Chika

“Ada, are you in love? Yes.

Is being in a relationship hard work? Yes.

Do you write love poems for your lover?

Every day.”
― Ijeoma Umebinyuo, Questions for Ada

“remember whose daughter you are, speak with pride like you have been taught. do not lower your head, just like your father taught you. do not stutter, do not break apart.”
― Ijeoma Umebinyuo, Questions for Ada

“you remember your mother, her eyes and how she looked at you when she wanted the truth. you remember how she looked at you when you were thirteen and she bought your first bra, how she was smiling at you. you remember the day she told you how to count the days, to know you have become a woman when the blood first came.”
― Ijeoma Umebinyuo, Questions for Ada

“you notice the forced smile ... as he does not find warmth between her thighs, ... “some nights, he returns

with the smell of that woman – that jezebel.” ... “stay, you endure

he is your husband,

you endure”
― Ijeoma Umebinyuo, Questions for Ada