Just gonna post it here for those who cant see it
I was raised with really strict parents. So strict that I began to rebel against them quite quickly. At that time we were living in Minneapolis. I was 15 years old sneaking out of my home and going to clubs with a fake ID. That year,6 of my friends also were sent to Somalia by their parents. At the time I was convinced our parents plotted against us. 4 of them went to Hargeisa. 2 of them went to Mogadishu. And that left little old me, all alone, headed to Galkacyo. My first month was terrifying. Mosquito bites, food I would never want to eat, scary animals, aggressive people, and rude comments from people who considered me to be a reject. You see, in Galkacyo, if you are diaspora who return and its not for work purposes, as far as they're concerned you're either a crackhead or a murderer. Later on, I would find out they weren't so wrong. But in the beginning I stayed in my bubble. I sat at my uncle's home, living off a diet of 7up & snickers bars. After a month, I stopped tweezing my eyebrows, started eating canjeero, started exploring the neighborhood & socializing. But i was still bored. My friends in Mogadishu were smoking shisha and having fun, my friends in Hargeisa were at parties every night and living like Westerners. Meanwhile i was stuck, sitting in the neighborhood. One day, i walked to the grocery store to grab some essentials. And by essentials, I mean junk food. While in the line i see a beautiful young man Infront of me. He's buying all the same snacks as me. He then speaks in a English accent. Not only is he handsome and tall, hes from the UK. I stood behind him, trying to think of a way to spark conversation. I quickly pull out my ugly phone and pretend to be on it. "Yo. I will call you when I get to my uncle's house. Im busy". That got his attention. (I know. sneaky) He smiled at me and introduced himself as Abdi. Abdi asked where I was from. "Twin Cities." ."Huh?", he responded. I clarified that it was Minnesota. "Ahh" , he replied. "Youre very beautiful Masha Allah". I was blushing. At the compliment. We exchanged info and he promised to call me. That very night he did. I couldn't hear him because of his noisy background. Loud rap music blared. I asked him where he was. "Just about". "Where at?", I pressed. "Would you like to come and find out?". I asked him to pick me up. I quickly changed into an outfit and put on my abaaya over it, then my jilbaab, finally completing my look with indho shareer. I didn't want to wake my cousin and tell her I was leaving. So I called Abdi and described the very complicated path to my family compound. Once his Land Cruiser lights flashed in front of the home, I quicky climbed the gate and slid into his vehicle. That night i would learn about the wild side of Somalia.
When Abdi came to get me. he had a Benson & Hedges cigarette dangling out the side of his mouth and reeked of alcohol. He began recklessly speeding down the streets and drove into the parking of a home. Once he got out the vehicle, I shyly followed behind him as it was clesr the home was a packed house. There was a group of 20+ people, men and women, all either drinking, smoking shisha, or cigarettes and weed. Not all of them were dhaqan celis, although some were. Abdi sank down of the fadhi carbeed and patted the seat beside him. He then began to prepare a shisha for me, as i slipped out of my abaaya but opted to keep on my niqab for the sake of privacy. I browsed around the place and saw a man in the corner just socializing. He wasn't drinking, smoking or chewing. He was very attractive. I tried to smile at him, but he quickly turned from me. I turned my attention back to Abdi, who now had his hand on his crotch, looking at me like a piece of meat. "Haye", he asked. All of a sudden he was so unattractive to me. Now that I saw homie in the corner, I had my eyes on him. Abdi grew annoyed with my lack of attention to him. "Why did you come if you wasn't gonna speak with me?". I rolled my eyes inwardly. How could he have been so hot a few hours ago and now make me want to run home? But I continued being friendly as I didn't want to ruffle his feathers. A girl who was staring at me the whole night came over to me and said hello. "My name is Halima. Are you from Canada. you look familiar? " She asked. "Nah. Im American." Thus began our friendship. I tried to casually ask her about the mysterious man in the corner. "Oh him. That's Yusuf. Don't even bother walaal. Every girl in this room wants him. And he doesn't pay any attention". Her words didn't sway me. Infact they made me more curious. I decided I would find out his information. All of a sudden, I heard a loud slap and scream. Somehow, a drunken Abdi had gotten up ( I didn't even notice his absence), and had smacked a female he was arguing with. Halima went to the girls defence. I then glanced and saw Halima's phone laying beside me. Unlocked. I quicky searched it while keeping my eye on her and searched for the name Yusuf. There were 3 Yusufs.Yusuf 1, Yusuf 2 & Yusuf Qalbi. I saved all three to my contacts and got up. I had officially lost all interest in the party and wanted to go home. I asked Abdi (yes the drunken one) to take me home. He was very annoyed but still agreed. I had a new interest in Galkacyo. His name was Yusuf.
That whole week, I went to the same house in the hopes of seeing Yusuf. He never showed up again. It drove me insane. I even began befriending Halima for more information on him. I invited Halima to my uncle's home, as he had left for 2 weeks to Dubai. I asked her to sleep over because my female cousins were all cool and there were no males. She came to my house with luggage and a briefcase. The briefcase contained a shisha pipe. She pulled out a chair and sat in our front yard lighting a cigarette. My poor cousin Faduma was traumatized. She asked to speak to me privately. I entered the room with her. "Maryan", she scolded me in Somali, "This woman looks older than you and she seems like trouble" . I brushed it off. I joined Halima back in the front yard. Not even hiding my thirst , I spoke. "what's up with Yusuf?Haven't seen him around." I saw a look of irritation, but she quickly shook it off. "You sure do ask a lot about him", she snidely commented. It was then that I decided that she probably had feelings for him herself. I changed the subject to make the conversation less awkward & continued socializing with her. She set the shisha up for me and we smoked and laughed about life back home. While she spoke, my hands fiddled with my phone. I went to my contact list and slid my finger down to Y. I looked at the 3 Yusuf's and my instinct about her reaction to my questions convinced me that the correct Yusuf had to be Yusuf Qalbi. So I decided to text it......
