thestorieswetell
I was 8, and was in class 5 when I received my baptism of embarrassment. Unfortunately and rather unexpectedly, I got the dressing down from someone you thought would have been my shield.
Mr Ibrahim Joseph Bonnor Sesay was teaching us English at Ansarul Islamic Primary School for boys in Koidu, Kono district, when he spotted me all glued to a sheet of paper on my desk. But since he was busy copying on the chalkboard, he let me be until he was done. When he turned to face us and discovered I was lost in thoughts, he quietly raised towards me and grabbed what had entirely kept me away from his class.
I was writing a letter to a girl from the Ansarul Islamic Primary School for girls in Koidu, called Kadijatu Jalloh (KJ). I met her when her brother Abu Bakar Jalloh (ABJ), took me for an introduction to his entire family. His parents had requested to see me when he told them his improved grades were as a result of his new found friend. For a child who is accustomed to just a single meal a day, I was not prepared for the five star reception accorded me by my hosts. In contrast to where I came from, this home had all a child my age would crave.
As the entire household walked me through the door, so I thought, a beautiful lady just passed us and entered the house. Her beauty struck me like lightning, there was this involuntary gaze I forgot I was in the midst of elders. If I was not that young, I was going to hatch a scheme that would have prolonged my stay.
I went home and spent the entire night fantasising my illusionary love. To prove I was man enough, I decided to express my love in writing. I was undeterred even when I had no clue how the letter was going to reach her. But there was no stopping me, her beauty was like a mutating virus that found home in my body.
Mr. Sesay was going to save me the stigma if he’d shredded the letter. Instead, he read every single word I’d used to express my feelings to my friend’s sister. That day, I got a new name, lover boy. When word got out about the embarrassment I’d caused my friend’s entire household, his mother asked him to accompany her to our home to see my mother. Given our status and the impromptu visit, there was no way we could reciprocate their hospitality. And besides, this one was not supposed to be a social visit.
I was busy with some house chores when I heard a familiar voice asking for me, it was my friend. My hands shook when my mom summoned me with her dreaded tone. I wanted to give myself some time before I honour her invite, but the thought of her having to smoke me out if she had to, just scared the devil out of me. When i came, my mom had this strange look you can guess you are the next meal on her dinner table, and she would tore through every single bone with marrow. But ironically, it was the visitor who brought the complain that was more conciliatory than my mother. Such was the woman I had as a mother. She tried telling my mom I was just a kid, but she would have none of it. My friend’s Mom had to prolong her stay because she wasn’t sure what would become of me..
The bond between me and my friend was so strong, he betrayed his sister and leaked a plan she had for me. On a specific lunch brake, she will come to our school with some of her mates to know the young man that has disgraced her so he can be thrown into crocodile infested waters, and watch him being devoured by the monsters. Armed with the leak, I went and took temporal shelter into the nearby bushes as I heard the first sound of the bell. Her brother was expectantly waiting for the delegation, so he’d assembled the few boys that saw nothing wrong with my action. They collectively confronted his sister’s delegation and told them I was not in school that day. They returned, but swore to come back with more girls and better prepared. Such is how my innocent lust got me to risk a friendship that was so dependable.
Regrettably, apart from the singular time we crossed path when I visited their home, I never got to see my friend’s sister again. My attempts to locate them after the war all proved futile. I suppose we both have families today, but to tell you the truth, I can’t still shake off that feeling, even with couples of decades on. Maybe it’s mainly because of the manner by which Mr Sesay handled my childish indiscretion. Probably that would also explain why I kept my distance from women until after my first Ordinary Levels attempt.
