Kweku nodded. “Then you will have to be very good at what you do. You must believe and be strong. You see, some of the things I do, if you don’t take care, the power you get will be too much and it will take you down. Like the sea is a friend to a fisherman, but if the sea becomes rough, it can also overwhelm him. You get me? You must believe completely. If you have any fear—any fear at all—inside, you will fail.”

“Yes please.”

“And what again do you want?”

“Women. Plenty.”

“Everybody want that. That one be tough. For that one, you need this.” He leaned over and reached under the bed, dragging out a huge skull that startled Bruno.

“This one,” Kweku said, “is from a crocodile. If you wear this around your neck for one month, you will get women. In fact, you will be famous, and everyone will want to be with you.”

“Wow,” Bruno said, impressed. “How did you get this big crocodile head?”

“We go to the Pra or Ankobra River,” Kweku said, sliding the skull back under the bed. “We catch a baby one after it comes out of the egg and then we grow it here.”

“Grow it here?” Bruno echoed, glancing around as if a live crocodile might be in the room.

Kweku smiled. “We have one outside. You want to see it?”

Bruno suppressed a flinch and nodded, already remembering the admonishment against fear. He followed Kweku outside around the cow enclosure to a sheltered cubbyhole full of trash, scrap metal, and a rusty bathtub. Kweku removed the rectangular plank and metal pan sitting on top of it, revealing a grate resting on the rim of the tub. With his phone, Kweku illuminated the reptile within. It was dark gray with a waxy hide and muscular legs pressed against its sides by the tub, which was altogether too small. A black, oozing fluid partially covered the beast’s legs. For a moment, the crocodile didn’t move, but all of a sudden it raised its snout, opened its jagged mouth and hissed. Bruno’s hairs stood on end, but he didn’t step back because he knew Ponsu was observing him for his reaction.

“It’s big,” Bruno said.

“This is nothing,” Kweku boasted. “It will grow even more. We call him Frankie.”

“Then you will have to find a bigger container for it. What do you give it to eat?”

“Chickens.”

“Okay.”

“Can you face this crocodile?”

“What do you mean ‘face it?’” Bruno asked, looking at Kweku.

“For the best powers and the most success, you should wear the crocodile skull, but it has to be a crocodile you have killed. So, you will have to be the one to do it.”

Bruno licked his lips nervously. “How?”

“I drag him by the tail on the ground, then when I tell you, you cut the neck with a cutlass. One strike only.”