Nnedi Okorafor - Lagoon

“Please,” Moziz said to her. “Mek you just follow us quietly.”

“What do you want with me?” Ayodele asked. She cocked her head and switched to Pidgin English, “Wetin una want with me?”

“We go talk dat one when we comot outside. Just—”

“I no dey go anywhere with una,” she snapped.

Moziz looked at Tolu and Jacobs, then gave a small nod. All three of them lunged at her. Then they immediately froze. To Moziz it sounded like the house was full of those noisy bugs in the trees, all screeching in terrible harmony. He clapped his hands over his ears, dropping his gun. His mouth hung open and his hearing was muffled as, right before his goddamn eyes, she… she… melted? Melted! Imploded? Disintegrated? Right before his eyes. Evaporated into something small on the floor. A green… He squinted. A green lizard.

Tolu stood there, gun in hand, ears uncovered, and shrieked like a little girl.

“You see dat?!” Jacobs shouted. He’d pulled off his mask and his face was wet with sweat.

“Catch am!” Moziz shouted.

Chaos ensued as all three went after the lizard. Moziz’ mind was blank, his world shrinking down to focus on the impossible thing before him, the lizard-that-was-once-a-woman. Retrieve her and get out. First she had been a woman. Now she was a lizard; he would catch the lizard.

Philomena just stood there watching Moziz scrambling around, chasing a lizard. Like a child. His legs looked so short and skinny and she realized how stocky he was, how graceless, how he had a bit of a gut that bounced when he ran. She sighed, her shoulders slouching and her stomach dropping. Moziz was just another young area boy.

They knocked over vases and threw aside the coffee table. They stepped on pillows and cushions. And they cursed the entire time. Anthony grabbed the children’s hands and ran to the front door. He threw it open only to be met with the excited cheers of his fans.

BLAM!

Kola screeched and Fred crouched at her feet. Anthony shoved the children behind him. “Stay low,” he said, frantically looking for the gunman. Near the sofa, Tolu was shooting at the scampering lizard.

“ Biko! No shoot am! We want am alive!” Moziz shouted.

Tolu’s eyes were wild. “Na evil she be, o!” he babbled, waving the gun wildly as he tried to follow the lizard’s path with the barrel. “We suppose kill am! Kai ! Kill am!” He pulled the trigger again. BLAM!

“What are you doing?!” Jacobs shouted. “Stop it!”

Anthony, Kola and Fred were still trying to figure out which way was safest to flee when the lizard ran out the door between Anthony’s legs.

The first thing Adaora thought as she got out of Benson’s car was that the street outside her house had turned into a carnival. The very air smelled deliciously festive. There were vendors selling suya, fried plantain, boiled eggs, Fanta, beer. One woman had even set up right across the street from her house. She was selling fufu and what looked like egusi soup, jollof rice and other hot food items. And she was making a killing, from the looks of it. She had no less than ten people waiting to be served.

There were young people milling about, laughing, conversing, smoking, drinking. Two clean-shaven men wearing white native clothes and matching caps stood side by side in the middle of the street, frowning in disgust. “We should return to the mosque,” one said. The other nodded, but neither of them moved.

Most everyone in the crowd kept one eye on her house. “Anthony DEY CRAAAZE! Anthony DEY CRAAAZE!” some people chanted, then they started laughing. But, despite the festive atmosphere, not all was well. On the far side of the gate was a colorful group of people who seemed to be in distress. A tall woman had a bloody nose. Had there been a fight? Adaora squinted. Some from the group were nervously holding up rainbow-colored signs with a large spinning black sphere drawn in the center. She remembered similar flags when she’d visited San Francisco, California, once. A gay pride group? In Lagos? There were women in suits and a man standing beside them was wearing a pink shirt and… leather thigh boots? Well, that’s both bold and stupid , Adaora thought to herself, frowning. They were going to get their asses kicked, or worse. She considered asking Benson to send some of his people to help them, but then realized that was an equally stupid idea. Better not to alert the military.

Father Oke and his parishioners were monopolizing the area directly in front of her house. They were singing, praying, swaying and clapping. Some were jeering at the group carrying the gay pride signs. More were pleading for “Ayodele the Extraterrestrial” to come out so that they could embrace her and welcome her into their church. But Adaora could have sworn she also heard a few of them calling for “the abomination” to “show its heathen face”. A bad sign.

Also a bad sign were the ten army trucks and cars parked nearby. And the soldiers walking toward Benson carrying AK-47s. Benson motioned for them to wait. He clutched Adaora’s arm. “Walk,” he said, dragging her toward her house.

“You don’t have to be so rough,” she snapped.

They were yards from the fence when the entire crowd suddenly sprang to life and started surging toward the gate.

“Anthony Dey Craaaaaaze! Anthony Dey Craaaaaaze!” people shouted.

“Hang on to me!” Benson yelled, pulling her toward the wrought-iron fence but away from the house’s front door. Thankfully, the gate was still closed or the front yard would have been overrun. They made it out of the crunch yet still had a good view of her yard. They watched as a tall, lanky, dark-skinned man, a little girl with braids and a small boy in pajamas stepped out of the house. Anthony, Kola and Fred. Kola was carrying Adaora’s camera, filming the chaos in spite of the danger. Anthony kept anxiously glancing behind him into the house.

“Fred! Kola!” Adaora shouted, trying to rush forward, but Benson kept hold of her arm.

“Those are my children ,” Adaora yelled at him.

“Get us the creature and then you can get your children.”

“We love you, Anthony!” a woman yelled.

“Let me go to them!” Adaora snapped, trying to tug away from him. “I’ve brought you here, haven’t I?”

“ I brought you here,” he said. But he let go of her arm. “I have soldiers surrounding this place. Don’t try to run; they all know what you look like.”

Adaora took a step toward the gate when somebody grabbed her arm yet again. She turned, prepared to dig her nails into Benson’s hand if she had to. It wasn’t Benson.

“Chris?”

His eyes were wild, staring. She noted that he wasn’t wearing white. He was wearing the same jeans and dress shirt he’d been wearing yesterday when he’d slapped her. “Fred and Kola are in danger! Let me go!”

“I’ve been following you,” he snarled. “Who is this man? Another of your boyfriends? How many of them do you have?”

Adaora glanced toward Fred and Kola. “Don’t you see the children in— Let go of me!” She threw a look at Benson, pleading for help. He smirked at her before moving to intercept Chris.

“Excuse me, sir, I need your wife to come with me,” Benson told her husband. “This is important business. Military business.”

Benson might as well have not spoken. “Nothing but a whoring witch!” her husband spat at her. “I saw you with him in the car, that other man…”

As Adaora braced herself for another slap across the face, she heard the sound of metal balls on glass coming from inside her front yard. Even from afar, the sound made her want to vomit. A few people around her actually did turn to the side and vomit. At the same time, Adaora felt relief. She knew exactly what was happening. The way things were going at the moment, something had to give. Something had to intervene . And something was about to.