Nnedi Okorafor - Lagoon

But now Moziz was tired of thinking. Tolu, who was beside him in the passenger seat, said not a word. He just stared at the burning building. When Moziz looked in the rearview mirror he met the eyes of the strange woman they’d saved. He looked away and met Philo’s twitching eyes. Philo was not only stupid but she was shit during a time of crisis. For the third time tonight, he noted to himself that he needed to dump her as soon as he got the chance. He could do so much better than her. He met Jacobs’ steady gaze. “Well?” he asked, again.

Jacobs sighed. “My place. Mek we go my place.”

They parked on the side of the road, got out, and stood staring at Jacobs’ apartment complex. It was five stories high and made of old concrete but really, it wasn’t a bad place once you got inside. Yes, inside. How would they get in? Jacobs felt ill. Ordinarily, there were vines growing over the garbage pile behind the building – but they seemed to have grown over the entire complex since Jacobs had left that morning. In fact, he could see them growing as he stood there, watching. Vines wriggled and undulated across each other, leaves sprouting and growing unnaturally large before his eyes. They bloomed bulbous red flowers and those flowers must have been what were giving off the sweet, rose-like scent Jacobs smelled.

“What de fuck … ?” Jacobs whispered.

Tolu sneezed.

“Na so you dey abuse my house, but see your place, na for bush you dey live,” Moziz said, laughing.

“People dey there, sha ,” Tolu said. “Look.”

He was right. Even from here, Jacobs could see rooms with lights on and people moving around inside.

Philo moaned and moved closer to Moziz and he hissed and pushed her away. “No jam pack me,” he snapped.

“I dey fear,” she said.

“Wetin you want mek I do if you dey fear?” he said. “Nonsense.”

“R… Rain,” Jacobs said to the woman. She was still sitting in the car, serenely watching the building. She’d told Jacobs to call her ‘‘Rain’’ because, she said, she liked how it sounded. After seeing that her face had re-formed and this woman alien was not angry with them, Jacobs and the others were glad to have her with them. She was someone who knew more about what was going on than they ever would. Jacobs pointed at the building. “Is dis… what is dat?”

“I no sabi,” she said.

“So dis no be de result of say una land here?”

“Dose people look to you like say dem from another planet come?” the woman asked.

“Dat no be wetin I mean,” Jacobs said, frustrated. He frowned. He needed to get in touch with Fisayo. She wasn’t answering her phone.

They all jumped at the sound of a gunshot nearby.

“Mek we go inside!” Philo said, grabbing Moziz’ arm and pulling him toward the building. Tolu followed.

“You dey come?” Jacobs asked Rain.

She stood up and nodded. Jacobs smiled. “Good.” But then he frowned. His third floor apartment was clean and he had plenty of beer and Fanta to offer them. His television was small, but it was high definition. But did he have his dresses laid out on his bed? He couldn’t remember. The last twelve hours had been a blur, and it had started with his meeting with Seven and Rome. And before he’d gone, he’d spent two hours picking out just the right outfit… which meant he’d brought out his very best, tried them all on. Left them lying out. Shit , he thought as he and Rain joined Tolu, Moziz and Philo.

They stood a few feet from the apartment entrance, which was draped with thick vines.

“Dem get poison?” Tolu asked.

“My brother, anything dey possible tonight,” Moziz said. “But…” He looked at Rain and then looked away. None of them would talk to her. Only Jacobs. “I no tink so. No be as tings dey go.”

“What of dat ting on de road?” Philo asked. “Dat one no dangerous? Why dis one no go dey poisonous?”

“No be you wan go inside?” Moziz snapped.

“I just dey talk…”

“Why you no jus close your mouth?” Moziz said.

“Oh my God, mek two of una stop am now,” Jacobs groaned.

Tolu laughed and shook his head.

Rain stepped forward and pushed the vines aside. Jacobs held his breath. They all did. She turned to them. “I don die yet?” she asked sarcastically.

“Una people fit die, sef?” Philo spat, looking her up and down.

Philo was rude but Jacobs was thinking along the same lines. The alien woman had reached out and touched the vines and the vines didn’t hurt her, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t hurt the rest of them. Did these aliens even die? Still, up close, the vines looked harmless enough. Jacobs opened the door with his key and they all went inside.

The concrete steps to the third floor were uneven and there was no light. Jacobs couldn’t help smiling to himself as he heard one of the others stumble and curse. Philo lost her shoe when she mis-stepped on the stairs. “Wait, o,” she said, as she groped for it.

Jacob turned and saw Rain was right behind him. He could barely see her in the darkness. He couldn’t see any of the others at all.

“E dey for you back,” Rain said.

“You dey see for darkness?” he asked.

“Yes. Why light no dey dis place?”

Jacobs shrugged. He’d never wondered why the stairwell had no light; it just didn’t. As he unlocked the door, he began to sweat. He was suddenly sure that he’d left a pile of dresses on the chair. They all knew he didn’t have a girlfriend. What the fuck was he going to say?

“Hurry up, my guy,” Moziz said. “I wan piss.”

“Bathroom dey down dat way,” Jacobs said, pointing. “De next door for your right.” He heard Moziz jog off as he opened his door. He stepped inside, purposely not turning on the lights.

“Mek I find light,” he said, as the others stumbled about. He took his time, wishing his eyes would adjust so he could see what he’d left out. But before he could do anything, the lights came on. Tolu had found a switch. And there, draped over his sofa, were the dresses.

Philo. The idiot empty-headed girl walked right to them. She had a big grin on her face. She looked back at Tolu as she picked up one of the dresses and held it to herself. It was bright green and silky with a drooping neckline. He didn’t much like this dress because of its ugly color. Plus he didn’t have any shoes to match it. But he loved how it fell over his body, like a cascade of cool water. On hot nights, when he wasn’t going anywhere, he’d slip this dress on, turn on a fan, open the window and sit on the sill with the lights off.

“Na who get dis?” Philo asked, a knowing grin. She didn’t wait for Jacobs to answer. She looked at Tolu. “See, wetin I dey tell you since? Jacobs get bottom power.”

Tolu looked at Jacobs with open-mouthed disgust.

“I no be gay,” Jacobs said, his entire body going cold. How had Philo suspected? He’d always thought she was too stupid to notice anything. Stupid olofofo poke-nose woman , he thought. “I jus like to wear woman cloth.”

“My God,” Philo laughed. “E no even deny am!”

“Allah forbid!” Tolu shouted. “ Kai ! Whoo!”

Moziz walked through the open door and stumbled to a halt. Jacobs could hardly look at him. Moziz was glaring at Jacobs with real anger.

Jacobs just stood there, in the pool of light from his favorite lamp. The power in his apartment went out constantly. NEPA took the lights like God took human lives. Yet, now, during this terrible moment, the damn lights didn’t so much as flicker.

“E just be like to fuck dog,” Moziz said, as he walked in. “You no like pussy? You prefer animal ?”

“No be animal,” Jacobs found himself saying. “I no even…”