Love Triangle, Part Deux

My brother Moussa is in a love triangle...again. If there's one thing you can count on across cultures, it's the drama that unfolds when dealing with teenage or twenty something puppy love.

He came into my room this morning and asked to talk. I of course said yes since we always do, and I immediately assumed this was about girls because he had a sheepish look on his face. He said he needed some advice about his relationships. My automatic reaction was "relationships?...as in...more than one?"

Moussa has two girlfriends, and according to him, he loves them both. Now, I consider Moussa an intelligent guy. He's 22, in college, super sharp, and we manage to carry on good conversations. But his smarts in the girl department are....well, lacking. He explained that his two girlfriends, Aida and Fatou Binta, are both great, and he doesn't know what to do. They also don't know about each other, and according to Moussa, would be extremely upset if they found out about one another. Also, they're from the same town and their families know one another, which makes this even more dramatic.

So, obviously my first piece of advice was to choose one. There's no way of getting around that. He asked me how he is possibly going to choose and I tried to think about what I would do in that situation (although, Lord knows, I'd never be in it). I would think about who understands me the most, who I have the best conversations with, who I could see a future with, who I trust completely. His first thought was "which one was prettier" (sigh).

He then got a little defensive and said that he's not sure he trusts either of them completely; "how do I know they are not with other guys?" I about smacked him upside the head because obviously he's not thinking of this from their point of view. I told him that the reality is, these girls probably trust him completely and out of respect for them, he needs to do some soul searching and let one of them go. After that didn't quite resonate, I just told him to be a 22 year old for Pete's sake and that life is short and there is no need for all this drama. I told him to imagine one of the rap videos he's always watching and asked him what happens when the guy is cheating. His response: "It's never good..."

I really wish I could film some of my conversations with him because it would make the foundation for a great Senegalese soap opera. As for now, I'm not quite sure what he's going to do. He seemed to be leaning towards Fatou Binta at the end of our conversation because she goes to his University, whereas Aida doesn't and he therefore hardly sees her. But that Aida is "so very beautiful." Ah, young love...

I'll keep you posted on what happens as the drama unfolds.