After school that Friday, Mama was waiting for me at the roundabout. I spotted her car and noticed there were two people in the back seat. Had the hospital bus broken down? Why was she picking up staff? When I got closer, the back door opened and Sofi and Dede jumped out.

“Surprise!”

“Happy belated birthday!”

Before I could react they were both hugging me and talking non-stop. “Your mother called our parents last week to ask if we could spend the weekend together. Can you believe it?” Dede asked. She was in blue jeans, a black T-shirt and black sandals.

“It was so hard speaking to you and trying to act natural when we knew we’d be seeing you this weekend,” Sofi gushed. She was in purple tights, a yellow mini- skirt, an orange and blue frilly blouse and green ballet flats that had pink bows on top. Stuck in her hair were blue sunglasses. A stack of multi-coloured bangles were on one arm and dangling seashell earrings were on her ears.

In some part of my mind ‘act natural‘ registered but I was much too happy to dwell on it. “Girls, I have to get back to work,” Mama called from the car. I followed Sofi and Dede to the car. All three of us crammed into the backseat. The girls wouldn’t let me talk.

“We got here like ten minutes ago and your mother came for us at the station,” Dede said. Sofi was unwrapping fried yam and chofi which I was sure she had bought after the toll booth.

“It‘s getting cold,” she said when she caught Dede looking at her. She bit into the chofi and said, “Mmm, it‘s so good.”

“And that matters how? I thought you said you bought it to take pictures for your blog,” Dede said.

Sofi picked up another slice of fried yam and said, “We wanted to come to your school but your mother said we should wait at the roundabout.” I picked a slice of the yam and nibbled. I couldn‘t believe they were really there. It was so good to see them.

“It took you forever to get here. Ah ah, what were you doing? Did you have games or something? Were you playing football? You have mud on your shirt,” Sofi said. I was still in my games outfit. I looked down at my shirt. There were dried spots of slurry splattered across it.

“It‘s clay,” I said scraping off a spot with a fingernail. “I take ceramics for extracurricular activity.”

“You‘re not in the science and maths club?” Dede asked.

“No.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “No reason.” I didn‘t want to talk about how it would only remind me of Daddy. Not with Mama within hearing distance. I looked out the window and was surprised to see we were nowhere near the hospital. Mama was pulling up in the parking lot of the spa. Thankfully, it wasn‘t the health spa. “Mama?”

She looked at me in the rear-view mirror and smiled. “Your bag is in the boot.”

We got down and she went with us to the reception where she had made reservations for us. I carried the shoulder bag Mama had packed my things into. Dede picked up her small travelling bag. Sofi struggled with her two suitcases. “Uh, how long are you staying?” I asked.

“Ever heard of travelling light?” Dede asked.

She dragged her suitcases and stopped to rest after every two steps before saying, “I like to travel in style and comfort.”

“I‘ll pick you up Sunday at noon, okay?” Mama said. I nodded. A lump had begun forming in throat. Mama hugged me and whispered, “Happy birthday.” I followed her back to the car.

“But, Mama, the cost?”

“Don‘t worry about it. Have fun. Pamper yourself. You only get to be seventeen once.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“No, thank you. I know adjusting to life here isn’t easy for you and though you insist that school is ‘okay’ I know it isn’t. This weekend, I want you to forget about everything and just have fun with your friends. Okay?”

“Okay.” She hugged me once more and left.

“I‘m starving,” Sofi said when I went back to the reception. “Let‘s eat.”

“Let‘s see our room first,” Dede suggested. She had the key to our room in her hand.

“Yes, let‘s. Besides I have to change.” Our room was located in another building on the opposite side of the compound. The walk gave us a chance to take in our surroundings. The environment was quiet and peaceful and there was so much greenery in sight. A water fountain stood in the centre of the compound. There were geese and peacocks everywhere. We stood for a minute waiting to see if a peacock would spread out its feathers, but it didn’t. We did find some feathers that had been shed on the grass and we picked two each.

Just being in that environment made me relax. Our room had a twin bed and a beautiful view of the river. Dede opened her travelling bag and began to put away her clothes while I changed my clothes and colostomy bag in the bathroom. Sofi plopped down on the bed, unwrapped the complimentary bar of Golden Tree chocolate that had been left on the nightstand and began to eat it. When I finished all three of us went to the restaurant which was located on a platform on the river. Since it was past lunch time there were just two other couples there. Dede said the first couple was on their honeymoon. Their heads were close together and they kept whispering and giggling as they sipped their drinks and waited for their food. The second couple was older. They sat on opposite sides of the table and ate their fufu with akponkye nkrakra without talking. The woman looked angry. The man looked like he didn’t know what they were doing there. I said they were business partners who were having a disagreement. Dede said they were a married couple who were trying to put the spark back into the marriage, giving their marriage one last shot before deciding to end it. Sofi didn’t have an opinion. She was busy looking through the menu and trying to decide what to eat.

Our waiter appeared and we ordered our food and drinks. He brought the drinks first. Dede and I both had Alvaros. Mine was passion fruit flavoured. Dede’s was pear flavoured. Sofi had a bottle of malt. Dede was showing me pictures on her phone when Sofi said, “He’s cute.” I turned to look at who she was talking about and nearly choked on the Alvaro I had in my mouth. The drink came out of my mouth and nose. Tears appeared in my eyes. I began coughing and more drink splattered the table. Dede thumped my back. Sofi put a glass of water in front of me and used a tissue to wipe the table.

My coughing fit drew the attention of the waiter who was serving the honeymooners. The same waiter who Sofi had said was cute—Jamal Abdallah. He was in a starched white shirt and black trousers. He seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see him. After he had put the plates of food down he started walking over to where we sat. I raised a hand to stop him. “I’m fine,” I sputtered. He raised an eyebrow. “Truly, I’m fine.” He nodded and walked away.

“What was that all about?” Sofi asked when he was out of earshot.

“What was what all about?”

“I mean you looked at the guy and started choking and then you guys had some like telepathic thingy going on. Dee didn’t you notice it?”

“Very telepathic thingy,” Dede confirmed. I rolled my eyes.

“So?” Sofi persisted.

“So nothing. He’s just a boy from school. I was surprised to see him here, that’s all.”

“Hmm,” Dede said her face breaking into a grin.

“I thought you said there were no cute boys in your school,” Sofi said.

“I didn‘t . . .”

“Wait, wait, wait,” she raised her hand interrupting me. “Dee, remember her first day of school?”

“Uh huh.”

“Remember how I asked if there were any cute boys in her school?”

“Uh huh.”

“And what was her answer?”

“I don‘t think she gave you one.”

“Hey, the only reason I couldn’t . . .”

Sofi’s hand shot up, silencing me. She continued as if she hadn’t heard me. “My point exactly! She evaded the question which, if you think about it logically, could only mean two things!”

“Two things,” Dede agreed.

“That number one,” she ticked it off on her finger, “there were cute boys in her school and number two, that she liked one of them.”

I groaned and rested my head on my hands. “How did you even come up with that?”

“Logical reasoning,” she said smiling at me sweetly and taking a gulp of her malt.

“Now tell us everything.”

Our waiter brought our food—jollof rice and grilled tilapia for Dede, shrimp fried rice and grilled tilapia for Sofi, and French fries and roast chicken for me. Over our meal I told them what I knew about Jamal. I’m not exactly sure why but I left out the part about him having been a murder suspect. I also left out the fact that I had seen him every day at the ceramics studio the past week.

*****

The next day we went for a cruise on the Volta River. Our tour guide was a grumpy old man and he didn’t really say much. It was supposed to be an hour’s cruise but after thirty minutes we asked him to take us back to the spa. All three of us decided to get facial treatments. We each had to change into a towel. We even had to wrap our heads in another towel. The facial room itself was relaxing. There were lots of potted plants and bright sunlight streamed in through the many windows. Instrumental music played softly in the background. We each entered a different cubicle. The lady who did my facial was a real professional and she told me what she was doing each step of the way. She didn’t make me feel self- conscious about my scars. She began by rubbing with my face with cotton wool soaked in some lotion. She sprayed steam on my face and afterwards applied a green, gooey paste to my face. She told me it was a mix of clay, cactus and aloe vera. She even put two round slices of cucumbers on my eyes just like in the movies. The mask remained on my face till it hardened. She said it would draw impurities out of my body. While the mask hardened she massaged my scalp. It felt really good and I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up she had washed the mask off. I felt wonderful. I felt like I was glowing and like my entire face was ‘breathing’. The girls and I had lunch on the restaurant by the river. This time all three of us ordered banku with grilled tilapia. It came with three different types of pepper. There was kpakpo shitɔ, the regular smoked herring and shrimp shitɔ, and tomato and red pepper shitɔ. There was a side dish of sliced tomatoes, onions and avocados. We had fresh coconut water straight from the trees by the river. After lunch, we stretched out on chairs by the riverside.

“Your mom is so cool,” Dede said.

“She‘s amazing. This is like paradise,” Sofi agreed. I realized how thoughtful it was of Mama to invite Sofi and Dede over. I took out my phone and sent her a text:

We r havng a fabulous tyme. Dis is da gr8st b’day ever. Thx. C u 2moro.

I lay back and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on my body. It was too hot to do anything. It was even too hot to wade in the river. Dede and Sofi both dozed off. I got up reluctantly and went back to the room to empty my colostomy bag. I was still in the bathroom when Dede walked in. I was about to call her when I realized she was on the phone. I could see her through the partially open door. She took the phone from her ear and put it on the bed. It was now on speakerphone. She picked up a pair of shorts from the wardrobe and started unbuttoning her jeans. The person she was speaking to said, “Yes, I knew her birthday was on Monday.”

I froze. It was Bobby.

“So why didn‘t you call her?”

“We’re on a break.”

“A break? What for? Why?” Dede asked, hopping on one foot as she removed her jeans.

“Ask her to tell you.”

“I‘m asking you to tell me.”

“Look, we both have different priorities right now and I can’t afford to be distracted. I can’t handle any of her emotional problems.”

“Oh Bobby!”

“I’m sorry but that’s the way it is.”

“It’s not too late. You can still call her. Tell her you forgot or something. It would mean a lot to her.”

“I didn’t forget. Why should I lie? She understands we’re on a break.”

“What’s wrong with you? She . . .”

“Look, I don’t mean to be rude but I have to go. Bye.”

The phone beeped signalling that the connection had been cut.

“Idiot,” Dede muttered under her breath. She picked up her shorts and marched straight to the bathroom. She jumped when she saw me. “You‘ve been here all along.” I nodded. “You heard everything.” I nodded again. I sat on the edge of the bathtub while Dede peed. “You actually agreed to this ‘break’ thing? Sometimes I think you have some type of self-destructive disorder.”

“I didn’t really have a choice.” She stood up, flushed and washed her hands.

“You always have a choice.”

“You can’t force someone to love you,” I said.

“So why are you still going on with this . . . this . . . this . . .”

“Non-rational arrangement?”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m hoping that maybe by the end of the term he’ll realize he likes me and that I’m still the same person, even though I have scars.”

Dede put on her shorts and zipped them up. “If he doesn’t realize that you’re still you, maybe he isn’t worth hanging on to.” I looked at her with a grief-stricken look on my face. “I mean do you really, really in your heart of hearts really, really love him?”

“Of course I do.”

“I know you’ve had this crush on him since Form One but I wonder if he feels the same way about you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

“It’s the little things that he does. You know like when we’re together all he does is talk about himself and how he’s going to do this or that or something else. Sometimes I think you are just with him because you’re grateful he chose you to be his girlfriend. And most times I think he chose you only to get your Dad to notice him so he could be on the next maths and science team.”

I just stared at her. Each word pierced my heart like a dagger. It wouldn’t have hurt so much if I hadn’t known she was speaking the truth. “I mean seriously, I’m telling you this because you’re my friend, my best friend. If Bobby doesn’t know the scars you have aren’t your fault, do you think you should be with him? I’d hate for you to be with someone not because you love them, but because you feel grateful to them. That’s so not right.”

I looked down at the marble floor. I could feel tears pricking the back of my eyes. She gave me her phone. “You know he’s going to dump you at the end of the term. Don’t wait for him to dump you. Dump him first. I promise you’ll feel much better afterwards.”

“He won‘t. He just wants to sort himself out. He loves me.”

Dede stopped short of rolling her eyes. “Okay, let’s try something. Call him and tell him you want to break up. If there’s any chance he still loves you, he’ll try to talk you out of it.”

I stared at the phone for a long time because I knew what Dede had said was reasonable. I picked it up and watched my fingers as they punched in Bobby’s number. They seemed to know which buttons to push by themselves. He picked up on the first ring. “Dede, stop bothering me! Nothing you can say will change my mind. I‘m not calling her!”

“Bobby, it’s me,” I said swallowing the lump in my throat.

“Uh hi, I didn‘t . . .”

“I want us to break up,” I said before I lost my nerve.

“Why?” he asked and I felt hope soar in me like a bird in flight. Why? meant he still cared.

“You were right. We have different priorities. There’d be no point in carrying on a relationship.”

He was silent for a moment and then he said, “I‘m so glad you feel this way. I wanted to tell you the day you were moving but you kept going on and on about being happy to see me that I . . .”

The flying bird fell to the ground, dead. “I have to go now. Bye,” I hung up on him as tears flowed down my face.

“Do you need a hug?” Dede asked.

I didn’t trust myself to speak. I nodded. Dede enfolded me in an embrace and I cried my heart out. Sofi rushed in saying,

“You’ll never guess . . .” she stopped when she saw me crying. “What’s going on?”

“She just broke up with Bobby.”

“Aww, these long distance things . . .” she said and hugged me too.

When I had dried my tears, Sofi remembered the news she had been ready to spill.

“Supper tonight is going to be only continental food. One of the waiters said there’ll be a live band so we can dress up if we want!”

“But we didn’t bring anything dressy,” Dede said.

“Speak for yourself,” Sofi said leading the way to one of her suitcases. She opened it to reveal clothes, clothes and more clothes. “Lucky for you I travel in comfort and style,” she said with a smug look on her face.

*****

Supper indeed was a grand affair and by then I wasn’t as depressed as I thought I’d be over the break up. Maybe some part of me had known all along that Bobby and I would break up. Maybe I had even begun preparing myself for it and now that it had happened I wasn’t as hurt as I should have been. Sofi was in her element. She made up my face and painted my fingernails hot pink (though I told her I’d have to clean the polish off before Monday).

I drew the line though when she gave me a long, bright, yellow sheath dress. I didn’t want to look like a banana. Instead I settled for a short black dress which had elbow length lace sleeves. She looked disappointed but she brightened and said, “Black is always chic.” She pulled out a green, red and blue dress for Dede. Dede shook her head and said, “Don’t even go there.” Dede wore blue skinny jeans and a purple blouse. Sofi looked like a peacock when she finished dressing. Her outfit was in all the colours of a rainbow. I couldn’t really tell what she was wearing. It looked like a cross between a sarong and a smock and it had long billowing sleeves that came almost to her fingernails. She paired her attire with five inch green stilettos. Dede wore the sandals she had brought. I wore the black ballet flats I had worn to school on Friday.

“One for Facebook,” Sofi said making the peace sign and taking a picture of herself. We each posed and took pictures—singles, doubles and then all three of us on Sofi’s Samsung Galaxy tab.

*****

Tables and chairs had been arranged around the fountain for supper. Thousands of twinkling lights sparkled in the foliage. It looked like we had stepped into some enchanted land. The band had set up near the reception. It turned out that none of the other guests had packed dinner clothes either. Sofi and I stood out like baobab trees in the savannah, but Sofi said to anyone who looked our way, “It’s her birthday!” so complete strangers came up to me and wished me “A very happy birthday.” The elders of some churches had who had come for a retreat felt compelled to pray for me and I let them. The head waiter led us to the seat of honour which was by the fountain.

“I’m not eating anything, I can’t pronounce,” Dede said.

“You have no sense of adventure,” Sofi said. “I think I’ll order something light. I’m still full from the banku.”

A waiter came and we placed our orders. I looked around to see if Jamal was on duty. He was busy on another side of the compound. Our eyes met once and I waved. He gave a curt nod in my direction.

“O la la,” Sofi said when she noticed. I ignored her.

Dede’s food came first. She had ordered beef and mushroom stroganoff which turned out to be beef and mushrooms in a very creamy sauce but it tasted good. It came with a side of dish of plain rice and vegetables. I had ordered prawn, chicken and pea paella. I had had no idea what it was. It turned out to be a dish much like jollof rice cooked with prawns, chicken and peas. Sofi took pictures with her Galaxy tab and wrote down comments.

“This is good,” Sofi said as she took a fourth spoonful of my food.

Dede and I were halfway through our meal before the waiter brought Sofi’s food.

“What is this?” she asked when the waiter put her bowl in front of her.

“It’s what you ordered.”

“I know what I ordered but what is in it?” Sofi asked looking into the bowl in front of her.

“It’s soupe à l‟oignon.”

“Which is what in English?”

I giggled. She should have paid attention in French class.

“Onion soup,” the waiter said.

Sofi’s soupe à l‟oignon looked like noodles floating in light soup. There was a slice of bread suspended on top of the soup. Sitting on the top of the bread was a piece of cheese which had begun melting. She didn’t know whether to use a spoon or a fork to drink the soup. The noodles kept slipping off the spoon. She gave up on the soup and joined Dede and I to finish our meals. We hadn’t even finished eating when our waiter brought three slices of cake and the band began playing ‘Happy birthday to you’. The waiter said the cake was on the house. After supper, Sofi joined a group of people to dance in front of the band. Dede and I watched her. I kept a look out for Jamal, but he didn’t look in my direction again.