“Debris”

The following is a story from Uche Okonkwo’s collection A Kind of Madness . Okonkwo’s stories have been published in A Public Space, One Story, the Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019 , and Lagos Noir . She is a recipient of the George Bennett Fellowship at Phillips Exeter Academy, a Steinbeck Fellowship, and an Elizabeth George Foundation grant. He grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and is pursuing a creative writing PhD at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. D’boy lurked around the edge of the crowd at the newspaper vendor’s stand, looking for a worthy pocket to pick. It was a good hunting spot. Most of the people gathered there had no intention of buying a paper, but that didn’t stop them from reacting loudly to the headlines, their arguments sometimes leading to fistfights. D’boy scanned their back pockets, kicking a rusty can to avoid suspicion. Years of picking pockets had made his eyes discerning, his fingers nimble. But people had become warier too, men carrying valuables in their shirt pockets and women growing fonder of bags with short straps, so they could tuck the bags under their armpits. D’boy decided that if his scrounging attempts at the vendor’s proved unfruitful, he would proceed to the nearest bus stop. Fuel was scarce again in Lagos, and, with it, public transportation. The bus stops were packed with people wilting under the unrelenting sun, searching for the next danfo that would rattle to a stop so they could fight their way inside. D’boy imagined himself slipping into their midst as the chaos started. With multiple limbs clawing and shoving, his work would not be noticed until some unfortunate individuals managed to struggle onto a bus only to find their wallets gone when it was time to pay the fare. D’boy could not afford to spare them a thought. His stomach growled yet again, reminding him of rule number one: stomach before conscience. A few years ago, D’boy had been introduced to his father, an enigma known to him merely as Spanner. He’d lived with his mother all his life, […]

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