Circle of Life

Circle of Life

For generations unknown, Nnanna’s family had guarded the Circle of Life, her father, her father’s father, and others before him. Every planting season, on the eleventh moon, when the Circle made its journey, a member of her family, cleansed and innocent of...
‘THOU SHALT NOT’

‘THOU SHALT NOT’

Mad Man Timo used to come to our window after a heavy downpour and place his penis in between our louvers. He ran around the neighbourhood naked. He grabbed women by the butt and suffered slaps whenever he reached for a man’s crotch. He would roll in the PotoPoto and...
We Have Chosen for You

We Have Chosen for You

1. Present Day             On my wedding day, my skin twitches as my fiancé’s hands encircle mine. I superimpose another man’s hands over his. Pastor Jide, the officiating minister, bellows, “If anyone has...
OGBANJE

OGBANJE

After you buried your third child, your father, fed up with the deaths, summoned you. You were not surprised, no. You had expected his summons earlier, especially because the deaths of your first two children were exactly the same. Nine days after her birth, your...
Rio

Rio

  He has told the fifteen year old girl that he doesn’t want to see her again. She won’t listen. She has chased him all over the cheap hotels of Rio de Janeiro. His love, she insists, is all she needs. What does a fifteen year old girl know about love? Two weeks...
The Eyes That See God

The Eyes That See God

It was the shoes that Petra noticed first. Low-heeled, polished pair of black shoes.The kind of shoes one wore to a teaching job, or as a teller in a bank. Coupled with the medium-length black skirt and button-down white shirt, the woman had an almost severe air about...