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Twilight Night
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We load up the truck, both pretty quiet. Packing doesn’t take as long as I expected it to, and we’re ready to head out within the hour. I leave a letter for my landlord, and then slip back downstairs, hopping in the passenger seat. As soon as Mbweha starts the car up, I’m bounced a good foot up in the air, and I clutch my seatbelt in terror as we careen down the road.
“Where did you get this thing?” I gasp. “It’s a deathtrap!”
“Sorry, should have mentioned that it’s a bit rough.” Mbweha chuckles. “It’s a hand-me-down from Oshosi. He crashed it at one point, and the shocks have been busted ever since. He gave it to me when I turned sixteen.”
“It almost threw me through the windshield!”
“Oh, yeah, you’re super light, aren’t you?” She turns a corner, and I’m thrown to the side. “Sorry! Glad you’ve got your seatbelt on. How much do you weigh nowadays, by the by?”
“Low seventies, last I checked!” I wince as we drive over a bump in the road. “Can you go a little slower, please?!”
“Sure thing, Nancy.”
True to her word, she slows down, and the trip gets a lot more comfortable. Well, not exactly comfortable, but a lot less terrifying, at any rate. After that, we drive steadily along for a while. We don’t talk much, though Mbweha throws a tape in the player and starts singing along to pop songs at the top of her lungs. I can’t help but smile.
By the time we reach the house, night is falling, and I’m feeling drowsy. The scenery starts getting familiar, and I poke my head out the window. There it is. The place where I grew up.
“Huh.” I blink. “It’s funny. I always thought I was making the orphanage look bigger in my head, but it really is that huge.”
“What can I say? Bibi had a lot of cash.” Mbweha shrugs. “It’s not an orphanage anymore, though.”
“It isn’t?”
“Can’t be an orphanage without any kids, and Bibi didn’t take in any more after you left.” Mbweha pulls the car to a stop a little ways away from the side door near the road. “Before long, we all grew up. First it was Oshosi and Ori, then Eshu a little bit later. After Bibi passed on, everybody started drifting away. Packed up, made their way out into the world. It’s just you, me, and Olokun, now. Oh, and Asase Ya, but she mostly keeps to the garden.”
“Even Yemoja left? How? I thought she couldn’t live outside of the water.”
“Well, she didn’t want to leave, but she started getting too big for the pool. Olokun and I helped her get set up in a lake a little ways down the road. We were going to visit her tomorrow, if you’d like to come along.”
“Maybe.” I yawn. “I think I need to sleep, though. I have a lot to process.”
“Sure thing. Where do you want to crash? You’ve got your pick of rooms, except for the library, the turret, and the greenhouse. Your old room kind of, uh, exploded, so that’s a no-go.” She points upwards. “You can take the attic room, if you want! We’ll be neighbors. Ooh, or the tower! I remember when you and Oshosi would fight over who would get that one. There’s also a few comfy guest rooms on the lower levels, if you just want to sleep ASAP. What’ll it be?”
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