Free Ipods in Accra by Sophia Acheampong Page B

from roadside sellers. That was where I noticed that the people weren’t as racially diverse as in Accra, where there were as many non-Ghanaians as Ghanaians. In Accra more people dressed in western clothing, while more ntoma was worn in the villages.
    We drove up to a building with high white walls topped with barbed wire. There was a maroon gate on one of them and a blue gate on the other. People in Ghana often build theirhomes on a plot of land, so their neighbours’ houses are much further away than they would be in London. However, Nana- Amma’s plot was divided in two – the home behind the blue gates belonged to Nick’s nana. His Nana-Betty grew up in the same village as Nana-Amma and they had become friends when Nick’s mum and mine went to school together.
    The driver beeped his horn once we reached the maroon gate. The atmosphere in the car was one of nervous excitement.
    The gates opened slowly one after the other and we drove in. There was a large bungalow with a small annexe. In the distance I could see rows of corn growing and what looked like fruit trees. The car parked in front of the annexe and suddenly a young woman raced up to it.
    â€˜Auntie, auntie!’ she screamed.
    I watched as Mum got out of the car to be enveloped in a hug by a girl about the same age as me. Mum introduced her as Comfort, Nana-Amma’s maid.
    We were interrupted by Nana-Amma’s voice.
    â€˜Where are my grandchildren?’ she asked.
    I looked up see Nana-Amma in a long yellow dress with her hair in wrapped up in a matching duku and she seemed to glide towards us.
    Nervously I began walking towards her, but I was overtaken by Delphina, who jumped from the car and raced into Nana-Amma’s arms. As I approached her, she hugged me tightly and I recognised the smell of her perfume from when I was little – it made me feel instinctively safe. Mum really looked like Nana-Amma – they had the same eyes and wereabout the same height – but Delphina and I were more like Dad’s side of the family. Our cousin Tanisha was a taller version of both Nana-Amma and Mum.
    We were shown to our rooms. Delphy and I were sharing – I didn’t mind too much because she was better than me at handling the geckos that seemed to be everywhere. Mum said that they are everywhere, even in new buildings, which is why they are called ‘the original homeowners’ in Twi. All I knew was that seeing those lizards climb the bedroom walls simply freaked me out. It didn’t matter that they were harmless – I hated them.
    Nana-Amma’s home could have been anywhere in England, except there were no carpets, just rugs on tiled floors, and there were fans on the ceiling next to the lights. The walls were all different neutral shades. When we saw the kitchen we gasped – it looked like something out of one of those TV makeover shows. The colour scheme was grey and chrome and the tiles were white with grey mosaic. Nana-Amma told us that it was built by an Italian designer.
    It was just two days before the ceremony, and I wasn’t any the wiser about what it involved. We were having a great time at Nana-Amma’s, but a sinking feeling came over us every time we got in her car – we knew it meant heading out to see another friend or relative. It felt like she was showing us off to everybody she knew in Kumasi! If we didn’t go out in the car, visitors came to us, including Mum’s cousin, Auntie Leila, and her two year old daughter, Bella, who arrived that day.
    Nana-Amma had already gone with Comfort, her maid, to collect Tanisha from the airport. She was coming all the way from America for my puberty ceremony. Mum could see how anxious I’d become, but mistook it for meaning I was concerned about the puberty ceremony. I was, but that wasn’t the only thing whizzing around in my mind.
    I couldn’t tell her I was petrified of Tanisha and Mum blocking me out again.