Annie John

Annie, now 15, falls ill, suffering with extreme fatigue and weakness. Last year, Antigua experienced a drought. Now, when rain finally comes, it continues for over three months. Annie lies in bed, unable to hear her parents speak but seeing the words leave their mouths. Her father thinks that she advanced too quickly at school and is now paying the price for her hard work. Her mother agrees and wants to call an obeah woman. Annie’s father assents but does not want to be present when the woman comes. Her parents also take her to the English doctor, Dr. Stephens, but he finds no evidence of illness, and her mother promises to redouble her efforts to get Annie to eat well and rest.

Back at home, Annie’s mother serves her a medicinal egg cordial, and although Annie usually hates the taste, she cannot taste it now. Annie’s father, perplexed by her condition, watches her while she lies in bed, and Annie cannot recall anything that has happened to her in her life. She feels a “black thing” lying down inside her brain, and the back of her skull feels as though it is burning. She dreams of walking through sooty, warm air, drinking straight from the sea, and then swelling up until her body bursts.