Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor Read Free Book Online

closely to her flowing yellow dress.
    “I am Ochi Naka,” another said. She was very dark skinned and had a voluptuous figure that she showed off with her stylish purple dress. “Market seamstress.”
    “I am Zuni Whan,” the other said. Under her loose blue midlevel dress, she wore pants, something women rarely wore in Jwahir. “Architect.”
    “I am Abeo Ogundimu,” my great-aunt said with a smirk. “Mother of fifteen.”
    The women laughed. We all did. A mother to fifteen was a busy career indeed.
    “And I am Nana the Wise,” the imposing old old woman said, looking at each of us through her one good eye, her hunched back forever pushing her forward. My great-aunt was old, but she was young compared to this woman. Nana the Wise’s voice was clear and dry. She held my eyes longer than she did the other girls’. “Now what are your names, so that we are well met?” she said.
    “Luyu Chiki,” the girl next to me said.
    “Diti Goitsemedime.”
    “Binta Keita.”
    “Onyesonwu Ubaid-Ogundimu.”
    “This one,” Nana the Wise said, pointing at me. I held my breath.
    “Step forward,” the Ada said.
    I’d spent too much time mentally preparing for this day. All week, I’d had trouble eating, sleeping, fearing the pain and blood. By this point, I’d finally come to terms with it all. Now the old woman would bar my way.
    Nana the Wise looked me up and down. Slowly she stepped around me, peering up with her one eye, like a tortoise from its shell. She grunted. “Unbraid that hair,” she said. I was the only one with hair long enough to braid. Jwahir women wore their hair stylishly short, another difference between my mother’s village and Jwahir. “This is her day. She must be unhindered.”
    I was flush with relief. As I undid my loose braid, the Ada spoke. “Who comes here untouched?”
    Only I raised my hand. I heard the one named Luyu snicker. She quickly shut up when the Ada spoke again. “Who, Diti?”
    Diti let out a tiny uncomfortable laugh. “A . . . schoolmate,” she said quietly.
    “His name?”
    “Fanasi.”
    “Did you have intercourse?”
    I quietly gasped. I couldn’t imagine it. We were so young.
    Diti shook her head and said, “No.” The Ada moved on.
    “Who, Luyu?” she asked.
    When Luyu only stared back with defiant eyes, the Ada strode forward so quickly that I was sure she was going to slap Luyu across the face. Luyu didn’t budge. She held her chin higher, daring the Ada. I was impressed. I noticed Luyu’s clothes. They were made from the finest textiles. They were bright; they’d never been washed. Luyu came from money and she obviously didn’t feel that she had to answer to even the Ada.
    “I don’t know his name,” Luyu finally said.
    “Nothing leaves this place,” the Ada said. But I sensed a threat in her voice. Luyu must have, too.
    “Wokike.”
    “Did you have intercourse?”
    Luyu said nothing. Then she looked at the fish man on the wall and said, “Yes.”
    My jaw dropped.
    “How often?”
    “Many times.”
    “Why?”
    Luyu glowered. “I don’t know.”
    The Ada gave her a harsh look. “After tonight, you’ll refrain until you’re married. After tonight, you should know better.” She moved on to Binta, who’d been crying the entire time. “Who?”
    Binta’s shoulders curled more. She cried harder.
    “Binta, who?” the Ada asked again. Then she looked toward the five women and they moved in close to Binta, so close that Luyu, Diti, and I had to tilt our heads to see her. She was the smallest of the four of us. “You’re safe here,” the Ada said.
    The other women touched Binta’s shoulders, cheeks, neck, and softly chanted, “You are safe, you are safe, you are safe here.”
    Nana the Wise put her hand on Binta’s cheek. “After tonight, all in this room will be bound,” she said in her dry voice. “You, Diti, Onyesonwu, and Luyu will protect each other, even after marriage. And we, the Old Ones, will protect you all. But truth is