Several almanacs of women dressed in different styles were hanging on the wall. One almanac was captioned First Ladies’ Designs. A model was pictured in all the shots, sampling Ankara fabrics. Ma took a seat as they waited, and Ajie wondered if the model sampling all the different Ankara designs had taken all those pictures in one day.
Ma stood by the curtain while Bibi tried on the skirt. Ma kept asking, “How does it feel? Is it tight? Is it comfortable? It’s sportswear. You should feel free and relaxed in it,” Ma went on, even after Bibi had indicated it fit her well and that she was comfortable.
—
The next morning, Bendic and Ma left early for work. The rain came down heavily from dawn till about midday. When NEPA restored power, Ajie went to the parlor and turned on the radio. As he lay on the sofa, his mind was filled with the mix of fear and excitement that he had always associated with returning to school. He made a mental list of the things he needed back in school, legal and contraband. He thought of how school life might change for him now that Paul wasn’t there. Ajie could hear Bibi talking to Paul in the corridor and Paul was saying, “I have no idea where it is.” He heard Bibi go into the bathroom, and after a while came the whirring sound of Ma’s hair dryer.
Paul was standing, leaning on the room divider in the parlor, on this Tuesday morning when rain had left all of Port Harcourt soaked and dripping. He bent a little to tune the big radio — he turned the knob slowly, deliberately, so that there was the voice and static and voice again, as happens when one tunes a radio. And this irritated Ajie as he lay there on the couch. He heard the hair dryer go on for a long time and then fall silent for a while.
It was only eleven-forty-five a.m., because on Radio Rivers II the News in Special English had just begun: “Countrypeople,” the newscaster said, “na the things wey dey happen for this country I want tell una so.” The voice was low and familiar. “Him name na Boma Erekosima.”
Here was Paul, in shorts and singlet and a Carl Lewis haircut that needed shaping up, on the day when he would eventually disappear.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Everyone forgot Bibi was supposed to return to school that Saturday, until Marcus, with his sense of duty, whispered it to Ma right after Bendic had returned from the TV stations to schedule an announcement that Paul was missing. Marcus said, “Madam, your daughter go still go today?”
Ma just stared at him and did not know what to say. Her eyes were glassy wet. She glanced at Bibi, who was standing about, not knowing what to do with herself or how to be. “I am sorry, Bibi,” Ma mumbled.
Bibi could have said something back, like she didn’t really need to go that day; that it was fine, there were other things. Paul was still missing after four days. But she just nodded.
Before Bendic went to the radio and TV stations, Ma had to find a picture. “A recent picture,” the office manager at the TV station had said to Bendic over the phone when he called to ask what was needed. Ma went through the photos and couldn’t decide which to choose. She pulled out a photo album with a heavy brown cover and spiral binding; she flipped through the pages, looking for something that might be suitable.
This was the album she didn’t like the children playing with. It had all the important pictures taken from when the children were only babies, in napkins and napkin pants. None of them had any tops on in their baby pictures, just talcum powder rubbed all over their necks and chests. Bibi was crying in hers. Paul was leaping up to catch something, and Ajie had a steady glare, his dark eyes holding the same expression then that they always would: accusation, gripe, and the dancing impulse to pick up something and throw it.
There was the picture to mark Paul’s one-year anniversary, and another where Paul was receiving a prize for being the best student in his year. And there was Paul in his school uniform when he first entered secondary school. There was a studio photo Paul had taken only a few weeks before. By himself, he had gone to Majestic Photos, a new studio that had opened on Sangana Street and was quite the talk of town. He was wearing dark green denim trousers and a big T-shirt. He had a fresh haircut. The photographer, it seemed, had encouraged him to powder his face before the shot. He was resting his hand on a high stool, and his foot was stepping on the base as he stared into the camera. That was the picture Ma pulled out of the album and handed over to Bendic. Bendic murmured some words and left the house. Ajie heard the car start and Ismaila disturbing the gate.
That evening, the announcements came up for the first time; they had told Bendic when the announcements would be aired. Ma looked at the television and then stood up and walked into the kitchen once Paul’s picture came on the TV screen. The background noise in the studio and how Paul’s picture shifted slightly on the screen every now and then made it feel exactly like the obituary announcements that came on Friday evenings.
The announcer began to say that a boy aged seventeen had gone missing. Then Ajie heard a sound from the kitchen like an animal being strangled. Bendic went into the kitchen to meet Ma, and Ajie could see Bibi staring at the TV, but he didn’t want to look at it anymore. Above the TV was a calendar that, for the month of September, showed some Atilogwu dancers enraptured in the ecstasy of the music, grinning wildly in their raffia skirts.
Bendic stayed with Ma in the kitchen for a while. When they came back to the parlor, Ma’s eyes were red and puffy.
—
On the day Bibi was actually to return to school, Ma woke her up early. Ajie was still in his room while Ma went through Bibi’s tin box to see if she had all she needed. He didn’t hear them talk. Ma had said she was going to drop Bibi at school. When Ajie came out to the parlor, Bendic was standing by the window, looking into Ma’s garden, and did not realize he wasn’t alone until Ajie greeted and startled him. He turned around, and Ajie was not sure what it was he saw on Bendic’s face — fright, surprise, wonder, or anguish?
“Oh, it’s you?” Bendic said, trying to regain his composure. “I hope you don’t mind, we will take you back to school tomorrow. Is that okay? I rang Mr. Onabanjo this morning. I left a message for him, explaining that there were some problems, but you’ll be in school tomorrow. Okay?” He did not say, So be a good boy, be a big boy, be strong, your brother — we will find him. He turned his face back to Ma’s garden.
Bibi appeared in the doorway from the corridor. Her hair was neatly done in cornrows, and Ajie wondered if Ma had done it herself this time. They hadn’t had the time to take Bibi to the woman in Mile One Market who normally plaited her hair. Bibi was now a senior student, so she was allowed to wear a skirt and blouse instead of a sleeveless pinafore and blouse.
Ma’s feet hurried out of the kitchen. “Where is my car key? I kept it on the fridge. Has anyone seen my car key?”
Bendic looked on top of the TV near him. “Have you checked on top of the fridge?”
Bibi wheeled her box to the side of the room divider. She went back into the room and got two other bags and then stood there. “Let us go, Bibi,” Ma said, and the keys jiggled as she walked to the door.
Bibi just stood there. “Oh,” Bendic said, “let’s help her with the box. It is heavy, Ajie, come give us a hand, please.”
Ajie took one of the smaller bags and then bent to lift the trunk, with Bendic on the other side. Bibi’s sharp cry cut through the room before she fell to the ground. It was so quick, how she dropped onto the parlor floor. “I don’t want to go anywhere,” she sobbed. “Where is Paul? What has happened to him? I don’t want to go anywhere. Don’t make me go.”