Growing Yams in London

by Sophia Acheampong

  ‘Do you want to swap rooms? We’re about to sort out dinner,’ Mum said, smiling.

  ‘OK,’ I said, taking a huge plate of plantain with us to the living room. ‘That’s the last batch in there,’ I said, pointing to the frying pan full of plantain.

  ‘OK,’ Mum said.

  ‘Eh, you girls are growing so fast!’ Aunt Grace said, smiling as she walked past us.

  We flopped down on to the sofa and turned a music channel on. The front door bell rang and I heard Mum saying hello to Nick.

  A few minutes later, Nick walked in with a plate of hot plantain, biscuits and a drink.

  ‘All right?’ he said, sitting down. ‘I left your present under the tree,’ he said to me.

  ‘Cheers, did you find yours?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  Every year we just left each other’s presents under the tree.

  I exchanged brief looks with Bharti and Mel. We were all thinking the same thing.

  ‘Need any help with that?’ Bharti asked Nick, as she eyed his food.

  ‘Yeah, it looks too much for one,’ I added, before all three of us began attacking him for the hot plantain and biscuits.

  ‘Hey!’ he said, trying to save his food. In the end he coughed on the plantain and we all backed off.

  ‘That’s nasty, man!’ Mel said.

  ‘You’d know.’

  ‘Don’t start, you two!’ Bharti said.

  We sat there watching the music videos for half an hour before it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t bought a present for Nelson.

  ‘You’ve only got a few hours left,’ said Bharti.

  ‘Why didn’t you buy it earlier?’ Nick asked.

  Bharti told him about my conversation with Nelson, and I saw Nick visibly flinch but tried to ignore his reaction. Mel caught a look of annoyance he gave me.

  ‘Not jealous again, are we?’ she said quietly.

  ‘Shut up, Mel!’ Nick told her. His face had gone red.

  ‘Ohmigod, can you two leave me out of it?’ I pleaded.

  ‘He’s a jerk!’ Mel said, grabbing her coat.

  ‘Yeah and you’re a cow,’ Nick said angrily.

  ‘Great, like MSN messaging wasn’t bad enough,’ Bharti commented, buttoning up her coat.

  Within minutes of us leaving my house, Bharti managed to solve the source of the Nick/Mel feud: Nick’s failure to turn up at Mel’s birthday party. We stood in my street as she told Mel to get over herself and Nick that he should have told Mel himself that he couldn’t go to her party, and she made them apologise to each other. But I saw a look in Nick’s eyes that meant he wasn’t going to forgive Mel that quickly. And I had a weird feeling that he didn’t approve of me buying Nelson a Christmas present. He didn’t come with us as he had to see his grandmother but, as I watched him running for his bus, it suddenly hit me: whatever I did, I seemed to upset somebody.

  At least Nelson and I were a few steps closer to sorting things out. But how long would that last?

  Chapter 17

  Xmas MSN Message

  I was chilling on the couch after our huge Christmas meal, when I remembered that I was meant to be chatting to Tanisha online. I looked across at Mum, who was caressing a sleepy Delphina’s hair as she lay across her lap, and Dad, who had just returned from dropping off Aunt Grace. He was wearing the Arsenal kit Mum had bought him and the scarf from Delphy and me that hadn’t left his neck since we gave it to him. Mum only stopped playing the 1980s Greatest Hits album Dad gave her when Delphy and I complained of headaches.

  I jumped up and made my way through all the wrapping paper still strewn across the floor (Mum and Dad never made us tidy up straight away), and headed off to my room. I was carrying an mp3 player, make-up from Tanisha (that Mum told me I couldn’t wear all the time) and envelopes with vouchers.

  ‘Where are you off to?’ Dad asked.

  ‘I’m meant to be chatting to Tanisha online.’

  ‘Oh OK, say hello from us,’ he said.

  Within minutes of switching on my computer an MSN box opened up.

  HotT:

  Maaan Makeeda, ur timekeeping is soooooo wrong!

  Makdiva:

  Happy Christmas 2 u too!

  HotT:

  Well, how is everyone?

  Makdiva:

  Er OK. Except Aunt Grace made me get changed this morning.

  HotT:

  Y?

  Makdiva:

  I was wearing jeans and a T-shirt and apparently u have to wear new or smart clothes because it’s Christmas day.

  HotT:

  SHAAAAAME! LOL!

  Makdiva:

  I noticed her giving Dad funny looks for wearing his Arsenal kit after trying it on, but he reminded her it was new.

  HotT:

  LOL! What about Delphy?

  Makdiva:

  The traitor was already wearing her newest ntoma plus a duku, courtesy of Aunt Grace. Conspiracy or what?

  HotT:

  So did your Mum wear out that CD your Dad was giving her?

  Makdiva:

  U should’ve heard her singing along. Eighties music is seriously squeaky.

  HotT:

  LOL! I heard about Delphy and the sweetshop.

  Makdiva:

  OMG, has it reached Ghana already?

  HotT:

  Yeah!

  This was it; Delphy’s name, not to mention my family’s, would be dirt. No one ever gets kicked out of primary school – well as far as I knew Ghanaian kids didn’t. The fact that Delphy was seriously close to it was bad enough.

  HotT:

  Anyway, Nana’s going to talk to her later. She’s a bit worried about having delinquent grandkids, which is totally OTT cos I’m OK. So how did the whole Delphy’s Dodgy Deals Inc get started anyway?

  Makdiva:

  Your lollipops!

  HotT:

  What r u talking about?

  Makdiva:

  Makdiva: U gave me that bag of lollipops; I gave them to Delphy, and she sold them to her school mates and made ££.

  I stopped typing as I could see that Tanisha was typing at the same time.

  HotT:

  OMG! SHUT UP! U R LYING!

  Makdiva:

  No UR IN IT UP 2 UR NECK! So far, Delphy’s keeping up the code of silence.

  HotT:

  Nice 2 know one of u has.

  She had a point but I wasn’t going to take the bait. Mum and I had sorted things out.

  HotT:

  Why did u give them 2 her?

  Makdiva:

  Why not? I didn’t think she’d set up a flaming business with them.

  HotT:

  It’s impressive though.

  Makdiva:

  U reckon? I had to deny everything to Mel and Bharti.

  HotT:

  Yeah, that’s what u do 4 family! I hope she doesn’t grass on us. U got me punishment on the poultry farm next door for two days, plus babysitting some random cousin’s brats!

  Makdiva:

  LOL! What was the farm like?

  HotT:

  I’m becoming vegetarian! They made me pluck feathers off the chickens using boiling water and my bare hands!! That smell never leaves you.

  Makdiva:

  Yuck! What did u do today?

  HotT:

  Nana took me to every living relative we have!

  Makdiva:

  Huh? Why?

  HotT:

  2wish them Happy Holidays.

  Makdiva:

  Christmas! All of our relatives are Christian.

  HotT:

  Sorry! Anyway that took us from 8.00 after the 7.00 a.m., yes, A.M., mass till about 9.00 p.m.

  Makdiva:

  UR Lying!

  HotT:

  Nope! It’s crazy! At least in England you can stay indoors with TV.

  Makdiva:

  What’s the TV like?

  HotT:

  Completely different. Nana has satellite so it’s cool. I mean, some of the
programmes are a bit old, and flaming Lights Out doesn’t help.

  Makdiva:

  What’s Lights Out?

  HotT:

  Don’t you remember? It’s when the electricity gets cut. It’s soo random!!

  Makdiva:

  Oh yeah.

  HotT:

  It’s only for an hour or so mostly. Then generators come on, but only for the fridge and important stuff.

  Makdiva:

  OMG! I couldn’t handle that. Nana has some dark corridors, plus those weird lizard-like things that crawl up the wall!

  HotT:

  I know! I found out that they totally hate loud noises.

  Tanisha and I absolutely hate creepy crawlies. When we were both little on holiday in Ghana, every two minutes we’d start screaming at anything that moved.

  Makdiva:

  Guess what Nelson and I have

  I could see she was typing.

  HotT:

  NOOOOOOOOOOOO! I don’t want 2 know about u and Nelson cos that seems 2 get me punished!

  Makdiva:

  OKAY!

  Mum walked in and sat on my bed, so I discreetly scrolled up past the Nelson bit.

  ‘So how is she?’ Mum asked.

  ‘She’s moaning about having to visit so many relatives on Christmas Day.’

  ‘That’s the best bit! Ask her how many presents she got.’

  Makdiva:

  Mum’s here. How many presents did you get?

  HotT:

  Um . . . 15.

  Makdiva:

  OMG!

  Mum was laughing behind me. ‘It’s not so bad is it?’ she said.

  Makdiva:

  So whilst I was stuck here in the cold, making up the instant custard, u had present number 12 or something in your hands!

  HotT:

  14 actually. Don’t mention custard – I bought the wrong brand and Nana was not impressed. Tell Auntie she said that the M&S pudding wasn’t as good as last year.

  I heard Mum tut-tut behind me. I could see her reflection in my PC and she had angrily folded her arms. It was funny when she and Nana-Amma got annoyed with each other. You could tell if there were no kids in the room there would be a major argument.

  Makdiva:

  So unfair!

  HotT:

  But I’m volunteering for a whole year. That’s not going to be easy, u know my Twi is as bad as yours , and then

 

  Makdiva:

  Tanisha??

  ‘Mum, why has she logged off halfway through?’ I asked.

  ‘Looks like she got hit by Lights Out. You remember what that is, don’t you?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said. Then I began laughing. ‘Just as she was justifying all those presents!’

  ‘Yes!’ Mum said, joining me. ‘I think we should go there next Christmas or maybe the summer holidays – that’s longer. You’d love it, Makeeda.’

  ‘Yeah, maybe I would,’ I said.

  ‘You could visit the Manshia Palace and Museum’

  ‘A museum?’ I said. ‘They’re boring . . .’

  ‘Makeeda, I’m talking about the King’s home! Asantehene’s palace?’ Mum said, annoyed.

  ‘Oh, so there would be stuff on Yaa Asantewaa?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Hmm . . .’

  The more I thought about it, spending the holidays in Ghana didn’t seem so bad after all. I mean, I knew I’d miss my TV programmes and friends, but they’d still be here when I got back. My eyes flicked to the white envelope addressed to Nelson on my dressing table. It contained a Christmas card and vouchers for his favourite music shop. I began to think about meeting him on the twenty-seventh. I was glad that we were finally going to talk things over, but part of me was scared. After all the misunderstandings, could we have a relationship left?

  Chapter 18

  Magic Moments

  ‘Hurry up, Makeeda!’ Dad shouted from behind my door. I’d just got out of the bathroom and couldn’t find my tub of Astral body lotion anywhere. We were meant to be going to Aunt Anita’s for dinner.

  ‘Delphy! Where’s my . . .?’ I screamed.

  ‘I haven’t got it!’ Delphy yelled back.

  There was a knock on my door.

  ‘I’m getting dressed!’ I yelled back.

  ‘Not without this,’ Mum said, handing back my lotion. She was wrapped up in a dressing gown. ‘Don’t look at me like that – I ran out.’

  Mum likes to bulk buy toiletries at half price. So we’ll have loads of stuff for a while, then all of a sudden it will run out because she can’t bring herself to buy it at full price. I have a sneaky suspicion that she’s waiting for me to get a Saturday job at her favourite shop or something.

  Within half an hour I was dressed in a top and blouse made of navy blue ntoma with yellow apples on it. Thankfully I had normal cuffs on this one. My yellow beads would have looked great with it, if I had known where they were.

  When I got downstairs Aunt Grace was sitting on the sofa reading a magazine. She was wearing a long red dress with gold patterns on it. Her gold bangles jangled as she hugged me.

  ‘This is a much better style than the last one!’ said Aunt Grace, smiling. ‘But you need a chain or something.’

  ‘I know, but I couldn’t find the one I wanted,’ I replied.

  ‘Makeeda, go and get your sister!’ Dad interrupted.

  ‘Delphy, hurry up!’ I said, walking into her room.

  She was watering her yam plant. Her hair had green ribbons in it that matched the colour of her ntoma.

  ‘I’m coming,’ she said. ‘I just wanted to check on my plant.’

  I stared at the plant. Despite the heat in the room, it still hadn’t grown. I could feel my make-up melt and was about to force her out of the room, when I saw my yellow beaded necklace. The one I thought I’d lost. I marched up to her pink collection of hair accessories and pulled it out.

  ‘Leave my pink — Oh,’ Delphina began.

  ‘What are you doing with my necklace? How many times have I told you not to go through my stuff?’ I shouted.

  ‘I . . . I . . . forgot,’ Delphina said, scared.

  I pushed past her and put the necklace on in her mirror. Delphina went back to staring at her plant.

  ‘Delphy, it’s not going to grow, you know,’ I told her.

  ‘It might!’ she said defensively.

  ‘Yams don’t grow in —’

  ‘La, la, la!’ she sang loudly, shoving her fingers in her ears.

  ‘Delphy!’ I grabbed her arms, but she grew louder. ‘Fine,’ I said, just as Aunt Grace walked in.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Makeeda was being mean to me and she said that my plant won’t grow!’ Delphy said, rushing into Aunt Grace’s arms.

  ‘Makeeda?’ Aunt Grace said.

  ‘And she pushed me,’ Delphy added, crying.

  ‘Apologise, Makeeda. There’s no need for pushing.’

  ‘But she stole my necklace,’ I said.

  ‘Do you have it now?’

  ‘Yes, Auntie, but . . .’ I began, but Aunt Grace gave me a severe look, so I apologised.

  Delphy gave me a satisfied smile through her fake tears. It was all an act, as usual.

  ‘Delphina, Makeeda’s right,’ Aunt Grace said.

  ‘Told you,’ I said, smirking, but Aunt Grace shot me another look, so I shut up.

  ‘It’s unlikely your plant will grow. We just don’t have the climate for it here,’ Aunt Grace added.

  ‘But it’s for my project. I can’t go back to school without a plant. Everyone will laugh at me,’ Delphy said.

  ‘At least you tried. Now you get to write about why it didn’t grow and stuff,’ I said.

  ‘Yes and it shows how mature you are,’ Aunt Grace said looking straight at me.

  I guessed that comment wasn’t just meant for Delphy then.

  ‘Besides, it’s when things don’t work out the way we expect, that the fun usually begins,
’ Aunt Grace said, smiling.

  What was she talking about? There’s no fun when things don’t work out. Just grief! Delphy would probably fall for it though.

  ‘Come on, let’s go.’ Aunt Grace said ushering us out.

  An hour later, we had arrived at Auntie Anita’s place.

  ‘Ring the bell then,’ Dad said to me.

  The door opened to reveal a smiling Afua, so I knew straight off that I wasn’t going to enjoy the party. I tapped my coat pocket for my mobile phone and felt relieved at its presence. After greeting everyone, I found my usual spot on the stairs and switched on my phone.

  Bharti:

  W R U?

  Bharti:

  Oh yeah, you’re at that dinner thing. I think u need to talk to Mel about the whole Laura thing.

  That didn’t sound good. Actually it sounded like Bharti and Mel had been talking about me behind my back.

  Mel:

  W R U? Can u call me ASAP?

  Right, so Bharti the traitor has been telling Mel exactly what I think of Laura. Great!

  I called Mel on Dad’s phone. He always had loads of credit.

  ‘Hi, Mel, it’s me.’

  ‘Hi, Makeeda. Are you out of credit again?’

  ‘Yeah. What’s the emergency?’

  ‘You and Laura!’ Mel said. ‘Listen, I know you have issues with Laura but —’