Kazeem sat next to Zokou, looking at his mom cooking and chatting with his uncle.

  He is used to this kind of scenario. His mom was cooking, his dad was reading the newspaper, him exchanging some small talk with both of them and washing the dishes. But this time the scene was different. His mom was still cooking and chatting, but his dad wasn’t reading, and he couldn’t bring himself to talk. He didn’t know how to answer if his dad questioned him about his recent behavior. He remembered what happened the last time he tried to. What he saw wasn’t something he wanted to experience ever again.

  The problem is that his parents knew him too much. The discussion with his mom five minutes ago was enough for him to understand that his mom knew something... maybe more than himself.

  He thought about this morning, his father teaching him about the surrounding areas. Both were not really talkative; Kazeem and Zokou would usually just listen to Yasséna talk silently, while exchanging some chuckles or short sentences. If he was curious about something, he would ask his father for a brief explanation and his mother for a full essay about the topic. However, there were times when his parents would give a vague answer and purposely avoid the subject. At times like that he would simply give up and change the subject. After all, he always felt like there was a valid reason for his parents to do so... also because he felt too lazy to keep asking and he knew his dad might tease the little bit of curiosity he has and make him frustrated for weeks.

  But this time it was different. His parents let him listen to information that seemed taboo around the village. Things that only the higher-ups were supposed to know, things that a 17-year-old had no business hearing about.

  “What did you see near the vines?” Zokou suddenly asked after a sigh.

  “!!!” Kazeem suddenly tensed up. His dad was extremely straightforward so he expected this outcome, but this question was still enough to make him break into a cold sweat. He didn’t meet Zokou’s eyes, but the pressure brought by them felt weirdly tangible, enough to make simple tasks like breathing difficult.

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  “... I... I sa—” He was again about to tell everything, but he remembered the phenomenon that his words brought on his family and decided to stay silent.

  Seconds seemed like hours, and he started to feel nauseous. Right when he felt that he was about to pass out, the pressure suddenly vanished.

  “Cough! Cough!” Kazeem started to cough violently for a moment and lifted his eyes, trying to make eye contact with Yasséna, expecting some kind of reaction from her and help to get out of the situation, but she and Drah seemed to ignore what was happening on purpose. A bitter smile appeared on his face.

  Sigh. Paa, I know I went to the vine despite your warning, but you could’ve just punished me normally.

  He lived through so much weird stuff that he wasn’t surprised by what his father just did. After all, in less than seven normal days he witnessed a weird humanoid without a face but able to talk, loop phenomena, a grandma he couldn’t lie to, a mask that seems to... protect him? And a lot more. In comparison, being able to apply pressure on people, although impressive, was nothing exceptional.

  Kazeem knew his parents were far from ordinary. Sometimes his dad’s tattoos would light, just a little, the thin gold threads swelling before settling again. His mother’s eyes, too, picked up a faint glow whenever she spoke with strangers or examined something. And Drah… there was always a shift in his scent, not perfume, but a note that slid away from his usual smell for a moment. The signs were faint and brief, yet the déjà vu he’d carried since birth let him catch them.

  “...Listen well to what I am about to tell you and don’t share it with everyone.” Zokou’s voice was deeper than usual, and the seriousness that it carried made Kazeem straighten his back.

  “Alright, Paa,” he said with a little smirk. He knew he passed the interrogation phase.

  “In this world there are people with power.”

  “...ok”

  “...” When Zokou saw his son not surprised, there was a flash of sadness and worry in his eyes.

  “A long time ago human knew... Nah, it’s too long, ask your mom for more details.”

  “...”

  “Basically, humans used to natural phenomena, make it rain, be able to swim in a volcano, fly, and stuff like that.”

  How can he say bullshit like that with a straight face? Oh well, with what I experienced these days...

  “Sounds like bullshit, right?”

  “Yep”

  SMACK

  “...”

  “...”

  “As your dad was saying, they ‘used to’,” said Yasséna. Apparently, Drah, after eating, went straight to the salt trench to continue his inspection. She sat next to her son and now he was between his parents.

  Closing thought: Some truths arrive before you’re ready; the rest wait until you ask.