"Okoo mi, my dear, you are not eating well enough, you know. I gave you that herbal concoction I got from Mama Yejide, but you still did not take it. Ehn, you think I did not see you pouring it away yesterday?"

Marissa smiled as she made room for her grandmother on the bench she was sitting on in their backyard.

"So you saw me?" She shivered melodramatically  "Blegh, where did she even get those concoctions of hers from, Maami? I am sure if I had taken it, I would have been spitting around for days, like when she gave me that concoction for malaria, remember?"

Her grandmother shook her...