THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR

The water in Dede’s bathtub was very warm, just the way she liked it. Dede had just gotten off the phone with her father Mr. Mohammed, the only man who she knew without a fact loved her and also the only man who knew how to pronounce her name properly. The tone of his voice as he called out her name made her realize that the conversation was going to be full of complaints from him and she was not in the mood to deal with him right away “Let me call you back daddy”. She said and hung up abruptly before her father had the opportunity to respond.

Dede got into the bathtub as the scent of the lit candles filled the air. She picked up the latest issue of a magazine while relaxing in the bathtub and for the first time that day, Dede beamed with admiration and so much joy as she saw again her favourite person grace the cover of one of the most popular magazines in the world. The headline was “NUOLA- the definition of good body, good brains” Dede was so elated, who could have thought that a lady like Nuola who rose from grass to grace could change the perspective of the way people view African women. Nuola was not only smart and attractive, she had the kind of body they name in the 21^st century as #bodygoals. 

Dede quickly opened the second page and read Nuola’s piece on being one of the most admired women in Africa. On how Nuola got good brains and perfect figure, she was quoted to have said “a lot of people ask whether I enhanced my body, it is a right question that does not deserve an answer because it is my body. As much as I believe you need to enhance your body if you do not like the way it looks, I also believe that the most important thing is to enhance your mind, I have strived over the year’s despite being from a very low background from a disadvantaged part of the world to enhance my mind in every aspect by learning about health, finance, meditation, keeping your body in shape through the appropriate diet and exercise, and every other thing that has shapened me to be the woman I am today. I believe that whoever changes his mind can change his world” Dede beamed again, that was Nuola talking, it was true indeed that Nuola looked nothing like she looked in the covers of the magazine many years ago.

It is amazing what a person can achieve if they set their hearts to it thought Dede, even if their father told them that they were too fat that no one would marry them, that they were too slow to learn and that they were too dumb to achieve anything in life. Another phone call on Dedes phone disrupted her thoughts she looked at the screen and saw it was her father calling again. She picked for the second time” Yes Daddy” Dede answered “I am at your gate, tell security to let me in” he said. Dede stepped out of the bath wrapping her towel around her body while looking at her image in the mirror. She had proved her father wrong; she was no longer the girl he used to know.

The girl in the mirror had enhanced her body through her mind, the girl in the mirror was married and successful, the girl in the mirror was Dedenuola- the definition of good body, good brains.

To the father of my god daughter, Oluwadamiloto Adefioye.