Mwita and I were forced to weave our way around, as we stayed close to Luyu. To stick too close would mean bumping into a lot of people, which would get Luyu into trouble. It was difficult, but what Luyu was doing was much harder.

The woman stopped at a vendor and bought Luyu a ring made of melted sand. “You’re a pretty girl. It will look nice on you,” the woman said, then she went back to blabbing on her device. Luyu took the ring, muttering a “thank you” in Nuru and slipped it on. Luyu held it up and turned it in the sunshine.

Twenty minutes later we finally arrived at the woman’s large booth in a busy market. “Set them there,” the woman said. When Luyu did so, the woman waved a hand at her, “Go on then.” And just like that, Luyu was free. Within moments, she was asked to carry a bundle of palm fiber, then sweep out someone’s booth, model a dress, shovel camel feces. Mwita and I took rests where we could, hiding under tables or between booths and letting ourselves reappear for a few minutes before going ignorable again.

When she was asked to pour okada fuel into containers, the fumes and her fatigue caused her to faint. Mwita had to slap her awake. The good thing about this job was that she got to do it alone in a tent and Mwita and I were able to help and take a break.

By this time, the sun was in the middle of the sky. We’d been in Durfa for three hours. Luyu got her chance when she finished pouring the okada fuel. As fast as she could, she ran into an alley between two large buildings. Clothes hung across it and I could hear a baby crying from one of the windows. These were residential buildings.

“Praise Ani,” Luyu whispered.

Mwita and I let ourselves reappear. “Whoo, I’m exhausted,” Mwita said, putting his hands on his knees.

I rubbed my temples and then the side of my head. My headache was flaring up. We were all sweating. “Luyu, much respect,” I said, giving her a hug.

“I hate this place,” she said into my shoulder, starting to cry.

“Yeah,” I said. I hated it too. Just seeing the Okeke shuffling around. Seeing Luyu have to do the same. Something was wrong…with everyone here. The Okeke didn’t look too bothered as they worked. And the Nuru weren’t openly cruel to them. I didn’t see anyone beaten up. That woman had said Luyu was pretty and bought her a ring. It was confusing and strange.

“Onyesonwu, fly up and see if you can find the Conversation Space,” Mwita said.

“How will I find you?” I said.

“You can bring people from the dead,” Luyu said. “Think of something.”

“Go,” Mwita said. “Hurry.”

“We might not be here when you get back,” Luyu said.

I shrugged out of my clothes. Luyu rolled them up and put them against the alley wall. Mwita pulled me into a tight hug and I kissed his nose. Then I changed into a vulture and took off.

The midday’s warm air current beckoned me to fly higher, but I kept low, near the buildings and palm-tree tops. As a vulture, I could actually feel my father. He was indeed in Durfa. I soared for a moment, my eyes closed. I opened them and looked in the direction that I felt he was in. There was the open Conversation Space. My eyes were pulled to a building just north of it. I knew it would have a blue door.

I circled, memorizing the way. A bird knows its location at all times. I laughed, the sound coming out as a squawk. How could I think I wouldn’t be able to find Mwita and Luyu? I thought. As I flew back to the alley a glint of gold caught my eye. I turned and flew east to a wide street where a parade seemed to be going on. I landed on top of a building and assumed my vulture hunch.

I looked down and saw not just one glint of gold, but hundreds of round golden plates sewn into yellow-brown military uniforms. Each carried a large similarly colored backpack. They were ready for anything. People cheered as the soldiers marched. They were congregating somewhere I couldn’t see. We’re too late, I thought, remembering Sola’s warning. Those armies couldn’t leave before I did what I had to do, whatever that was.

I flew over the soldiers, low enough for them to notice me. I needed to follow their lines. I glimpsed their faces, young determined-looking men with golden skin so different from my mother’s dark brown. They were marching into a huge building made of metal and brick. I didn’t catch the name on the building’s sign. I’d seen enough. They weren’t marching out yet. Soon. Maybe within hours but not yet.

I flew back to the alley. Mwita and Luyu were gone. I cursed. I changed back. As I dressed, I sweated profusely and my hands shook. Right after I pulled my shirt over my head, I met the eyes of a Nuru man standing at the alley entrance. His eyes were wide as he had just gotten a view of my breasts and now was seeing my face. I put on my veil, made myself ignorable and ran around him. When I looked back, he was still standing there looking into the alley. Let him think he saw a ghost, I thought. Let it drive him mad.

I searched for several minutes. No luck. I stood there, in the middle of a large crowd of Nurus and the occasional Okeke. How I despised this place. I cursed to myself and a Nuru man passing by me frowned and looked around. How do I find them? I thought, desperately. My panic was making it hard to concentrate. I closed my eyes and I did something I’d never really done. I prayed to Ani, the Creator, to Papa, Binta, whoever would listen. Please. I can’t do this alone. I can’t be alone. Watch over Luyu. I need Mwita. Binta should be alive. Aro do you hear me? Mama, I wish I was five years old again.

I wasn’t making sense to myself, I was just praying, if this was praying. Whatever it was, it calmed me. My mind showed me Aro’s first lesson in the Mystic Points. “Bricoleur,” I said out loud, as I stood there. “One who uses all that he has in order to do what he has to do.”

I went over three of the four points. The Mmuo Point moves and shapes the wilderness. The Alusi Point speaks with spirits. The Uwa Point moves and shapes the physical world, the body. I needed to find Mwita and Luyu’s bodies. I can find Mwita, I realized. I had a part of him in me. His sperm. Connection. I stood very still and turned inward. Through my skin, fat, muscle, into my womb. There they were wriggling away. “Where is he?” I asked them. They told me.

“Ewu!” someone yelled. “Look at it!”

Several people gasped. Everyone in the market suddenly stared at and moved away from me. I’d been so focused on the inside of myself that I’d become visible. Someone grabbed my arm. I snatched it away, became ignorable and pushed my way through the pressing crowd. Again, I wondered about these people who seemed so content and peaceful but changed into monsters when their sterile Nuru environment was even slightly compromised. There was chaos as they searched frantically for me. The news would spread, especially in a place like this where so many had those communication devices.

We were running out of time.

I ran, looking not so much with my eyes as with something else inside me. I spotted Luyu outside the large Conversation Space. She was standing with another Okeke woman. They were watching over a group of Nuru children while their parents went to the prayer space to pray. Luyu looked miserable.

“I’m here,” I said, stepping beside her.

She jumped and looked around. “Onye?” she asked.

The Okeke woman standing near Luyu looked at her.

“Shh,” I said.

Luyu smiled.

“Mwita?” I called.

“I’m here,” he said.

“I saw soldiers preparing to leave. We don’t have much time,” I whispered.

A Nuru child of about two yanked on Luyu’s sleeve.

“Bread?” the girl asked. “Bread?”

Luyu reached into the satchel beside her and tore off a piece of bread and gave it to the child. The child smiled at her, “Thank you.”

Luyu smiled back.