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1. Why does Annis's mother take her to a clearing around a lightning-burnt tree?

Some nights, Annis's mother takes her to a small clearing around a lightning-burnt tree after everyone is asleep. Her mother digs up two limbs. One has a tip like a spear, and the other is wavy and clumsily carved. She gives Annis the wavy limb and takes the staff for herself. Then she teaches Annis how to fight.

2. Who is Annis's father?

Annis's father is the master of the plantation where she and her mother are slaves. The man, who Annis and her mother call "sire" (10), came upon Annis's mother alone in a hallway outside an empty bedroom. He shoved her into the bedroom and raped her on the floorboards. He kept molesting her until she became pregnant.

3. Who were Annis's grandparents and how did they become slaves?

Annis's grandmother was a warrior wife to the king of Dahomey. She loved a soldier who stood guard outside the castle walls and took him as her lover even though it was forbidden. The king sent her and the man she loved to the coast. They were sold to the whites and taken away on a ship.

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