THE COLLEGE CHRONICLES (Episode 3)

Mark kissed me.

Or he tried to.

He told me he loved me after my dance performance, and I was waiting, wondering if there was more to come.

There was.

After having dinner one night at my place, Mark and I decided to take a stroll. Along the way, we encountered many students and exchanged many greetings. Eventually, we had strolled to his lodge and were walking down a very dark and rough terrain just before the lodge.

And then he stopped and placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to stop. And without saying anything, he tried to kiss me. Startled by his sudden move, I pulled back, shoving slightly away from me. An awkward silence descended between us as we stared at each other and said nothing.

Then he gave a short laugh, possibly to cover his embarrassment, and said, “Nawa o.” Before proceeding on toward the lodge.

I didn’t know why my instinctive reaction was to pull away from intimacy with Mark. I mean, I could tell he was gay. I guess I just didn’t trust his intentions well enough to give in.

After that night, he didn’t bring up what happened. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about it, and I didn’t bring it up either. We stayed friends though.

By the time second semester rolled around, I was okay to be on my own. I got myself a nice, self-contained room close to school and moved out of Uchechi’s place. We stayed in touch still, me, her and Duncan, always visiting each other and hanging out whenever school and studies permitted it. Even though I had begun to have lots of friends, especially in my department, Uchechi and Duncan still remained my closest friends.

The second semester brought with it its own extracurricular activities, which include Departments and Faculties nights, SUG nights and off-campus pageants. I’d never been a fan of pageants. And there was one fast approaching and getting students all hot and bothered. It was the Mr. Unizik contest. Because pageants were not my scene, I stayed aloof of all the excitement.

However, on the evening of event, someone came knocking at my door. It was a 300 Level student I wasn’t acquainted with. Tall, light-skinned, broad-chested, with dark dreamy eyes, full pink lips, rippling biceps – and a slightly panicked request for me to be his chaperone.

He was a contestant for the Mr. Unizik contest and he had lost his chaperone on short notice. A chaperone is essentially a caterer to the contestant, the one who both supervises him and attends to his needs to ensure his success at the pageant.

That was what this sex symbol wanted me to do for him, even if it was just for the night.

“GT, please,” he was saying, “I really need your help. I know you will be perfect for this.”

“How can you know that?” I queried. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough,” he said, smiling a roguish smile that let me realize that I wouldn’t win this one. “I watched your performance last semester in the auditorium and I think you are a fine dancer.”

I felt a warm flush of pleasure. “Thank you.”

“So, will you help me?”

Oh, this sneaky sonofabitch! He buttered me up so I couldn’t possibly say no.

“Sure,” I found myself saying. “Let’s get you ready.”

He threw open his bag, which contained all he’d need for the contest. His choice of traditional attire was a typical Obong Efik outfit, which made his costuming quite easy for me. But his choice of English wear was too unimaginative for me. Black suit, black tie, black shirt and black shoes??? What was he, a character in Men in Black?

“Bro, there’s no way you’re going to win this contest putting on these,” I said of the attire.

We worked well together to fix him up for the contest. We switched up his English wear with custard yellow blazer, sea blue big-collar shirt and a red pocket filler. And he won the dinner wear aspect of the pageant!

Something about him gave him radiance on the fully illuminated stage. The cheering and hailing from the mammoth crowd convinced me that he was the people’s favorite. And I was proven right when he was announced the winner of the Mr. Unizik pageant for that year.

Duncan and I left the event before it was over. There were some of my things with Mr. Unizik, but I was confident he would find a way to get them back to me.

The party continued in my room. Duncan and I had consumed two black bullets on the way to my lodge. So, we were in the mood to make a lot of nasty decisions.

His dick felt bigger than usual that night. This would be the first time I would be having sex with him without some form of permission from his girlfriend, Uchechi. But we were both too inebriated to care. I stroked his dick through the grey joggers he was wearing.

“Kiss me,” I said into his ear.

And he wasted no time before going into action. We kissed fiercely, and then I sucked on his nipples, during which time he grabbed at my ass cheeks and fingered my ass hole. Then I sidled down to suck his dick. After sucking him for a while, he stopped me and slipped around to my back, where he spread my ass cheeks apart and began to rim my destiny out through my ass hole. Duncan knows how to eat a man’s cakes and he had me saying unintelligible things like I was speaking a new set of tongues the Holy Spirit hadn’t recommended for the early disciples.

When we were ready for the main course and I laid on my back, my legs braced against his shoulders, I couldn’t help but admire the firm, sweaty outline of his built chest. He fucked me so good that night, that I felt born again. And that was the first – and only – time I came without wanking.

***

I ran into Mr. Unizik the next day on the roadside. He was with two other guys. When he saw me, he beamed before giving me a hug. God, it felt so good to be tucked into that broad-chested embrace, however briefly it lasted.

He introduced me to his friends, Pablo and Izu, as his “saviour”. We all laughed at that.

“GT, you did a great job,” he enthused. “thank you.”

He said he would bring my materials to my lodge later in the day and we exchanged contacts. Oddly enough, his friends also wanted my contact. I didn’t know what to make of that.

That afternoon, Mr. Unizik dropped in with his friends, the same guys I saw him earlier with. Duncan was still at my place, and while he engaged them in mild banter, I was in the kitchen making lunch, occasionally popping out to join in the conversation.

As the visit wore on, I realised Pablo was watching me. But every time I turned to him, he would look away. I tuned my gaydar on him, trying to detect any gay in him, but there was a lot of static. The harder I tried, the more the network fluctuated. Eventually, I gave up.

I dished out the food I prepared and we all ate. When we were done, Duncan and I walked the three guys out to the gate. We exchanged goodbyes and they left, while Duncan and I walked back inside. There was a collection of boys lounging in the cool of the verandah downstairs, gisting loudly and arguing about everything.

As we walked past them, I realised they’d gone quiet. Then one of them said in a hushed voice, but which was audible enough to be heard, “So na him Mister Unizik come see.”

Another one said sneeringly, “See as him get woman shape sef.”

Duncan and I exchanged a look and I was just going to keep ignoring them as we walked on – until another one’s words carried toward me.

“I sure say him be homo.”

I don’t know if it was the biting stupidity of his words or the way they laughed after he said the words – but something made me stop and whirl around.

You have to know something to understand my aggression that day.

I had clout.

My mother and the then DVC Admin went a long way back. Plus, I had a close friend whose father was a senior staff in the school. And another close friend whose mother was something of a top figure in the Anambra government. So, aside from my mother’s connection to the university’s administration, I could count on these friends to use their resources to help me deal with these idiots, if it came to that.

So yes, I had clout. And I used it to unleash my bitch on these good-for-nothing homophobes in my lodge.

“Guys,” I began as I walked over to them, “instead of sitting around gossiping like women about whether I am homo or not, why not just muscle up courage and ask me?”

A moment passed, during which their shock at my confrontation was stamped on their faces. Then one of them rose from his seat and charged at me, threatening to beat me up. He got in my face, and huffed and puffed. I waited patiently until he was done with his drama.

Then I coolly issued my warning. I told them I wouldn’t stand for any their abuse, that if they wanted to talk trash about me, they should do it quietly where I wouldn’t hear it. Then I told them that if they should ever get it in their heads to try something nasty with me, I would not rest until I’d secured their rustication from the school. I clarified that I am not one of those timid effeminate guys who they can bully, that if it comes to that, I would get them locked up until they can prove that I am gay.

Then I waited for the threats to sink in – which it obviously did, because no one said a thing in response – before turning around and walking away to join Duncan, who looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh out loud or be shocked at my aggression.

Written by GT