The Market Woman's Daughter · by Adaobi Nwachukwu
2. The Ledger
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The ledger in this chapter is based on a real one. I have seen it.
The ledger was wrapped in a black nylon bag inside a Bournvita tin, and it smelled of the tin.
Ngozi counted forty-one names before she stopped counting and started recognising. The tailor. The man who sold recharge cards by the gate. Her own uncle, twice, in her mother's careful handwriting, the second entry underlined.
There were no interest rates. There were no dates of repayment. Beside each amount, her mother had written one word: a reason. School. Rent. Hospital. Rent again. Rent again. Bail.
A woman who lends without interest is not running a business. She is buying something else, and Ngozi did not yet know what.
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