Susanorjisblog

                      Chapter two

Cassandra Oriefieze Amanna. The name was too long and classless, my mother used to say. At first she called me Fifi. But my father used to get so angry, he thought it was sacrilegious. As I grew older it became Cassie. My half-caste neighbour used to call me that, and soon everyone joined in. Oriefieze was too long a name for her polished tongue.

I was born in the northern part of Kaduna, to an Anambra father and Imo state mother who ran a small canteen just opposite our house where labourers ate during their day job. When the Sharia riot broke out in year 2000, my parents fled and abandoned the canteen and northern Kaduna for the southern side which was more developed and flourished in business. After the riot, My mother got another shop selling…