Her stepmother forced her to carry cassava sacks bigger than she was until a strange old woman appeared on the road. Zoadi was only 13, but she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. Since her mother’s death, she had become a servant in her own home. Her stepmother, Binta, treated her worse than an animal, while her blind father turned a blind eye to her suffering.
The girl lived in the shadows, invisible and starving. But fate had a surprise in store. On a dusty road, a mysterious figure appeared. She wasn’t a neighbor, nor a merchant. She was an old woman with eyes that pierced the soul. And what she held in her hands wasn’t just helping.
It was a secret from the past that would make the stepmother’s mask fall once and for all. The next morning, while Donna Sophia’s rooster was still crowing in the dark, Zadi was already up once again, facing the same enormous sack of cassava that seemed to mock her frail strength. Binta pointed with her chin without even looking her stepdaughter in the eye. Come on, Zoi.
The market won’t carry this sack by itself. Her voice came out dry like someone talking to a rock in their path. Zoedi took a deep breath, wrapped her arms around the heavy load, and felt her whole body tilt forward as if she were about to be swallowed by the burden. As she crossed the yard, the hardpacked dirt punished her bare feet.
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