Protea

Chapter One

18 Years Later

"Oh my gosh!" Masika groaned, dragging her hand across her face.

Looking in the slightly warped bathroom mirror, she glared at her unruly brown curls and coils.

"Of all days, why today?" She groaned while pulling at her hair.

Today was graduation, but she thought about not going with the way everything was unraveling around her.

Her hair was a hot mess, there was zit on her nose that everyone insisted she was imagining, and she couldn't afford to get a new dress. Ultimately, she had wear a hand me down that she received from her church. Overall, she was a bundle of nerves that was slowly being pushed towards the edge of no return.

"Stop all that hollering gal," Emem said, "An' tell granny what's the problem."

"I'm not going today, look at me!" Masika exasperated while dropping her head into her hands.

Emem looked at the girl and smiled knowing that it was the fear of growing up.

With a wave of a wrinkled hand and a chuckle, Emem motioned for the girl to follow her. 

"Come an' let granny fix this bird's nest for ya."

Masika followed Emem to the living room, and once she felt that her granny was settled comfortably on the sofa, she sunk onto the floor between her legs.

Emem was always able to work the kinks out of Sika's hair, coaxing the curls and tangles to cooperate. Taking a healthy amount of shea butter, a couple drops of lavender oil, and water, Emem rubbed the mixture between her palms. Once she was satisfied everything was mixed, she smoothed the concoction all through Masika's hair. After several minutes of gently pulling, tucking and pinning the strands, Masika's hair ended up in an elegant side French braid that gently rested slightly past her collarbone. Giving her a gentle pat on the head, Emem let Masika up so she could see the fruits of her labor.

Masika was pleased, as she knew she would be, her hair looked beautiful and effortless. She definitely wouldn't have been able to do this herself. Whenever her Granny Em interceded with her problems, they all seem to magically come together.

Going back into the living room Masika gave her granny a big hug and kiss on the cheek. "Thank you granny, I look beautiful! Now if only you could help me this zit and this dress." Masika pouted while pointing at the culprits accordingly.

"Ya welcome chile, but chu' didn't need my help, and stop complaining gal, ya look beautiful. 'Chu would wonderful in a burlap sack!" Emem replied while laughing at her own joke.

Masika only rolled her eyes and chuckled. After thinking about what her granny said, she decided yeah, she could look worse.

"Well then I guess I have no excuse not go right?" Masika jokingly inquired

"Ya damn right! Now let's go see ya walk that stage, my beautiful wild chile."

And with that Emem linked arms with Masika and they left for the graduation.

**********

Masika didn't feel any different. A whole week had passed since her graduation and she still felt like a little girl. What did she expect to feel though? Wisdom? Maturity? Who knew, but whatever the next stage was, she certainly wasn't ready.

She still felt like that little high school freshman, a wide-eyed four eyes with a face full of acne and painfully shy. Sure, she had outgrown the acne, which revealed smooth caramel skin, and she had gotten contacts and learned to love her slanted almond eyes. She even broke out her shell and made a small, but loyal group of friends.