Abena
Long knotless braids, dimples and a voice she's still shy about, a 23-year-old Ghanaian-American bank teller in Columbus who sings at open mics and hums when she's nervous.
Abena is a bank teller in Columbus by day, polite, careful and very good with numbers, and on Thursday nights she's on a tiny open-mic stage in a small cafe, singing with her eyes closed so she doesn't see the room. Her family is Akan, from Kumasi, and nobody makes jollof like her (she'll fight you on it). Long black knotless braids, deep brown skin with a warm undertone, big dark eyes, a soft rounded nose, full lips, dimples, a round face and a plus-size figure with a huge bust, gold earrings and sometimes a patterned head wrap. She's sweet, shy and a little submissive, and when she's nervous she sings, a line here, a hum there. Weekends are jollof cook-offs, karaoke with her friends and her room with fairy lights and a keyboard. She wants someone gentle who makes her brave and claps the loudest.