Hello, my favorite reader!
Thanks for reading my previous article on Guarding our Hearts.
Do you remember A Girl’s Rant? I wrote the first 3 parts in 2018, and I can’t believe it’s been almost 5 years already! After all these years, the girls are back! But if you don’t remember where things ended, no worries…you can refresh your memory here.
And now…introducing to you all over again:
Manza – the writer who seems to have a secret of her own
Ana – who was preparing to get married to her Akwasi
Betty – who was testing the waters of a new relationship
Kyerewa – who was working toward her law career
and Naa – who was pregnant the last time we checked.
Let’s dive back into their lives.
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It had been 4 years already since the girls had met at Naa’s house to catch up. Since then, Naa had given birth to a beautiful set of twins (a boy & a girl called Aiden and Eden respectively). The girls still teased Naa and Papa for settling on English names after vehemently stating they were going local. Betty had broken up with the guy she had been seeing, and Ana and Akwasi had gotten married. Kyerewa had finished law school and was starting a job at a law firm, while Manza had finally let the girls in on her secret…she had met someone of her own.
Manza smiled as she reminisced on the day she spilled the beans to the sisters life had graciously brought her way.
“I knew it!” Betty had exclaimed! “I knew our Manza had gotten fresh inspiration from somewhere!”
“Oh please, who said she could only get inspiration from a man? The Holy Spirit could very well be her inspiration!” Kyerewa had retorted, rolling her eyes.
“Ei Sister nie!* Calm down for us!” Naa and Ana had chorused.
“Hoh, but it’s true,” Kyerewa rebutted good-naturedly.
Manza had kept it to herself for a while because although she was very sure of her feelings, she wanted to be sure they got things right. She was naturally a private person, and though she loved her girls to bits, she wanted things to develop before telling them the news. She and Kwaku had been seeing each other for about 2 years and were both very content with their progress. They were both from different worlds; Manza was reserved, and Kwaku was more outgoing. But they complimented each other and had grown in their love and friendship.
Life had gotten much busier, and Manza wasn’t writing as much. But she had decided to make a conscious effort to start again. She already had one piece up her sleeves as she waited for the girls to arrive. This time, they were going on a road trip to catch up. Naa was going to leave Papa on babysitting duties with their little munchkins and made a mental note to forget about them till she got back, though she was tempted to keep checking in to see if they were all ok, including Papa himself. Those two little ones could be a handful and were like a whole army.
Ana, on the other hand, had been trying for kids with Akwasi for a while but hadn’t been successful so far. Earlier in their marriage, Ana had conceived but miscarried after a few months. It had been difficult, and initially, seeing or hearing anything “baby” brought up a well of sorrow in Ana’s heart. But they always saw the positive side of things and came up with the mantra, “At least that’s more uninterrupted time together.”
It had been tough the first few years, especially with them constantly being greeted with the usual “Ei nti daben na baby beba?”*
Akwasi always had a way of jumping to her defense, which helped to make Ana feel better. They knew it was just a matter of time. “It’s God’s way of preparing us for parenthood,” Akwasi always said, and Ana agreed, thankful for her husband. As long as they were united, she could ignore the side comments from people who sometimes made a few years feel like such an eternity. Despite everything, they were in a good place.
“We’re hereeee,” Betty and Kyerewa exclaimed together as they got to the city mall, which was going to be the meeting point for the girls to continue their road trip. Betty, sporting a new haircut and her favorite shades, and Kyerewa, carrying her laptop bag along, ran towards Manza, Naa, and Ana, who had already been waiting. Forgetting they were in public, they gave each other a big group hug amid animated greetings before climbing into Naa’s station wagon.
After chattering for some time, Betty yelled, “Heyyy, that’s my jam!” as she heard her favorite song playing in the background. “Naa, turn it up!”
“Say no more!” Naa responded.
“Problem e no dey finish…make you try to enjoy…” all the girls chorused, busting the best dance moves they could muster while sitting.
“Today’s going to be a good day!” Manza sighed contentedly before joining in the chorus…
”No wahala!”
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*Ei Sister nie! – Ei, that’s our Sister
*E nti daben na baby beba? – When will baby come?
P.S. Who is your favorite character or it’s too early to tell?
Have you had your own experience of societal pressure, and how did you handle it?
Finally, like the girls, how have you managed to keep your friendships going all these years?
*Continue here…
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