When I got off stage after my performance I felt as if my heart would flow out of my chest. I was high on adrenaline and I could feel blood rushing through my veins. I could still hear everyone in the theatre clapping and cheering and it made me feel very proud of our achievement. Everyone had been so great on stage making everything run smoothly as rehearsed.

Our school had been allocated two rooms to change into, for the ladies and the gentlemen. I met with Hailee back stage who hugged me tightly before wrapping me in a shuka and leading me to the changing room. The last scene I had done had left me a little too scantily dressed to walk around like that.

There were so many universities here from all over the country. This wasn't exactly a competition since there wasn't a prize at the end. All universities that taught drama and theatre usually meet once a semester here to showcase their biggest achievements of the semester. It was open to the public so we always performed more than once depending on how many universities showed up. There was also a workshop and a panel. There was just a lot going on during this one week and we were bound to learn a lot. I was very happy though because this was my dream, to perform and show the world what I could do when I stepped up on that stage.

"That was so awesome. I knew you were worried about not being able to show feelings especially through the sad scenes but you actually shed tears at some point. I really am a proud mama bear." Lee complimented pulling me into another hug once we got to the makeshift changing room.

"Thank you Lee. You are amazing. All this is thanks to you. Right girls." I asked out loud and they all agreed. A lot of yes and yeah a were heard across the room.

Lee brushed us off" Oh please. You guys are the amazing ones. I really am proud of all of you."

We all awed when she wiped off a stray tear.

"Now look you've all made me cry. Group hug." And we all crushed her in the middle of our group hug.

We pulled apart after a few minutes to finish getting out of our costumes into normal clothes.

Lee was being so humble about this but she really had done a lot of work. I had seen her go through writers block to figure out how to finish the play and have sleepless nights when she couldn't find the right character to fit a part. She was so stressed about the writing and directing that I had to force her to stay out of the acting part. She would have exploded into pieces. I was just really happy for all of us that our success was paying off.

"B your phone is ringing." Lee informed me.

"Who is it?" I asked pulling on my jeans.

"Don't sound so excited, it's not Mason. It's your mom." She said handing me the phone and I picked up immediately.

"Sasa mama"I greeted.

Hi mom.

"Poa sana toto." She replied and I groaned making her laugh.

I'm very okay baby.

"Mom si nilikwambia usiniite hivo. Nishazeeka." I complained.

Mom I told you not to call me that. Im old now.

"Wewe bado ni mtoto wangu." She replied.

"You're still my baby"

"Sasawa mama niambie."

Okay mom talk to me.

"Mimi na babako tutakuwa Nairobi kesho juu ya biashara fulani. Tupatane lunch kabla urudi shule. Nataka kuona kama unakula ama umekonda. Na usisahau kukuja na huyo rafiki yako Lee. Najua hamuachanangi." She explained.

Your dad and I will be in Nairobi tomorrow for some business. Meet us for lunch before you go back to school. I want to see if you're eating something or you've become thin. Don't forget to bring that friend of yours Lee. I know you never leave each other.

"Sasawa mama tuonane kesho. Nakupenda."

Okay mom see you tomorrow. I love you.

"Nakupenda zaidi toto." And before I could complain she hang up on me.

I love you more baby.

"Looks like mom wants to treat us to lunch." Lee said excitedly.

"Lee I told you listening in on my conversations, it's creepy." I reprimanded her pulling on a T-shirt.

"Yeah yeah whatever. I hope dad comes loaded because I will eat so much it will put a dent in his wallet." Lee said rubbing her stomach in anticipation making me laugh.

"I'll tell him you said that." I threatened.

She narrowed her eyes at me "You wouldn't dare and besides your dad loves me so I'll just let him know you're lying and he'll believe me."

"Yes until he sees the receipt." I tease and run out of the room before Lee can catch me.

Lee was right though. My parents met her once when she accompanied me to my brother's wedding and they loved her. They even made her call them mom and dad and always made sure to check up on her from time to time especially my mom. Lee was just amazing and lovable like that.

"B if I catch you I'll kill you." Lee shouted behind me.

"No you won't. You love me." I shouted back laughing.

I was pretty fast for someone my size but I knew she'd catch up soon. I didn't mind though. I was having fun with my best friend.

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When meeting the parents we had to dress appropriately, like the good girls they thought we were. We weren't slutty but our parents didn't have to see our belly buttons exposed in cropped tops or our thighs hanging out from rugged trousers. Lee and I decided to go for simple white dresses, different designs but white. My mom would go crazy about our attire, especially since we were matching. Mine was a knee lengthy lace design with long sleeves, paired with a pair of cream flats. Lee decided to go traditional and wear a chiffon maxi dress with thin straps that reached her ankles, paired with black flats. We didn't have any make up on except for some Chap Stick and accessories were minimal, down to a pair of stud earrings each.

We looked simple yet classy. The uber we had taken had dropped us off in front of a high end restaurant in the upper class side of the city, called Traditional Delights ,typical of mom and dad. I know we weren't exactly poor but even this place was impressive for my parents.

We spotted them as soon as we got in. They were dressed in matching Ankara outfits and they looked adorable like real African parents. I got my short stature and body size from my mom who looked like a dwarf standing next to my dad who was taller than her by almost a whole foot. I got my light skin tone from dad so I was a perfect combination of both.

My mom pulled us both into a huge motherly hug as soon as we were at arm's reach and my dad just stood aside as she did her 'inspection'.

"Lee baby you need to eat more, you look all skin and bones and don't even get started on you Becca, have you lost weight?" She asked.

"No mama I haven't." I replied.

"Then why do you look like you have. Have we not been sending enough money for food? Lee do you need money for food." She asked.

Lee and I looked at each other holding in our laughs. This was classic mom. I was sure we hadn't changed but she was seeing as if we had.

"Okay okay enough. Leave them alone Marjorie. Let me say hello to my girls." Dad said before pulling is into a hug. He then pulled away and looked us.

"You look good girls." He complimented.

"Thanks dad." We replied together.

"No they don't. Don't lie to them." My mom intervened.

"Let's all sit down before we cause a scene." My dad said and we all sat down in the table of four. I sat facing mom with dad and Lee on my either side of me while Lee sat facing dad with mom on her other side.

"I hope you don't mind but we had already ordered. Family style. A full roast chicken for us to share with vegetables and mukimo" My dad says with a wink.

"It's okay dad. So what's brings you to town." I ask him.

"Well your old man here kind of won the lottery." He said smiling, I noticed my mom and Lee having a conversation of their own.

"What do you mean kind of?" I asked him.

"You remember that land your grandfather left me behind."

"Yes dad but I thought you couldn't have it because it legally wasn't grandpa's." I replied.

"That was the original reason but the government didn't want me to have that land because some private company they are in business with wants to build a factory there. I've been following up on it and since I have all the paperwork saying that land is mine they had to buy it from me or I would sue them. They have the money so they paid me. Today morning we finalized all the final details." He explained.

"But dad that's a very huge piece of land. More than three hundred acres. How much did you get for it?" I asked shocked.

"Enough that all your fees are paid till you graduate, I can finally quit working with cows butts and your mom and I can go on that vacation to Dubai that she's always wanted and still have a whole lot left to spare." He said with a proud smirk.

I knew he wasn't going to tell me but sooner or later someone in our family would spill the beans.

"I'm very happy for you dad. You guys deserve this after working all your lives." I said proudly patting his hand.

Lee pushed a glass of fresh mango juice in front of me and I smiled.

"I ordered for you. Looks like you were in quite the deep conversation with your dad." She said explained.

"Thank you and yeah he just basically told me that we are millionaires now."

"Yeah your mom kind of mentioned it. Maybe we can ask for a car." she teased me and I laughed.

"Maybe."

Lunch went on smoothly and we found ourselves laughing, eating and catching up on everything. It was nice to do this with my parents. They were more fun than their peers and understood that things changed with generations. They didn't use phrases like "You know when I was your age I didn't do this or that" or "In my days my father would have whooped my ass for saying something like that or wearing clothes like those". They were cool parents and I loved that about them.

"I'm very proud of you girls for the work your doing. You're mother and I watched your performance yesterday and I was proud to say. Those are my girls." My dad complimented after we were all done eating and waiting for the receipt.

"Thanks dad but I thought you and mom got into town this morning." I asked a little surprised.

"We got in yesterday morning but didn't want to give you guys the pressure of knowing your parents were watching so we decided to not say anything." My mom explained.

"Well you are right about the pressure thing." Lee said.

"I'm very proud of your girls. Am sure your mom is also very proud Lee." My mom asked.

"Yes they are very proud. My mom actually made our costumes and had them delivered to us." Lee said proudly.

She was right. Lee was the only child to a single mom. I guessed that's why she got along with Mason. Her dad had died in a car accident when Lee was two and it was just her and her mom from there on. Her mom owned a small fashion house in Meru and always tried to be supportive of Lee. When Lee got the budget for the costumes she sent all of it to her mom who made them and had them delivered to us. They were even better than we had hoped. Talent really did run in the family.

"That's very good ladies. Now am sure you have better things to do in this large city than hang out with your parents. So take this and make sure to spend it wisely. We'll send more when you get back to school. Keep us updated." My dad said sliding us each white envelopes and standing up.

We stood up too and hugged them goodbye.

"Make sure to get something for your classmates too." My ever motherly mom said.

"Yes mom we will. Have a safe trip back home." I said.

"You too girls. Take care." My dad said and left to go pay the bill that had arrived with my mom in tow.

Lee and I sat back down before we each grabbed our envelopes and peeped inside. We both looked shocked at the contents before we stared at each other, back at the envelopes to make sure we weren't dreaming then at each other again before squealing out loud earning us a few odd looks. I saw my parents chuckling to themselves before they left the restaurant.

"Oh My God B. There's like thirty thousand shillings cash in here. I love your dad so much." Lee exclaimed.

"I'm just as shocked as you are. My dad has never handed me this much money just to spend. It's usually for school fees. The most he's ever given me is ten thousand shillings and it was for that school trip to coast." I said shocked.

"God bless that man." Lee said.

"Amen sister amen." I agreed. "So what do we get for the guys?" I asked.

"Since today is terrific Tuesday at pizza-inn how about we treat them all to pizza and drinks." Lee suggested as we got up to leave.

"Sounds good to me. But let's go shopping first. I want to find something nice to get Mason. For once I have the money to spoil him." I agreed.

"Good idea. I need to get my man something too. I know he is sulking about me having to leave him alone in the house for a week." Lee said and I laughed.

"How is Jake by the way?" I asked.

"He's good. Still annoying but I love him." She replied.

Lee and Jake short for Jacob had been dating since first year. They had met during orientation and had just clicked together and have been together ever since. They were literally goals and were even quoted couple of the year two years in a row in the annual campus magazine. I admired their relationship and I knew they were meant to be. Jake had even hinted on proposing once but I told him to wait. Lee loved him but she wasn't ready for marriage. He understood and just got her a promise ring that she never took off.

I hoped Mason and I would be like that someday. I know not all relationships can be the same but being that happy and content with one person for such a long time and seeing a future with them is something I wanted in a a relationship and they had that. A part of me could really see that with Mason and I hoped he could see that with me too.

*Mukimo\irio is a hearty Kenyan dish with origins from the Kikuyu people. Although it has many variations, it usually consists of potatoes, peas, and corn that are boiled and mashed together.*

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