GuiTara

🎵~10

🎶Don't give up on God, cuz he won't give up on you ~ Deitrick Haddon.

●Tara Afua Henrie●

"Can I ask you something, Auntie T?" Keke looked up as we walked hand in hand down the pavement to the bus station.

"Yeah. What is it?"

"Why do you need to work in Mamà's restaurant?" She wondered. "You already have your own job."

"Umm, no." I shook my head, casting an uncertain glance at my niece. "I don't have my own job."

"Yeah, you do," Keke pressed on. "It's right behind you."

I stopped to shoot a brief look behind me. An old mailbox that could really use fresh paint sat on the pavement, awaiting new mail.

"Not the mailbox!" Keke giggled. "This..." She tapped the guitar case at my back. "You can be a singer, like Selena Gomez or Ariana Grande."

A loud chuckle left my mouth, finding it hard to believe that I could be like Selena or Ariana. Those two were legendary singers. There was absolutely no way I could match up to them.

"What's so funny?" Keke asked with a frown. "I didn't say anything funny."

"Yeah, you did." I dabbed at my eyes with a tissue after laughing so hard. "Look, Keke, becoming a famous singer isn't easy at all."

She slipped her hand in mine as we continued to the bus station. "First, you need a demo of a couple of your songs, then a good manager to promote them, and finally, you land a record deal."

"That's it?" Keke asked.

"Yeah, that's it." I looked at her briefly. "And since I don't have any of those, I can't be a singer."

"It's not too late to get them," she grinned. "I can be your manager. We'll get that record deal in no time."

Another chuckle left my lips. Her enthusiasm was admirable. "I appreciate the offer, but a kid can't be my manager. It's a lot of hard work."

"Oh." She sounded a little disappointed.

"Don't worry about it, Keke." I gave her a comforting squeeze. "It's not a big deal. I wasn't expecting to land a singing career anyway."

For a moment, I could only hear the slapping of shoes on the pavement from other pedestrians and the honking of passing cars until Keke spoke up again. "You know what I learned at church last week?"

"No, what did you learn?"

"That as long as you're on earth, God has a special task for you," she replied. "All you gotta do is to have faith and believe it."

I blinked at my niece. The words that came out of her petite mouth were simple, but they held a powerful message. Growing up in a religious family, I was never one to doubt God's control over our lives. Of course, there are things He does that we, as humans, will never understand. But like Keke said, as long as we're on earth, God has a distinct task for us.

I had no idea what mine was, but I had to believe it wasn't far behind.

Out of the blue, a loud honk pulled me back to reality.

"Oh, the bus is here." Keke pointed at the big ash vehicle, coming to a halt at its regular spot.

"C'mon, let's go." Holding hands, we covered the short distance to the entrance.

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Later that evening,

My eyes were hurting from staring at my laptop screen for too long.