep his mouth shut. When they were stopped by a third police checkpoint within two hours, Sasha was ready to jump from his seat and “slap the man across the face.” This was when Orlu said they should stop and find a hotel.

They were in Benin City, only halfway there, and already the sun was going down. Thankfully, Chichi had planned ahead. “Chukwu, pull over. Sunny, give me your phone, let me call my uncle.”

Chukwu pulled into the parking lot of a roadside market. Chichi dialed the number. “I told him we’d be coming,” she said as she waited for him to pick up.

“You sure it’ll be all right?” Sunny asked.

“Of course. They have a big house and they love me,” Chichi said. “This is my aunt, my mother’s sister . . .” She held up a hand. “Hello? Hello? Uncle Uyobong? Good evening.” She grinned and laughed and then began to speak in rapid Efik.