“Too many activities, sometimes I just want to go ‘eeny meeny miny moe….”

I felt better by the time we got back. Kaycee requested to Partner with Warien Rose Foundation in our Parenting Series. She is very interested because she was almost raped as a child. She passionately told us the importance of educating Parents on the girl child and how vulnerable a lot of children are. With Parents being so caught up with work and never finding time to spend with their children. She wondered why it was just life imprisonment for men that are convicted on rape charges and suggested castration.

“They should be made eunuchs, you can be sure there will be no need to look at any girl again,” she concluded with a satisfied smirk. “Did I just hear ‘pastor’ say men that rape women and girls should be castrated? What happened to forgiveness?” Zara asked mockingly.

Thank God, Kaycee did not rise to the bait; Zara was just being her ‘usual self’. Amidst various speaking engagement invites came an invite from Rick’s grandmother. I must say it has been quite a while I have seen Rick or Dennis for that matter. I hope it is not the quiet before the storm; a sporadic shiver went down my spine. I must stop thinking negatively it doesn’t help to be paranoid. Right now Bola needs me, she called to ask if I had informed the Girls, I told her, her secret will go to the grave with me. She decided we should all do lunch in her favourite Restaurant somewhere in Ikoyi so she can share the news with the Girls. I agreed even though it was not convenient for me and had to reschedule an appointment with a client knowing this was very important to Bola. I got to the Restaurant early yet Bola was there before me.

We sat quietly each lost in her thought. I remembered Aramide an in-law to a friend, who died doing a surgery to remove fibroid. The Girls came in one after the other and for some reason it wasn’t chatty as usual. It was as if they all sensed Bola wasn’t happy. Jasmine, the last of the bunch breezed in apologising profusely. No one ordered a drink as the atmosphere was a bit tense. Bola did not waste time, she told the girls how she went with me to the hospital and the Doctor said she wasn’t pregnant but had fibroid and that she had decided she will operate.

The girls were silent for a minute, each grappling with what they just heard and trying but failing woefully to hide their emotions. Even Zara who always has a ‘devil may care’ attitude had what suspiciously looked like a glistening of tears on her lashes, so the girl has a heart after all, I mused. Looking around at my dear friends, I was having an out of body experience which is one of the ways I deal with pain or unpleasant news. I was numb. How was I going to be ok allowing my friend go under a Surgeon’s knife after hearing what happened to Aramide? No way. After what felt like eternity but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes I asked what the Girls thought. Bola looked at me in surprise, “Why are you asking them? I am the one involved and I just told you my decision,” she said looking at me pointedly.

“Well I am sorry but I do not agree,” I said as four pair of eyes turned to me in surprise. “What did you just say?” Bola asked more puzzled than angry. I knew they were all surprised because of what I said so I explained in detail what informed my strange outburst. Thankfully Bola agreed to give it some more thought and explore other options. Too many activities, sometimes I just want to go ‘eeny meeny miny moe….’ How many of you remember that nursery rhyme? I have had to cancel a few appointments because of indecision. I guess when one is so swamped it happens. Rick’s Grandmother’s party is coming up. Her parties are usually the talk of the town. The girls have also been invited so even if I wanted to, I can’t get out of it.