The moonlight makes my skin burn. My mother knows this and so does the babalawo scooping blood from a rusty metal bucket and gently pouring it over my head. The blood sizzles as it hits my skin. It is no match for the fire the moonlight dumps on my skin. I am red. I am [...]
'The Yoruba believe in the doctrine of metempsychosis or transmigration of souls; hence they affirm that after some time, deceased parents are born again into the family of the surviving children. It is from this notion that some children are named "Babatunde," i.e., the father comes again…' —The History of the Yorubas by Johnson, Samuel [...]
Ikem held his breath alongside his brothers in arms. The men he had met, hated, fought against and now stood together to stop tyranny. He felt a certain kinship that couldn’t be explained or better yet, felt by none other than those who did what they did. The sound of the enemy engines and loud [...]
The first time I saw her was on a cold morning. The housemistress knocked on the room door and we all rose from our beds. When I stepped forward to open the door, she stood at her imposing height, looking at me with a keen observation, causing me to feel so seen I drew my [...]
The abduction of the chief sent cries of pain and panic rippling through the village. Chief Konkwe was the head of Lukaro not just in status, but in power, too. He was a leader who was not scared of getting his hands dirty and he led his village with an iron fist. It was no [...]
Stuck in a moment, a moment that brought with it peace; an acceptance of fate. In this moment the confusion was over, he accepted a fate that was never his. The people that poured reviling vomit on him were gone and the echoes of their puke dried off. He had a series of wishes, wishes [...]
Once, when the boy barely came to the man’s knees, when the man had to tilt to reach the boy’s tiny, soft hand, he would gently enfold the boy’s fingers into his own and guide him to the water’s edge. Now, after years of absence and interference - separated as other’s conflicts became theirs - [...]
I see Papa, lying on his bed. His round glasses make his face even rounder as he reads from his big Bible. I swallow my saliva, so I do not say the hurtful things my heart delivers to my mouth. I make my fingers into a fist and struggle with the urge to grab the [...]
Mixed feelings to her weren’t like curry and talcum but like sugar and salt, each element primarily indistinguishable from the other until—at least, another of the senses was employed. And even then, it would be silly to commence the task of separating each atomic grain of sugar from each atomic grain of salt—best leave things [...]
There was a forceful banging at the door. Gadi was up and getting dressed. He looked over his shoulder at his wife. “I love you,” he said. “Don’t worry. Stay in bed.” He whistled as he limped down the corridor, a slight sway to his gait due to a childhood accident that broke his right [...]
