EPISODE 10 – SIMON GOES TO SCHOOL

In the last episode, I talked about Simon and almost everyone who dropped a comment has been raining fire and brimstone on a poor innocent me for attempting to corrupt Simon. I’ll prove all y’all wrong with one saying: “You can force a horse to the water but you CANNOT force that horse to drink.” Note the emphasis on ‘cannot.’ In simple words, you can drag the horse to the water and if you like push the horse’s head into the river . . . but if the horse does not want to drink, man, you’re on your own o. You can even forcefully open the horse’s mouth and pour the water in it but if it still does not wish to drink, you’re still OYO. In fact, I promise you by then, the horse would have ‘kicked’ the living daylights out of you. Now, let’s call this horse, Simon. The only reason why Simon would drink that water is if he decides to and no matter what Geebee does, it’s still Simon’s choice.

I managed to stop laughing when Simon told me that he was a virgin and I decided he would have the taste on that day.
‘Okay, let’s go then,” I urged.
“Hold up,” my friend said hesitantly. “What are we going to do there? I mean how do I introduce myself or talk to them . . . the prostitutes.”
I wanted to slap him silly but I restrained myself. Imagine talking about introducing himself to a prostitute. I could almost visualize the scenario.
My guy walks up to the chewing-gum-chewing whore clad in top that was hardly bigger than a handkerchief and wearing a mini skirt that was hardly different from panties . . . “Hello,” he says. “I’m Simon. Nice to meet you. May I know your name? I’m actually here to have sex with you but I have not done this before and if I must say, you’ve got a nice body . . . and bla bla” For cying out loud, what was my guy thinking?
“No, you won’t introduce yourself, okay!” I lashed out impatiently. “You simply walk up to any of the whores you like and say “How far?”
“Just that?” he asked more confused than ever.
“Yes. Just that. She’ll understand and take you straight to her room and you’ll pay her and do your thing.”
“Honestly, Geebee, I’m not comfortable with this,” he said, the fear in his eyes as visible as the rising sun.
“Let’s go then” I said. “Just follow my lead.”
We were at the red light district in less than five minutes and from the look on Simon’s face, it was obvious he had never seen so many ‘jezebels’ all at once. We entered the brothel and almost immediately, two girls tugged at my arm and two others tugged at Simon.
“Fine boy, how now? Make we go my room. I go do you fine oh.”
“Na small money I dey collect but my action super. You go even collect my number sef.”
They spat out the tempting words desperately and a novice would have had a hard time in making a choice among all these ‘forbidden fruits.’
I turned to stare at Simon and silently prayed his heart would not explode in his chest. Finally, I did the selection. One girl for me and one girl for Simon. I winked at my friend and went with the whore I had chosen for myself.
“Let’s meet outside when you’re through,” I said as I winked at my friend again. He looked like he would have a heart attack but I was less concerned especially since I knew he would feel a lot better when next I saw him. Besides he would have broken free off the bondage of virginity or so I thought.

About thirty minutes I was through with ‘my business’ and I came out of the brothel. I saw Simon standing outside as agreed and I couldn’t help smiling. My guy was free at last.
“What’s up man? How was it?” I asked him, smiling mischievously.
He sighed. “I couldn’t,” he simply said.
“You couldn’t what?” I said, wondering if he meant he couldn’t ‘get it up’ or he couldn’t ‘come.’
“I couldn’t do it. Maybe it’s not the right time.”
I stood rooted to the spot for a minute as I watched my friend walk ahead in total dejection. My heart went out to him.

I never brought up the issue again after then and we continued our friendship as though such a thing never happened. Simon later broke the jinx a few months later and his joy knew no bounds. It was as though he had won a lottery of five million dollars. As expected, I was the first person he broke the news to and according to him, it was the best experience of his life. I was indeed happy for him and I silently thanked God that I had no hand in the final act even though he still insists I ‘spoilt’ him and it appears so many of my readers agree with him. What made it very special was the fact that it wasn’t a prostitute he had the first act with but a girl whom he came to love so much for a good while.

On the home front all this while, my dad and my step mom continued to try to be the best they could be, even though I could sense a tension between them. The marriage did not seem to be working out and in spite of how hard they tried to hide this fact; I could see the reality clearly. I continued to wish I could leave home for good. The hunger for freedom was still very much alive in me. I traveled on a few occasions to see my mum and friends in other Universities (especially O.A.U, Ife. Somehow I could not get over not being admitted into Great Ife). Back in school, academics was going on smoothly and we began preparing for our first semester examinations- my first examination as a University student. The tests had been cool and I had been able to carve a niche as one of the ‘brains’ in my class and in fact in the school (it was easy to become popular since the school was pretty small at the time) but this was an examination and I was determined to grab the whole 5 point G.P.A if possible. This period also proved to be a time when colleagues in school tended to get closer to the brilliant ones hoping for one favour or the other. I got my own share of the closeness and one particular woman came into the picture and this opened a whole new chapter in my life – a dangerous chapter that spanned many months. I met Madam L.

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF GEEBEE’S TRIP!