53

IVORY

The market was rowdy and muddy. Mama led me through the tight spaces in between people and flying sputum. We got to an one storey building containing stalls. Mama walked to one on the ground floor and extracted some keys from her bag to unlock the huge padlocks.

After opening the doors, we brought some wares in cartons and shelves out in front of the doors with a little passageway the customers could enter the shop from. Customers filed in and Mama attended to them while I watched closely, intent on learning quickly. If Mama thought Adanna was good, I needed to show her I was better.

"Do...