A Hungry Inquiline
And remembrance bares the pattern of a cracked mirror—you see yourself in irregular pieces, held by interlinked lines.
Lucky
A Flicker
“Okidi is going to study and be a pilot!” Ma would exclaim from time to time when she was in a good mood. Although she did not know much about piloting and what it took to become one, in her world education meant open doors and opportunities.
Wild, Wild, South
“our brothers and sisters from Nigeria, have not in any way become oppressors and thieves in our land as claimed by the ignoramuses in our midst. The killings of their son, the burning of their hotels; are perpetrated by envious and evil hearts among us.
Oyinbo
Days later, I was an Oyinbo, a light-skinned African, no longer in the league of cheap Africans. Miss Bukky had once told us that light-skinned African slaves were more expensive, and treated with more respect than their dark-skinned counterparts. Raji had thrown jibes at me that day, saying that dark people like me were cheap.
Other Side of the Coin
“You see coins, na two side dem dey get. Na natural order be that. The metal for one side no fit just stand up, cross go the other side because e tire for im original side. You no fit be like rich people, lai lai! This ghetto, na your side be that…’’
Beware Policemen
“I didn’t do it! I did nothing!” The words screamed their way out of my mouth. Jumping out of my sleeping position, I hit my head on the wall. I rubbed frantically on the distended spot as I looked around me in the darkness of the night at the cold scary cell I had been […]
Lost In Palaro
I wanted to tell him that a man who has seen death and even flirted with it can never get used to the cruelty it carries but he had moved on before I could respond.
Nights
Stupid sun! And this stupid man! Thinking he could cheat her. Who did he think he was? Atwiine thought. “Nyabo nku—” “Nyabo what? Heh! You see bereaved people and you think you can become rich off them? Ssebo, this ka thing. Look at it!” “Mbadde—” “Is it reusable?” Ssalongo just stared. “See? Angaazi.” Thief! With […]
To Catch A Thief
The heat from the afternoon sun was stifling. The usual bustle of the weekday had taken a much slower turn and Shop owners sat uncomfortably behind their stalls, surrounded by sacks of their merchandise cowering from the heat. This heat demanded slow beads of sweat from you. The kind that dried before they’d run their […]
Goodbyes
I pace around the chain-link fence, eyes darting around, trying to find something to use. Another loud gust of wind blows dust and dry leaves into my face, a nudge to hurry up, else get caught. “Maybe if I just-” I grab a handful of chain link fence in my small hands, right by a […]
Lost In Memory
“This is when they choose to bring the old woman home!” his grandmother exclaimed walking through the door leading to the bedrooms. The phone in his hands said it was a few minutes past 9:00 pm. Turning to where she stood behind him, Elijah noticed her headscarf was askew. She must have been asleep. Her […]