African Teen

11:Rebirth

Rasheedat's POV.

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I watched Damola step out of the house to pick his sister, I looked back at his mom, she was smiling at me,she looked really kind and nice,but a part of me told me that she took her work seriously.

"How are you doing?", she asked me,

"I'm fine ma",

"Good,let's assume my son didn't tell me anything about you, what's your name?",

"Hassan Rasheedat ma", I tell her,

"Lovely name,and how are your parents?",she asked,

"My mom is fine ma,I don't know that much about my dad", I tell her,feeling like I can trust her with anything,

"He passed away?",

"No ma,he left,my parents got separated when I was younger ma",

"Oh,I'm sorry about that,how've you been coping?",she asks,

"I was really young ma,I think I've forgotten about it",

"Are you sure?", she asks and I'm a little surprised at the question,

"Yes ma", I say and nod my head,she looks towards the direction of the kitchen and says,

"Sorry,please give me one minute", she says and dashes into the kitchen,she brings down the doughnuts she's frying and puts of the gas cooker, she returns with a plate of doughnuts,

"Have some", she says,

"Thank you ma", I tell her but I don't take any,

"You're welcome my dear,so,now tell me about the situation with your boyfriend", she asks and for the next ten minutes,I tell her everything I told Damola at the toilet entrance that day and when I'm finished,I'm not too surprised that I've started crying again,

"It's ok,it's good to cry,you can't be keeping all this pain in,easy easy", she said,calming me before continuing,

"How've you been coping since your dad died?",

"At first,it was really bad,seeing my mom cry every night and she would get angry sometimes because she thought he left because of me,before he left,he said he didn't love her,so,I thought he didn't love me too,but when I got to secondary school and got friends,they helped me forget my pain", I told her as she just listened and occasionally nodded,

"And where are these your friends now?",she asked,

"They left,after what happened with my boyfriend, they thought I didn't want to be friends so they kinda stopped talking to me", I said,

"Did you tell them the full story of what happened?", she asks,

"No ma,I just told them we broke up and they thought I was being over dramatic",

"Hmm,so first,your dad left you,then your boyfriend and then your friends, you've been through a lot", she pauses,I pick a doughnut and she continues,

"From what I'm able to understand, you were lonely,sad,when your dad left,you needed somebody,then you found your friends, you masked your pain and tried to be happy with them,and you were,then your boyfriend came along, and you thought both of you were in love,until he broke your heart,and then your friends left because they didn't understand what you were going through,and all that pain you had been holding in for years came back because you were lonely again",she says,like as if she was in my head,

"Yes ma", I say,

"Have you been at home one night and cried because you had a memory of your dad?",she asks,and I remember the times when I'd be in the bathroom and I would remember my dad,playing with me,teaching me how to play chess,telling me jokes I had to laugh to even though I rarely understood,I would remember these memories and I would start crying, it had happened on different occasions,