Tidal Basin Review, Summer 2010

for them to all lie down at once, even if they wanted to. Most had propped themselves against a wall or against each other, and slept sitting upright. The new women spoke in tongues Adwoa didn‘t know, and even some of them could not understand each other. They looked to be no more than sixteen—Adwoa‘s age—but they were so tall that she felt like a child beside them.

That morning, when Adwoa collapsed by the bars and rested her cheek against Tawia‘s thigh, hands waved flies away from her mouth. ―This is the third time this morning,‖ Tawia said.

The old woman sweeping in the courtyard outside the cell approached the bars. ―Maybe it is the fever,‖ she whispered in Mfantse, referring to the one that had given several women loose bloody stools. ―If so, you should leave her in the corner.‖ Adwoa felt a cool hand on her forehead. Tawia said, ―She is not hot. Perhaps she is pregnant. Her husband—‖ ―She should remove it-o,‖ interrupted the old woman. ―Ah! They have put us in this filth, but we are still women. Why would a mother want to remove her baby?‖ The old woman swept harder. ―A red-skinned baby was birthed here before you arrived. At least ten of these red-necked Abroad men spoiled her, and then locked her in here for her whole time.‖ The women near the bars drew a collective breath. Tawia rubbed Adwoa‘s cheek. ―What happened to them, the girl and her baby?‖ ―The girl refused to eat or give the baby her breast. Both became very weak. The men threw them into the sea.‖ The nearby women gasped again. Adwoa squeezed Tawia‘s hand. Tawia cuddled her closer, probably thinking that she was in pain. For the moment, though, Adwoa was grateful that Tawia had maintained the lie about Owusu. She had seen the disapproval in Tawia‘s eyes when she first told the girl to pretend that Owusu had taken her for his wife.

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