Friday Black

The narrator of this story recalls a fable his father told about Anansi, the spider god of Akan-Ashanti mythology, and a lion who brags about eating three rabbit children. The telling of this fable is interspersed throughout the story. Although the narrator is upset that the Lion ate the three rabbit children, his father implores him to listen on. Anansi challenges the Lion to a race up a mountain, promising a magic potion should the Lion win. While the Lion suffers from bad stomach pains, he remains confident that he will defeat Anansi. The race begins, and Anansi remains in place, leading him to declare that the rabbit children have already been saved and that he intends to humiliate the Lion. After showing Mother Earth what he has done to nurture it, Anansi beckons the Earth to send him a breeze up the mountain. Riding a blade of grass, Anansi swoops past the Lion and reveals that he replaced the rabbit children with rocks that weigh down the Lion. Anansi thus wins the race.

Years later, the narrator is set to graduate from high school. However, his father’s sudden trip to his birth country, followed by his prolonged disappearance from home, has caused the narrator to become the family breadwinner.