We continue the story from where we left off last week. If you missed the first part, you can read it here.
My crush on Corper Tunde got stronger but I saw myself as too small for him. He was a Corper, which meant that he was a University graduate. I was just in SS2. How impossible it was for us to date. I heard some of the other girls in class even slept with some of the Corpers. One of my cousins, Rachael had been sleeping with Corper George. It was no secret that something went on between those two.
Most of the girls in class had a crush or some kind of attraction to one or two of the male Corpers. The Corpers could always have their way with them if they wanted. All they needed to do was call them aside and tell them that they liked or loved them.
We all knew deep inside that it would be impossible to have a tangible relationship with a Corper. Would a Corper marry a villager or, let alone, one of his female students? We knew that they came for just a year and leave for the big cities, where the majority of them came from. Besides, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to have girlfriends and even wives from wherever they came from. The fact is, they all wanted to sleep with the village girls and dump them. That was why every relationship with a Corper was done in secret. The girls involved prefer to meet the Corpers at night, when only few people could see them. In fact, the villagers were always on the alert whenever they saw a Corper with a girl from the village. A Corper-student relationship was good fuel for gossip.
I once heard of a story about a Corper from Edo state and a girl of a certain village, though far away from mine but still in the same state. It was said that they were seen everywhere together. They always saw the girl enter the Corper’s room. He must have slept with her several times. On a certain Saturday, the Corper was not found in the village anymore. The girl found out that he had left the village without telling anyone. When she probed further, she was told that he’d passed out and had left with his certificate. He left a baby in her and was never to be found again.
These stories are common in every village—portraying every male Corper as a dangerous lover.
Even with this consciousness at the back of their minds, the village girls were still willing to try their luck with a Corper. The girls reasoned that a Corper was educated and has a better future compared to the village boys. The funny part is, even if it was just for the sex, they were still satisfied that they had given it their best shot.
********
Rachael had been noticing the way I often looked at Coper Tunde. So, on a certain day, when we were heading home, she said to me, ‘It’s seems to me you like Corper Tunde.’
I was a bit shocked. ‘What did you say?’ I asked.
‘You heard me right. You like Corper Tunde.’
‘Hmmm’
‘Don’t try to hide it from me. I see the way you look at him and the way you move your hands on your skirt.’
‘Maybe—’
‘Don’t maybe me, I know you like him.’ She looked closely at my face. ‘I think he likes you too.’
My head swelled. I needed to hear it from her again. ‘How do you know he likes me?’
‘Because I see the way he looks at you. Very soon, he would invite you to his room.’
‘For what?’
‘Why are you acting like you won’t go?’
‘I won’t go,’ I said as I shrugged my shoulder. ‘I don’t want to enter into the Lion’s den,’ I said with a giggle.
‘One day I know you would carry your two legs and enter into the Lion’s den.’
‘No,’ I retorted.
‘And he would seduce and devour you with his sharp long teeth’
‘And…I will evade him,’ I said excitedly.
She leaned close to my ear and said, ‘ When you enter, you can allow him kiss the whole of your body, fondle your breast but when he begins to touch… When he goes down there, looking for slimy springy curls, you will hold his hands with all your strength and stop him. It’s like an interesting tapping game. Show him you are not a cheap girl before you eventually spread your legs.’
I’d already slipped into the subconscious with near dreamy-eyes. Rachael was like a hypnotist. I needed to come back to life. ‘No, he won’t get anywhere. I’m not like you that is sleeping with Corper George.’
‘See who is talking, as if you are not already dreaming of Corper Tunde’s touch. As if you don’t get wet when he looks at you in class. You are just deceiving yourself.’
I couldn’t give a reply. She was getting to me. ‘Just leave me alone,’ was all I said.
‘Just look at yourself. I know you are going to be easy to get. Just like Susan.’
Susan was the first school girl to sleep with a Corper in our village. The Corper got her on the first day she went into his room. Afterwards, she displayed all her sexual expertise to him, such that he continued to long for her over the other village girls he’d slept with. She was so easy that she made every village girl look cheap to the Corpers. Well, Susan was like that, even to the village boys. She was easily turned-on.
The majority of us had known sex from a young age—many from the age of twelve and thirteen—when we were still at junior secondary school. Village life allows us freedom. We often tried sex out of curiosity. With a willingness to experiment, the boys were ever-willing to give it to us. So you could get it done in a secluded bush or under a lonely tree. Some girls were initiated into sex by older boys, and even men, who lured them into secluded areas. It was common in the village for men to look for young girls to hunt down in the bush.
Since there was no electricity, a lot of sexual activities went on in the village. It was common to see teenagers sneak into the bush to have sex. At night, the village gets dark, with unguarded solitary places for sex. Contrarily, many people think village girls are chaster, since they are not as exposed as the city girls. The reverse is the case. While the city girls have many things to distract them such as TV and smart phones, the village girls have nothing. The only vision you see in the village is watching live people interacting in the village square. Besides, in the village, you can come out at night. Nobody will ask about you; even if you passed the night somewhere else. Your parents often assume that you will be safe somewhere within the village. It’s not like the city, where at night, you need to lock your doors for fear of robbers. In the village, you can come out at any time you like.
If you sleep outside your home, you can always sneak into your room without anyone finding out because of the way the huts were built. It’s common to have rows of long mud houses built facing each other, with a common compound demarcating them from other rows of houses owned by other families. The rows give way to four corners, with three of the corners allowing for entrances and two of them having doors. With the numerous entrances, you can sneak into the compound and into your room without other occupants knowing.
I lost my virginity in the room. At fourteen, I was lured into the room of one of the big boys. There, he held me tight and touched me all over my body. Although I fought, I was weak. His strong hands overpowered mine and he found his way to the curls and pushed the button. He helped me spread the legs that fought hard to join. There and then, he penetrated me.
Seriously, I didn’t like the experience. It was painful. I even hated the guy that did it. Nevertheless, I could say with a foolish pride to other girls that I was no longer a virgin. Because the experience itself was close to rape, I became more cautious of boys. Although, out of curiosity to try other hands and have a different experience, I’d allowed two other boys get into me. However, I promised myself that the last boy would be the last one.
Look out for the concluding part of the story on Wednesday.