[COMPLETE] African Pride

17. Growing Heat

As much as I tried to fight it, there was something about this Washington D.C. that appealed to me. I believe it had to be the thrill of change, as I had never been outside of Nairobi before, let alone Kenya. Although I was still furious with Baba for forcing me to leave, deep down I felt happy.

Victoria explained to me that Washington D.C. was the capital of the United States of America, the same way that Nairobi was Kenya's capital. She and Albert showed me around the city, and I had to admit that it had a lot of breathtaking locations. From what I could see the architects were trying to invoke the spirit and power of ancient Rome and Greece, two nations that had a significant influence in the founding of this country.

It wasn't hard for me to fall into a routine here: wake up, dress, eat breakfast, go to school, try not to burn it down, return to Henry and Anne's home, complete homework, do whatever I wanted until bed, eat dinner, go to bed, and repeat.

However, I found this annoying and unsatisfactory, as I never was the type of person for settling. I had to have some variety. So, to make some, I decided to leave Henry and Anne's house early one Saturday morning and head out on my own.

Besides wanting to explore, I needed to gather ingredients for a ritual that I knew I could use to contact Busar. To know that he and the gods believed I had abandoned them saddened me, and I had to make it right.

In Kenya, it was easy for me to slip out of my house and visit him. However, since I was away from home, I was going to have to get a little... creative. I was going to have to astral project myself to Busar. There were special herbs and oils that I needed to collect, and I figured that it would be easier to do it myself than have Victoria and Albert with me. That way, I didn't have to explain to them what I was doing.

The herbs that I needed had to be fresh, and after researching on the internet, I found out that the best place to go and get the ingredients was a place in the city called Chinatown. A peculiar name for a location if you asks me, but I knew that it was true. Respect for Chinese traditional medicine still was deeply embedded within the culture, and I knew that if anyone had what I was looking for, then it would be this Chinatown.

There was a downside, however. Most people who practiced traditional Chinese medicine used items purchased from the black market. These items almost always were animal body parts, and people believed that they contained magical powers. None of this was right of course, but it fueled the poaching industry. People would shell out millions of dollars for an authentic white tiger pelt, or rare tortoise-shell comb. With all the money to be made, it was easy to see why there was such a draw to it.

If I saw any such things being sold. Then I will do something about it.

As I walked to this Chinatown, I felt as if I had been transported to another world. Once you pass a large, red and gold gate, it's almost as if you left America and taken to China. Shop signs and advertisement posters were all written in Mandarin, lanterns hung from semi-invisible strings that were tied to the roofs of the buildings, and the mouthwatering smell of authentic Chinese food filled the air.

Following the map that I had printed out, I found the open-air market in the middle of the district by what could be considered a park. Vendors were everywhere, haggling and shouting the prices of their items, some selling live animals, some selling herbs and spices.

My eyes roamed over the items for sale and found a short relief in that nothing looked to be from the black market—today. That didn't mean that black market items weren't sold here, just not today. The closest things I saw of someone selling animal parts was an old man selling dried chicken feet, even though they looked slightly off in color.

Perhaps I should come back and do patrol, I thought to myself. It'll get me out of that house for a bit, and I can still do my job.

Looking at my list, I saw that I needed to buy pure sunflower oil as a base, followed by various types of mimea, meaning herbs. After purchasing one cup of the oil, I then bought Chinese violets, Balsam apples, White nightshade, and Spleen amaranth. Each mimea had different effects on the human body and would achieve what I needed.