December 2020

Written by Jennifer Azubuike Fayemi appeared in the living room in khaki shorts and a singlet with a small bag slung over her right shoulder. She carried her sneakers across the room and without a word to her mother, dumped them just outside the front door before going back inside. A couple minutes later, she re-emerged with a t-shirt over her singlet unbuttoned and seemed ready to hurry out the door. “Where are you going, young woman?” Fayemi was reluctant to reply. She knew her mother would not support her joining a potentially volatile thing as a protest. She had waited for the elderly woman to leave the house before going out but Mami lingered and didn’t seem to be going anywhere soon. Besides, there’s been pressure mounting on Fayemi from watching the protest unfold online. She craved to be part of it; to be part of the peaceful protests that have been going on nationwide for about a week, including in her city. “I am going to the protest, Mami.” “Which protest?” Thank you for reading! The rest of this story will be available in a book coming soon. Read other interesting stories here