Free Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor Page B

happened since he’d left the club where he’d performed, he strolled to the window. The gate in front was high, but flimsy. People could see the entire house, but someone would have to open the gate to get to the front door. A good space for a crowd. As long as it stayed polite.
    Festus reacted just the way Anthony had hoped. He exclaimed with surprise and asked a thousand questions. Then Festus came up with the perfect way to alert Anthony’s fans about the “Mad mad Anthony Dey Craze free concert” that would take place on the lawn of a small Victoria Island home. “Through radio, social networks, and word of mouth,” he said. “Everybody go know!” Anthony could hear Festus grin his toothy grin. At heart, Festus was an instigator, so he didn’t feel guilty about the fact that it was all a ruse to bring people together for something outlandish.
    â€œI just hope you know what you’re doing,” Festus said.
    Anthony pulled at his short beard and bit his lip. He did . . . sort of. “I do.”
    While Anthony planned with Festus, Adaora’s children, Kola and Fred, peeked into the room from the hallway. When Anthony didn’t notice them, they oh-so-quietly tiptoed across the room to the stairs leading down to their mother’s lab.
    *   *   *   *
    Kola had to work hard not to burst out laughing. Fred wasn’t helping. He always started giggling uncontrollably whenever they sneaked past adults. Kola had to stop for a moment; her belly was cramping from holding in all her laughter. It was funny but also really annoying. Somehow, they made it to the lab entrance.
    Bellies aching, they descended the stairs and peeked in on the alien. Preoccupied with a National Geographic magazine, Ayodele didn’t seem to notice as the two cautiously crept into the lab and hid behind the fish tank. All was silent except the tank’s bubbling filter. Kola softly tapped on the glass to get a yellow butterfly fish to swim out of her line of vision. She was about to sneak closer when Fred grabbed her arm.
    â€œWhat?” she hissed.
    â€œScared!” Fred whispered.
    â€œDon’t you want to speak to a real live alien ?” Kola asked. “Like the ones in the movies?”
    Fred vigorously shook his head. “I’ve changed my mind.”
    â€œWell, I do,” Kola said. She stood up straight and nervously grabbed a handful of her long braids. “Hello.”
    Ayodele smiled, though her eyes didn’t leave her magazine. “Greetings, children.”
    â€œI’m . . . Kola and that’s my little brother, Fred.”
    Still cowering behind the fish tank, Fred waved a feeble hello.
    â€œAre you really an alien?” Kola asked.
    Ayodele closed her magazine and looked at Kola. “By your definition, yes.”
    â€œWell, how come you look human?”
    â€œWould you rather I didn’t?”
    â€œWhy not appear as yourself ?”
    â€œHuman beings have a hard time relating to that which does not resemble them. It’s your greatest flaw.”
    Kola liked this answer very much because it made sense. Incartoons, even the animals who could talk also had to look human. That had always annoyed her brother. She stepped closer.
    â€œHow come you speak English?” Kola asked.
    â€œSo you will understand me.”
    â€œCan you speak Hausa?”
    â€œIi,” she said, with a nod.
    â€œIgbo?”
    â€œE-eh,” Ayodele said, nodding again.
    â€œRussian?”
    â€œI can if I get close to someone who can, yes. You cannot, so I cannot.”
    Kola had to agree. She could indeed speak Igbo and Hausa and not Russian. “Do you like it here?”
    â€œI do.”
    â€œYou might have liked the United States more,” she said. “They’ve got more stuff. And if your spaceship is broken, they can probably fix it better.”
    â€œOur ship is not