#kpopshit

(We grabbed our things and gave our final exam papers to the teacher then left the room. School was finally over . )

"Mina babe, I can't believe we're done with school ! " " I know , love , I know ..." "Something wrong ? You know you can tell me anything !" " Yeah , I know but don't worry . It's nothing really . I was  just thinking about what was I gonna do this summer so that  it's not boring " " Uuuh excuse me ! It's what ARE WE going to do this summer " " Yeah right , what ARE WE going to do this summer" She always knows how to make me laugh. (As we were walking , we talked about everything . Having someone that you can talk to and laugh about everything with is trully a blessing . I'm forever thankful for the day our paths crossed . We finally arrived at her house and I hugged her goodbye . She insisted that I come in and eat something with her , but I declined. Too distracted by that weird feeling inside of me . Five minutes later, I arrived home .)

  "I'M HOME !!" (I shouted with the most cheerful voice possible . ) "Mina , baby , is that you ?" " Yes dad ! " (I ran over to the living room to find him sitting on the couch . I kissed him on the forehead and sat next to him)  "How was school ? Happy to be done with it ? "     " Well it feels weird, but I can't wait to actually do something with my life . " " Yeah speaking about that, uh ... " (He straightened himself back in the couch and turned the TV volume down . Uh-oh . Now I know where this weird feeling was coming from . )

"Mina sweetie,  you know I only want the best for you, right ?" (I didn't answered this, but just smiled softly.) "Now, you've seen this happening to a lot of women in this family , so I hope you won't be shocked by what I'm about to say...  You see, we've been talking about this with your mother and we think that it's the right time for you to get married . You're a young respectable women and we think that a marriage is the best thing that can happen to you ."

(Fuck. I didn't see this one coming for sure ! Actually, no , I did. But I never thought it was going to be anytime soon ! I mean , my sister, my cousins they were all much older than me when they had their marriage arranged ! Something was wrong, yes , something was definitely off, and I had to find out . )

"Mina? Baby? Are you listening ? Did I upset you ? " "No dad, don't worry it's fine, I'm just a little surprised , None of the woman of this family were that young when they got married , so it's a little confusing. "( I said carefully, not wanting to make him mad, but also wanting to draw the information out of him. )

(He sighed and took his glasses of . )

"I know that baby, but I got this really nice opportunity for you , and I think you will be very happy with this person ." "Really ? Who is it ? Do I know him ?"( I sounded a little bit too excited about this to be honest . ) " I won't tell you unless you tell me if you want this or not . So do you ? "

(The room was painfully silent . I was looking at my dad with a mixture of fear and confusion which he probably sensed since he took my hand in his . )

"Do you want to think about this overnight ? You can give me your answer in the morning if you want ." "Yes , I would love that , thanks dad " "No problem baby, I love you , ok ? " "I love you to dad " (I kissed his hand and went up to my room . On my way up the stairs, I came back to look at my dad again .)

  "Papa ?" (He loves when I call him that. It reminds him of his childhood back in Africa . )

"Hm , sweetheart ? " "That man, he's not a fifty year old uncle , right ? "   (He laughed loudly and then wiped his tears . I smiled widly. Seeing my dad laugh always made my heart feel lighter . )

"No my love, I promise he's not . He's older than you though, but I will never give  my beautiful younger daughter to a man that could be your dad . Trust me . " (I sighed in relief. Thank God my dad was so considerate . )

"Ok Papa, I'll just be in my room, call me when dinner is ready ! " (And with that , I ran up to my room . Obviously, as you may guess, my first reflex was to text my bestfriend. "Soooo... My dad wants to arrange my marriage, like, now"  .Sent . Read... Incoming Call : Marina Babe .)

"Hey babe what's up ? " "Bitch don't 'hey babe what's up' me , what the fuck was that text about ? " "Calm down , I didn't say yes ... Yet !" "Are you going to say yes ? " (I've never felt so much worry in her voice .)

" I don't know, my dad said he could make me really happy, apparently he's the golden opportunity that I don't want to miss." ( I said as I was almost trying to convince her ... Why am I sounding like I want to convince her ?!)

  "Ok but, what if he's a 50 year old uncle ? "  (I laughed loudly at her cuteness. We really are the same aren't we ?)  "He's not . My dad promised me he wasn't . But he still is older than me . " "Alright , when do you have to give your answer ? " "Tomorow, I have to think this overnight ." (At this point, I was chewing on my bottom lip franatically . )

"Well, take your time to really think this through, you know I will support you no matter what ... I love you a lot , ok ? " " I love you more sunshine, bye " "Bye baby"

(And with that, she hung up. I crashed onto my bed and stared at the ceiling . Me , Mina , being married . I cringed awkwardly at the idea of me being a wife, having a new home, being part of a new family . But maybe that wasn't a bad idea, maybe it really was for the better . And if I believe all those things my dad says about this man, maybe I really wouldn't want to miss this golden opportunity . But what if he's actually not that great in real life ? What if he's a total old school conservative macho man that doesn't allow me to go out and or take any decision without consulting him ? And what if I say 'no' without learning about him and the next guy my dad presents to me is actually a old school conservative macho piece of shit ? I rubbed my temples as I was trying to find a solution . By this time, it was already time to eat and my mom had shouted at me to come and eat . I sat at the table, in front of my older brother , Sam . The room was very silent, apart from the noises of spoons and nifes clashing on the porcelain paltes . My brother decided to lighten up the mood a little bit . )

"So ! Mimi" ( I hate this nickname.)  "I heard that you were gonna get married ! Congrats little sis ! God bless the man who's gonna deal with your crazy ass for the rest of his life-" " Uh actually, I didn't give an answer , so you can keep, your blessings for now and focus on why you're twenty nine and still not married , thank you very much ." (I almost shouted, fake smiling.)

"UH AcTUaLlY, it's time for you to realise that I will be the one taking over dad's position so I have  bigger worries to me right now than finding a wife, I don't want want one , thank you very much ."  (He replied mimicking my tone . I hate him so much sometimes ...)

"More like you can't get one cause you're an ugly piece of sh-" "Mina I swear to God I will fight you !" "Matthew say something !!"  (My mom was screaming at my dad, her hands above her head. )

"Stop it you two !!! Are you still little kids ?  (My dad's face was stern, but his voice resembled more amusement rather than actual lecturing .)  "C'mon , apologise to eachother ! Quick !

(Me and my brother looked at  eachother, then he sighed deeply and closed his eyes .)

"I'm sorry sis, I didn't want to upset you" (I hummed as my frown disapeared . I don't know why but it was always hard for me to say that I was sorry . ) 

"Well ? Mina ? " (My mom spat with an awfully threatening voice .) "I'm sorry too, Samy, I shouldn't have insulted you ."   (He smiled at me and I smiled back , not being able to actually be mad at him for more than a couple minutes . Yep, that's how close we are). "You two finish your dinner and go to your rooms after that, your mom and I we need to talk . "  (Now, that's the serious dad tone I'm more used to.) 

(As established earlier , we finished eating then my brother and I went up . As we were walking to our respective rooms, I felt my brother look at me .) 

"What ? What's that look for ? "( I could feel myself frowning.) 

"Nothing ... So, are you gonna say yes ? " (He suddenly had worry in his eyes .)  "I don't know ... I've never seen the guy, What if I don't like him ? I need to find a way to learn about him before actually getting married ... " " Hmm... And have you found a way ?" " No, not yet ... Help me ?" ( I pouted . He can never resist my cute face.Never. ) "Ok, how about this , you agree to meet him, and in exchange, you ask for a couple of dates to learn about him then give your final decision ?" (That's why I love him !)

"Oh my God Samy ! Of course !! Yes, I'll do that !!! Thank you ! "  (However, my joy faded away quickly.)  "But still Samy, what if he doesn't like me ..." "He'll like you baby, trust me. And you'll like him too .  ( He was smirking... What is he hiding from me ? ) "How can you be so sure about it ? Do you know the guy ? " (I tried to sound as threatening as possible . )

"Of course I do, I even gave my approval to him !  "

(Oh, that sneaky bastard ...) 

"What ?! Hold o- " "As a matter of fact, you know him too !" "Huh ?! Samy wait !" "Goodnight !"

(He closed his room door at my face . He knew ! All this time , he knew and he  didn't say anything and let me worry to death about it ! I laughed and got into my room . As I brushed my teeth, a lot of thoughts came through my mind . Maybe I should give this a shot ? And if my brother gave his approval, he couldn't be that bad could he ? Yeah, I should stop worrying about it and just go for it . I shouldn't be a punk about it . I can do this ...)  

(I mean , I'm also part of the "Ide oju" gang, right ? )