I couldn’t believe I was being deprived of my best friend just before I went on holiday. Bharti: This is a total nightmare! I’m on lockdown; I swear prisoners get more freedom than I have! Me: I know. I was looking fwd 2 us hanging out in London and stuff. Bharti: Yeah, I’m soz, I really wanted 2 hang out b4 U left 4 Ghana. I can’t believe my grandma! The woman is being ridiculous! S he won’t talk 2 me + keeps telling my mum it’s all her fault. Me: Does your Aunt Gayatri agree? Bharti: Oh yeah, you can imagine the stuff she’s saying! I could, too. Exaggerated horror stories weren’t just the stuff Bharti read but also her aunt’s way of getting what she wanted. She had once convinced Bharti’s nana to stop using her favourite shop in Wembley Central because it was too close to a rough secondary school. Her evidence: a former student had been arrested for theft. Turns out she’d got the wrong school, but it worked. Bharti: She started off by saying that I was just being taken advantage of because of my religion.
