BII

Ifeyinwa Ozurumba, the first out of six,

was the darkest. Whilst her skin boasted its Ebony, so proudly, her mother's possessed a hue so fair, that you'd mistake her for a [1]bekee if not for her curls. But her father was dark, an ebony black like Ife's, handsome, tall, and the stereotyped male which most within my community adored.

Once, when Ife looked like Ife, we'd all heard the tale which was told about her mother, the light skin beauty, the one who refused so many, yet ended up with the best. The one whom men abandoned their wives and lovers for, the best of all. Obiageri was once popular, and years had taken a lot from her in terms of beauty, but even I myself couldn't deny the factuality of the tale, her mother still held the once fabled beautiful, still luminescent, still radiant, but underneath the radiance, the beauty, the perfection, lay years and years of dirt and insecurities, a lack of confidence, a self loathe, and a constant consideration for the opinion of others. Most of all, her age still stood out. She was ashamed of the dark which adorned her daughter's skin, for in her daughter's form, lay Obiageri's fear.

With the birth of Ife went a good portion of Obiageri's beauty, and joy. For to her, all that was dark was deemed ugly, and for all her criticism of the dark, and constant exultation of the men who she worshipped, Ife went against everything she preached. And as years went by, and Ife soon became a sibling, Obiageri's hate grew, for amongst them all sisters Ife stood out, as a black shoe surrounded by absolute white.

My father's cement made home stood just across Ife's, cement made but walled with raffias and bamboos, as most were so, I saw and heard, the side comments, the unnecessary aggression, the hate and anger blown out of proportion, and the bullying, all from Obiageri to her daughter. But, I also heard the verbal rebuke, that which was directed at Obiageri by her husband whenever he caught her abusing Ife. I saw the anger which would build up in Mazi's eyes when he noticed the unfairness, the absolute injustice which was wholly poured upon Ife.

"You know, you were born cursed. If God loved you, he would have given you a skin like mine. Girls with dark skin find it difficult to get married, just in case you don't know.

Others might not tell you this, but it's true, stop deceiving yourself, happiness is far from your doorstep."

I remember hearing this, the anger, the hatred, seething, the scorn, all poured into this one statement. It awoke me by 4 in the morning, Saturday morning.

With sleep gone, and irritation stuck to my skin, I abandoned my bed for the kitchen.

"Nenye, Oby will wound her daughter, she'll destroy her daughter. Words like this don't fly over ones head, they stick to their skin, to their blood, and to their soul. It'll be hard to wipe off its smear, for it will stick like a second skin." Oby was the name [2]Nne gave Obiageri, and this which she said , she'd repeated it, over and over. She didn't hide it, she made it a point to always tell Oby this, cause to her, any harm which could have been prevented, yet left unarrested, would become the burden of the community. But I didn't notice the harm, for Ife laughed, and she joked, and she gave, she was perfectly fine, but, she wasn't.