JOY FEELINGS MAGAZINE November issue 2015 | Page 23

‘‘Melissa Forde,’’ I
said, to show that I
knew who he meant.
‘‘I took a picture
with her! Look!’’
He handed back his
phone and I took it
skeptically. But
there he was, in a
tux, with his arm
around Rihanna. She
was smiling. ‘‘She
hear my accent and
ask me where I’m
from. She’s so nice.
I knew she would
be.’’
‘‘Where are you
from?’’
‘‘West Africa,
Niger. I come to
play soccer for
University of Idaho.
Oh, that’s the other
thing I love about
Rihanna — she love
soccer.’’
Over the next two
hours I interviewed
Oumarou Idrissa
about how he
survived during his
JOY FEELINGS MAGAZINE

first five years in
Los Angeles after
his student visa had
fallen through. He
slept in laundromats,
sending tiny sums of
money back to
Niger where his 25
brothers and sisters
were starving. This
took us through the
beach traffic; we
grew quiet as the
SUV zipped along
beach cliffs above
blue water. I think
we both suddenly
remembered
Rihanna.
‘‘Do you want me to
ask her anything for
you?’’ I said.
Oumarou thought
seriously about this
for a long time.
‘‘Yeah. Here’s my
question: When she
going to West
Africa? Many
celebrity don’t like
going there because
we’re so poor. But I
know she have a