Afiyah was my girlfriend when we were in JHS. Although we were kids, we had the curiousity of adults. We didn’t even understand what love was but that didn’t stop us from declaring our undying love for each other. We would often hide in the shadows and do what adults did. One time we even tried to do the actual thing but it didn’t work. Regardless, we promised we would do it when we were older. At that age, we were sure the future belonged to us.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
We were together until we wrote our BECE in 2009. After that, I left for Takoradi. I stayed there for my high school education. Afiyah and I didn’t have any means of keeping in touch, so she became a fond memory as I carried on with my life.
After high school, I furthered my education and earned my first degree. Then I moved to Tamale for my national service. All along, I thought about her from time to time, and wondered what became of her. However, I had no idea how to reach her. Even when I got in touch with some of our JHS mates, none of them knew her whereabouts.
I kept wondering what happened to her. “Did she just up and disappear from the face of the earth?” I often found myself asking. At some point, I was sure I would never see her again. Then it happened three years after my national service. I was unemployed and frustrated. So I spent most of my time on Facebook, either browsing for job opportunities or consuming content to distract myself from my predicament.
One day I went online and got a message notification. I then opened my messenger and found a message from a beautiful lady. She introduced herself as Afiyah, my girlfriend from JHS. Honestly, I didn’t believe the person. She looked nothing like my childhood sweetheart. To be sure it wasn’t someone messing with me, I sent the person my number and asked them to call me.
When she called, it was with a foreign number. After we exchanged pleasantries she said, “Fiifi, have I changed so much that you don’t recognize me?” Her accent sounded French, and her grammar was all over the place. It bothered me but I was curious to know why she reached out, so I engaged her. I asked where she was calling from and she answered, “I am in Abidjan. My family moved here after our BECE. And I have been here since.”
I still couldn’t believe she was the one until she recounted the sordid details of our childhood adventures. I was surprised that indeed it was her. I thought she was beautiful when we were kids but the woman she transformed into is a sight to behold. I had to go and look at her Facebook profile and look through all her pictures to make sure I was not being catfished.
While I checked out her pictures, I discovered she had a son. I asked her about it and she said, “Yes, I am a mum but unfortunately, his father passed away.” Things picked up after that. We reminisced about our childhood days and all the mischief we got away with. We spoke about what became of us in each other’s absence.
As time went on, she asked to visit me. I allowed it. We had such a good time together. She is beautiful and dresses well. I would have easily fallen in love with her but her poor command of the English language got in the way. I wanted to take her out and show her off to my friends but I felt she would embarrass me so I couldn’t. Due to her work, she didn’t spend much time in Ghana so we arranged for me to visit her next.
We’ve visited each other back and forth since that time. Afiyah is doing very well for herself in life. She is building a single-room self-contained apartment. She has also acquired a piece of land to be used for farming. The land is currently undergoing preparation for rubber plantation. She tells me we will live together when her building is complete.
That’s because she knows I am unemployed and have nothing going on for me here. But I haven’t been entirely honest with her. I am currently learning an excavator operation. I am left with a month to graduate. I am sure that when I am done, I will have better prospects in the job market.
The reason I am keeping this information from her is because I am unsure of the future she wants for us. I am okay when we are together, but when she is away from me and I see other women dressed up going to their corporate jobs, I ask myself why I shouldn’t date someone like them. “At least, these women can speak and type English properly. Unlike my Afiyah who annoys me with her bad grammar. She can’t even construct a proper sentence,” I often find myself musing.
I understand that she is doing the best she can, given that she could not further her education after high school. That’s why I am trying to help her polish her writing skills. I do this by always insisting we text on WhatsApp instead of making frequent calls. She is picking up so I am sure that with time, she would get better. Nonetheless, that is not the only thing holding me back from loving her wholeheartedly.
Ever since she came back into my life, I have observed that she is surrounded by death. First, she said her baby daddy died. Last year I was with her in Cote D’ Ivoire when they buried a relative who had passed. About a month later, another one was gone. I attended the funeral. A week later, they lost someone else. I know that nobody has control over death but I find it strange the frequency at which death occurs in her family. Isn’t it cause for concern? Or I am the one overthinking things?