Page 20 of Death of the Author

She still wasn’t sure why the publishing world had fallen in love withRusted Robotsso completely, but every so often, she would catch a glimmer of how the book moved people. Like an insightful comment from her editor, or a media question she wasn’t anticipating. These were always pleasant discoveries. Nevertheless, she didn’t share much of this with her family. It was simply too much to explain. For several reasons. The main reason being that to them, anything to do with her manuscript had become inextricably linked to her smoking weed.

Three days after the big auction where she soldRusted Robotsand the next two unwritten books in the trilogy, her siblings had all visited the house. It was Saturday, the day of the week when the whole extended family within driving distance got together. She always had fun hanging out with her siblings, their partners, and her nephews, but this Saturday, Zelu wasparticularly excited because she’d decided she would share her news. She waited until everyone had settled in the living room for a while. The TV was playing some show on Netflix, and the jollof rice and stew their mother had made was already half finished.

Her father sat in his chair with a cold bottle of Guinness. Her mother was on the phone in the kitchen. Amarachi was showing off her freshly manicured shiny black stiletto nails to Uzo and Bola. Chinyere was focused on whatever was on the TV. Tolu was watching something on his phone with Chinyere’s sons. Arinze and Jackie were deep in conversation. Family. Zelu was in the center of all this, literally. She’d wheeled herself into the middle of the room, observing everyone, yet feeling... disconnected. She had such great news, huge news, mind-blowing news, but she hadn’t shared it yet, and no one had noticed her. She was alone.

She wheeled out of the room and went to the back porch. It was a warm night, and the crescent moon was just rising. She took a deep breath and tilted her head back, eyes closed. Even now, she still couldn’t believe it. She chuckled. She really wanted to tell her family. She wanted them to know that, yes, she’d been fired; yes, her first book had been rejected; yes, she was paraplegic; yes, she was living at home; yes, she had no marriage prospects. But she’d just sold her art for millions of dollars, and it was about to be published in several languages around the world and adapted into a feature film.

“Me,” she said. “Imade this happen.”

She reached into her pocket and brought out her vape pen. She took several puffs, exhaling the mist slowly. Enjoying the faintly earthy smell.

“Seriously, Zelu?” she heard from behind her.

“Amarachi,whatdo you want, woman?” Zelu said. The fog of her high made her smile wider instead of groan. She chuckled to herself and took another puff.

“The whole family is here and you’re out back getting high. What the fuck?”

“Want some?” she asked, holding up her vape pen.

“Nope. Time and place and all.”

“Now is now,” Zelu said, shrugging.

“Don’t you want to do better?”

Zelu rolled her eyes. Amarachi was six years her junior, yet she talked and acted like it was the other way around.

“Why are you so dry?” Zelu snapped.

Her sister narrowed her eyes. “Why are you so happy being a loser?”

If it had been any other day, that would have stung, but Zelu laughed loudly. “Are you kidding?”

Amarachi seemed surprised. “No.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I finally sold my novel. I was about to go back in after a little relaxation to tell everyone.”

“Liar.”

Zelu leaned back, smiling breezily. “Nope. It’s calledRusted Robots,and I finished it weeks ago. Sold it for a million dollars to one of the best publishers in the world... well, that, plus another two million for the next two books. It’ll be a trilogy.”

Amarachi narrowed her eyes as Zelu took another hit. She slowly blew a cloud of smoke toward Amarachi, who fanned it away, disgusted. “Oh, and there’s more,” Zelu said. “It’s going to be a movie, too. More millions for me, just from a studio optioning the right to adapt it.”

Lightning-fast, Amarachi snatched her vape pen away.

“Hey!” Zelu said, grabbing for it.

“You’ve had enough. You’re babbling nonsense.” Amarachi turned around and started toward the door.

“What the hell are you doing?” Zelu shouted. But Amarachi had already gone inside. Zelu gasped, the fog of her high lifting a bit as adrenaline flooded her system. “Please! I can’t afford another one of those right now, man. I haven’t gotten any of my advance yet. Where are you going?! Oh my GOD, don’t you dare!” But she couldn’t move as quickly as her younger sister. Not with a wheelchair in a house that, despite being made wheelchair friendlyover the years, still had bumps, tight turns, and carpeting she needed to navigate. “Amarachi!” she called. But her sister didn’t answer.

Zelu stopped rushing as she remembered. She could afford to take her time. She was high. She had news. But as she wheeled back into the living room, she didn’t hear voices laughing. She didn’t hear the TV. She suspected some other news had preceded her entrance. When she rolled in, her family was all staring at her. She could feel their eyes searching her face. Uzo was already ushering the children out of the room.

“What?” Zelu asked.

Her mother held up the vape pen. “Ah ah! What is this? In your parents’ house?!”

Zelu glared at Amarachi in disbelief. This was an all-time low. “Snitch!”

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