‘Oh, it does not matter. You know I eat here when I come, but today I must go away. I have the children’s books to mark.’

‘Then I must not keep you away from your work.’

‘Tomorrow I will come to see you,’ I promised.

‘Yoo, thank you.’

‘Sleep well, Maami.’

‘Sleep well, my daughter.’ I stepped into the open air. The sun was far receding. I walked slowly away. Just before I was out of earshot, Maami shouted after me, ‘And remember, if Kwesi gets his sums wrong, I will come to school to receive his lashes, if only you would tell me.’

‘Yoo,’ I shouted back. Then I went away.

The next day was Ahobaada. It was a day of rejoicing for everyone. In the morning, old family quarrels were being patched up. In Maami Ama’s family all became peaceful. Her aunts had – or thought they had – reconciled themselves to the fact that, when Maami Ama’s mother was dying, she had instructed her sisters, much to their chagrin, to give all her jewels to her only child. This had been one of the reasons why the aunts and cousins had left Ama so much to her own devices. After all, she has her mother’s goods, what else does she need?’ they were often saying. However, today, aunts, cousins and nieces have come to a better understanding. Ahobaa is a season of goodwill! Nevertheless, Ama is going to have a formal divorce today. . . .

It had not been laid down anywhere in the Education Ordinance that schoolchildren were to be given holidays during local festivals. And so no matter how much I sympathised with the kids, I could not give them a holiday, although Ahobaa was such an important occasion for them; they naturally felt it a grievance to be forced to go to school while their friends at home were eating so much yam and meat. But they had their revenge on me. They fidgeted the whole day. What was worse, the schoolroom was actually just one big shed. When I left the Class One chicks to look at the older ones, they chattered; when I turned to them, Class Two and Class Three began shouting. Oh, it was a fine situation. In the afternoon, after having gone home to taste some of the festival dishes, they nearly drove me mad. So I was relieved when it was three o’clock. Feeling no sense of guilt, I turned them all out to play. They rushed out to the field. I packed my books on the table for little Grace to take home. My intention was to go and see the divorce proceedings which had begun at one o’clock and then come back at four to dismiss them. These divorce cases took hours to settle, and I hoped I would hear some of it.