“Who’s this Easter that Simi’s going on about?”
She didn’t answer at first. Instead, she took a pillowcase up from the floor and began to stuff the children’s clothing inside. When she had that done, she put the women’s clothing in a separate pillowcase. Abeo’s shirts she left where they were.
“What did Simi say?”
“She was telling me ’bout some daft ‘initiation,’ Mum. Easter’s s’posed to help her be Yoruba now tha’ she’s becoming a woman. Those’re her words, not mine. So who’s this Easter and how’s she helping an eight-year-old get to be a woman?”
Monifa gave a fond little laugh. “Oh goodness. Simi has become very confused.”
“’Bout what? An’ why the bloody hell does she think she’s got to be ‘initiated’ to be Yoruba?”
“She said that?”
“There’s some big ceremony in her future is what it is. She’s got a pile of new clothes and jewellery. She showed it all to me. Then she went on ’bout this person Easter who’s giving her a jab so she can be a woman. She said there’s a ceremony and a celebration and why the hell di’ you tell her she has to do all this in order to meet the family in Peckham when you bloody well know Dad will never let her or me or you meet them because that means he might lose power over us.”
Monifa sat on the lumpy sofa. She gestured at a chair for Tani to sit as well. The last thing he felt like doing was sitting, but he cooperated. He flopped into his father’s armchair and waited, fastening his gaze on his mother’s face.
“There are things,” she began.
“What things?” he demanded.
“Things that are of women, Tani. They are personal and difficult to explain to a child.”
“Difficult to explain to Simi is what you’re saying. So . . . ?”
“So I tell her a little story to smooth the way.”
“The way to what?”
“The way to being examined for the first time. This is what Easter did. She listened to her heart and her lungs and then she looked to make sure everything was in order . . . inside Simi. Do you understand?”
“Her girl parts? Tha’s what you mean?”
“Yes. Her girl parts.”
“Why’s an eight-year-old need her girl parts looked at?”
“As I said, Tani. It is important that a girl be right.”
He took this in. He followed the path his mother was treading to its logical conclusion. “You mean you’re checking to see, innit. You told her ’bout initiations and ceremonies but what you’re in’erested in is if she can . . . Wha’s the word Pa uses? Oh, yeah. Abi. Breed. So this Easter looked her over to make sure her parts are right. There’s no jab and no initiation and no ceremony or anything else. There’s just wanting to know can Simi breed.”
Monifa said nothing. In her silence, Tani saw the truth.
“An’ if she can, which is what you wanted to know, Pa can put her up for auction. He can take her to Nigeria, or he can put her face on a website, or he can whatever. He wants a big bride price for her, I wager, prob’ly more than he paid out for Omorinthesalad or whatever she’s called. Tha’s wha’ this is all about. And you’re goin to let it happen.”
“This is not true.”
“Yeah. It is. Why would it be anything but true? You’re happy for him to buy some random virgin for me to plug, so why would I ever think you might do something, say something, or be something to stop him from finding some bloke with big money who likes the idea of buying himself an eight-year-old guaranteed to be learning from her mum how to be a proper Nigerian wife?”
“Tani, your father would never—”
“I don’t wan’ to know what Pa would or what Pa wouldn’t. He’s just a bloke thinking he can get away with whatever he wants. But you don’t see that, do you? I jus’ hope you wake up, Mum, before he wrecks all of our lives.”
TRINITY GREEN
WHITECHAPEL
EAST LONDON
During her first photography sessions at Orchid House, Deborah had discovered that there were going to be a few stumbling blocks to her success with the project. Most notably, she learned that she wouldn’t be allowed to begin photographing the girls until Narissa Cameron arrived. The girls didn’t know her, they had no reason to trust her, so this was how it had to be. On this day, though, when Deborah entered the room with her equipment, only the girls and the filmmaker’s associates were there. They were setting up for the day, and while Narissa’s digital camera looked ready to go, Narissa herself wasn’t present.