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I Never Qualified to be Called a Girl
And I had no time to worry about that.
Sometime back, like maybe 13–15 years ago. I grass-thatched our hut. It used to leak whenever it rained.
During the dry season after a sorghum harvest, men would re-thatch their huts, granaries, and latrines to become new again.
They were grass thatched, but they would be beautiful unless, of course, the thatch became too old. If you took more than three years without replacing the thatches, it would wear off. So men[family heads] would replace them annually after every sorghum harvest. My dad used to do the same.
Well, after his departure, I mean, when the Lord called him home, I didn’t know what to do. I knew what should be done, but I didn’t know how or who. Not sure this makes sense to you, but just in case, let me explain it.
In the absence of a father. Let’s say he was called home, like in my father’s case, or he just is negligent, like some men were. The house mother would pay a man to do it. There were men who were very good at it, and that was their occupation.
But you see my mother [our house mother] had followed her husband, as if not death could do them apart. It seems as though when they swore forever to each other, kids, we were not part of the vows. — This is a joke. I know…
