A Woman's Worth by Tracy Price-Thompson

Author:Tracy Price-Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780345512611
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2008-12-29T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

I awakened from the operation loaded with painkillers. I lay in bed with my legs spread wide, my ankles secured to the side railings, my body numb. Never had I been so drowsy. I saw shadowy figures moving about the room, soft-voiced nurses who washed my face and urged me to wet my mouth with small sips of water. I realized I was hallucinating when the entire Hamid family appeared at my bedside, worry on their faces, love in their eyes.

“I have repaired you, Abeni,” Dr. Hamid said, his face apparitionlike, his voice seeming to cross endless miles to reach me. “You are not perfect, my dear child, but this way you will at least have a chance at living normally.”

Mazani and her mother stood on either side of me, holding my hands with great sadness in their eyes. “We love you, Abeni,” I heard Mazani say, although her lips did not appear to move. “If God is willing, we will see you again.”

I struggled to emerge from the cloud of fatigue that enveloped me, and my hands were suddenly cold as I realized that Mazani and her mother were no longer caressing them. I succumbed to the mist and fell into a deep sleep, and when I awakened again the room was empty and my throat was dry.

My legs ached from being spread, but my head was much clearer. Raising myself onto one elbow and reaching for a cup of water on the bedside table, I saw a single piece of paper bearing Mazani’s unmistakable handwriting, tiny print with the letters far too close together. I absorbed the note, and it took me several moments to understand that not only were my best friends gone but what they had sacrificed in my name was more than I could bear. My eyes blurred over the single line of print, which read simply: “Seeing you whole again was worth the world.”

Whimpering, I forced myself to sit upright and flung the blankets from my body. My hands shook as I tore away the bandages taped between my legs, then carefully removed the napkin that covered my flesh. Bending at the waist, feeling pain tear through the drugs and bite into my groin, I scooted forward until my knees were bent and peered down between my thighs. My vagina was swollen and discolored, but the effects of Dr. Hamid’s surgery were evident. Gone was the thick scar that had run from the top of my mound nearly down to my anus. Gone was the stitched skin that had enclosed my clitoris and concealed my vagina. Through grace and mercy, a stranger’s hands had touched me, and gone was the damage done by the mutilation I’d endured at the hands of my own people.

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