Speak Gigantular by Irenosen Okojie

Author:Irenosen Okojie [Irenosen Okojie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781909762466
Publisher: Jacaranda Books Art Music Ltd
Published: 2016-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

In April, her mother Merlene arrived to stay for a week. Merlene had a stout frame, perfect cinnamon-coloured skin and a soft voice with a hint of an Antiguan accent. Typically, she appeared unannounced, wielding a small black suitcase. At the front door, she looked up from heavy-lidded golden eyes, busied her fluttering hands smoothing down a floral, pleated skirt. “So this is where you been hiding, girl.”

“You should have called first,” she answered, conscious of still being dressed in her pajamas. “I’d have cooked something.” She drew Merlene inside, closing the door and leaving the short chain to rattle in protest against the wooden doorway. Her mother’s scent of rose clogged her nostrils.

Merlene studied the flat with critical eyes; the stencils of shadows on orange hallway walls, some stilettos with broken heels strewn over the floor, a cramped kitchen housing a rusty Indesit washing machine, the recently wiped sink. She ran her fingers along the dust on the TV set. Merlene ignored the feelings of guilt and disappointment coursing through her veins. She knew things about her daughter that Grace would be surprised by. She had the eye. That was why she’d come.

She spotted Loneliness licking itself in a corner. “That dog needs a bath, Grace,” she commented.

“It’s not a dog!” Grace shrieked, feeling tension creeping into her neck.

Merlene shrugged her black woollen coat off. “Good, I was about to say it’s the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen.”

Loneliness growled.

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