Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor

Author:Nnedi Okorafor [Okorafor, Nnedi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: no data
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Published: 2023-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Stormbringer

It took hours for Kwàmfà to regain any semblance of order. Ejii’s mother, Mazi Godwin, and two other elders helped round people up. So many bodies, so many suffering from shock, no one knew what to do, no one knew what to say. This year’s Gerewol was supposed to settle people’s minds so that they could properly prepare for war. Now what? And what of the absence of Jaa, Gambo, and Buji?

Men, women, and children walked around sobbing, weeping, wailing. A lot of men and women went to the mosque to pray for hours instead of helping to clean up. Some wandered about stunned. Hands shook. Tempers flared. I saw a bunch of men refuse to help with the cleanup, choosing to sit in circles guzzling palm wine and talking about the end of days. Those of us who cleaned up had glazed or wet eyes. We would never forget the sight of the shriveled bodies of one hundred and one Gerewol contestants.

Most people avoided Ejii, Arif, and me. Our confrontation with the Adze hadn’t gone unnoticed. Me? I just wanted to laugh at it all. Like in that classic novel, Things Fall Apart, everything was falling apart: the world, Kwàmfà, my life. Everywhere I went, there was terrible trouble. Or maybe I brought it wherever I went, like my storms. As I helped move bodies, a memory from my lost year bubbled to the surface. Some woman who had given me a dried fish when I was homeless had called me “Stormbringer.”

“People like you are followed by dark clouds, Stormbringer. You stay in one place long enough and you will bring a storm. May Allah help you find dry land.” I tried to remember why she’d say this to me, but I couldn’t remember anything else about her. Was I cursed? Rainmakers were supposed to bring good fortune. At least I was alive. But I liked the name Stormbringer. Yes. I liked it a lot. It suited me well.

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