THE COLLEGE CHRONICLES (Episode 4)
Two weeks after my kito experience in my second year (something I may or may not talk about in a different episode), I found myself in a web of someone else’s kito experience.
This someone else was my friend, Dike. Dike was my coursemate, someone I knew but wasn’t particularly close to until that incident in the second semester of our second year.
I’d gone to his lodge a little past 8pm to deliver some textbooks which he’d asked for earlier in school. As I approached the gate of his lodge, I could hear raised angry voices coming from inside the compound. I pushed my way through the small crowd to see what was going on, to behold Dike and some other guy kneeling and clad in just their boxers. I was flustered, especially when I saw that Dike had tears rolling down his cheeks. I asked one of the girls in the crowd what happened, and she narrated how Dike and the other guy were caught pants down, by the lodge president, making out in his room. Apparently, Dike had forgotten to pull his curtains close and his window was directly facing the lodge president’s room.
My first reaction to this was my inability to wrap my head around what I’d just learned. How could Dike be gay and my gaydar never picked up his frequency? The very-straight-presenting, girl-chasing Dike was also into guys?
After that bit of confusion, I realised I had to do something. I couldn’t leave a community member – and, well, friend – in such a dire situation. But tempers were running high in the compound; I knew if I intervened with a plea for this mob to leave them alone, they’d most likely beat me up as well.
Instead, when I added my voice to the furor, it was to declare that the anti-cult office be called to handle the case. I observed Dike go from the shock of seeing me witness his humiliation to anger at what he perceived to be my betrayal. But I made that suggestion for his own good; better for the case to be transferred to the anti-cult group than for them to be left to the mercy of this mob. Besides I knew someone in the anti-cult office, a friend who I’ll call Mr. G. (I’d gotten to know him through Duncan)
I stayed until the anti-cult van zoomed in by 9.45pm. Fortunately, Mr. G was among the anti-cult guys who responded to the call, and he was senior to the colleague he came with. When he saw me, I exchanged a look with him, indicating that I was personally invested in the case he’d come to attend to. Mr. G moved in to calm the agitated students and took Dike and his friend to the van. As they were bundled in, Dike shot me a fulminating glare, apparently still believing that I had helped deliver him into a worse fate.
Minutes later, I got a text from Mr. G, instructing me to meet him at my junction. When I got to the junction, I got into the van. Dike was still full of glares, but his anger had begun to turn to bewilderment as he observed Mr. G instruct me to take them – Dike and his friend – with me to my lodge and bring them to their office the next day. He also advised that they not return to dike’s lodge until the case was settled.
And so, the three of us alighted from the van, and the anti-cult clan drove off. I took on my responsibility over Dike with some aplomb, and had started leading the way to my lodge when the other guy spoke to me. He called my name and surprised, I turned to him.
“Thank you for this,” he said. “We’re sorry for putting you through this.”
“There’s really nothing to be sorry about. I had to do what I could do to help,” I said as I moved closer to him. That was when I recognised him as someone whose acquaintance I’d also previously made.
He said he’d be heading off to his own lodge, and that made sense. The only person who was compromised, accommodation-wise, was Dike.
He left us, and Dike and I walked the rest of the way to my lodge in silence. When we got to my place, I directed him to the bathroom where he would take his bath to wash off the evening’s stress. I could hear his sobs from the bedroom. When he finally emerged from the bathroom, I didn’t want to make things any more difficult for him by pressing him for details of what happened. Instead, I gave him a clean pair of shorts, which he put on before climbing into bed and promptly drifting off to sleep.
I wasn’t afraid for Dike at all. I knew for sure that if I could help it, this case would not go any further than this. That night, before I went to bed, I sent a WhatsApp voice note, explaining all that had happened. Boss was the director of the anti-cult office. He wasn’t gay, but was a very open-minded man who favoured the gay community. He was also something of a big deal in school and after we became friends, had told me to keep our friendship a secret.
The next morning, when I checked my messages, I saw that Boss had dropped a reply of a location and time (9 am) that I should come meet him alone.
I got there twenty minutes before 9, and soon after, Boss arrived. After a bit of small talk, he asked me which of the anti-cult officers were involved in the case and I told him. He called Mr. G and told me to call Dike over.
After much, Boss eventually instructed Mr. G to dismiss the case and to see to dike’s safety. Upon hearing this, Dike dropped to his knees and tearfully thanked Boss. Boss replied by gently admonishing him to be more careful.
That day was a lecture-free day for us, and as Dike and I walked back to my lodge, I urged him to stay awhile with me until the dust had settled at his lodge, and also to give an impression to his lodge-mates that he was being prosecuted by the anti-cult office. He agreed, but we had to go to his lodge to get some of his things, including the phone he’d left behind in his room.
Thinking about going back there was unnerving for me to think about; I could only imagine how it felt for Dike. But we had to do it. When we got there, the lodge was mercifully not as filled with students, as it was a school-day. Dike was able to flee into his room before a majority of those who were around noticed he was around. But because they had swarmed around me in the time he was inside his room, packing his things, he didn’t come back out my way. Instead, he texted me a few minutes later to say he had left the lodge through the back gate. We met up moments later, and went back to my lodge.
Now that the worst was over, Dike could not talk to me about what happened. And because of our newfound shared interest in boys, we could talk more freely and laugh even. He talked about how he was stunned to realise that I was gay.
“I mean, I suspected, but I couldn’t be sure you are gay because of your double persona,” was what he said.
I laughed, as I figured out what he meant. Whenever I performed or danced on stage, I was flamboyant. I was a Bitch. A Rainbow Goddess. A Queen.
Then I got off the stage, and it was as though I turned off that alter ego and was back to being a regular guy.
We laughed over this. Dike’s eyes sparkled with a joy that was absent yesterday. This wouldn’t be the first time I’d be seeing him being lively, but today was different. Maybe, because he was now a truer version of himself with me. He was more open about the things he felt. The tough-talking, pussy-chasing Dike from my department was gone, and in his place was this open, emotionally vulnerable guy who talked about his fears and his struggles – and how he was thinking about moving out from his lodge. I advised him not to do that, that to move out would be to give his homophobic lodge mates a win. That he was free now and had secured the support of some powerful people (aka Boss and Mr. G). He needn’t be afraid. He should stay put and let his presence in the lodge be a dare to the others to mess with him.
Written by GT
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16 Comments
Mandy
October 28, 08:26This is what it is like to be part of a community, when we see kito happening and endeavour to rescue the victims. Las-las, I hope Dike learned a lesson. That however much konji is driving you, always pause to draw close the curtains. Many of kito have happened because the neighbour looked into the room through an uncovered window.
Libra
October 28, 08:41Why can’t people just mind their business tho like why did the stupid president have to peek in
Sage Philip
October 28, 11:28People will always be nosy and most of the time people gets intrigued when a person appears mysterious.
Zoar
October 28, 16:28Beautiful.
This is how it should be. Help a brother in need not necessarily for anything in return. This gesture is so preciously needed in this community.
God bless you for helping that young man.
DeliciousDelilah
October 28, 18:44Similar issue happened to me in absu that year but in my case I was roped into the scandal. I got back from PH that Saturday morning from runs parole, crowd gathered at my lodge gate, someone ran away from the crowd immediately my bike approached. As I alights , all eyes were on me like they pasted boldly what I went to do in PH on my forehead. so I asked one aproko sista why the gathering, she told me that the dude who ran away, let me call him F lured a guy all the way from Enugu, fucked him for days, then made away with his property. The Enugu guy was a well known community guy called S. So i made my way to where S was standing and asked him what happened, S narrated the same thing the aproko sista has already told me, that he got to know F from a nursing student named D, who happened to be one of my fuck buddy in the hostel then. S was twirling, cursing, hissing like a bat from hell and packing his invisible tacky weave-on like someone interpreting a role in low budget soap opera. Telling everyone shamelessly that F fucked him (in igbo: F lasirim, laamu 4 2 good days) S was so nasty sha. So I asked him to follow me like 3 step away to my room. Getting to my room, I brought out the thick envelope I was bless with in PH gave S 1k to use and go back to Enugu as transport. A week after, I was invited to Area Command Okigwe.
Pink Panther
October 28, 20:17What!!! OK, I need to have this story. Biko email all of it to me osiso ?
DELICIOUSDELILAH
October 28, 23:52Sure, I have plenty juicy stories for you as per absu parole…
trystham
October 28, 20:32Lawd gawd our merciful Jisox. Invited maka why?
I really think you should not have brought out ur stash in public glare of the tacky tiana
DELICIOUSDELILAH
October 28, 23:50I was totally ashamed, you need to see the was the dude was shouting on top of his lungs in igbo without shame how F fucked him… Shame left him to shame me.
Tristan
October 28, 21:01“F lasirim, laamu for two good days.” This got me all cracked up???
Higwe
October 28, 21:50Why you no fuck am too ?
You for lash am for three days before giving him that money .
slender
October 28, 19:40this is beautiful, exactly how it should be. i am sleeping on this tonight
DeliciousDelilah
October 28, 23:26Why was I invited to Area Command? Prior before my arrival that Saturday morning, S fought F demanding for his fone, clothes and wallet and on that process they involved AKPUNWA(Landlord) who left to report the matter in Area Command. Before S left, he thanked me profusely and told me that it was through nurse D & J (beautiful nurses) he got to meet F and on meeting F, F invited another Dude to join them in the fun that resulted to the current situation.
I went for choir rehearsal that evening oo, on getting back I met F at my door. He was furious, He said to me ehhhh, why did you give S money for transport, I was like F please I just saved your ass from a nasty embarrassement, personal I was embarrassed too and ashamed by the incident, and I did not expect such interrogatory question from him,F opened up and told me the whole story. F said to me, imagine that ashawo, insatiable sex freak, who came all the way from Enugu to fuck in absu. That firstly S has been fucked already by another nursing student named J (happens to possess heavy something) with another dude ooo, they had been handling S for days sexually. S told J and Co that he wasn’t satisfied with their performance, that he wanted more, More was what led S to F. So J contacted F that he had a friend from Enugu ‘S’, who needed heavy dick(F was in the frontrow when dick was shared) F sent direction to S, and S left J & Co to meet F.
F said again to me, can you imagine; I’ve been fucking S ever since the day he arrived my house, I even had to involved another of my guy yet S kept demanding for more and that angered me, I took his phone, wallet, trouser and shirt just to punish him, that he ran away when he sighted my bike, thought it was the police people. I condemned the act, I told F that he should have asked S politely to leave his house rather than ceasing S items. Now S has told everyone that cares to listen at the gathering that him ‘F’ fucked him for days(in that igbotic tone). F was arrested later, he bailed himself. When I showed up at the Area Command in the company of my cousin sis who also schooled in absu and happens to be dating an officer(officer T) my sis has already put a call across to officer T about our coming, for him to be around so that his boys will not misbehave and bundle me (yours truly) DD inside one of their cell. I met the officer that was handling the case labeled as KIDNAPPING, SODDOMY RAPE AND ASSULT,till now I still don’t know who they KIDNAPPED, SODDOMIZED AND ASSULTED. He said he was told by F that I was the person who aided a suspect to leave town. that I must be one of them, those homos that blow guys ass(I was shocked by the level of profanity coming from an officer)…. Immediately officer T told him never to direct such words on me. In fact that I was never meant to be at the station cos I wasn’t the person that took S items. Officer T handled the whole issue afterwards. My cousin sis and I together with officer T left for ‘Mama Ike Rd’ (a popular buka) to have a good time.
Recently, at my job, one day like that I saw S standing on a cue, he was a shadow of himself, life sha…. He didn’t even recognize me…..F presently is in Umuahia.
Duc
October 28, 23:59The sheer ratchetness of this tale..
Sage Philip
October 29, 08:13F lasirim lam for 2 days–omaigod!
trust me i know that shame, that moment when you just cover half of your face while looking downwards cause the shame weakend your neck
Audrey
October 29, 22:36I know the joy that comes from having people stand up/Stick out their neck for you firsthand.Your kindness is commendable and is something to be emulated by every member of the society.
This your story reminds of an incident that happened back in the day to one of my faculty guy.Dude was set up by his roommate and was caught riding the D but the funny thing was that dude’s roommate was in the company of everyone on their floor(About 14 people) to catch him red handed and the outcome wasn’t funny at all.Dude missed a full semester after the incident and that was after his family had come down and bailed him with over 100k(That’s after spending days in the cell oh)….Abeg that scandal trended that period oh