“What the hell?” Chichi whispered, looking disgusted.

“What?”

“They’re calling to the devil in Yoruba,” Chichi said.

Sunny shivered.

Two of the guys started building a fire, another two set down a cooler and one other set down a chair. A light-brown-skinned guy with keloids on his chin sat in the chair. This had to be Capo, the leader. The one who after having her brother beaten by ten guys had pulled out Chukwu’s tooth, cut him with a shark tooth, enjoyed all of it, and then left him to live or die. In the firelight, Sunny memorized his silhouette. Looking straight at the firelight made it hard for Sunny to see his face. She wasn’t wearing her glasses and in the night; they would not have helped anyway. But she could make him out well enough. Sunny felt her own fire, which had been burning in her chest since seeing her brother’s battered face.

After a few minutes, they stopped singing and all the members sat on the ground before Capo. One big beefy guy, whose muscles looked ready to burst out of his red shirt, stood behind Capo with his meaty arms across his chest. Then Capo was speaking, but he spoke in a low tone, and neither Sunny nor Chichi could hear. Sunny and Chichi weren’t concerned about what was being said; they were just waiting for the right time. It came about a half hour later, when it must have been well past three A.M. They’d opened the cooler and had been drinking and drinking. Then Capo grabbed a bottle of Guinness beer, drank it all at once, and started singing the devil song. Soon everyone joined him. As the minutes passed, their singing grew more drunken and frenzied.

“Okay,” Chichi said. “I didn’t plan for this, but it’s perfect. We call the Murks on them, and they’ll think it’s the devil attacking them, not two Leopard girls hiding in the bushes. No council people can arrest us for that because we won’t have broken the rules of exposure. I don’t even think they’ll have reason to give us a warning!”

Sunny grinned. “That’s brilliant!” Her smile decreased a bit. “But what will the Murks do? Will it be enough? If we don’t show ourselves, how will they know to leave us alone?”

“Just watch,” Chichi said, bringing out her juju knife and a sack. “There’s juju powder in here. Do not sneeze, no matter what.”

The guys were singing crazily now. Sunny didn’t think they’d notice if she sneezed her brains out.

“Bring your cell phone,” Chichi whispered. “Remember, don’t turn it on. The screen has to be dark.”

Sunny brought it out and handed it to her. “I turned the contrast and brightness all the way down.”

“Okay. And you set the timer, right?”

“Yes,” she said. “It’s ticking down now. Should have about thirty minutes before it stops.”

“It won’t ring or vibrate?”

“Right. It’ll just stop timing.”

“Okay. Here, touch the surface,” Chichi said. “Run your fingertips over it.”