Masquerade

by O.O. Sangoyomi

I did not kill my mother, so you will not kill me.

“You see how naturally we fit? As though the human body was created for the sole purpose of completing another. If a person requires another to be whole, then it is you who I want to complete me, Alál Òdòdó.”

“What is love but a choice? I do not need to fall in love with you. I have chosen to step into it—and I pray that you choose me as well.”

“Living untethered to a man is the kindest fate a woman can meet.

“Yes, I am your daughter,” I spat the words back at her. “And I will be the Aláàfin’s wife. And one day, I will be someone’s mother. But when will I get to be a person?”

I had loved him, but so long as I belonged to a man, I would never have any power of my own.