It was like any regular day at the office, the sun shining bright through my window.
“Goodmorning!” said Angelo, the handsome choreographer.
“Goodmorning!” I responded blushing.
“So what do we have to do today?”
“Well we have a couple new girls that want to audition for the modeling show,” said Angelo.
“Okay let’s take a look at it,” I said with a huge smile on my face.
I started to wonder where was my best friend Patricia, because she still wasn’t in her office. Then I heard the click of high heels walking down the hall: Patricia. I went and gave her the biggest hug and kiss ever.
“Hey Daris, how are you girl?” Patricia asked.
“Hey, i’ve been good, how have you been? How was the trip to Paris?”
“It was great, I really needed it, I brought you a little souvenir,” said Patricia with a big cheesy smile on her face.
“REALLY? You thought about me? Let me see,”
“Close your eyes…….. okay open them,” said Patricia.
“OH MY GOD, no way, you brought me macarons and a keychain of the Eiffel Towel with my name on it. Thanks I love you.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying the macaroons, I had plenty of them. They were delicious, they are very crunchy on the outside and very gooey in the inside,” said Patricia.
“Girl we have a lot to work on.”
“Ughhhh I bet, well we better get started,” said Patricia.
As we headed to my office, I picked up the photos from Angelo, of the girls who want to audition.
“Look at this girl, she has big blue beautiful eyes. She’s from Russia.”
“How many girls do we need for the show?” Patricia asked.
“We need at least twenty-five girls in total.”
“Well this girl named Liya Kebede is beautiful, she has beautiful curly hair, she’s from Somali Desert,” said Patricia.
“WHAT?”
Instantly I snatched the picture from Patricia, I looked at the picture for a few minutes and tears started swelling up in my eyes.

“What’s wrong Daris? Are you okay? Please say something?” said Patricia.

“Yes I’m okay I just got emotional because this girl is from my hometown.”

“But why did that make you emotional?” said Patricia.

“Well, I never mentioned this to you because its very hard for me to talk about this, but when I was 5 years old……”
I Started to have flashbacks of that day, I remember it perfectly, like if it was yesterday.
“It’s okay take your time,” said Patricia.
I took a deep breath and began telling her my story.
“When I was five years old, I got circumcised.”
“What do you mean? Doesn’t that happen to guys only?” asked Patricia.
“Not necessarily, in many African Tribes it is believed that girls should get circumcised. It’s a practice of removing most or all external female genitalia. There’s two parts to this, the major and the minor. The minor being when only the clitoris is cut and the major being when all the external genitalia is removed and the vaginal opening is stitched almost close, only leaving a small opening for urine and menstrual blood.”
“But…but.. why do they do this?” asked Patricia devastated.
“In my country they believe that a woman who is not cut is not a good woman. By getting cut we represent beauty, cleanliness, male protection, approval, health and religion. It’s also believed that god won’t accept us if we aren’t cut.”
“Oh my god, I can’t even imagine the pain you went through, just know i’m always going to be here for you. Now I have so much more respect for you Daris. I’m so glad that I met you, you really taught me something I never even imagined existed. Also i’m very glad you’ve moved on from that and I know it’s very hard to think about it, but look on the bright side you’ve become someone little girls look up to and you also make young adults make their dream come true by picking them as a model for our company,” said Patricia.
“Thanks for that I actually needed it, I missed you so much, you’re never leaving unless is with me.” I said with a bright smile on my face.
“I agree,” said Patricia.
“Well I believe we should get this work done because we have a lot of choosing to do.”
“I believe we should pick Liya Kebede, she’s gorgeous,” said Patricia.
“I agree with you, I want to make sure she succeeds in this modeling industry, I don’t know her personally, but she is a strong woman.”
I feel a huge release in my mind. I finally liberated that life changing memory. Now i’m in peace.