Where Women are Kings

by Christie Watson

  Jasmin moved her body close to Elijah. She put her hand on top of his hair and rubbed her thumb over the top of his head. ‘I’m going to America soon to be with my dad. America is the best place in the world. You don’t have to go to school and everyone is normal in America. There are no weird people like Mum. And Lady Gaga lives there and she’s my favourite.’

  Jasmin dropped her hand from Elijah’s head and then touched his arm. There was a small round mark at the top of his arm where Darren had burnt him with a cigarette. It was the size of a pea. Jasmin put her fingertip on it until it disappeared. Elijah held his breath. ‘We’re cousins,’ she said. ‘I’ve never had a cousin before.’ She looked at Elijah’s face with unblinking eyes. ‘But I won’t be friends with you just because my mum said I have to. You are totally crazy.’

  *

  That night, Nikki tucked Elijah in and read him a few pages of The Little Prince, and kissed his head twice.

  ‘Can I ask you something?’ he said.

  ‘Of course. You know that.’

  Elijah breathed deeply. Asking for things was quite hard. ‘Do you have a torch I can use?’

  Nikki laughed. She opened the curtains slightly and then closed them again. ‘I can imagine why you need a torch,’ she said. ‘How was it, meeting Jasmin?’

  ‘She can swing really high,’ he said.

  ‘She certainly can,’ said Nikki. She tucked the quilt up around Elijah’s ears. ‘She’s completely fearless.’

  Elijah felt his ears open to take in these words. ‘She’s not scared of anything?’

  Nikki shook her head. ‘Nothing at all. And – yes – I’ll get you a torch; we’ve got one in the drawer downstairs. But you must promise me five minutes only please, OK? No staying up all night playing torches with Jasmin.’

  ‘I promise,’ said Elijah and he looked right into her eyes so she knew he meant it.

  As Nikki went to look for the torch, Elijah tried to imagine not being frightened of anything at all. He had never not been frightened of anything. Not ever. And he had never met anyone who wasn’t frightened of anything. Jasmin must have superpowers. He wished he had that superpower, of not being frightened of anything at all.

  ‘Here it is.’ Nikki walked back into his room carrying a torch. She showed him how to switch it on and then kissed his head again before leaving him in darkness. ‘You can kiss me goodnight too, if you want,’ said Nikki.

  Elijah looked at the skin on her cheek. It was very pale. He worried that, if he kissed her, the wizard would leap out of his mouth. But her smile was still in her eyes and her freckles were darker than ever, so he leant towards her and risked just a very quick kiss, right on the part of her cheek where her freckles were all crowded together, and he didn’t feel the wizard move at all.

  ‘Goodnight, Elijah,’ whispered Nikki. She smiled so widely that Elijah could see a silver tooth right at the back of her mouth.

  ‘Why do you have treasure in your mouth?’ he asked. He pointed to the tooth.

  Nikki didn’t say anything, but she kissed his head and laughed as she left the room and closed the door.

  Elijah crept out of bed and opened his curtains. Jasmin was already standing there, in front of her map. He saw her in the light and then she disappeared. Suddenly she flashed her torch three times.

  He held his torch in front of him and flashed the torch on and off five times. Jasmin would be so surprised to see him with a torch.

  He looked down at the torch in his hand, making out the shape of it in the darkness. When he looked back up, Jasmin had turned her light on and was banging her head with her hand. She poked out her tongue and then shut her curtains.

  *

  Elijah could feel Mama smiling whenever he saw Granddad’s face. Granddad’s face was even more Nigerian than Obi’s and he went to church all the time. Elijah felt wrapped up whenever he was nearby, like he was inside a blanket. He loved seeing Granddad’s soft hair at the doorway, and seeing how Obi lit up like a torch when his dad was around. Elijah’s skin matched Obi’s and Granddad’s almost exactly, but Granddad’s was dry and loose around the elbows as he had lived in his skin for so many years. When Granddad had started bringing him dead things and Nigerian things last week, Nikki had rolled her eyes but allowed it. At first it was a rabbit skin, so velvety and the exact shape of a squashed rabbit. Elijah held it all day and slept with it underneath his pillow. He had spent hours staring at the wooden masks with their wide grins and slits where the eyes should be, and laughed when Nikki said they made her shiver. The morning after the torches, Granddad brought a drum made from a stretched skin, so soft. Elijah suddenly remembered Mama holding his hand in a bowl and filling the bowl with holy water. His hand was badly cut, stinging, and balloons of blood had filled the bowl and brushed against his fingertips. Mama had sung a song and smiled at him with her eyes and it was the softest thing he’d ever felt.

  But that day, when Granddad appeared at the back door, his hair was outlined by something else. Antlers! Nikki looked at Obi and muttered, ‘No way.’

  But Obi grinned and whispered, ‘Wow! Where is he getting all this stuff?’

  ‘Hello, Elijah; I’m glad I caught you. I have something for your collection.’

  ‘Collection?’ Nikki folded her arms into triangles and put her hands on her hips. ‘He’s not collecting dead things, that’s for sure. I don’t mind the Nigerian things – even those gruesome masks – but any more dead things are out of the question. The rabbit skin is bad enough.’

  Obi laughed and Granddad waved the antlers slightly. They were beautiful: white and smooth and the shape of jagged mountains. ‘Not dead things,’ said Granddad. ‘These nature items are alive.’

  Then he put the antlers on top of his head and danced around the kitchen making a sound that wasn’t human. Elijah looked at Nikki, who was smiling by then.

  After lunch, Granddad helped put the antlers on Elijah’s wall. ‘You can use them for hanging up your dressing gown,’ he said. ‘Your room is becoming much better. More suited to your interests.’

  Elijah looked at his room. Already, the football posters were down, along with any hint of dinosaur. It felt more like home. And with his rabbit skin, the stones that Granddad had started collecting in a large, clear jar and the antlers making shadows on his wall, it felt like the best room he’d ever stayed in.

  ‘Mum and Dad want to speak to Ricardo, so I thought we’d take a walk,’ said Granddad. He knelt down. ‘I know you believe in God. Ricardo said you wanted to know if we believed in God before you would agree to meet us all, so I thought maybe I could take my grandson to church.’ He smiled at Elijah. ‘Or we could just go find some squirrels in the park. It’s up to you.’

  Something wriggled in Elijah’s stomach and he swallowed. Mama always said he must pray to God to help him with the wizard. Mama thought the church was the safest place of all. Maybe, if he went, he would find someone to help him, or the wizard would be so scared in such a sacred place that it would just run away.

  Elijah nodded. ‘I’d like to go to church, please.’ He smiled and took Granddad’s hand.

  Granddad laughed. ‘What a good boy,’ he said.

  But Elijah could feel the wizard, churning up his stomach, and he had to hold tight to Granddad or the wizard might take hold of Elijah’s body and fly him far away.

  ‘Come on,’ said Granddad.

  They left the house and walked for about ten minutes. Granddad talked about a fox he wanted to buy Elijah – dead, but stuffed so it looked alive. ‘I’ve been watching it for five days, but too many are bidding,’ he said. Elijah nodded but he couldn’t speak. He focused on pushing the churning away.

  ‘Just down here,’ said Granddad, and they turned down a little alley and the wizard slid up into Elijah’s eyes and pulled the walls in close about them and the pavement up high. Elijah tried to breathe slowly.

  They came back on to the street, which was filled with too-bright light and the sound of angels singing. �
��We’re late!’ Granddad tugged Elijah across the road towards a low brick building with a spire stuck in its flat roof, and the sound of angels got louder. They were so, so happy and the wizard was so, so angry, swirling round inside Elijah.

  The wizard would not let Elijah go in. It had glued Elijah’s feet to the ground and Granddad was looking back at him. He would know now. Granddad would see that Elijah was so full of wizard he couldn’t enter a church and he would tell Nikki and Obi and they would send him away.

  ‘Is something wrong, Elijah?’ Granddad said, pressing a hand to his forehead.

  Elijah tried to shake his head but he could not.

  ‘Maybe today isn’t a good day for the church,’ said Granddad. ‘They have a visiting pastor, and he’s not as good.’

  Elijah blinked. The wizard stopped pounding in his ears and left his limbs and went back to pacing in his belly. Elijah nodded.

  ‘Yes, I think today it’s better to worship God in the park.’

  Elijah felt his forehead wrinkle. Why was God in the park?

  ‘Elijah, God is everywhere. You don’t have to go into church to speak to him. He is even in here.’ Granddad held a hand to Elijah’s chest and it was as if Granddad was putting a little bit of God in him and the wizard froze and shrivelled up.

  They walked away from the church. ‘Let’s talk about something cheerful,’ said Granddad.

  ‘OK,’ said Elijah. He spotted a thrush darting under a hedge and paused to watch it. Granddad tugged his ear and Elijah looked up at him. ‘Thank you for my antlers.’

  ‘Of course!’ said Granddad. He smiled and they moved on. ‘I’ll look out for other things for your collection,’ he said. ‘It’s amazing what you can get on eBay these days.’

  Elijah didn’t know what eBay was but he nodded anyway. They turned into a large park with a big hill, and he imagined running down it, arms out.

  ‘So you met Jasmin, then.’ Granddad walked quickly. ‘She’s a real character.’

  ‘She poked her tongue out,’ said Elijah.

  Granddad laughed. ‘Yes, that’s Jasmin.’ He was a very old man but his legs went as quick as a young man’s. The air was cool and Elijah’s own legs felt strong. He liked how the cold air felt on his nose, and how the trees looked.

  ‘The Greenwich planetarium is not far and we’re free for an hour,’ said Granddad. ‘Let’s go in.’ He walked ahead. Elijah watched Granddad’s back, and kept his legs moving fast so he wouldn’t get lost. It was a long climb upwards in Greenwich Park and Elijah’s breath was quick. He tried to count the steps but there were too many. Lots of people on the way were smiling and taking photographs of each other. Lots of families. His heart bit him inside.

  Finally, they came to a shining dome, glittering in the sunshine. Elijah looked down at the whole of Greenwich and saw the shining tower blocks in the distance.

  ‘Canary Wharf,’ Granddad said. ‘You can see nearly the whole of London from up here.’ He took Elijah’s hand and they walked through the gate.

  Inside, there were photos of space rockets and everywhere was suddenly dark. It felt like he was inside a dream. A good one. He looked for the wizard but couldn’t feel it. Granddad bought some tickets for a short show and his eyes twinkled in the low light. They sat down together in the darkness. ‘This is one of my favourite places,’ he said. ‘I like to come here and see the Nigerian stars. London is so full of dirt and pollution that you can’t actually see the night sky. I miss the sky most of all.’ He whispered towards Elijah’s ear but the words spilled out everywhere, and someone behind them coughed. ‘I miss everything, living in exile like this.’

  Elijah could only see Granddad’s outline, the softness of his white hair. Elijah suddenly thought of his schoolbag, sitting by the door, waiting for Monday. Of Nikki holding his hand too tightly. Of Ricardo talking to Nikki and Obi. Of Mama.

  There was music and a blanket of stars fell on top of them.

  ‘This is like Nigeria,’ whispered Granddad. He looked up with Elijah and they listened to a man tell them about all of the stars and planets and Elijah felt very, very small, like an ant. He thought about sitting in Nigeria with Granddad, and how hot they would feel and how many stars they’d see. The stars seemed to fall inside Elijah’s body and fill in the empty spaces. The wizard was nowhere inside him. He was full of Nigerian stars. Granddad put his arm around Elijah’s shoulder and they watched and watched, and for a few minutes, Elijah felt as though his Mama was very, very near. He closed his eyes tightly and let himself remember her voice, her smell, her love – bigger than the sky.

  *

  ‘Obi usually takes only a few minutes for lunch,’ said Nikki as she pressed the door buzzer to his office. ‘But I’ve talked him into taking the whole hour with us.’

  They stood on a busy street with lots of cars and people rushing by. Obi’s office had a cluster of women outside who were wearing long black sheets and only the eyeholes cut out. Elijah tried to look at their eyes but the women were too busy moving their heads and talking loudly in a language that sounded like coughing. He wondered if the women had come to get help from Obi. Obi’s job was all about helping people. He took care of human rights, which was the rights of humans, like Nikki took care of dog rights. Humans had lots of rights and Obi had told him some of them.

  Nikki buzzed again and smiled down at Elijah. Obi’s head appeared. He threw the door open, swooping Elijah into his arms and carrying him into the building, with Nikki grinning at Elijah from behind Obi’s wide shoulders. The room was not at all what he expected. Fola’s favourite show was Crime Scene Investigation and he couldn’t remember much about it, because it was so long since he lived with Fola, but he did remember the lawyers’ offices, all sparkling and full of white-skinned blonde women wearing high heels. Obi’s office had lots of old Blu-tack on the walls and there was only one white-skinned blonde woman sitting behind a small desk, but she didn’t look like the ones in C.S.I.: she wore a T-shirt that had an orange stain on the front.

  ‘Pauline, this is Elijah,’ said Obi, and he spun Elijah around in the air before setting him down in front of the woman.

  ‘You’re all he talks about,’ said Pauline. She held out her hand. ‘It’s so nice to finally meet you.’

  Elijah shook her hand. Her fingers were sticky.

  Obi turned to Nikki. ‘I just have one phone call to make, then I’m all yours.’ He kissed her cheek then went into another room and shut the door behind him.

  Nikki squeezed Elijah’s shoulder. Pauline reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a tub filled with sweets. ‘Flying Saucers are my favourites,’ she said, and opened the tub towards Elijah.

  Elijah looked at Nikki. She nodded. ‘One won’t hurt.’

  Elijah could hear Obi talking on the phone in a loud voice. He sounded cross.

  ‘In fact, I might steal one myself.’ Nikki put her hand in and took a round purple sweet.

  Elijah took a sweet for himself and popped it in his mouth. Obi’s voice was saying, ‘She will be deported. It’s as simple as that. We will be sending her to …’

  Elijah wondered what ‘deported’ meant.

  ‘I think we’ll wait outside,’ said Nikki.

  Elijah took her hand. ‘Thanks for the sweet,’ he said.

  Pauline reached over the desk and pinched his cheek with her sticky fingers. ‘Any time,’ she said.

  It was sunny outside and there was a traffic jam, lots of cars honking and people with their arms dangling out of rolled-down windows. He would have liked to stay inside to get a proper look around but, when they got outside, the women wearing sheets were still there, so it was just as interesting. He tried to look at all of their eyes, so he could guess what kind of people they were underneath the sheets. They carried on talking with their coughing language, one of them making big round gestures with her hands.

  Nikki leant against the wall and pulled Elijah closer, running her fingers over his hair. ‘Who knew hair could grow so fast?’ she s
aid. He closed his eyes so he could concentrate on the feeling of her fingers on his scalp, so gentle.

  The office door opened and Obi came out. He looked at Nikki and shrugged. ‘I’m so sorry guys, but I’m not going to be able to come and have fun with you.’ He bent down and waggled his head at Elijah. ‘I’m sorry to miss out, but it’s really, really important.’ He kissed Nikki on the cheek and patted Elijah’s head. ‘I want you to save some cake for me, OK? And I’ll have it at home tonight.’

  Nikki sighed. ‘But we were really looking forward to it.’

  ‘I’m sorry – I can’t afford the time.’ He reached out to run his thumb across her cheek. ‘Do you remember the case I told you about? Amira and Youssef?’

  She nodded.

  He shook his head, slowly.

  Nikki winced and bit her lip. ‘Of course,’ she said, reaching up to squeeze Obi’s arm, but she pulled a sad face.

  ‘I really can’t.’

  ‘OK, no, I understand,’ she said. ‘We might just have to eat your cake, though.’

  Obi laughed. ‘Elijah, can I trust you to keep an eye on Nikki? Make sure she doesn’t eat my cake?’

  Elijah looked up at Nikki, who shook her head and rubbed her belly. ‘Probably not,’ said Elijah. Nikki and Obi laughed as Nikki pulled Elijah away. As they walked up the street, Elijah looked back to see Obi talking to the women outside. They followed him into his offices. He wondered if Pauline would give them a Flying Saucer and, if she did, how would they eat it? There was no hole for their mouths. How did they even speak?

  TWELVE

  My little son, my love, my heart,

  You were born at Lewisham Hospital in a room that had too many men and not enough women, and cold metal instruments pulling you out of me. Elijah, childbirth is a lie that women tell each other and themselves. I will not lie to the only one who was there with me, because, as bad as it was for me, so it was for you.