"13, eh?” Her aunt pauses for a second. “What an excellent, excellent age. I was married with 13 to your Uncle and had your cousin 9 months later.”
Aamira keeps quiet. What does her aunt try to indicate?
“Listen Aamira, the clock is ticking. 13 is a very marriageable age. You should get as soon as possible a husband who will provide for you and your children. I know some boys from Aboorey. Next week I want you to meet Assad. His father has a good reputation in here. Also, your aabe told me you hadn’t have your gudniin yet. How can your mother allow that? What an irresponsible dembiile[1]!” Her aunt clicks her tongue.
Aamira can’t believe it. How can this cold stoned monster offend her mother like this, when the only thing her mother wanted was to protect her own children. How could this person want Aamira to marry someone when she is still a child? She isn’t even a real woman yet. She is too afraid of new people, let alone having children with someone she doesn’t know at all.
“I'm not even thinking about it! I don’t want to have a stupid husband and neither do I want to have children and turn out as cold as you are! And my mother is not a sinner. She is an angel. She loves and protects her children, not like you" She shouts to her. For a moment she wonders where she suddenly gotthis courage from. That’s not how she usually is, fuming out of anger. But somehow she can’t stop it. […]"
This short book is honored to the topic of FGM, even though Aamira’s story is fictional, every 15 seconds a girl is being cut in real life.
CUTTING ROSES Audiobook on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1cY2eVeTmLvFazUH8K4xNi?si=q2acLqzLTDOnOvpUDEMY0w
Read the whole book here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_lFKCbPIVE5BuLEQQzM38Itw4VLIJfYr/view?usp=drivesdk
[1] Somali word for “Sinner”