Midnight Robber

The narrative becomes a flashback about Ione and Antonio’s “stormy relationship. ‘Love so sweet it hot’” (45). They go through cycles of arguing and making up, Antonio cheating and coming back, before the birth of Tan-Tan. Ione hopes starting a family will bring Antonio’s attention back to her, but he ends up more interested in the baby than Ione. While Ione goes through lovers, the eshu teaches Tan-Tan about the Robber Queen. When Antonio finds out about Ione’s longest-lasting lover, Quashee, the flashback catches up to the beginning of the main narrative.

Returning to preparations for the duel, Antonio visits his friend Maka, who is making him a poison to coat his machete. Maka has no house eshu, so they discuss Granny Nanny and how learning to sing nannysong is a way for runners to deliver secret messages. They test the poison on a mouse; it is knocked unconscious but does not die.

The morning of the duel, Tan-Tan is nervous and puts on her Robber Queen costume. The house eshu tells Nursie that Ione approves of this outfit choice, but it is discovered the eshu never asked her. Tan-Tan and Ione see people dancing throughout the town on their way to the duel. Their limo is approached by a Robber King who tells a speech, and Ione pays him.

In the fight yard, Antonio and Quashee prepare to duel, enter the ring, and are checked for technological cheats. After being told the rules—that they “shouldn’t kill” but instead “show mercy” (60)—Ione giving Antonio her handkerchief and the men fight in the ring. Antonio defats Quashee, cutting his neck only slightly. However, the poison is stronger than he thought, and Quashee begins to choke. The sheriffs arrest Antonio.

Nanny directs law enforcement to drop off Ione and Tan-Tan before confining Antonio in the shift tower in Liguanea. The sheriffs give Antonio time to pack, and he takes Ione into the bedroom, leaving Tan-Tan with Nursie. Tan-Tan pretends to drink the drugged cocoa-tea and slips out after Nursie thinks she is asleep. Antonio’s friend Mako is there; he sings Tan-Tan’s earbug off and gives her a package for Antonio.

Tan-Tan hides in the trunk of the sheriff’s autocar and gets scared, so she calls on the house eshu, which turns her earbug back on. The A.I. alerts the sheriffs, who stop the car and take her out of the trunk. She is taken into a holding cell with Antonio until Ione can come get her. The building’s eshu informs them that Quashee has died, and Tan-Tan gives Antonio the package from Maka.

Antonio believes the “only way out is through” and “freedom is the thing” (71). He uses the box, which sings nannysong, to open the cell door. Tan-Tan asks to go home, but Antonio wants to take them to New Half-Way Tree. They enter the pods in the shift tower that are also activated by the singing box. Passing through several nauseating and painful shift waves, or “dimension veils” (74), they arrive in some trees and bushes on New Half-Way Tree.