Back in May, a friend of mine brought the Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Shorty Story Prize to my attention. The competition, which was set up in 2015, is intended to discover and promote talent from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicity backgrounds whose voices statistically tend to get overlooked by traditional publishers. In the spirit of 2019 being the year of my return to fiction writing, I decided I’d give this a go.
At first, I struggled to come up with an idea I felt I could work with but, when I finally got into it, I was pretty pleased with what I produced and submitted last month. The longlist was announced today and, alas, my story was not deemed worthy of continuing in the process. After an initial wave of disappointment, I read through the list and realised nearly all the longlisted entries this year appear to be fairly established journalists, filmmakers, traditionally published authors or have an English or Creative Writing degree from Oxbridge, so the level of writing must have been on another level. I can’t even be upset about not moving on because, who can really compete with that pool of talent (not me, obvs, heehee)? Anyway, I’ve decided to share my entry with you guys as always (hurrah!). Maybe I’ll find another competition to submit it to but, until then, I hope you enjoy what I had to offer.
LOCKED
“You are Joanna.”
Uncertain if this was a question or a statement, Ezinne nodded to be on the safe side. She didn’t answer to the English name on her passport, but it was the first listed in the document so most people took it for granted that she would. She usually gave it a few days before expressing her preference to be addressed by her Igbo name, although she wasn’t sure she would have that luxury here.
“Is something wrong with your mouth?” the portly man bristled, glaring at her with a raised brow.
“Sorry, sir. Yes, I am Joanna.”
Leaning back in his chair, he scratched his salt-and-pepper beard and inspected her documents for a little longer before nodding and handing the pack back to her. “I see you are with Uchechi, you will be in good hands.”
Ezinne attempted a smile as she heard the room door creak behind her. “Thank you, sir. I’m looking forward to getting started.”
“You might regret those words in a few minutes.”
Spinning around, Ezinne took in the speaker standing in the doorway, a short caramel skinned woman clad in loose fitting khakis with thick multicoloured braids pulled away from her makeup free face. She eyed Ezinne up and down for what felt like an eternity, with toned arms folded across a heavy chest. When she finally motioned for her to follow, the woman didn’t bother acknowledging the man behind the desk as she exited the room.
The chain of command was clear enough for Ezinne to know she didn’t require permission from the man to leave but she hesitated, glancing longingly at the noisy but effective air-conditioning unit which hung above his head. It was only when he waved her off with a deepening scowl that she hurried along behind the woman, suppressing a sigh as she caught up with her. They walked down the narrow fluorescent lit corridor in silence, meeting no one else, until the woman stopped outside an unmarked timber door. She wiped freshly formed beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and then pushed open the door, stepping to the side.
“Take off your clothes.”
It wasn’t a request.
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“You read the briefing notes?” The woman threw up her hands, as if this was all the explanation that was needed.
Ezinne nodded but her frown remained.
“Then you know that you need to be prepared. Don’t worry, there are no cameras in here. I’ll turn around if you’re feeling self-conscious.” The humour in her voice was exaggerated.
“It’s not that,” Ezinne wavered, peering past her and into the small room. A lone chair was pushed up against a wall with a yellow Hazmat suit draped across it. “I thought there was no contamination recorded.”
The woman laughed but the sound held no mirth. “Come on, don’t you know your people again? Do you trust that they would have gotten everything right?”
No response was expected and refusing to comply was clearly out of the question so Ezinne settled on to the metal chair, sliding the suit to the ground. She had no intention of taking all her clothes off but putting on the suit required the loss of her knee length skirt.
As she leaned forward to slip off her shoes, she caught sight of her reflection in a full length mirror which was propped up against one of the walls. She had thought her white blouse and beige skirt combination were a little too clinical when she put them on that morning but pale colours complimented her carob skin best when she was looking to make a good first impression. It didn’t help that her black rimmed glasses were always perched high on the bridge of her broad nose or that her buzz cut made her look much more uptight than she felt. She needed to come across as warm and amiable today.
And now the stupid suit was going to wreck all that she had worked towards. She picked up the yellow plastic and began to unzip it but promptly stopped when a strong waft of BO hit her.
“You know what?” Ezinne got up and replaced the suit on the chair. “I’ll take my chances. I have already signed the waiver so there’s no need to worry, you won’t get blamed if anything happens. Uchechi, that’s your name, right?” She smiled at the woman to soften the rejection of her authority.
Uchechi’s nostrils flared but she recovered quickly.
“You can’t say I didn’t warn you,” she said as she led Ezinne back into the corridor and unlocked the door beside the room they had just vacated. “Go through there and unlock the door with this key.”
Ezinne hadn’t expected to be left alone so quickly but she didn’t complain. Instead she took the key and did as she was told, only turning slightly when she heard Uchechi lock the first set of doors behind her.
The brightly lit room was almost as bare as all the others Ezinne had been in so far, save for a single bed in the corner of the room. A girl sat cross-legged on it with her eyes closed, the long pale blue gown which draped across her thin body forming a tent across her knees. She looked to be no older than pre-teen and yet there was something about her which kept Ezinne hovering by the door. The idea that others had felt she required a Hazmat suit for this meeting probably didn’t help.
Nobody had used the word dada in the briefing notes but Ezinne knew what she was there for. Her thesis on ritualistic offerings and cultural scarification had been cited when she was approached for the assessment. The markings on the girl’s cheeks were barely visible on her ebony skin but more so because her face was almost completely covered by the thick matted black hair which fell to her shoulders.
Ezinne stood for a moment observing her until she realised the girl had no intention of acknowledging her presence. Resisting the urge to remain by the door wringing her hands, she cleared her throat and took a small step forward.
“My name is Ezinne,” she announced a little too loudly but then, realising the girl may not be fluent in English, she switched to her native tongue and repeated in a much softer tone. “Aha m bu Ezinne.”
The girl’s eyes flew open and she uncrossed her legs, turning to face her visitor. Her narrowed eyes took in Ezinne with one quick sweep. And then she smiled, revealing a sizeable gap between her bottom incisors. “Aha m bu Odera.”
Ezinne could sense the absence of the ridiculous suit had bought her some points. “Do you know why you are here?” She continued in Igbo.
The girl shrugged but her left hand tugged at one of her long tangled locs. “They say I am not safe.” Continue reading →
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