I thought Fifi was reaching out to me...

Fifi (Niang’s sister) and Batouma came for a bedtime chat the other night- this was the first time Fifi actually reached out to me in any way. Under her frighteningly high eyebrows painted in henna, I thought she was finally loosening up and was ready for a gossip sesh. I asked her about the guy I saw her talking to the other night. She told me that he was just a friend, showing her how to use computers at the Cyber Café down the street.
Finally, she broke into the exciting story and began to tell me about the policeman she was engaged to. I was completely surprised, but she continued nonchalantly about how their engagement wasn’t going to be announced until mid July, because her fiancé was extremely busy with police training right now. I bought every word of it and was effusive in my congratulations. I was thrilled that Niang's judgmental sister was finally ready to tell me about her petit-ami and fill me in on the Sikoroni gossip. Only after our conversation had finally drifted to other things did she relent that “Je me blague”- that she had been joking the entire time and that there was no such gendarme that existed.
What turned out to be true, however, was that Batouma was leaving at the end of June (tomorrow). She is going to return to her home town, not for a visit, but permanently, to get married. Fifi laughed, telling me the man was extremely tall and very big. I asked his name, but neither of them new it. It was to be an arranged marriage, the man had been chosen by Batouma’s father. I asked Batouma and Fifi to show me where Batouma’s hometown was on a Mali map from my guidebook. Neither of them knew where to look, only confirming the permanence of Batouma’s move. She is going to escape from Fifi’s glaring eyebrows only to find herself the captive of her anonymous fiancé.