It was Madam’s face, not Nnanna’s, that Atinuke saw the moment she opened her eyes. Bright orange lipstick was smeared carelessly across her lips and her eyeliner came uncomfortably close to her eyebrows. She smacked her lips thrice in succession and scrunched up her nose. “So you can smile? Mgbon? Atinuke o tun rerin? I heard about your escapades at home, how you perambulated all over the place until you broke my glass.
Tag: women
Confessions of a Clueless Romantic
Forgive me, dear blog, for I have sinned. It’s been a long while since I’ve confessed. One hundred and twelve days but who’s counting. They say, no matter how far the chick strays from mother hen, it will always find its way back to the nest. So here I am, after days of playing grown…
Strong Girls Only- An Introduction
I’m barely 22 but I’ve had a lot of experiences that have forced me to learn. Financial crises, career choices, educational confusion, self-esteem issues, depression, wrong decisions, love, fuck boys, fake friends, losing loved ones, taking risks, joblessness. Each experience, at the time, seemed like the end of the road for me. It was tough, I…
One night stand
“Your dress is too loose; you’re not going to sell any market if you go in there looking like Mary-Amaka”. “Ehn what am I supposed to do? My stomach isn’t flat and everyone knows that flabby doesn’t cut it”. “Wear a waist trainer”. “I don’t have a waist trainer!” “Wear my waist trainer”. “I can’t…
Facade
The pony tail was the first to come crashing down. All eight hours of confinement and utter obedience, flying wildly till they, of their own accord, decided to settle freely beneath the nape of my neck. The blue checkered shirt was next, it and its matching blue pant carelessly settling atop the confusion that was…
Paranoia- Spoken Word
I attended an event yesterday where i had to perform a piece that I had just written. I haven’t done spoken word since 2012 so I was jittered like crazy. It turned out okay, however, so i decided to put it up on the blog. The transcript is below for those of my readers from…
It’s okay for a woman to pull the reins
When I was a child, I was told a lot of things. From the point when it was clear that I could understand the hidden meanings behind the words that were carelessly but guardedly thrown across the room, I became a piggy bank for the deposition of cultural wisdom. I was taught to clean, because it…
We Should all go Natural
It’s precisely 7 months since I picked up a scissors and chopped off my hair in frustration. I don’t quite remember what led to what, but I’m extremely sure the dominant emotion was that “I’d had enough”. It was bad enough that I had to constantly spend money on relaxing solutions and hair style…
Somewhere in your world
Somewhere in Iraq, Maheedah sleeps. It’s the first time she’d get to close her eyes in 5 days and as much as her aching muscles long for the temporary relief of the cold hard floor, her brain tremors with disapproval. There is nothing comforting about this sleep, nothing relaxing. The concrete floor is strewn with…
Atinuke #1 (Fiction Series)
Atinuke was only sixteen when she first realized she had fallen in love. It was Nnanna, her madam’s nephew that lived right across the street. He had walked into the driveway that sunny afternoon, his cap hanging loosely across his face. Atinuke didn’t notice his presence until he came close enough to give her a…
Lilian Ogbuefi 