Source Texts
Text
The following text is adapted from Akwaeke Emezi's 2019 novel Pet. Jam is a teenager who lives with her father, Aloe, and her mother, Bitter, who is a painter.
Bitter finished the painting in the dark morning of a day–it was well past midnight when Jam heard the studio door creak open. She stared into the velvet black of her room and listened to her mother's footsteps walking in her [mother] and Aloe's bedroom. There was a weight thrumming through the floorboards in a low song, and that was how Jam knew the painting was done. Bitter's feet were singing the news.
Bitter finished the painting in the dark morning of a day–it was well past midnight when Jam heard the studio door creak open. She stared into the velvet black of her room and listened to her mother's footsteps walking in her [mother] and Aloe's bedroom. There was a weight thrumming through the floorboards in a low song, and that was how Jam knew the painting was done. Bitter's feet were singing the news.