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From our conversations, I inferred that she wanted to marry someone older than she was, someone more financially stable.

I was surprised she thought of giving Yasa a chance. Yasa was much younger. Perhaps it was because he had money. I wouldn’t say she was materialistic. Yasa had helped her a lot. He got her a business to do after she stayed at home for so many years, hoping against hope.

But Yasa had a weakness I knew was going to split the two someday: he was lousy. My friend Mouchidath on the other hand respected herself and didn’t like her personal issues confided in a man to be put on sale at the community market.

Hard times can bend the will of a woman. Mouchidath was a tough woman. And never took any nonsense. Here she was, eating her own words, telling me she never intended to date Yasa, but he had done a lot and deserved a chance. I was silent.

This wasn’t the first time she said a man was different. Mouchidath made wise decisions. But when it came to choosing a good partner, seems she still had miles to go.

Now that she and Yasa were together, I see how the relationship was straining her. Not that Yasa was molesting or abusing her in anyway. Seems she was difficult on her own self. Her husband was much younger, and in order to not be seen as an older woman who out of desperation settled for a much younger man, she was constantly taking weight loss juices, creams, pommades or some gadget or super belt that had to be worn around the waist. These days they even have slippers from China they claim massages every fibre in the body and keep one young.

Mouchidath was always checking her weight. Sometimes, making us stop by a pharmacy just to check if she had gained or lost a kilo. And if she lost a single kilogram, it was an indication of big progress, a reason for her to be joyful the rest of the day…I might even get a surprise gift from her whenever she was in that mood.

At a certain point, I felt she was becoming obsessed with weight loss and looking young. I asked her why she just couldn’t relax and be herself. She tried to sound like she did it for herself, and that it wasn’t because of a man or some gossipers.

But I wasn’t a child. I saw through the cracks.