Bananas and marriage...

When I think of fruit I can always buy in Freetown, I think of bananas. However, today I had some difficulty locating them. Between Congo Cross and Wilberforce village, they were nowhere to be found. I walked around the village for about 20 minutes trying to find them going up and down various paths. Finally, I spotted a bunch. They were being sold at a fruit stall on our road that I have boycotted in the past. I boycotted it because the last time I went there, the lady selling fruit was really grumpy and quoted ridiculously high prices. Today I felt a little desperate. So, I asked the little boy to call his mom and out she came. She was exceptionally friendly and when I asked for the price of bananas she said 5 for SLL 2,000 – the usual price. I was pleasantly surprised and said I’d like ten. I then asked for the price of cucumbers and again, a decent price. Finally, I asked about the mangos, and she said SLL 500 each. A bargain.

In the meantime a guy walked up and helped the lady put the fruit into a plastic bag. I soon learnt that his name is Julius, and he is the fruit lady’s son. He wanted to make small talk. He first questioned my name, which I was happy to give him. His second question was asking me where I live, so I vaguely said I live in Wilberforce. His third question to me was whether or not I was married. And after my response of saying no, his mother was quick to jump in and say that her son should have me. Well, there you have it. Her son was a bit more sensible and said that it’s too early to talk about marriage, since we only met today. However, he did ask to walk me home. I kindly declined and headed home with my bag of fruit.