“Get out there and find your brother!”

“But Mama,” I pouted, looking up at her stern face. It brooked no argument, but I was determined to get another word in.

“Taiwo is too soft,” I said, folding my arms. “If I didn’t tease him like that other kids in the village will talk to him anyhow and beat him.”

“Like you do?” Mama narrowed her eyes like a tiger rearing to pounce.

I brought my hands out to protect myself. “Mama, it’s not like that.”

“Kehinde,” she said in a low voice. “Don’t come back inside this house if you’re not with your brother.”

Mama turned away from me and went back to picking the beans we would eat for supper. I padded out of our hut without a word. There was no arguing with Mama when she got this way. Only Taiwo might have convinced her with his silver tongue and even he might have gotten beaten.

I slipped on my bata and faced the green expanse behind our home to complete the task that would likely take up the rest of my day: fetching my twin.

The sun was over its zenith and crept towards a gathering of clouds to the west. I had a few more hours till Mama usually called us for supper. There was plenty of time to find him. I hoped he hadn’t gone very far, but then again, my coward of a brother was always quick on his feet. I snorted. Quick to tell Mama I beat him, quick to run away from a fight. I shook my head. Maybe I’ll knock him before I drag him back. As for apologizing, that was never going to happen.

I took a languid first step and broke the tree line, and I was immediately thankful for the shade. I peer up at the afternoon sun. Its scorn shifted from branch to branch as I moved, filtering through the edges of leafy bunches. An idea formed at the back of my mind when I spotted the largest tree in the area. I ran up to it and climbed until I found the thickest, sturdiest branch. It hung just below the canopy, giving me a clear view of the forest floor in all directions.

“Perfect,” I smirked.

I will wait for him to come to me. I’ve beaten and fetched my brother enough times to know how he thought. He was a mischievous little goat, but he loved food. He’d never risk missing dinner. Mama’s Pankere was too hard for his soft skin.

I leaned back into the trunk and felt my muscles bow from a hard day of playing. I let out a yawn and scanned the forest floor below and waited. Time trickled by as I watched, but there was no sign of him. I worried at first but I remembered how Taiwo thought. He must have seen me on the tree or somehow deduced that I was not coming. Was he trying to get back at me? I snorted. I’ll show him. I reclined further into the trunk, nestling until I was nearly prone.

#

The sensation of dropping wretched me awake and I was saved only by my reflexes. I lost a line of flesh as I grabbed at the branch, the tree exacting a toll. The pain ribbed me wide awake, all my senses fired, and it was then I realized that I was dangling from a branch in the dark, and Taiwo had nearly killed me.

“You Idiot.”

My eyes snapped low at the night forest, ready to pick him out and curse at him, but he wasn’t there. Kehinde hadn’t startled me awake. The fall had. I had rolled off the branch in my sleep.

Where was Taiwo then?

Did he leave without me?

No, no. Taiwo wouldn’t do that. We played around a lot but he wouldn’t see me in a tree and leave me there. Then the only other possibility was… No.

He couldn’t still be out there? I looked out into the shadowy depths of the evening forest-- an unnatural tangle of writhing branches and leaves. A sudden chill swept me, and my grip on the branch tightened.

“Taiwo,” I called out, my voice echoing into the darkness, but no answer came.

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I started down the tree, careful to feel and ease off every branch despite the pain I felt. Everything was darker now. I could barely make out the green of the grass, the air was thicker, colder.

“Taiwo.” There was a shiver in my voice now.

No reply came, and I stood there, heart drumming, sweating despite the cold. My thin shirt feels even thinner.

Why wasn’t he here yet? It was almost Dinner time. Mama is making Akara. It’s his favourite. A thought struck me. It scared me to my bones, but I entertained it. What if he was lost?

I looked in the direction of our hut. It was not too far now. If I hurried and told Mama... she would be very upset, more so if this was a stupid joke. She is going to punish us, I, especially for this. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

It was just a slap. Why did he have to make things so difficult?

“Taiwo. Let’s go back. We are going to be late o.”

No reply came.

I wrestled with the decision for a moment before I took a steady step forward. I was going to look for him and drag him home myself.

I called out his name every five steps or so as I searched. He was not lost, this was just another one of his pranks. He didn’t ever know when to stop. With every step I took, I lost more light, and after searching for I don't know how long, it was nearly all black, but I still called out, despite how hard my heart thumped, or how cold it’d all gotten. I tucked both hands in my armpits and strained my eyes for any sign of him.

Behind a tree, at the feet of a disturbed bush, I saw something. It was small, white almost, and upon a closer inspection, I recognized it. It was Taiwo’s bata; his left one.

I grabbed it and ripped through the bush, smiling with relief. He left a clear trail down a sudden slope, and I zig-zagged down it. At the base, I found his shirt, a mirror of mine. It was blue, short-sleeved, with small holes.

Why would he leave it here? That idiot he was going to freeze.

“Ta..”

My breath cut when I heard it. Low grunts and sniffs, coming from a shifting bulk, set part-alight by the rising moon. I tucked low, nearly balling up, but my eyes never left the creature. The climbing moon revealed more of the creature, and the thing it’d been struggling with so intensely. I saw an arm, and I shut my eyes and grabbed my mouth. It was Taiwo’s arm. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. Hiccups came, snot followed, but I stifled both, and my eyes grew so wet, I could barely see out of it when they crept open.

The thing still busied, chewing, grunting, tearing. Hot liquid flowed down my thigh, every single inch of me shivered, and I wanted Mama to hold me, but more than that, I wanted it dead.

He’d taken my brother and twin from me. I tightened my grip around his bata, crushing it, feeling it. I raised it and glared at it. My eyes roamed its monstrous body from its back to haunches, and it was then I saw him. Chest opened, eyes wide, he stared at me, mouth agape, as if in shock at my betrayal, my carelessness. Something in me snapped and the noise of emotions stopped.

The bata slipped from my hand and slapped against the grass in defeat, but it did not react. The beast continued, unbidden, chewing, crunching, gorging. I stared at it blankly for a moment, before I spun around and traced back the path I came. I walked at first, then ran--- through trees, leaves, tripping, all while I still clutched his blue shirt. I stopped when I was back at the tree I had rested, and it poured from me, a crushing wave of emotion. I cried, not minding who or what heard and came, and the world fell away.

I was the coward. I could have apologized like I was supposed to. I was the monster.

My eyes remained shut for the longest time until I felt a heat press against them, and feet shuffle and wood snag around me.

“Kehinde,” I heard a voice say and I gasped. It was Taiwo’s.

My eyes shot open, and I felt the ground pull me. Every inch of me tensed and I grabbed a…branch? The tree claimed its line of flesh, and I was wide awake. I looked frantically around me, my mind in throws and pieces. The sun had nearly set, and I was holding on, tightly to a branch, with one of my feet dangling.

“Kehinde,” his voice called out a second time, and a chill swept through me. I felt my muscles go limp just for a second before I found myself again. I slowly looked down to down to find him starring at me.

“What are doing up there. What if you fell nko?”

My face went pale just looking at him. He was perfectly fine. His blue shirt was on his back; his bata on his feet; his big shaved head shinning even without direct light on it.

He pouted. “If you don’t hurry up I will leave you o.”

I stared at him, frozen on my branch, trying to figure out if he was real, but he never left. He waited until I gathered myself and climbed down to meet him.

“Won’t you apologize like Mama asked?” he demanded with a mock-frown, and I did. He nodded his big head and grinned. “Next time don’t try me or I’ll tell Mama you slept on a tree.”

I nodded again, and he led the way out, swaggering in front.

I tapped the back of his head just as we cleared the forest line. I needed to be sure, and Taiwo wailed.

“What are you doing?” He ran a few steps ahead and faced me, bringing up his fist at tiny angles. He gave me a once over, and with confusion plain on his face, he asked,

“Did you urinate on yourself?”