Attempts at manliness...

They actually had swagger - even if their style was a bit too bohemian for my taste.
I had been voyeuristically watching for a while.
They sidled up to the pubescent girl with bare breasts and beguiling beads.
One flung an arm in an unpracticed attempt at manliness over the back of her chair.
She had danced well.
The clink of the glasses indicated a celebration shared among the three but unbeknown to the rest of us.
One saw me watching and smiled shyly.
I smiled back.
How old were they?
These boys of today-men of tomorrow?
Seven?
Eight?
Maybe ten.
I could only hazard a guess by the rapt attention with which they shook their Coke bottles - after clinking - and watched the bubbles. Clearly more beguiling than beads or breasts.

I had spent some time watching these three little boys who attended the reception after the funeral. They looked like neighborhood boys, not really dressed for the occasion in cut offs and flip flops, but yes, familiar with the surroundings. The girls that I referred to were those that had danced the adwoa at the funeral grounds. They were still dressed in their beads and their skirts, and without their tops ( as culture demands) and were sitting at a table when the boys came over to chat. They were about the same age too.
They seemed to have known each other.
Have now realized that funerals are a great place for people watching.