Where Women are Kings by Christie Watson Read Free Book Online

if she wore a coat hanger across the top of her chest, made from her own bones. Her skin was exactly the same colour as Elijah’s, exactly the same colour as Mama’s. Around her neck there were three rows of coloured beads in bright yellow and turquoise and earth red. Chioma’s legs stretched long and sharp, and her feet were thin, covered in brown leather sandals with tiny pink sequins sewn on. She even had silver beads in her hair, which was twisted in every direction and looked soft. Elijah suddenly wanted to touch it. And there was glitter on her eyelids. Everything about her glinted and twinkled, like she was made from starlight. But the thing that shone the brightest was her eyes; Elijah had never ever seen such bright, clear eyes in an older person. Her eyes were so fresh she must have only ever seen good things, he thought.
    They were sitting opposite each other in a play room, which had a sand pit, a table, a small green sofa, boxes of toys – cars, dolls, a pirate ship, a wooden garage with motorbikes, and a castle surrounded by dragons and knights on tiny horses – a box with curtains and a basket of puppets. Everything looked normal in the room, and Elijah thought it could have been a school or club, with the blackboard and tray full ofwater, except there were bars on the window and a large red fire extinguisher hooked on to the wall. Elijah looked at Chioma’s face, her wide smile and bright, square teeth, the colour of the glitter on her eyelids, and he listened to her humming quietly, the sound of her breathing softly. He felt sick and his head banged, but listening to Chioma breathing made the banging stop.
    ‘It’s good to finally meet you, Elijah. I’ve heard a lot about you. Ricardo has told me that you were feeling a bit nervous about coming to see me today but there’s nothing to worry about at all. We’re just going to have fun and play.’
    Chioma’s voice was low and soft. ‘What toys do you like?’
    Elijah didn’t say anything, but looked over at the castle. It was tall and had two drawbridges, with secret hiding places. Grey flames were painted up the sides of it and, as he looked at them, they appeared to move. Elijah felt his heart speed up. The wizard crept around inside him. He looked at Chioma closely. Her sparkliness. Did she know about the wizard? Did she know about the fire? Was she really a special social worker or was she sent from God to fight the devil inside him? His heart lifted. Then he thought of other questions. Did she realise he could freeze her right then with laser eyes or point his finger at her heart and melt her to ash? Could she look inside him and see his body was filled with badness?
    ‘We’ve got lots of work to do,’ said Chioma. She laughed. ‘Don’t look so worried; it’s special work – the playing kind. All we need to do is play. That is your work.’ She pushed back the chair she was sitting on, stood and walked over to the castle. ‘Do you like this?’
    Elijah nodded.
    ‘Do you want to play today?’
    Elijah looked around at all the toys. He didn’t play much.Sometimes he wasn’t sure how to play. Other children made it look so easy, picking up toys and making them real, but other children didn’t have a wizard trying to take them over. ‘Do I have to?’
    ‘No. You can just sit, if you want. Or play. Or even scream really loudly.’ Chioma’s eyes shone.
    Scream really loudly? Who told a child to scream really loudly? Elijah looked at Chioma, who had walked away and was sitting next to the castle and picking up the knights on horseback. She began to make horse sounds and move them up and over the castle. It looked funny, seeing a grown-up play by themselves. Chioma played anyway, as if he wasn’t there watching her. She looked as if she was having fun. She didn’t look like someone sent to destroy an evil wizard.
    She played for ages while Elijah just sat and watched. There were no toys to play with at Nargis’s house. There was