Bitter Sweet Beginnings 2.0

“You are a very naughty child, Yaa” she said as she wiggled her left index finger in my face. “Maaaa…..” is all I could say as a knock was landed on my head. I made my way out of the bedroom to the kitchen as fast as my legs could carry. Overcome with pain that I couldn’t even cry, and my only evidence of this pain was my breathing pattern. I felt as though I was choking, my chest was tight, and I gasped for air with no tears in sight, thinking to myself, I must surely leave this house.
There was tension in the kitchen as Maame joined me. I slowly walked to the “asanka” and started grinding the pepper Maame had already prepped in silence.
Throughout the preparation of supper, Maame did all the talking, and I just followed instructions.
After my evening bath, Paapa was home, and we all sat to eat in silence. Tonight, I stayed away from Papa’s Salmon, which was unusual. He could sense something was wrong and asked, “What is the matter? Why are you so quiet?” In my attempt to respond, I started crying hot tears. It started as me whimpering as I tried to focus on my ‘ampesi’ in peace, but before I could say jack, I was wailing with ‘ampesi’ in my mouth. Maame was quick to speak first. “Don’t mind her, she has no manners. Instead of saying thank you for the shoes, she’s wailing, today she almost broke the bedroom window because I beat her.” More tears ran down my cheeks. I couldn’t find the words to defend myself. I wanted to explain that Maame threw a shoe at my head, which bounced against the glass window after collision, but the words to defend myself were nowhere to be found. Paapa pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around my back and signaling me to rest my head on his shoulder, which I did. As my cries slowly turned into soft sighs, he whispered to me, “You can explain to me after eating”. And I nodded in agreement. The two had a short meeting. After supper, Paapa made sure I was given extra food with bigger fish, and Maame permitted me to do the dishes the next morning instead of that night.