“Oh no!” Sunny said, turning to Orlu. “He did it a—”

The truck full of oranges was in front of them, and it swerved across the dirt median of the road into oncoming traffic. Two cars and an SUV dodged the truck as the truck’s driver panicked and tried to dodge the two cars and SUV and, in doing so, lost control. Tires burning rubber, it whipped sideways and capsized, spilling oranges all over the road.

As soon as the truck lost control, the kabu kabu driver took them right off the road and screeched to a stop. It was in this way that they also witnessed the okada and its driver fly into the ditch on their side of the road and tumble into the tall grass. He jumped up and looked at the sky with his mouth agape. Then he looked at them.

“Did you . . . I saw . . .” He looked toward the chaos in the street and forgot the rest of his words.

Sunny was sure she heard the grasscutter’s sneaky laughter from nearby. She even thought she saw some of the spilled oranges disappear. “That is so wrong,” she muttered.

“At least no one is dead,” Chichi said.

They all got back into the kabu kabu and were quiet for the rest of the ten-minute drive, and as soon as they got out of the car, the driver sped off without even demanding his pay.

27

QUICK CHOICES

Sunny breathed a great sigh of relief. For one thing, no council car appeared. This meant that Grashcoatah’s indiscretions hadn’t been severe enough to warrant punishment. Secondly, Adebayo’s car wasn’t there. Her brother and Adebayo were out. They hadn’t seen Chukwu and Adebayo since the two had left to party on New Year’s Eve. But what of the house help? What day was it? The stress settled on her shoulders again. What would happen if Lambs saw the grasscutter? Really saw him? For more than a millisecond? Once inside Adebayo’s compound they stood there. Waiting. Then the dust in the large parking lot puffed up as Grashcoatah softly landed.

“What’d you have to go and do all that for?” Sasha shouted at him. “People could have died!”

More grasscutter laughter.

“Please,” Orlu softly said, stepping in front of Sunny. “Have some rest, Grashcoatah. You’ve just come into being. I know you’re tired.”

Sunny heard the grasscutter grunt.

“Take a nap,” Orlu said. “No one will harm you here. You are safe and it’s nice.”

A soft wind picked up and the dust wafted up on the side of the compound close to the house. Grashcoatah purred softly. Sunny could see the weeds growing there flatten as the grasscutter settled down. When he made no more sound, the four of them congregated quietly in the doorway.

“Grasscutters turn invisible when they sleep,” Orlu said. “It’s a protective mechanism. They sleep for about five, six hours after birth, so at least we’ll have until nightfall. I think we should get out of here by then. Otherwise someone’s going to see him. He can’t resist the temptation to scare humans. He’s smart enough to keep it short. But sooner or later he’ll slip and we’ll all end up in the Obi Library basement and he’ll be plant food.”