FOR THE BROTHERS
I enjoyed a lot of favour from the staff and administration of my secondary school back when I was a student there. It was a Catholic school, and because I had a fondness for my alma meter, I’d often visit whenever I was on holiday from the university.
And so, I’d gone to visit during the two-week Easter break from school. As a former student who was familiar with the school’s routine, I dropped by on Saturday morning around 8 AM, the time I knew they’d just be finishing from morning mass, after which the school would then commence with the student conference.
The Saturday conference was a serious affair; part of what goes on there is the reading out of the names of offenders, students who would be punished. However, the gravest offenders were sent up to the administrator’s office, a reverend father who we called Father, where a panel would be set up to deliberate on the fate of the offenders – fates that usually ended up being expulsion or suspension.
I arrived just as the conference was ending, and after that, I was kept busy with the exchange of pleasantries with some of the staff. Then I went to see Father before the panel session that I knew would be commencing soon.
After we talked a bit, he said, “Orsini, I would love for you to sit in at the panel. Or do you have to be someplace else this morning?”
“No, Father,” I replied. “I can be in the panel.”
He nodded and with a sudden frown, he said, “The case we’re going to deliberate on is a case of homosexuality. It is the first of its kind. It’s never been heard of. We’ve never had to deal with such an issue, and…” His voice petered off and I could see his worry etched on his face.
Now, I was really interested in being at the panel. Inwardly, I was asking God to make me an instrument in favour of whoever the boys were whose fate was going to get decided today. Whoever they were – these brothers – I wanted to save them.
Fifteen minutes into the panel session, and the teachers had already expressed all the usual distaste for homosexuality, talking about how bad it was, harping on the big, bad consequences engaging in homosexual acts yielded, and how it was tearing the world apart, even as far as trotting out the tired nonsensical belief that boys who practise homosexual acts would end up wearing adult diapers. The most hilarious of all the things said was when a teacher said that boys who engage in homosexuality would end up impotent. Everyone was of the swift opinion that the boys should get expelled before they initiate the other students into their evil.
I stayed mute throughout this back and forth, listening to what these staff members were saying, all the while thinking about how to save these boys without outing myself. They’d apparently been caught having sex by the lawn tennis field by a teacher going on the night patrol.
At this point, the administrator glanced in my direction and asked if I had anything to say.
I was a bit startled. I hadn’t imagined that my opinion would be sought for. But I should have seen it coming; I was very favoured. And for once, I was going to use that favour to help someone else.
“May I please talk to the boys outside for ten minutes?” I requested very politely.
“Sure. Of course, Orsini.” It was the school’s principal who answered.
I stood and exited the room with the two offenders. They looked so young and so scared, it broke my heart to think about the fate that would lie ahead of them should they get expelled from the school based on the allegation of homosexuality. The stigma that would come with that truth being out. I shook my head, determined to save them from that.
In speaking to them, I asked them a series of questions that would help me with what I was thinking of saying when we returned to the panel room. I asked them questions like their age, class, when they first hooked up, about the nature of their feelings for each other, and whether either of them felt pressured into having sex with the other.
As the Holy Mary, comforter of the afflicted, would have it, they were 17 and 16 years of age. In the same class, SS3. It was a very mutually-consented love affair. (Yes. Love affair. Not crime.) And it was important for me to keep in mind that it was a teacher who caught them, which meant that as far as the staff was concerned, no other student was aware of their love affair.
We returned to the room, and I started, addressing the entire room but directing my attention to the administrator: “Father, after questioning these boys, I think they should be punished for having sex, without getting distracted by what type of sex they were having.”
The uproar in the room was instant, with most of the teachers raising their voices in loud protest and some of them nastily telling me to shut up. I expected this reaction and wasn’t moved by it. This was an office in which I’d worked for a year as a student, reading case files and eavesdropping on panel discussions. I had firsthand knowledge of how cases were ironed out among these people.
“Please, hear me out,” I said very solicitously. “Here are my reasons for saying that. If we only think on the homosexual nature of the sex they were having, then this panel would be forced to expel them based on the gravity of the offence. And if they are expelled, what would their parents think? Think about it for a second. The parents would likely think that this school turned their children gay and then threw them out.”
There was an almost-visible collective flinch from the staff when I said this.
“And what would that do to the reputation of the school?” I pressed on. “If word gets out – which it most likely would – then most other parents would want to take their children out of the school so they don’t get contaminated with the homosexuality they imagine the school is giving to their children.”
A murmur was rolling across the teachers, and I could see most of the heads in the room nodding, as though seeing my point.
“What about the Bishop?” someone asked. “Father, what about the Bishop?”
At this question, there were more nods in the room as they considered the possibility of getting relieved of their jobs by an outraged Lord Bishop.
I had an answer ready. “Since it was a teacher who caught them, I think the matter can be handled without notifying the Bishop. It isn’t so grave that you’ll have to tell the Bishop. After all, the boys are the same age and in the same class. There is no case of a senior student forcing a junior student to do something they didn’t want to do. They both were well aware and consenting of what they did.”
“I’m not trying to justify their sinful act,” I added hastily when I noticed some frowns coming at me. “They of course should be punished, but I’m advocating for you to think of the school first. You can give them an internal suspension. Twenty decades of the rosary every day for two weeks. Stations of the cross every day for one week. The school has a place for quarantine where students with communicable diseases are kept; you could put them there, giving them a sense of alienation. This will instill in them the understanding that what they did marks them as different.”
In my mind, I was saying: Of course, they are different. They are SPECIAL.
By the time I was done with my suggestions, the room was calm and listening raptly. And when I was done, it was the administrator who spoke next.
“Orsini,” he began, “while you were speaking, it flashed through my mind that when you were a student here, you were nicknamed Cardinal Orsini.”
I smiled at this, as did some other persons in the room.
“I think you’re right,” Father said. “We are going to adopt these measures you have listed. We have to think of the school and how dealing rashly with this will affect us.”
Some voices rose in agreement.
Just as I was inwardly rejoicing at the victory, the French teacher spoke up, saying something about how putting the students in quarantine would give them the idea and solitude to carry on with their evil act in the privacy of the quarantine. I gave the woman a look, like: Madam, after all my stress, you feel like you can just let the devil use you like this? No now!
I told her that isolation tends to help an offender reflect on what he has done. That they would be so guilt-filled while in quarantine, that any thoughts of engaging in immorality would not come to their mind. Besides, the prayers of the staff on their behalf is sure to cast out their homosexual demons. They just had to trust the power of their prayers.
Last-last, my suggestions were accepted and implemented.
As I was leaving the school compound at the end of my visit, the boys whose case was handled ran up to me with profuse thanks over how I helped them escape expulsion. Feeling curious, I asked them if they thought they were demon-possessed or cursed for having the feelings they did for each other. And I was so thoroughly pleased by how they recoiled from the question, objecting with “No ooo!” as if the thought that what they were doing was wrong had never occurred to them.
“Well, that’s good,” I said. “One word of advice though. Use the quarantine wisely.” I winked at them. And the answering smiles from them told me they got the message.
Written by Cardinal Orsini
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31 Comments
Sim
May 26, 05:24Brought smile to my face reading this- May we always have an Orsini to advocate for us.
Pink Panther
May 26, 07:28May we always. Amen!!!
Kelvin
May 26, 06:14*Father, after questioning these boys, I think they should be punished for having sex, without getting distracted by what type of sex they were having.”*
I dream of a country where sex between two consenting male adult will be seen as normal like that of heterosexual relationship.
Pink Panther
May 26, 07:28AMEN!!!
Higwe
May 26, 12:28I’m pleasantly surprised ?
I’ve always felt you came off as more emotionally sensitive than practical .
I could have sworn that someone like you would go preaching to them about the rights of queer people and how criminalising consensual sex is an affront to human rights …. homophobic , malignant and deliterious (or whatever words you fancy ) ???
Truly people have multiple facades or I just judged a book by what I presumed was its cover.
For that I apologise.
I’m happy you agree with this post .
We don’t always have to show ourselves to get the job done. ?
J
May 26, 07:14Use it wisely how? I don’t understand this particular remark. How did you advice them knowing fully they’re young and how scary homophobia is in the country? You have a responsibility here, you should be their mentor and show them the light instead of leaving them in darkness.
Pink Panther
May 26, 07:20And what’s the darkness that he left them in, pray tell
J
May 26, 08:42I believe the writer will understand, so the question is for him not for you Pinkress.
Pink Panther
May 26, 09:03Oh i’m sorry, I thought we make comments on the blog for the benefit of those reading. Quite convenient that when you have nothing to say, suddenly the “writer will understand”. LOL! Cute.
Delle
May 26, 13:54Why do you always say this darnedest things, J? Leaving them in darkness? What darkness please?
J
May 26, 17:57Okay let me clarify. From my understanding of the story, students are left alone during quarantine to ponder and reevaluate themselves for a good course. So by him giving them a wink and telling them to use it wisely, I concluded he wants them to have fun, maybe some more sex… Because obviously the punishment he recommended for them can’t change them. Here’s what he said “You can give them an internal suspension. Twenty decades of the rosary every day for two weeks. Stations of the cross every day for one week. The school has a place for quarantine where students with communicable diseases are kept; you could put them there, giving them a sense of alienation. This will instill in them the understanding that what they did marks them as different.”
I expected him to caution them and advice them to be careful and face their studies because they have a long way to go. Homosexuality is a serious case in the country and when they’re outside school system they could meet horrible people that can torment them for having sex with the same sex if they are caught. I just hope you understand my point here.
Cardinal Orsini
May 26, 17:40leaving them in darkness, showing them the light?.
Are you suggesting ,I stay with them in the quarantine, and possible sex?
Or that I should practical tell them to fuck in the quarantine, so that tomorrow when one of them feels that he is now Born again, he will say that I told him so?
trystham
May 26, 07:16I even thought u were going to lose it and spill some tea on the teachers. Oh well. That would have been counterproductive. Thank heavens for little victories
Máçnúèl
May 26, 08:37Wow!!! I must compliment you for d wisdom their.
If it were me in ur shoes I ain’t sure I had be able to help them.
Black Dynasty
May 26, 09:49Nicely handled!
Uziel
May 26, 10:00????
Mitch
May 26, 10:02The wisdom with which this kind of delicate situation was handled leaves me in awe.
I’m proud of what you did for those boys.
And, while men may forget, the universe doesn’t.
Higwe
May 26, 10:20Wonderful story ….I absolutely love it !
Your sagacity nobi here .
I love how you threw the dogs a bone to protect the juicy part of the meat .
Talk about killing three birds with one stone .????
Hush
May 26, 11:20But this boys are underage….. Is underage sex also supported?
Pink Panther
May 26, 11:25You mean sex between a 16 year old and a 17 year old? That’s the sex you want to guilt-trip us on? Sex between two teenagers? Really?
Francis
May 27, 08:40???????? Mscheeeeeeeeeeew
KingBey
May 28, 04:29Are they really underaged? Age of consent in some countries like the UK is 16. Besides, children look so big and grown and know more than us nowadays. It’s not a biggie seeing 16 year olds having sex.
Fred
May 26, 11:32You’re a lifesaver.
Well done.
Okay, off to the quarantine I skip
Delle
May 26, 13:57I love your wisdom, above all, I love your courage. Now I do not know if I particularly support the suggestive move you made after speaking to them on your way out, the wink that suggests they should have sex in that room (quite dangerous because eyes will be on them and we do not want to get caught again in an act that almost had us beheaded the first time), but in all, you’re a gem.
BRYAN PETERS
May 26, 17:26What he said.
Francis
May 27, 08:42True that. Hopefully they have gathered plenty sense not to throw caution to the wind. Stars no dey align everyday for most people
Cardinal Orsini
May 26, 17:34Thank you Pinky for making this story so beautiful.
IBK
May 27, 08:49I wonder what the aftermath of this whole saga would be for the two of them
Temi
May 27, 19:48I kept smiling ☺….. Thanks Cardinal for helping these young ones ??
Rex
May 28, 00:55Wow just Wow!!!! Such wisdom as found in Solomon lmao!!!!!
I loved the part of “Use it wisely” dunno what “J” is talking about.
This is the best post of the months for me.
We all need saviours in lowest lows.
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May 28, 05:13Higwe and his uselessness is here again