Hey there!
How are you today? I hope your weekend is going well? Mine is going great apart from this niggling headache I have had all day.

For about two days now,I have had this girl on my mind… back then when I stayed in Lagos,there was this girl that lived in the house close to the saloon I used to make million braids on the next street.
She may have been around 15 years or thereabouts,I don’t recall her actual age but I am sure she was in her early to mid teens. I was about 19 then.

I visited the saloon at least twice a month as I always had one thing or the other to do there and I had made friends with the stylist there.
As time went on I learnt that her grandmother owned the building where the saloon was,she had about 4 shops in front that were all rented out and the saloon was one of them.

The main house was like the regular ‘ ‘face me, I face’ you kind of Lagos houses,her grandmother(maternal )lived in one side of the house that had two rooms and a sitting room,she lived in that part of the house with her grandmother and her parents as well as her younger brother.

Her mum,till date is one of the most beautiful women I have ever come across,she was tall,she would have been about 6feet tall,she was not exactly slim but I would not describe her as on the big side either,she had curves in all of the right places.
She was a beautiful woman and she was graceful.

She wore her hair low and closely cropped to her scalp,she had a really dainty, pretty face,she rarely wore make up but when she did,it was always perfectly done and enhanced all her best features in the best way possible.
I liked her and she seemed to have taken a liking to me too and always wanted her daughter around me. Her daughter called me “Antie Yetty” and she called me “Yetunde omo to chon”.

Her husband on the other hand was ‘regular’,he was smallish compared to her but their daughter took the best of both parent’s features and so she was pretty too,she did not have her mother’s height but had her curves and carriage.

Once in a while,she would pop into the house to see me,spend time with me and go her way.
One day,it was around 4pm,it was a week day,I was in the house,cooking when I heard rapid footsteps and a knock on the door,I opened to see her mum standing there and I greeted her though a little surprised as I didn’t even think she knew where I lived.
I asked her to come in but she declined and asked that I please step out to talk to her,I obliged and that was when I realized that she was with her mother but because she was a lot shorter,I didn’t see her standing there.

Her mother then said “ah,Yetunde,ku itoju aburo e o,oshe…then she said I saw all the things you gave her and I said I should come and thank you since she has been at your place all day.”
Me: Hoin? I have a really expressive face so I am sure she saw the confusion on my face before I even said anything.
That was all she needed,she turned and dealt her a ‘hot slap’ said “Yetunde oshe” and made to drag her along,the girl held on to me and began to say “Antie Yetunde,ejoor e tele mi” .
I held unto her and told the mum to please let me follow them,she threatened to strip her naked all the way to their house so that she could “hawk her wares properly “🤦‍♀️
I ran inside to turn off the gas and ran after them as she dragged her along. After what seemed like an eternity,we got to their house,she wanted to beat her but I stood between them and kept begging her not to,she agreed on the condition she strips to her underwear and go on her knees back and forth within the passage.
Turns out she had left home for many hours,to where I don’t really know but she told her mum that she had been with me all day. I had not even seen her that week at all😪

I begged and begged and then the mum broke down and said to me that this girl does not understand,she is making the exact mistakes I made,she thinks she is beautiful?

Hmmmm…I have never quite felt as bad as I felt that day again,she began to narrate her story with tears in her eyes.
I could see the raw pain and regrets in her eyes,it was a really long story.
The summary was that she got pregnant with the girl at a really young age despite all her mother did to try to prevent her life from going wrong.
I had always wondered how someone so young had a daughter that age,she had her in her teens…all 3 of us ended up crying.
Not long after that,they left that area.
I don’t know where they moved to and how things turned out for them.

I remember them from time to time and I hope the girl turned out fine,I hope her mum is fine too and I really wish I could reach out to her,just to know that she is fine and everything turned out okay for them.

Wherever they are,I pray they are fine. Life sha!
We sometimes find ourselves in situations we didn’t anticipate.
Sometimes, it is our fault and sometimes it is just life.
We make the best of the situation as much as we can and just keep it moving while trying to keep it all together.

At the end of the day,all we can do is our best😊
Do your best and be good to yourself while at it .

❤
Yetunde

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