Chapter 27
My DNA origins and ethnicity estimates:
Thirty-four percent Nigeria.
Twenty percent Khoisan, Aka, and Mbuti peoples.
Fifteen percent Benin and Togo.
Ten percent Mali.
Eight percent Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Five percent Norway.
The fuck?
Four percent Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu peoples.
Two percent Indigenous Americas-North.
One percent Scotland.
Again…the fuck?
One percent Sweden and Denmark.
Ain’t no fucking way.
“Damn! You’re like ninety percent African! That’s crazy for Black Americans. Crazy and rare,” Ishmia trilled. “I’m eighty percent African.”
I smiled at her as we both sat in front of my laptop. We rushed home after that show I put on at her rehearsal, but shit, I was excited about the email, and she was the one person I wanted to share this with.
“Click on that. Let’s see if you have any DNA matches,” she advised, pointing to an icon on the screen.
We both shot up from our seats at the same time with Ishmia yelling, “Oh, shit! Twenty-five percent DNA shared with this person? That’s a close relative, baby!”
I dropped back into my chair, my eyes trying to comprehend the words before me. There were other matches listed, all unfamiliar names, most of whom I shared a negligible amount of DNA with, but this one? Taneisha West. We shared enough DNA to be a few combinations of close relatives, as Ishmia told me—aunt and nephew, niece and uncle, half siblings.
Wow.
Just…wow.
“Message her!” Ishmia damn near screamed.
“Yeah…yeah,” I mumbled, navigating to the message portal to find one waiting for me…from Taneisha West.