The Death of Vivek Oji - Akwaeke Emezi Page 0,45
been reluctant to make friends with the Nigerwives’ children, because she didn’t believe in ready-made communities—you couldn’t just throw people together and expect them to become a real support system simply because they had one or two things in common. Their mothers might have been able to do it, but that’s because they were a proper organization. It didn’t mean their children had to follow suit.
But then Vivek came home, and Somto and Olunne showed up for him, and when they brought him to Juju’s house she’d fallen for him, in a way—not like she fell for Elizabeth later, but she and Vivek had clicked. They fit into each other’s lonely worlds. Everyone could see it; even Somto and Olunne didn’t mind seeing him and Juju grow close so quickly, maybe because as sisters they’d always known what it was like to have a best friend. For Juju it was new; for Vivek, she thought the friendship might have taken some of the sting out of Osita’s absence. But now Osita was back, and now Juju had Elizabeth. She still couldn’t believe she had a girlfriend—hurtled into each other’s lives thanks to the Nigerwives, who apparently never grew tired of shoving their children at one another.
It wasn’t as if Maja and Ruby had meant for their daughters to fall in love, or even knew anything about it. All they’d done was start a jam-making experiment. They had a whole list of jams they were going to make: guava, mango, pawpaw jam. Maybe even some marmalade. Maja had dragged Juju into it, buying a bag of large green guavas—the kind Juju liked, crunchy and white on the inside. But Ruby suggested it might be better to make it with the other kind of guavas, the small, soft ones with pink or yellow insides, so Maja had sent Juju to Ruby’s house to collect a bag of them. “We’ll try it both ways and see which one works better.”
Juju had rolled her eyes, but she loved her mother and the jam experiment was fun, so she went. That was the day she met Elizabeth again, and the thing Juju always remembered about it, that day, was the heat. How it pressed down through the air, wet and insistent, how it forced its way past skin until it felt like even your bones were hot. Juju caught a bus that was almost full, and sat on the conductor’s fold-out seat, the backs of her thighs sticking to the torn vinyl seat cover. The conductor was squatting by the open door, holding on to the frame of the bus as it sputtered down the road. Juju leaned away from the woman next to her, who stank of stockfish and sweat. The heat was cooking the stench, deepening it till it was overpowering, almost choking. By the time Juju reached Aunty Ruby’s house, she was fanning out the hem of her T-shirt to try and get a breeze against her skin. Aunty Ruby’s gate wasn’t locked, so Juju walked into the compound and straight to the back door. It was open, but the mosquito-net door was closed and latched.
“Hello?” she called, wiping her forehead. “Is anyone around?”
Footsteps came down the corridor; then Elizabeth appeared, hazy behind the green mesh of the mosquito net. She was wearing shorts and a singlet, as tall as she’d ever been. Juju stood with a polite smile as Elizabeth unlatched the door.
“Good afternoon,” she said, wincing a little at how formal she sounded. “I’m Aunty Maja’s daughter?”
Elizabeth stared at her for a moment, her face blank, and Juju stared right back. She remembered Elizabeth’s face, but back then Elizabeth had been a lanky, dark-skinned child with threaded hair and puffy dresses. Now she had shaved off her hair, and Juju felt herself staring at all that skin, from her scalp to her arms and legs, even the smooth cleavage that the singlet couldn’t quite cover. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Juju blushed.
“Oh, Aunty Maja,” Elizabeth finally said, after a forever of staring silence. Her voice was deep and sweet. “You’re Juju. Come in.” She moved aside to make space and Juju tried to walk through the doorway, but it was impossible to do so without brushing against Elizabeth, who didn’t move. She just smiled and looked down as Juju squeezed past. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, and Juju wondered if she heard a trace of amusement in her voice.
“You, too,” she said.
Elizabeth latched the door again and led