unpacking

The sun came out today and it was warm. But when I met Sarah and Christine for lunch, I wore black tights to cover the dozens of bruises I've earned in the past six days unpacking the shipment and setting up my apartment.

I can't decide which I hate more: fingers that are swollen like sausages every night, or a lower back that aches no matter what position I assume. Thank god I have an actual mattress now. I've made dozens of trips to the storage unit: a tiny cage in a building four blocks away. If something is really heavy, I do what any self-respecting Cameroonian woman would do: I carry it on my head.