Hailey had been typing furiously on her phone. Whatever was going on between her and whoever was on the other end wasn’t good. She answered, “They said he was mumbling something unintelligible, so it was hard to figure out what he said.”
Patel shot a troubled glance Hailey’s way, her mouth opening and then snapping shut. I could tell there was more she wanted to say. Her brown eyes darkened with an internal debate I wanted very badly to eavesdrop in on. But Nana Ama taught me better than that. If someone wanted me to know something, they’d tell me.
Patel’s irritation won out over her need to let me in on whatwas really in her mind, and she snapped, “Every time I watch this feed, I get angry all over again. We’re entrusted with these artifacts. We’re charged with the responsibility to restore these items as best we can and return them where they belong.”
I switched my attention back to the screen. If you ignored the strange movements, Dr. Franco looked like a pretty average guy. “What was Dr. Franco like before he stole the amulet? Had something happened that would lead him to do this?”
Patel’s anger transitioned to sadness. “Dr. Franco was a great colleague. A little depressed, maybe. He was going through a divorce. He was a good guy, and a wonderful scientist. Very generous with his findings.”
“I didn’t know him well,” Hailey said. “But he and Luke were close. He took him under his wing, even though they hadn’t planned for him to be in the lab. Luke was supposed to attend a school up north when he graduated high school. But instead, he followed me here. You know, we have always been close like that. Which is why he followed me here. Followed me to his—”
Some words shouldn’t be spoken into existence.
I whispered, “Don’t you dare say what you almost said.”
I knew the power of words.
But I also knew the power of misguided guilt. Like the guilt Hailey felt, thinking maybe she should move on like her parents did. Neither of those things were true.
And I realized that now.
I reached my hand out before I realized what I was doing and took Hailey’s hand into mine, squeezing it.
Patel cleared her throat, reminding us that we weren’t alone.The awkward silence that followed made Hailey suggest we get going.
I started to follow Hailey out, but her phone rang just as we were about to leave. “It’s my uncle,” she said. “Be right back.”
This left me alone with Dr. Patel, who seemed lost in the frozen video feed of Dr. Franco with the amulet clutched in his hand, gleaming brighter than it should have been in the lighting. I was staring at it too.
Who did it belong to? Why did he take it? Where was it now? And how did it connect to my grandmother?
“I really wish I knew what he was muttering,” I said quietly.
Patel broke her daze, turning to me. She dropped her voice. “They actually did make out one word. It was an old language. Ancient. We sent it to an expert we trusted would be discreet even though we didn’t give much context beyond asking what this word was.”
“What was it?” I asked, even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“I don’t know if I’m even saying it right.” She hesitated. “Ah-wu-rah. I always get tripped up.”
I knew the word, and it wasn’t as ancient as Patel’s experts thought. It was an honorific still used by the Akans, one of the groups from the West African region, for women of high rank and prestige. It was a title my grandmother was also called in formal settings.
It meantLady.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
As we rode the elevator, I wondered why Hailey lied about the lip-reading experts’ discovery.What could she be hiding?Until I had it figured out, I needed to stay close. But the moment we stepped out of the building, we were hit with noise and music; I temporarily forgot about what went on downstairs and took in the scenery. Seeing college events on TV was different than real life. Hell, high school couldn’t touch the amount of people spending a summer night partying on the campus.
I followed Hailey, checking out the scene. All the people laughing and enjoying themselves, spread across the lawn, reminding me of the Isle when the Kinfolk would dance to the drums and our chants, celebrating Nyame’s golden stool and the gods who protected us and spirits who helped us take care of our land.
This was a different kind of celebration. A moment ago, Hailey had been edgy after her heated conversation with her uncle. But walking out onto campus and toward the quad, away from the heavy responsibilities and toward freeness, she began bobbing to the beat of the music blaring from huge speakers.
“This looks like our celebrations on Golden Isle,” I said.
“Mainlanders—that’s what you call us right? We like to let loose sometimes too.” Hailey inclined her head. “You could join them…”
I didn’t reply, instead popping in my earbuds to dial down the noise as I took in the crowd, thinking this wasn’t so bad. The last party I’d attended felt a hundred years ago instead of only weeks. So much had happened. Too much. Ours hadn’t been nearly as big as this one, just a handful of us on our boats and catamarans, celebrating finally being freed from high school. I thought of all that waited for me back at the Isle—so many responsibilities and surely more failure, and always the pressure to put on a brave and happy face. There, I was always on. Here, I didn’t have to be. The thought was freeing. Each moment here, I began to understand more and more why Naira had wanted to experience life beyond the Isle. Maybe one day, I could be like these students, dancing as if they didn’t have the weight of responsibility on their shoulders.
In the meantime, I had to remain focused as my time here counted down. I would leave with way more questions than I arrived with. Questions only Nana Ama could answer.
