Gently but firmly, she pushed the bed and touched the exposed floorboard. She felt around the edges and located the notch and lifted it up. There was the money. Rolls and rolls of American dollar bills and naira, held together tightly with rubber bands. She grabbed them and quickly began rubbing them on her arm. She rubbed and rubbed, watching her brother. He shifted in his bed again but then came to rest and didn’t move.

She breathed on the wads of cash and then got up. He was now tossing and turning, trying to thrash himself awake. Unsure of what to do, she took the chance. If she failed and he saw her, she’d certainly be caned this time. Having Sugar Cream as a mentor, the very person who would decide on punishment, wouldn’t ensure her of any sympathy. As a matter of fact, it would probably get her the harshest punishment. Sugar Cream was the best teacher she could have hoped for and one of Sunny’s favorite people, but she was also a hard, hard woman. There was a reason she was the Head Librarian.

Sunny ran toward the door, bringing forth her spirit face. She leaped over Ugonna’s piles of books. Then she dove through the keyhole just as her brother sat up. Once on the other side, she ran off. She had seconds where she would not be heard. When she made it to her room, she waited quietly until she became substantial. Then she quickly grabbed the Mami Wata comb in her hair and used one of the teeth to pick the lock. She opened the door and went in.

“Did you get it?” Chukwu asked.

She looked down at her hands. Along with her comb, she was carrying the wads of cash. It had worked. She smiled, hearing a chink outside her door as a chittim fell in the hallway. She’d never carried anything with her before when she glided between the wilderness and the physical world like this.

She threw the money on Chukwu’s lap. He grinned. “Thank you!”

She sat beside him on her bed. “You’re not leaving until you tell me everything.”

“No.”

“Why?”

He looked at Sunny with eyes so ablaze that she nearly jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. “Why?” she asked again, grasping the rim of the bed to keep her steady. “What happened? Armed robbers? What . . .”

“Sunny. . . if I tell you, I’m putting you in danger. Even seeing me here tonight isn’t good,” he said, looking away. “The less you know, the better it will be if they come looking for me here.”

She touched his hard muscular shoulder and he winced. “Don’t,” he whispered.

“Is anything broken?” she quietly asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe one or two of my ribs.”

“Will you see a doctor?”

“Yes. When I can. I promise.”

“Please, Chukwu, what happened?”

The pained look crossed his face again. And he thought for a long time. He glanced at the door. And then he started talking. And the very thing that Sunny suspected and had feared from the moment he left for school turned out to have happened.