Chapters (109)
- Part One
- ONE
- One day earlier
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- PART TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- EIGHTY-EIGHT
- EIGHTY-NINE
- NINETY
- NINETY-ONE
- NINETY-TWO
- NINETY-THREE
- NINETY-FOUR
- NINETY-FIVE
- NINETY-SIX
- NINETY-SEVEN
- NINETY-EIGHT
- NINETY-NINE
- GLOSSARY
- Acknowledgments
- Continue reading
- Part One
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
The croc flipped out of the tub and landed on the ground with an earthshaking thud. The crowd yelled in one voice. Bruno was horrified at how massive the creature was out of its cramped quarters—and it looked furious. It roared and jackknifed its muscular, armored body around in a U toward Issufu and Kweku. Issufu yelled and jumped out of the way. Somehow the rope came off Frankie’s snout, leaving him free. Kweku cursed and yelled, “Get the rope on! Get it!” He held the tail fast and moved a quarter turn counterclockwise the same way as the croc. Two men from the courtyard rushed in to help hold the tail as Frankie whipped it to one side, throwing Kweku off balance.
“Get the mouth!” Kweku shouted at Issufu, but it wasn’t safe and Issufu couldn’t do it. Frankie’s tail came out of the men’s grasp and it made a dash for the metal barrier. The crowd disassembled in seconds. Frankie hit the metal hard, rolled over and darted for a tight corner beside the cows’ enclosure where it stopped, its head under a rusty piece of corrugated tin roofing. Issufu started after it but Kweku stopped him.
“Wait, wait!” he snapped. “You’ve messed the whole thing up. Give me the rope, you fool. You told me you knew how to do it, and now look!”
Issufu, squat and strong, suddenly looked small and crushed. Bruno, machete in hand, hadn’t had even a second’s chance to strike the crocodile. Now what? His heart was pounding and his entire body quivered.
“This is what we’ll do,” Kweku said. “I’ll get on the wall from the other side to get the rope around the mouth. It can’t move backward easily, but everybody watch out in case it does.”
Sitting astride the wall, Kweku inched the rectangular sheet of corrugated metal off Frankie’s head. Its baleful eye seemed to be watching to see what would happen next. Little by little, at a painfully slow pace, Kweku had Frankie’s snout in the clear. He lowered the noose slowly and, barely touching the croc’s skin, he got the rope over the snout and both jaws. Kweku inched back along the wall for more leverage, then pulled.
Frankie abandoned any trace of docility and reared up against the wall as if to climb it. Kweku yelled and pulled his foot out of the way. The croc fell on its back with a bang, this time with its head toward the courtyard. It flipped over, hissed and charged. Kweku went flying off the wall behind the croc, but he held on to the rope.
“It’s coming!” he shouted. “Move away!”