Sanaipei smiled as she got up from the pallet on the floor. Her scar had healed and she was going back to school on that day, or the next.
"How do you feel?" Her mother asked, rubbing her eyes clear of tears.
"I am okay, mum. It's about time I went to school."
"I know. But your father..."
"What is wrong with father?" Sanaipei asked, worrying about his health. He had recently come down with a cold. As thus, he spent every morning outside, basking in the sun. He was frail of health, and any tropical disease could very easily finish him.
"He said you shouldn't..."
Sanaipei looked at her mother. She tried to hide her anger, and managed it successfully. Her father always had his way. He never cared about anyone but his title and reputation, Sanaipei decided. He circumcised her despite knowing there was a possibility she could die. He wanted her to stop attending school despite the benefits she would get. He wanted her to marry an old man and get pregnant despite knowing that she was under 18 and she had rights.
He claimed it was demanded of her, of them to do these things. Sanaipei could see right through his facade though. She knew he wanted some more riches, and as thus, had sold her off to the highest bidder.
"You won't let him, will you?" She asked her mother. A woman who was strong and had weathered almost every storm while standing by her husband's side.
Sanaipei watched her mother's face closely. She was surprised to see a cheeky smile pushing the tiredness out of her eyes. "You WILL go to school. You WILL learn and make your life so much easier."
"My life? No mother, OUR lives."
They exchanged a fond embrace, before they got around to preparing food for supper. They were making some meat which they would have with stiff, white porridge.
