Married But Available. B. Nyamnjoh

said Lilly Loveless.

      ***

      “Lionel, you see, is now 24 and a third year student here at Mimbo. In high school he dated Comfort, his classmate. At high school, junior students are called freshers. When school reopens in September, there is usually a rush by boys to pick up girl freshers, hence the name September Rush. No boy wants to be left out, for fear of being termed ‘chickless guy’ by peers. Lionel was thus lucky to have Comfort, whom he greatly admired and loved to show off amongst his friends and mates.”

      “Sounds promising,” remarked Lilly Loveless, wetting her lips with some of the juice.

      “Lionel had one thing in mind: how to convince Comfort to have sex with him as soon as possible. At school he would do everything, including visiting her room and staying late into the night, until Comfort would tell him to leave so she could sleep. One Friday night, he proposed an outing to a popular bar-cum-nightclub, where they stayed till 4am. Despite his efforts, he could only lay a kiss on her cheek. The next day he proposed going to a video projection hall with Comfort, where he managed to convince her to watch a pornographic film. His intentions were the same, to weaken her defences. He succeeded. As the film played, soon they were holding hands. Soon Comfort’s head was on his shoulder. Soon she was pressing hard on his arm. She moved closer to him. He pretended he didn’t know what was going on, but his body was telling its own story. When he spoke to her his voice was slower each time, taking longer pauses between sentences. He stared at her lips each time he spoke, oblivious of what exactly it was he was saying, or that the film was running. Without knowing it, he was getting closer and closer to Comfort. Slowly, he moved his eyes from Comfort’s mouth to her eyes and back again. Then, he placed his hand on her hip and brought her closer. Their lips met.

      “After the film, Lionel feigned saying good night, but Comfort almost burst into tears, wouldn’t let him go and begged him to accompany her to her hostel which was off campus. Lionel went along, and spent the night with her. When he returned to his hostel the next day, his friends were teasing and hailing him at the same time: ‘Lionel don nang mboko eh’, ‘he don take baptism’, ‘Pa you strong’…

      “Then Lionel’s relationship with Comfort intensified.”

      “How so?” asked Lilly Loveless as Britney paused to sip her juice.

      “He spent most of his time with her. She would prepare food at times and visit him at his hostel, where they would eat and study together.

      Lionel’s feelings were centred on Comfort, and he saw no need to look at any other girl.

      “On the other hand, little did he know she also had a relationship with a business tycoon. When she left school and went to town to see her tycoon, she would lie to Lionel that she was going to see her parents. Things came into the open one day when on her 18th birthday a terrible thing happened.”

      “I hope nothing too serious,” Lilly Loveless interjected.

      “You’ll find out if you let me continue.”

      “Please proceed,” Lilly Loveless got the message.

      “A party was organised in a bar owned by one of the discipline masters of the high school. The party took off at 4pm. There was the cutting of the cake, wishes by friends, and then dancing. The MC was a friend of Comfort, and had drawn up a list of who was to open the floor with whom. Naturally, Lionel was slated to have the opening dance with Comfort.

      “What they didn’t know was that Comfort had invited what came to be known as her ‘illiterate business tycoon’ as well. As the couples went to the floor as programmed, there the tycoon walked in and saw his bloomy Comfort dancing with Lionel; and he was not amused. He stormed his way towards them, pushed Comfort down and removed the shoes she was wearing. He had bought her the shoes and would not let her use them to please a mere student, a ‘flying-shirt’ with no pockets and no wallet. He was terribly disappointed in Comfort, whom he had already introduced to his fellow traders at the Zintgraffstown main market, where he was highly regarded for going out with a high school girl. A rumour later surfaced that a medicine man had given him the task of impregnating a virgin school girl if he wanted his business to grow.”

      “Such things happen?” asked Lilly Loveless.

      “What do you expect of illiterate men like local market traders?” replied Britney. “If it is not a virgin school girl, it is the wife of your neighbour, your own daughter or even your mother, they ask you to sleep with. They ask for something impossible or very difficult, those fortunetellers, and you have to be illiterate enough to believe them,” she explained.

      “So what happened in this case?” asked Lilly Loveless.

      “The business tycoon probably withdrew to lick his wounds or look for another victim. But for Comfort, the disgrace was unbelievable. Everybody felt ashamed and confused. Lionel could not bear it, and gave Comfort a slap on the face. Their friends left. The following day, Lionel’s stained name was splashed all over the gossip corners of the campus, including what the students, for reasons of their own, had come to term ‘Radio Bagdad News,’ the dreadful lampooning service that, like a precision guided missile, never missed an opportunity to make an inferno of life on campus. Comfort’s reputation was heavily tarnished as well. Her name and story were posted on every street on campus and in the neighbourhood. Even the birds seemed to shame her with the music they made round the campus. Although her friends did their best to keep her company and reassured, she never felt free. She kept a low profile in school for weeks until the news reluctantly died down.”

      “Things must not have been easy for her,” said Lilly Loveless.

      “And it gets more complicated,” continued Britney. “Too shocked by Comfort’s behaviour, Lionel decided he would end the relationship. He was surprised a few days later by a note from her begging for pardon. She gave reasons for her infidelity: it was because he did not support her financially and she was not very sure of him, given that there were boyfriend snatchers all around the high school. She promised to bury the past and to turn a new page with him.

      “It took Lionel some time to consider her request, but after a while and with the active intervention of their friends they came back together and were on good terms. The relationship became very intense again, and this time, Comfort was showing her love through love letters and postcards.

      “One postcard read: ‘Thoughts for a best friend: One of the most special places in my heart will always be saved for you: the one person I can always talk to; the one person who understands; for making me laugh in the rain; for helping me shoulder my troubles; for loving me in spite of myself, and always putting me back on my feet again; for giving me someone to believe in; someone who lets me know that there really is goodness and kindness and laughter and love in the world; for being one of the best parts of my life, and proving it over and over again; for being so worthy of my love, for being my best friend.’

      “Another read: ‘Falling in love with u and loving u are the most wonderful things that happened to me. Let’s never forget that a love like ours comes once in a lifetime. You are so loving and caring to me. No one else has ever made me feel as happy, as content, as complete, as full of smiles as you do. I love u forever.’ There were many others: ‘I love having you in my life: I love all the joy that being with you brings to me, from our most intimate moments alone, to the pride I feel in you when we’re out somewhere together...’

      “It was clear that she had turned a new chapter: ‘Lionel Love, I wish you knew how I have longed for a day to tell you how much you mean to me, how much I’ve come to love you, and how it fills me with joy to know that we are birds of the same feathers. But I thank God because he made a wonderful and special day like this, for you and for me to say: You mean so much to me and above all, I LOVE YOU.’

      “On his 20th birthday, she wrote: ‘I love all that we share. I love the laughter, the understanding, and the fact that so much about us – our minds, our bodies, our hearts, our feelings – should touch so closely and perfectly together. I love how gentle you are and how sensitive, but most of all, I love the tenderness you save for me and me alone. I could never tell you