Virago | 2018 Wattys Shortlist

two

T W O

Susa,
2018

★ ★ ★

ISAIAH 49:14

"The LORD has forsaken me,
and the Lord has forgotten me."

★ ★ ★

Melanin, Esther decided as she wiped the sweat that lined her brow, did not pair off well with the sun. The two were a notorious duo -- one worked to suffocate everything in its wake with heat and the other worked overtime to absorb it like a sponge.

It was so hot that she felt her eyeballs itching and she wondered how her ancestors who had been bought as slaves straight from the borders of Ethiopia two hundred years ago had coped with the heat humidity. Her limbs ached with fatigue and her head pounded with a headache and her school uniform clung to her skin. With a sigh, she squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and continued with her trek homeward.

It was just past 14:30 and it was finally Friday. She'd endured another shitty week at her shitty school and she was glad for it. The only thing she hated about Fridays was the long trek home.

The school came out an hour earlier on Friday and that meant Esther would have to take the 14:00 bus which stopped three blocks from her neighbourhood, unlike the 16:00 bus which stopped right near her house.

She finally made it to her block and released the tight grip she'd had on her school satchel, now that it was finally somewhat safer.

A grateful sigh left her lips as she finally closed the front door behind her and the cold AC air embraced her. She flung her satchel near the door, glad to be rid of the thing for the next two and a half days.

She made her way up the narrow staircase and into her room where she gladly peeled off her restrictive uniform and slipped into a pair of cotton shorts and a crop top. (The heat wouldn't allow for anything else.)

Today was hair day. It was a routine she both dreaded and loved -- it was an opportunity to nourish her bounteous hair but also a procedure that took the better half of her afternoon away. Starting with the basics, she melted the coconut oil and with nimble fingers, lathered it into her roots. The shampoo came next, followed by a quick rinse. The homemade conditioner of honey, olive oil, jojoba oil and Shea butter came next.

Two hours later, Esther's afro was clean, conditioned and twisted into little Bantu knots on her head. She took a moment to survey her appearance and frowned.

She thought of how she was constantly the brunt of some of the girls' jokes at school because she had "wild unkempt hair".

As one of the very few black girls in her school, she stuck out like a sore thumb and never having enough money to have trendy hairstyles made it worse.

The only reason Esther sported her natural hair, was because it was cheaper to maintain than texturised hair.

She hated how some of the girls at school would tug at her curls-- like she was some animal of some sorts. She always compared their light sandy skin and silky hair to her own dark features and coiled hair and always felt like crying.

Life had never dealt her any nice cards, she thought bitterly. She snapped herself out of her reverie --- a bit disgusted with herself that she had allowed herself to wallow in pity for so long-- and went back into her room to wrap her hair up in a silk scarf for the rest of the night.