THE BISEXUAL STORY

THE BISEXUAL STORY

I’ve always found bisexuality to be a bit like being half caste – blessed with multiple heritages whilst being cursed to never completely find home in any.

The biphobia in the LGBT community, though grounded in precedent, is very deafening. And the straights? Many straight people don’t even understand what it means to be Bi. To them, you’re just a gay man who sleeps with women.

If only it were that simple.

This however… This is a story about the straights!

Or is it? Let’s begin.

I fell in love with the love of my life in 2016. I had just ended things with my then-girlfriend and I had one of those “girls can go fuck themselves” vibes going on. So I opened my Facebook account and started chats with around 7 guys. The chats were mostly awful. People who would ask for roles in the first five sentences, who asked me if I was (something they called) ‘TB’, and who just generally made me think celibacy was probably the best way to go.

And then there was Chibuike. His Facebook profile identified him as a writer and it showed. He swept me off my feet with the first few exchanges. You know that heteronormative nonsense about it being women who like to hear nice words? It’s horse kaka. You needed to see me chuckling as he laid words on me like ice cream and sensually licked them off.

He had no picture on his profile, which added even more to the intrigue.

Damn! Man was good.

And so, I closed all the other tabs, even though I felt like I should have introduced them to each other so they could have that Tuberculosis conference they all kept asking about with repeated mentions of ‘TB’.

And I focused on this one man. I crushed hard, fell in love, asked him out three weeks later and he said yes. We then proceeded to have the most saccharine relationship I’d ever had – amazing sex, the cuddling all night, the breakfast in bed, the love letters in the morning, stealing kisses wherever we were, and that look when we were outside that always seemed to say, “When we get back home, I’m fuckin you.” I had met someone who I was ready to risk it all for. I was ready to leave this country, go far away from family, just so I could be with this man forever.

I mean, he would start love notes with “Day XXX”. Yes, we counted the days we were together. Then he’d move on to “Dear X”, and would proceed to tug at my heartstrings with the most beautiful words ever. I loved this man with everything in me.

And then life happened.

I got a job and had to move to another state for work. School kept him tied down. We didn’t see for ages at a time, my poor communication skills soured things further, and gradually, inevitably, we began to drift apart. Long distance has this way of lying to you that you love someone less. If you actually fall for that lie, it’s the beginning of the end.

And fall I did.

It wasn’t long before I met a lady (by accident, I swear) and things very quickly became very sexual. (Now, that was no accident. Do you know how much accuracy it would take to trip, slip and fall right inside her?)

There were feelings involved too, which wasn’t something I thought would happen at first. She was just someone I met one day and began to really vibe with the next.

She knew I was seeing someone. She knew it was long distance. She assumed it was a woman. I didn’t feel the need to correct her. I just avoided pronouns when talking about my partner.

And then finally, my boyfriend came to visit.

It’d been a long time coming and I was so happy. I’d actually missed him so bloody much. However, it seemed like he could tell that something was up, because that night, he went through my phone, saw texts between me and the lady friend and confronted me about it the following day.

You see, the gay man’s most common fear when it comes to dating a bisexual man comes from a belief that there’s a whole other group of preferences that they cannot satisfy. How do you compete with that?

And this confrontation was bloody. I watched him cry after he asked the question, “Do you have feelings for her?” and I replied, “Yes”. I felt my heart tear in two as the tears streamed down his face. No one does that to someone they love. No one makes them cry.

I resolved in my heart to end what I had with her, feelings or not.

Out of respect, I went to see her to end it, only for that to devolve into her crying into my arms as she asked me not to leave her. Man, I never felt more like the devil. “What have I done?” I asked myself repeatedly. Was this my legacy? Tears and heartache?

Well, it took a while, but I sorted out my feelings.

Long distance meant that things with my boyfriend were not improving. In fact, his discovery of my dalliance strained the relationship even more. So, I ended things with him and moved on to this lady who I was now madly in love with. She had the most amazing smile, the liveliest demeanor, everything.

She also thought I was straight. I wasn’t ready to have that discussion with her. I didn’t even know what to tell her.

Or maybe I thought she thought I was straight.

You see, occasionally, she would slip in a gay joke about me and my friends, slip in an “if you’re bi, I’m fine with it” statement randomly during a conversation – stuff like that. I refused to engage though. I maintained to myself that as long as I was faithful to her, my bisexuality wasn’t an issue that needed to be talked about.

One day though, things went up a notch.

You see, my ex-boyfriend had some of these best friends he’d introduced me to. One of them had told a friend of my girlfriend about a doctor named Meraxes who was working in so and so State, who was bisexual. It was supposed to be harmless conversation (although entirely unnecessary).

Well, as whatever Nollywood goddess directs fate would have it, like I said, the guy who was told this information was friends with my girlfriend. And one day, they were chatting about something, when my girlfriend mentioned that her boyfriend is named Meraxes and is a doctor working in so and so land.

This guy of course instantly remembered what he’d been told and blurted, “Are you serious? I was just told of a doctor bearing the same name who works in that same city…”

My brethren, village people are real. After Prosperity preachers, fear them.

So, my girlfriend came back home, sat me down for a “talk”, and asked me about the information she had just gotten. I wasn’t even fazed. I calmly told her that lots of people could have that name and we live in a fairly big town.

Then I changed the topic. But the ball had already been set rolling.

I consulted a friend who is bisexual and married about the issue and his advice was that I should tell her if I want to, knowing that she may find out for sure eventually on her own. He also told me that if I told her and we stayed together, this would mean that she could start looking at all my male relationships through the gaze of “Is he seeing this one behind my back”, and so, I needed to weigh the options and make the decision myself.

It took a week or so, but I resolved to do it. The question was how. I waited for the right opportunity until one day, when she cracked a Bi joke.

She expected me to laugh, like I usually did, but instead I said, “Yeah. I’m Bi.”

She stood, transfixed with shock and asked the question.

I said again, “Yeah. I’m Bi.”

Then the sweetest thing happened. She sat down beside me, held my hand and said, “I don’t care about your past. I only care that you’re here with me now. I can’t judge people for who they are. I love you. All of you.”

Somehow, something I had thought might be a confrontational moment turned into this sweet little thing. We hugged, kissed, had kick ass “coming out” sex, and all was right with the world, yeah?

Wrong!

Well, it actually was. She’s a wonderful person. However, after her phone got faulty, I gave her an old phone of mine, to help her stay online until she could fix hers.

Brethren, that was how this woman did not call me or pick my call for three days. I thought she might be dead, had her phone stolen or she’d seen something on my phone.

Well, I was right on one count.

When I couldn’t bear the silence any longer, I left work and traveled to see her. After evading the question of why she hadn’t picked my call for days, she confessed. “I went through your phone. I saw messages between you and that guy. The one that was your ex. So many messages. You guys were so in love. I felt somehow. How do I compete with that? I think it wasn’t so real until I read the messages. Is it bad that I feel jealous that you loved a guy like that? You don’t write me beautiful messages like that. Will you leave me for a guy?”

There were so many questions. Each had a weight of its own. I understood why she needed her space and had kept her distance.

And so, I began, “I loved Chibuike then, but I love you now. And that’s all that matters. You’re the one that makes me smile, the one I never get tired of cooking for, making breakfast in bed for. Every day, I come back bearing something I know you like because I love seeing that smile that says, ‘Thank you, I love you too.’ You’re my partner in crime, the one I want to call every day to tell just how my day went. I loved my ex but don’t let a few flowery words deceive you into thinking I love you any less.”

She smiled, like she does when she’s pleased, her big broad and beautiful smile beaming, hugged me and said, “Just don’t leave me for a guy sha. That’s the one that’ll make me kill you.”

So far, I’ve kept my end of the deal. She might not be the most perfect person in the world, but it’s not often that you strip yourself before another and they look at all of you, hug you and still tell you they love you.

Written by Meraxes

Previous Switzerland Makes Homophobia And Transphobia As Illegal As Racism In New Change To Penal Code
Next Kito Alert: Be Careful Who You Let Into Your Personal Space

About author

You might also like

Our Stories 28 Comments

Time Changes Yesterday

Six years ago, I was in the university. And Ben was still trying to get an admission. We were classmates in secondary school, but we didn’t have much of a

Our Stories 12 Comments

A REALLY SPECIAL GUY

I was introduced to Kito Diaries by a friend about six weeks ago. Ever since then, it’s been like a bible to me. One of the first stories I read

Editor's Desk 5 Comments

About The 2018 Egbeda Police Raid And The Broken Lives Of Nigerian Anti-Gay Law Suspects

This piece was originally published on The Wider Image   The 57 men stumbled out of the back of a dark police truck into the glare of a sunny courtyard

18 Comments

  1. Babyfwesh
    October 02, 06:46 Reply

    This is the story of my life.

    Anytime I tell someone I’m bisexual, they just give me that look like, he’s a confused fellow. Especially in the LGBT community.

    Sometimes people forget the B in LGBT

  2. Ria
    October 02, 08:07 Reply

    Awwww. That was so beautiful.

  3. Richiemichie
    October 02, 08:43 Reply

    Me that I’m always jealous of the bisexuals, you guys get to from two dishes.

  4. Richiemichie
    October 02, 08:44 Reply

    Me that I’m always jealous of the bisexuals, you guys get to eat from two dishes

  5. trystham
    October 02, 08:47 Reply

    So I really don’t get/understand where conversations that start with “Oh, I know blah-blah-blah, and he is gay” among straight ppl head. Do you want points for social circles knowledge? I’d rather tea on body counts. That one is so much sweeter

    • Patrick
      October 03, 00:38 Reply

      Try imagining being straight, and you’ll see how simple sensational it is to share stories of gay acquaintances! It’s the straight equivalent of body counts.

  6. J
    October 02, 12:01 Reply

    Nice one. My perception was wrong, I feel so ashamed of myself right now? I am so happy I read this piece, thank you.

  7. Higwe
    October 02, 15:01 Reply

    I’ve always felt Bisexual men were just gay men that wants to be intriguing;so happy to learn I’ve been blissfully ignorant .
    I still won’t date a bisexual man, but I’ll no longer snigger if /when they make mention of it.

    • J
      October 02, 18:41 Reply

      ??? But why?

  8. Jay Armstrong
    October 02, 15:41 Reply

    I will never truly understand this thing — this gender war that exists between male and female. Is it a more heinous crime if a gay person has an affair with someone of the opposite sex with in a samesex relationship? It seems she’ll be cool sharing Meraxes with other women but not a man. I actually feel for you Meraxes not free to being yourself. Love really shouldn’t give conditions.

  9. Patrick
    October 03, 00:34 Reply

    I too have felt bisexuality is a sham, but from many stories here, I have self-corrected this impression. And this story has further reinforced my belief.

    However, many people still lay bogus claims to bisexuality. The reason is simple and perfectly understandable: Nigeria is a gay man’s nightmare, so that notion that somehow you can sleep with a woman–even if illusory–is grasped as salvation. I think most gay people in Nigeria would agree that bisexuality is a more tolerable prospect.

  10. Nana Kojo
    October 03, 07:36 Reply

    Dear lord, wherever chibuike is now, do give him solace in the fact that he met someone who isn’t worth his time and love, but how do bisexuals live with themselves, how do you love one today and love another tomorrow, I can’t deal abeg!

    • Patrick
      October 03, 12:22 Reply

      You can’t deal???

      Just exactly the way straight people can’t deal with same-sex attraction.

      Actually how many of us can say that if we were straight we wouldn’t be homophobic? If a gay person cannot take the simple mental leap from ‘G’ to ‘B’, on the same side of the spectrum, how does he expect straight people, from the other end, to begin to understand homosexuality?

      Double standard much?

    • Kobe
      October 04, 14:53 Reply

      Dear. Nana Kojo, this your comment reeks of so much negativity and a deliberate refusal to see life from other people’s perspectives.
      Life and all that come with it do not begin and end at your little corner.
      Sha try to see things from different view points oh. Yours is not the only valid point.

    • Jeova Sanctus Unus
      October 05, 05:18 Reply

      The same way you love one man today and another tomorrow. The same way the people you know love one human today and another human tomorrow.

  11. Peaches
    October 04, 11:32 Reply

    I could taste the love. The realness. This is wonderful.

  12. Yazz Soltana
    October 05, 18:37 Reply

    Reminds me of that hit Netflix series Insatiable , the whole love triangle betwixt Bob Bernard ,Bob Armstrong and Coral Lee

  13. ilove-love
    June 06, 21:13 Reply

    This is by far one of the best stories I’ve read on here.

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.