Mumbai, 2020The day passed. Slowly, it passed until Marcus found himself sitting in the same chair he had sat the day before when he had spent almost an hour with Alyssa talking about the things he believed in which she refused to accept, which she considered inappropriate. Two minutes passed.He stared at Alyssa's husband, Charles. His hands were crossed together as if he was preparing for a job interview he wasn't sure he would pass. Alyssa was close to him, holding his hands and trying to comfort him. He seemed pissed. He looked annoyed.Marcus sighed and removed his hands from the table. "How does homosexuality fail?" He asked. "Reproduction, yes, but do you then believe that an infertile woman should never have sex or engage in a fruitful marriage?""I didn't say so," Alyssa said."So, straight couples should never touch each other with hands, never have oral sex, never have sex when the woman can't reproduce?"I didn't say so,"

Mumbai, 2020Marcus felt uneasy as he stepped inside the room he had had long conversations with both Alyssa and her husband, Charles. Despite knowing the task that laid ahead of him due to the quick invitation and support that was required from him by Blackwheel, he was still persistent on meeting Alyssa and Charles one more time before telling the management that he would no longer be available for a period at time. At least, until he was able to deal with the issue that involved Dev."I called you yesterday in the evening because I read more to your words which I am not supposed to do. I and my husband apologise," Alyssa said. "I am not concerned about the transgender people in general just the fairness of the situation which we discussed yesterday. The situation just complicates things because talking about the fairness is like discriminating which I am trying to avoid. Examples are useless, Marcus. Honestly, they are!  If you try to be in that girl's

 Pennsylvania, 2020The hall was empty. When Clark arrived at the door, he watched as Maria walked around in circles before sitting down. Her eyes were curious; desperately filled with a desire that seemed new to him. He sighed and patted her gently on her shoulders. "You will be fine," he said."Hopefully I will be when everything has ended," Maria replied. "Everything happened so quickly that I am unable to keep count of days. It seems like it was just yesterday that I sat with Abby alone in a room, talking about God. It just seems like it was two days ago I stood in a basketball court, watching Uju flex her shoulders, smash the ball on the ground on several occasions and try to buy her to way to another world. It just seems like those never happened."Clark sighed again. "Life is full of mysteries," he confessed. "Sometimes, it is hard for us to understand why certain things happen;

Pennsylvania, 2022Clark pointed to the multi-coloured book in the shelf with his lips tightly pressed together. "That is the book about James Blackwheel," he said. Maria looked at it. "What did he do in it?""A lot of bad stuffs," Clark replied. "There is information about a murder he did not commit though. I have looked into it several times and still, I can't understand why he was framed."Maria's eyes filled with foreboding. "As far as I am concerned, James Blackwheel was trouble. All he did was bring trouble to the people who lived around him. He should have been killed a long time ago.""He should have been killed indeed!" Clark repeated. "But it is almost impossible to kill someone who can't die. James Blackwheel is immortal. Don't you know!""I do!" Maria lowered her head down. "What fascinates me the most is how we are connected. The dates don’t match up in my head and I don't even know who is Nwakaego. Having a Nigerian ancestor is almost unthin

Lagos, 2022It has almost been two complete years since Ifenna last saw Maria Blackwheel and all he could feel about that incident was nothing because it was brief. It was quick and unsteady like a boat lost in the Pacific Ocean. As far as he could recall, Maria had told him that Uju's body was found dead somewhere and she didn't die alone but with a close friend of hers who was named Abby. Maria was not smiling when she spoke about death because she knew how important Uju was to both of them. She knew how her life had influenced their lives. As Ifenna sat in his new well-furnished apartment in Lagos, he realized that he should have spoken more to Maria than he had said during his last visit. Even though he had stayed a week in Pennsylvania, brooding about Uju's early death and the undeniable fact that there was no local Nigerian food around for him to eat, he still felt empty. He still felt lost. Not lost like a boy who had wandered alone in a forest filled wi