Must Read: Ade

Episode 7 years ago

Must Read: Ade

Rotimi and I were shocked beyond words
as those words hit our ears. But
surprisingly, the other teachers were not. It
seems they all knew all along that there
were such girls in the school. But these girls
to me are not what they think they are.


They are not l£sb!ans because if they are, they
would not be running around looking for
men who would ‘service’ them.

I was left with the option of either
educating them on what they think they
were and what they really are. I could leave
them in the mirage of thinking they were
l£sb!ans and I could tell them the truth
about themselves. After a while, I decided to
lecture the three of them on what they are
even if they would still require me ‘servicing’
them. No problem, we would go along with
it when the two other friends are around.


No wonder Bimbo and Bola always go
around the school and even the toilet
together.


I looked at Rotimi and saw fear, despair and
anxiety written all over his face. Disbelief
made him open his mouth like the dirty
linens of a mad man. He was simply
perplexed by what he had heard. He could
not imagine that he had just heard from a
girl he had been sleeping with for close to
three months that she was a l£sb!an.



I left my seat and closed the gap between us
and brought him to his seat. Then I said to
him:
“Ol boy ye, no be wetin you dey think o.
These girls no know the meaning of wetin
dem dey do. Dem no be les jare. Dem just
dey hear say any girl wet dey do am with im
fellow girl n aim dem dey call les. Forget that
side and face the akpako wey you dey knack
cos me I go soon join you for the knocking
ceremony o. Some people go show now
wey go shock you. Forget that side make we
dey reign go jor.”


My words seem to bring a little life into his
eyes as I saw some sparks of life in them. He
looked at me and asked if I was saying the
truth. I also asked if I had ever lied to him.
He said I hadn’t so I told him to wait and
watch as events unfold there and while I
also thrash out the issue with the girls.
Bunmi was still smiling where she sat. She
had seen the look of horror on Rotimi’s face
but she was not privy to the little chat we
had because we had talked in low tones. I
saw a relieved look on her face as she saw
that the look on Rotimi’s face had changed.
It was evident that behind the initial smile
was a fear of losing Rotimi. Another
confirmation that she wasn’t a l£sb!an
though she had been sleeping with girls.


I walked back quickly to my seat beside
Bunmi. I looked around the staffroom to see
that it had not changed and that everybody
was still minding his business. What Bunmi
had said was not new to them.
As soon as I got to my seat, I was ready to
find out how the three of them got
entangled in the web of bisexualism and
who the other players were. I was barely
seated when I heard the sound s of
footsteps. I was unconcerned at first but the
tap on my lap made me look up to see the
other parts of the trio walk in.
Bola and Bimbo were clad in tight fitting
uniform. The uniform was made up of a
striped yellow shirt for the male and blouse
for the female over navy blue trousers for
male and skirts for the female. Their uniform
that day was what I loved to call eye
popping. Their blouses were tight and it
revealed all the shapes and curves they were
gifted with. Their skirts were no better. It
was above the knee and cut in a way that
the parting cut at the back of the skirt
formed a crevice through which what was
under the skirt could be seen. The school
gave the students a free hand to sew their
uniforms from home unlike their
contemporaries in the business. What they
do is sell the clothes to them while the
students sew from home; hence it was not
uncommon to see such kinds of crazy
uniforms among the male students and
provocative dressing among the females.



I looked at them as they progressed
confidently towards where we sat. They
looked questioningly into Bunmi’s eyes and
she in turn nodded towards me. I pretended
as if I did not see their exchange and asked
them why they were there. In the recesses
of my mind, I knew there was no break for
all of us which was unknown to them. They
had come to receive the reply to their
proposal but they would have their notions
changed. I would do what they want, but I
have to let them know that they are not
what they think they are.



Bimbo and Bola looked at each other
confusedly, then, they looked again at
Bunmi. The trio was evidently confused. For
the first time that day, the smile on Bunmi’s
face disappeared. Her friends were thinking
that she had not said anything and she was
wondering what I was trying to do. She had
never seen it coming. I gave myself an inner
pat on the back for a pretence well done.
Now that I had shocked them, I needed to
consolidate and then began the second
stage.


Rotimi was looking on from his seat. I
signalled to him to come over since I needed
him to hear the proposal that was tabled
before me. When he came around, I opened
my lips to talk.
“Bola and Bimbo, to what do I owe this
august visit? It seems you want to come and
say hi to your teacher. But I didn’t invite you.
Did I?” I asked obviously tormenting them.
“No sir. You didn’t invite us. But…” They
chorused. Then stopped because they
wanted one of them to talk probably Bimbo
but she doesn’t know where to start from.


I sighted that but did as if I did not because
the ‘but’ in their reply was hardly audible.

“Okay, since you have come to visit me, you
can have your seat. Bring that seat over
there and sit here.” I said pointing to
Rotimi’s chair. Rotimi was seating on my
table since Bunmi and I were sitting on my
chair and there was hardly room for an
extra pair of bums. While they were gone,
Bunmi still looked puzzled at me but did not
know what to say to me.


They returned with the chair and I asked
them to place it opposite my table and seat
themselves comfortably but after sitting,
they were still uncomfortable.


After they had been seated, I told Bunmi to
move over to their side and seat with them.


Rotimi moved from the table to my side on
the chair. He had still not talked all along. He
was watching the drama unfolding before
his eyes. He knew I was in control. The girls
were murmuring among themselves as they
asked Bunmi who was as confused as they
were. I left them to talk for close to five
minutes then I cleared my voice.
“Hmmmmm! Hmmmmm!!”
They were all alerted and looked up as my
voice hit their ears….