The family

"No, not that one. Take it from the top" Efo Gameli told Senyo who was removing yam from the barn.

"If you dare remove one from the bottom, this whole thing will come tumbling down."

"my hands can't reach that one up there " Senyo tried to reach the yam at the very top but couldn't get it "see what I was talking about , not that I'm too short , just that the barn is too tall".He tried removing the yam form the top of the barn again and his hand could not reach, he even stood on his toes on the ladder but still could not reach the yams at the top. "I am not short Dad, it's the barn" He said again

" haha, who said anything about your height?" asked Efo Gameli , as he cleaned sweat from his face with the back of his hand.

" just to make things clear, dad." Senyo said coming down from the ladder that was inclined to the barn. " you know I tried but the barn is too tall "

" but Fafa can remove that yam you know?" Efo Gameli asked

" haha yes , my younger sister is taller than me . ohhh Senyo" Senyo laughed at his Father's remark.

"We will have to make a taller ladder for you, or a shorter barn for you, only you " Said Efo Gameli

"I'm not that short I'm I?" Senyo asked rhetorically, and laughed.

"oh no no no" Efo Gameli answered amidst laughter

"You are not short at all, it's the barn, it's too tall and the ladder is not tall enough. By the way, you reach your younger sister's shoulder and that is tall enough".

The two of them laughed hysterically at Efo Gameli's remark and Senyo finally got down from the ladder and Efo Gameli climbed. Efo Gameli took the smaller yams from the top of the barn and gave them to Senyo who would then put them in a baske, the kusi. He would throw them to Senyo one after the other. After removing six yams, he got down from the ladder and asked Senyo to take the yams to the farm house.

" Aren't we roasting some today?" Senyo asked.

"The women should be here any moment from now" Efo Gameli replied "Besides today, we won't stay here much longer, and it will be over eating if we roast any yam in addition to the food they'll bring. But if you still want to eat roasted yam, you can still remove any amount of yam you want from the barn but remember, you'll have to remove them from the top" He added and laughed mischievously.

"oh yeah yeah, I'm okay" Senyo replied amidst laughter, "I don't think I want to eat any roasted yam again" he added as he carried the Kusi on his head and went off to the farm house.

The farm house was always the first place they go to anytime the go to the far. It was where they kept most of their farm tools, mostly the ones they couldn't take home with them. It was also where they take their rest.

The farmhouse was made from clay and bamboo stems. First, four huge bamboo stems were were planted in a square shape creating a space huge enough to house a lot of things. Then, another batch of four huge bamboo stems were planted in the spaces created between the earlier batch of the huge bamboo stems. Smaller bamboo stems were tied horizontally to the huge ones from the bottom to the top, all around. After this was done, they tactically laid clay against the bamboo structure in such a way that, you would only know the structure was made from bamboo only when you you were in the inside, but when on the outside, all you would see was a clay house. Because it was a farmhouse and not where they'll spend most of their time, it had no windows and even that was not a problem since the roofing was made with thatch and such a way that it does not sleep on the structure allowing enough ventilation and light into the room.

Senyo dropped the yam he carried at the back of the room and went to drink water from the pot in the corner of the room behind the door. He then went back to his father in the yam farm.

Upon reaching the Yam farm, Senyo could see Efo Gameli using a knife to scrape off the burnt parts of a yam. He was sitting in front of a fire on a log some distance away from the barn, under the shades of a huge tree. Efo Gameli was roasting yam.

"I thought we weren't going to eat roasted yam today?" Sentó asked smiling as he caught a yam slice his father threw at him and started chewing away, and sat on the log next to his father.

"I wouldn't want you to starve before the women arrived" Efo Gameli replied , his mouth full.

"His way of saying he is hungry" Senyo commented

"No no no, I'm not hungry a bit" denied Efo Gameli laughing " I just decided to roast some yam for you, you know you cannot wait any longer till the women come you could faint." he added putting a piece of yam in his mouth and chewing on " hmmm crispy" he exclaimed with a mouthful "this is the hard part, it's always the crunchy part, it's so good"

Senyo just laughed and shook his head

"I wonder how many of these yams you would eat if you were hungry"

" Eight, eight of the them , eight of the very huge ones at the bottom of the barn" Efo Gameli replied laughing.

" Eh!" Senyo exclaimed. "Even Fafa won't be able to eat three of the smaller yams when she is prime hungry"

"What has Fafa done again bro?" A voice asked .

Looking up ahead, they could see on the path leading to the farmhouse, the same path Senyo came from minutes ago, Fafa and Daa Ama.

Senyo and Efo Gameli laughed at her question and Daa Ama just looked on smiling, with Mawuli sleeping silently at her back.

"You eat a lot my friend" Senyo replied throwing a sliced yam to her which she caught and dusted a few times before biting into it. She went to sit at the base of the tree facing her brother and father. Daa Ama also joined her, removing Mawuli from her back and putting him on her lap.

" I eat like my father" Fafa said.

"Please, young woman, you eat like your mother" Efo Gameli replied to which Daa Ama and the kids burst into an uncontrollable laughter. " Mawuli is sleeping" he added.

"Who, who eats like who?" Senyo asked. "Fafa that doesn't get up from the table untill the food is finished, eats like mum?"

"This is the biggest lie I heard today" he added.

"Don't mind your father, son" said Daa Ama "Even I that has Mawuli feeding on me like a parasite cannot eat like this man here and this his tall daughter" she added and every body broke into laughter. Daa Ama was given the last slice of the yam and she they continued talking

"Talking about height , do you know what__"

"Dad it's okay let's go and check the yams at the back there" Senyo cut his father short laughing and carried his cutlass. Efo Gameli stood up and dusted his back and they both went further into the yam farm to inspect the unharvested yams. Fafa and Daa Ama stayed under the tree.

About thirty minutes later, Senyo and and Efo Gameli came back and they decided to head back to the farmhouse and eat what the women brought from home.