Two Mommies
Allison is busy at school forging and dissolving friendships daily. I ask her to describe Darian, her friend du jour for a few days in a row now. “Darian has two mommies… and one daddy”, she described. Polygamy is alive here, forcing Heather to stand aside as an example of an alternative family. How many brothers and sisters does Darian have? I’ve seen at least three so far. It’s typical to have many, many more. Both Abdoullai and Mohammed have over twenty each. The husband is obliged to maintain a separate household for each wife and her children. He then spends a night at each house one by one, being treated to an enormous meal at each. This all saves our little family some trouble, as most people just refer to each other as brother or sister, without needing to be too specific about parentage. On the playground, Allison having two mommies can slip by without too much notice.