Every evening before falling asleep, Awu ensured that the crosspiece of the headboard still locked away her secret. And that reassured her whenever she felt discouraged at having lost her soulmate. This soul was taken away in a ravine at the entrance to the capital. She often saw the image with a clarity that time could never manage to erase—a man and a woman, obviously happy and full of hope, sitting side by side in a packed bus. They were dressed as if they were going to a ball. But the ball they experienced was of a different kind than expected. An aerial ball turned tragic at the end and from which bloomed some strange roses—thick, red, and hot—on the large green leaves of the superb red kaba. And on the delicately starched yellow shirt, red hot ink flowed in abundance, taking away promises and dreams in its wake.
Notes
Part One
1. A pagne is traditional African cloth used mostly to make dresses but also table linens and so forth.
2. Malamba is Fang for sugar cane wine. Musungu is the Punu word for palm wine. Both are traditional beverages locally produced by villagers.
3. The original religion of the Ekang people, which Christian missionaries attempted to eradicate.
4. African drum carved out of wood.
5. Traditional loose-fitting African gown worn by both men and women.
6. Traditional African dress.
7. In the Fang language, this translates as “phantom knife.” It refers to a leaf whose edges are as sharp as a knife.
8. Schools in Gabon model the French educational system, so Ada’s grade level (cinquième) is equivalent to that of a seventh grader, and collège would be considered middle school.
9. Assok is a Fang village in the north of Gabon.
10. A traditional African game invented first by the Fang that requires keen mathematical skills to win. It is a board game somewhat similar to chess, whereby each opponent tries to conquer territory indicated by twenty or so holes scattered on a game board. Seeds are placed in the holes to signify that a “territory” has been taken by an opponent.
11. An atangatier is a tropical tree native to Central Africa that yields the fruit called atanga in Gabon, but the same fruit is called prune in Cameroon. The fruit is blue-purple and shaped like an avocado; this is surely to what Ada is referring in the novel as “blue dates.”
Part Two
1. A Fang interjection showing surprise in a negative and/or serious situation.
2. Zom ayo is a plant with extremely bitter leaves that can be consumed as a vegetable or for medicinal purposes.
3. A nganga is a spiritual healer of sorts, someone capable of communicating with those from the beyond and who can therefore impart wisdom and knowledge.
4. The fête du mouton refers to the slaughtering of sheep in conjunction with the Muslim holiday, Eid El Kébir (also known as Eid al-Adha), a commemoration of Abraham’s sacrifice. The holiday is declared in relation to the Muslim calendar, and therefore its exact date is announced only a very short time in advance.
Part Three
1. The corps de garde is the entry to a Fang village and an important meeting point for visitors and residents alike.
2. Fang interjection.
3. The currency of most countries in West and Central Francophone Africa is the franc CFA, with an estimated value of about 500 CFA to one US dollar.
About Justine Mintsa
Justine Mintsa is a Gabonese author and, before her retirement in 2016, was an English professor at Omar Bongo University in Libreville. She has also worked in Gabon’s Ministry of Culture and the Arts for sixteen years. In 2012 Mintsa was named advisor to Gabon’s prime minister and head of the Department of Education and Culture.
About Cheryl Toman
Cheryl Toman is a professor of French, the chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, and the director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Case Western Reserve University. She is the author of Women Writers of Gabon: Literature and Herstory.
About Thérèse Kuoh-Moukoury
Thérèse Kuoh-Moukoury is a novelist, journalist, children’s rights advocate, and activist. She is the author of Essential Encounters, making her the first woman novelist of francophone Africa.
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