"The Kaya Girl"
Abena, the author of the story, is a 14-year-old girl who came to spend her vacation with her
Auntie Lydia, who sells fabrics and jewels at the Makola Market in Accra. There, she made
friends with a "Kayayo" named Faiza.
As the story progresses, Abena tells Auntie Lydia about Faiza. As they get to know each other,
Faiza takes Abena through the market, exposing her to the things in the market relating to Faiza's
culture.
Faiza then tells her friend Abena about her cousin Asana and her father's intention of marrying
her off to one Alhaji Brown Teeth. Also, she shares how Asana plans to escape the marriage,
with Abena impatiently asking about how the marriage will take place and Faiza responding,
"Haba! Exercise patience."
A customer buys clothes and jewels for her daughter's upcoming engagement and is escorted to a
seamstress by Auntie Lydia. This gives Abena and Faiza the opportunity to explore the internet
and other things, as Auntie Lydia is not around. Upon Auntie Lydia's return, they have to leave
the shop to avoid getting caught by Auntie Lydia since they had the whole makeover to
themselves. As they went through the market acting as rich women, they meet their "Peter and
Paul," thus Stephen and Mike. Surprisingly, a day after, Stephen was called upon to check up on
Auntie's television, giving him the opportunity to interact with Abena, asking about Faiza. Later
in the day, the two friends met and discussed Stephen's visit to the shop. Following that, Faiza
told Abena how Asana was able to escape the forced marriage.
Unfortunately for both friends, Abena's long vacation was almost over, and they both discussed
their intentions, with Faiza hoping to leave for Kumasi in search of Asana. On the next day,
Stephen brought the repaired television but forgot the remote for it, making Abena follow him
for it. Both brothers scheduled an ice cream outing for both girls. Gifty, being envious of Abena's
friendship with Faiza for a long time and also being fueled by Stephen's recent interaction with
Abena, accuses Faiza of stealing from Auntie's shop, leading to the separation of the two close
friends. Abena fell sick and went home, where she shared her experience at her Auntie's shop
with her father. She went back to school and shared her vacation experience as an essay, which
was awarded high marks in the whole class as she had the most remarkable essay. During her
mom's return, she shared her essay in detail with her parents.
Fast forward, Abena went to the University, made new friends, and found a whole new life
altogether. She attended social events, among which was a stage act on "Romeo and Juliet,"
where she met Mike. Abena meets Mike's family during his graduation, where she was
introduced to his family and was later invited to visit them once in a while when Mike left for
further studies abroad. Abena's love for Mike rekindled, leading to their marriage. Stephen is
later told about Faiza's identity partially.
Abena gives birth to her second child, where she was taken care of by Dr. Mohammed, who was
serving at her father's hospital. Certain incidents led one to the other, giving Dr. Mohammed and
Abena the opportunity to meet each other and recognize their real identities as Abena and Faiza.
They shared their experiences from the time they got separated until meeting. Faiza shared her
experience at Kejetia market and how she finally met Asana, also how she returned to her village
and her educational journey to becoming a doctor.
A naming ceremony was organized for Abena's second baby, whom she named Faiza after her
friend. This was also a joyous moment as they were celebrating Abena's father's return from
abroad and Stephen's return from the UK. Stephen finally meets Faiza. Both friends visited
Auntie Lydia's shop and were gifted with some clothes, which were spiced up by gele from
Auntie Omotola. The story ends with Abena telling her friend Faiza about how she had written
about their experience and titled it "THE KAYA GIRL." THE END.
