LOVE GONE SOUR

Love was the craziest thing that ever happened to me, yes! For starters like me, it shacked me more than star lager beer or Hennessy. You would not blame me, especially when you have a soul mate whom you think blends completely with you and the sight of him gives a cool and sweet flow of blood deep down through your vain that could be felt.



Mr. Tamtopopolis, my papa, who had an immeasurable amount of energy to farm sold all his farm produce and livestock for me to go to school and at least bear the title ‘graduate’ of a secondary school, which most Achinaka villagers couldn’t afford. After six years of rough studies in school and obtaining an O'level certificate, I started working as the community secretary in my village. Whenever I was leaving the house, popsy always told me to be careful; carefulness which he meant was not specific, as being an elder comes with wisdom. Most men were making passes at me, giving me 'dry' compliments, some would say 'chai asamnwa, asam mpete, ada mma', although most of those compliments excited me and even made me walk with my head up high with pride, I still tried to keep papa's words in mind.



Oga Parto liked me so much and he told me he would like me to be his twelfth wife, jokingly saying I would make the family to complete a dozen, but I never liked him. He kept stalking me and his sight disgusted me. I woke up one morning on an Eke market day to the loud noise of the flute and ogene which was playing in my compound, it was oga parto who came with his clans' men to meet papa. They told papa that they came to harvest the banana which papa planted and has been watering for years; with great anger, papa brought out his old gun, which he was awarded with as a colonel in the Biafran army, ordering them to leave the compound before the count of three. Immediately they left, the place became as quite as the Sahara desert.



Vex catch me sha o that papa drove them away, but I realized the real reason for papa's anger. Oga Parto was a sixty five year old elderly man that still fantasised about still being a very young man, perhaps someone in his early 20's. He was forming bomboy, he dyes his hair and applies the white men's cream on his body to look like them. After Parto's issue, I left the secretary work to do something else that would sway me away from men that were drooling after me.



The 'peanut' salary which I saved from my secretary job, and the money I got from my esusu contribution helped me to get a shop where I began to sell sweets, biscuits, gin and cigarettes near the community market to help myself and papa who was an old-soldier-never-die. I also got the shop basically to run away from those old yuppie looking men, that will want to use money to entice young girls, just to get them laid.



Benson came to my shop to buy biscuits, when I first sighted him, my heart skipped a little because he was very handsome, I couldn't even concentrate on giving him what he asked for. Weeks after weeks he came to my kiosk more often. One day he described his feelings towards me, saying he wants to be my nwa bobo. I was so excited, but didn't show it, I just smiled in the usual shy way most young girls do when they are being approached by a guy they like for the first time, and followed the usual girl's principle "let me think about it." Joy untold dwelled inside me all through the day and it showed in my business. Some weeks later I gave him an unspoken reply in agreement to his request.



We started meeting at UCT(Under the Cashew Tree), it was a slang that he used to deviate suspicion whenever he came to the shop and also to deceive papa when we are going out. So love sick and lonely one Saturday morning, I decided to pay Benson a surprise visit at his house and carry out a woman’s function to cook for him and also have a nice time with him. When I got there chai! Nwan nem! What I saw was 'twoderful', I saw my Benson having sex with his fellow man, a man o! What will I call that? Ashawo? I have no name or a description.



Am left with two choices now; either to get him beaten by the towns youth or go to the police… I'm in a fix right now.