t the fabric alone that earned her respect, it was the whispers of how she could smuggle cartons of cigarettes from Cotonou without once being stopped by customs. Her mother

sha learned that profit alway

were learning to plait their hair or flirt with boys after mosque, Aisha was learning the names of border officers who could be bought, and which boa

d, "If you can master people's greed, their fear won't matter". It was a lesson Aisha would carry into every room for the rest of her life. That

glint of hidden profit. And when the next opportunity came knock