He strolled across the lawn to where his sister sat on a bench, keeping an eye on her three-year-old and Nana’s youngest daughter playing on the grass with their dolls. He squeezed her hand in his and appeared unconcerned, but still… “Well?” She searched his face for clues of the result of the meeting. Their gazes locked together, and she approached him right away. She gave Abena’s arm another reassuring squeeze before walking away.īaaba and her husband ambled out first, each sending smiles in Abena’s direction. Only two more months, and she and Santiago would become husband and wife. Like other Ghanaian transplants, Abena would have two ceremonies-Western and traditional. Abena communicated with the other two sisters by phone.Īll five planned to attend the weddings. He shook his head in disgust and then changed the subject. Over dinner, one of them told Santiago that Romina and his father had married. In addition, she met two of his sisters the last time she and Santiago visited Argentina. Over the past sixteen months, Abena had become close to his sister, Susanna, who’d received her medical transcription certificate a few months ago. Her fault for loving a man who insisted on succeeding in everything he set out to do. She would have preferred if they’d never broached the topic of approval or disapproval. She worried her mother would not approve, and then she couldn’t marry him with a clear conscience. Getting her mother’s blessing was all Santiago’s idea, and though she appreciated the sentiment behind his desire, the meeting made her nervous. She’s going to give her blessing.”Ībena sighed. Holding her little boy against her chest, Nana stood beside Abena. Although Baaba served as a translator, Santiago had learned words and phrases in Twi to speak a few words to Effia.
Her aunt Baaba, her uncle, her mother, and Santiago were all in the living room talking. She twisted the diamond ring on her finger and cast a nervous glance at the closed French doors leading into the house. There was also the matter of getting her blessing to marry Santiago. It was her first visit to the United States, so Abena took the week off to spend time with her and take her around to explore the city. Her mother, Effia, was in the country, having arrived only a few days ago. She nervously rearranged plastic plates and cups on the six-foot long table in her aunt and uncle’s backyard.
But Abena couldn’t muster enough of an appetite to eat a single bite of any of the choices. There was so much food-from jollof rice to dishes of red red, to boiled plantains resting next to pots of palava sauce, a West African stew made of spinach, pumpkin seeds, and meat.
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