The Lover Boy

The Lover Boy, a short story by LJ Kundananji

 

My hometown, Namalundu, small though it is, is split into several compounds. I will not talk about all these compounds, nor the people that reside therein, no. Rather, I will talk only about Camp Darkness and Camp Three, which happen to be necessary for the plot of this story.

Camp Darkness is located in the northwest of Chikonkomene, the location where, unfortunately, I reside. This name, Darkness, I hear came from the dismal lack of electricity the area once experienced. In time, however, this name came to encompass the sordid behaviour of most of its residents. To be fair, not all the residents of Camp Darkness are dark in the literal or figurative sense of the word. Most of them are good souls with clean hearts. But, as is the case with most compounds, the bad eclipse the good, and in the end everything can only be described as Dark.

About an hour’s walk from Chikonkomene lies Camp Three. This compound, I’m told, is also called Faluja. When I inquired of this strange name, a resident told me that the reason for it is because once you get too involved in the way of life of the place, you are bound to die—there are no two ways about it.

Having described so completely the setting, let us get started with the tale of Lover Boy. The young man, who was unfortunate enough to be given this sobriquet, happened to stay in Camp Darkness. He was nothing of dark, however. He was tall, strapping, with a light brown complexion. He, as far as he was concerned, was nothing of a lover boy, and he never perceived himself as handsome. Nevertheless, for some reason he could not really explain, almost all the girls in Chikonkomene, Camp Three, and even beyond, wanted him. This strange occurrence of attracting all females who passed his way made his life difficult, and almost unbearable, and he sought in vain for a way out.

What was true for David (for that’s his real name) was that he did like girls. But he did not like it when they clung to him and in so many numbers. He was not ready for any serious relationship. All he desired was to have friends of both sexes—every normal boy desires it. But every female he befriended wanted to be more than a friend. They wanted him to be their cuddle buddy, whom they could embrace, and kiss and whisper sweet words to. Why this was so, David did not know. There were times when he assumed that the best way of solving this dilemma was to avoid female association all together. But that never worked, of course. The girls knew where to find him, and even if he hid himself in a safe and had the safe buried six feet in an unspecified location, the wretched females would dig up the whole earth till they found him and drilled him out of the safe. That is how desperately they wanted him.

One fine afternoon, David was practising Karate in his backyard. He had become quite proficient at this art and could split apart planks of wood of a convenient thickness. He was also able to do splits, whereby his body very nearly touched the ground, but with a lot of pain. So, as you can already ascertain, he was on his way to getting a yellow belt.

“Tcha!” he roared as his fist slammed into the plank of wood whose ends where placed on piles of bricks. The brittle wood cracked under the force of his fist. He smiled proudly and bowed to his imaginary master. The master bowed back and commended him for his amazing progress.

“I can also do that,” a sweet, female voice said behind him. He quickly spun around and found a girl standing barely a metre away and smiling sweetly at him. She had round, beautiful white eyes that seemed to sparkle. Although she had very short hair, she had a long countenance that was definitely good to look at. She was quite tall—about his height. She wore a low necked shirt which was so tight that her large, firm breasts looked as though they were going to burst out. The dress she wore had a long slit on its front, and she stood, arms akimbo, her leg provocatively sticking out of the slit. David stood for a full minute, taking in the details with bulging eyes and a gaping mouth. He did not know the girl, but her appearance had him hypnotized and speechless.

“Hi.” he finally said.

“Hello,” the girl said in a saccharine voice. She walked towards him and stretched out her hand. “I’m Sandra…are you David?”

“Ye…ye…yes.” He stammered, his stare transfixed on her cleavage.

“It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”

“Huh? Oh, yes.” He finally grasped her hand, and spontaneously caressed it. It was royally soft.

“Sandra,” he said as he slowly came back to his senses. “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

“No—no, we haven’t,” she said, giving an enchanting little giggle. Her teeth were ivory white.

“How do you know me?”

“I have heard quite a lot about you, and I love what I hear.” She winked at him. “I’ve heard that you are a lady’s man.”

David smiled. “Is that so?”

“Uh huh.”

“In that case, you’ve find me.”

“So I have, and you’re more handsome that they described you.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Wow.” He felt a little flush when he realised that he was still holding her hand. He quickly eased her. “Let me get a seat for the lady.”

“That will be lovely.”

He dashed into the house and came back a few seconds later clasping two collapsible chairs. He quickly set them up under the shade of the nearby guava tree. Sandra slumped down into the chair, threw back her head and closed her eyes. With a big smile on her face, she purred contentedly.

“Mmmm. This is so relaxing. I never knew I was so tired!”

“One moment,” David said, darting back into the house. A little while later, he reappeared with a tray upon which were two glasses of juice. He quickly served his guest, who gratefully poured down the juice into her mouth. David finally sat down, holding his glass at its edge with the tips of his fingers.

“Sandra,” he began tentatively, his eyes roving all over her. “I haven’t seen you around. Where do you stay?”

“I stay in Lusaka,” she replied, smacking her lips. “I’m here visiting. Staying at my auntie’s not too far from here.”

“Oh?” he was surprised.

“Yes.”

“But…who told you about me?”

“My cuz.”

“Who’s your cousin?”

“Martha.”

“Martha Mbewe?”

“Yes. She said you know her.”

“Of course I know her. So Mrs. Mbewe is your aunt?”

“Uh huh.”

“Where’s Martha?”

“I actually came with her—she led me here. We stood watching you for a while. But she darted off soon afterwards; said she has to finish off her chores.”

His eyes grew round. “How long did you watch?”

“Abou’ five minutes.”

“You saw me do the splits?”

“Yes. You are almost very good.”

He turned slightly pale at this revelation. Presently he said, “Why do you want to see me, Sandra?”

“I’m an adventurous girl. I like having fun. So I asked my cuz, ‘I want to have some fun. Where can I go?’ She looked at me with burning excitement in her eyes and said, ‘Let’s go see David.’ And she brought me here.”

David bit his lip and stared regrettably to the ground. It was happening again. Another female wanted to get into his arms, and she hardly even knew him! But like all other times, he could not tell her to ‘beat it’ or ‘scram.’ Truth was he was strangely attracted to her and did not want her to leave. He slowly averted his eyes and stared into her face. Their eyes met. He was instantly hooked by their sparkle.

“I don’t even know why you girls like me,” he said, rubbing his glass up and down against his cheek.

“You are incredibly handsome.”

“Really?”

“Too much.”

He grinned.

“Now I want you to live up to your name.”

“What name is that?”

“Lover Boy.” She gave him a naughty smile.

His grin disappeared. This girl was shameless. Instantly, he knew what she wanted. Now was the right time to chase her off, but he found her sordid nature strangely attractive.

“I hate that name,” he admitted, giving her a glare. “I am not Lover Boy.”

“Sorry,” she quickly said, “I was only teasing. I only want to have some fun.”

He stiffened. He had heard that before. “What kind of fun?”

She stared at the piles of brick and the planks of wood that lay beside them. She grinned.

“Teach me karate.”

He smiled broadly upon hearing her request, so broadly that it hurt. He asked, “Are you sure?”

“A hundred percent.” She put down her glass and stared trustingly at him. He got to his feet and walked to the pile of bricks. She followed him and stood behind him, her eyes wide with anticipation.

“The first lesson: expect the unexpected,” he said, his eyes glowing. “You’ll never know when your enemy might—” he quickly spun and sent a fist flying just past her head, lightly brushing her hair, “—attack!”

The girl started, giving a little gasp. She went, “Haa.”

David smiled at the fear he saw in her eyes. He suddenly felt the power of control. A certain evil thought crept into his head. He could beat this girl silly. Yes, that would teach her! She would never come to bother him again. Though he was strangely attracted to her, he did not want to get intimate with her. He now saw a way out. Though unconventional, it was a way out. He shuddered with excitement at this thought.

“The other lesson,” he said with an air of confidence, “is to learn to strike with force.”

He held out his palm in front of her. “Hit me as hard as you can.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

She curved her hand into a loose fist and sent a weak jab into his palm.

“Harder!”

She hit again, but this time with all she was worth. His calloused hand felt only a little slap of pain.

He shook his head, clucking. “Is that all you got?”

“Yes, Dave,” she said with an ingratiating smile. “I am not as strong and powerful as you are.”

This compliment made his confidence soar to higher levels. A strong determination came over him. This was his time to emancipate himself. If he could stop being nice for once and give this girl the worst time of her life, she would spread the word to the rest of her kind, and all these would never want him ever again. Why had he not thought of this all this while? If he was bad and mean to one girl, the others would fear him with a vengeance.

“Hold out your palms,” he said with an evil grin. She did so—stretched out her palm in front of his face. “This is how you do it—” he sent a good smashing one. The girl shrieked as the fist hit her palm, sending her hand flying backwards and hitting into her face.

“Tcha!” David roared with pleasure.

Sandra quickly withdrew her delicate hands and caressed them. They itched terribly. Her eyes flooded with tears. But David was not done yet.

“Let’s proceed,” he said, unperturbed by the fact that the girl’s eyes were red with tears. This was his defining moment. This was the time to set boundaries, even if it meant beating the life out of this pretty girl.

He did more than give her jabs in the palm: he gave her two slaps in the face; one jab in the belly, which nearly sent her swooning; a good solid kick in the buttocks; and he even had her do splits. By the time it was over, the girl lay motionless in the chair, a black eye and a goodly number of bruises all over. David was tending to these bruises with a face towel and bucket of ice cold water.

“I’m sure you must hate me now,” he chuckled as he pressed against the black eye with the face towel. The girl winced and said nothing.

“I’m sure you don’t want to see me after this.” He continued.

The girl grabbed the face towel and tended to the back eye herself. She glared at him with the other. It seemed his work was done.

“Is this how you treat all your girl friends?” she hissed. “Beat them to pulp and then nurse then like Florence bloody Nightingale?”

“Nope,” he chirped. “You are the first. So you can tell them all about it!”

“Are you kidding?” she blurted out, removing the towel from her eye. She stared squarely at him. “I ain’t telling them!”

“Eh?” he stared at her in disbelief.

“I ain’t gonna tell ‘em! And you aren’t gonna beat any other girl like you did me.”

“Why?”

She answered his question by leaning forward and giving him a kiss on the mouth. She broke off with a giggle and said: “Because you are mine.”

David was shocked. He gapped at her with goggle eyes. How could this be? It seemed he had beaten her far too much, for apparently, she had lost her mind. He touched his lips, his heart thumping heavily.

“I love you,” she said in a whisper, grinning broadly.

When David finally came to, he said, rather hesitantly, “I don’t want to get intimate.”

“Then why did you beat me like that?”

David was confused. It seemed whatever he did endeared him to the girls. Even when he beat the life out of a girl, she took it as a gesture of love. He was cursed. That was the only rational explanation.

“I thought you’d hate me.” He said in a whimpering voice.

“Are you kidding?” she shrieked, “I love you even more! You have proved to me that you are a man! A real, strong man who knows what he wants!”

David sat back in his chair with despair. “But I don’t want to go out with you.”

“Why?” the girl cried.

“I’m not ready.”

“You don’t like me?”

“I do but—”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t feel it’s right.”

“Okay,” she was unrelenting, “but you do want me?”

“Yes, but—”

“Sleep with me.” He stared at her with profound surprise.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.”

”David, I want you.” her eyes flooded with tears, and she started sobbing. David was touched. That was his weakness. Whenever a girl shed tears, he found himself wanting to oblige. But this time, he felt a peculiar strength.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t sleep with you—we hardly know each other.”

“David,” she said in between gasps and sobs. “From the moment I saw you, I wanted you. I’ve never wanted a boy the way I want you. I can’t help my feelings. I just want you.”

David was moved by her sincereness, but more so by her tears. He finally buckled.

“I can’t sleep with you, but…at least I can kiss you.”

 

“It’s not enough, but it is better than nothing.” Her sobbing gradually ceased, and a slight smile appeared across her face. She leaned forward, but he drew back, a finger to her lips.

“Not now.” He said in whisper. “Everyone will see us.”

“Scared!” she teased.

“Not!”

“Lover boy!”

At that moment, he suddenly felt as if he could tolerate the name, just this once.

***

 

After the sun goes down, it is quite dark in many places in Chikonkomene. There are no streets, just winding pathways and a few dirt roads snaking all around the compounds. The compounds being so small and hilly cannot facilitate a large network of tarred roads. Though ZESCO (Zambia Electrical Supply Corporation) have tried their best to light up the whole place, there are certain places that cannot just be lit. Therefore, there are a lot of dark “corners” for lover boys and lover girls to cuddle to their heart’s content. Camp Darkness is not short of these dark corners. Add to this all the fact that the bush is only a few paces away. All one has to do is dash in any direction and he will find himself in a bush within a minute. Yes, Namalundu is a heaven for cuddle buddies.

David had everything thought out as he paced down the road to Martha’s place. He found Sandra waiting for him by the roadside. He could clearly see her in the street light. She was dressed in tight trousers and a skimpy top which exposed not only her large breasts but also her belly. She looked enchanting and his heart raced when he greeted her. She responded by enfolding him. A few moments later, they were walking down the road, hand in hand.

“Do you know that Martha loves you?” Sandra asked.

“All girls love me.” He replied coyly.

“No—Martha really loves you.”

“Oh?”

“Who is she to you?”

“She’s just…my play daughter.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She’s just a good friend.”

“You haven’t slept with her?”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Believe it.” He stated firmly.

“She’s just a cuddly buddy?”

“No—just a friend.”

“Hmm.” She chuckled.

“Ask her yourself.”

“I don’t trust my cuz.” She smiled meekly. “I’m now your cuddle buddy?”

“Just for tonight.”

“Not fair.”

“I’ll change my mind.”

“I’ll make sure you do.”

A minute later, the two cuddle buddies left the road and found themselves standing alone in a dark ‘corner.’

“Kiss me now, David,” the girl demanded.

David obliged and kissed her. In my country, and hence my community, it is taboo for two lovers to kiss openly and in public (except at weddings where they are allowed to break this taboo). So I am certain you understand why David opted for the cover of night to humour Sandra, the girl who loved him for beating her silly.

***

It was a lovely afternoon in Faluja. Business was booming. The bar owners carefully stacked away large amounts of money in secret locations, and never content, they still got more in exchange for the packets of beer that adorned their shelves. The air was permeated with loud music, and a generous amount of insults, which insults were exchanged between the partakers of beer, and it was not because they were annoyed with each other, but because under the influence of alcohol, they hardly knew what they were saying.

David was skittering to and fro among the grocery shops, not buying anything in particular, but loving the merry, carefree ambience. He often found these visits to Faluja to be effective antidotes to his boredom, and once or twice, he had helped stop a fight with his skills at karate.

As he got out of a certain store, sucking at some maheu through a drinking straw, a car screeched to a halt right in front of him, making him stop dead in his tracks. The door burst open and Mrs. Mbewe jumped out. She stood before him with a wild countenance, her eyes a fiery red and devoid of the usual friendliness.

“David!” she shrieked. “David you rogue!”

“Ati?” David was almost chocking on the maheu.

“How dare you impregnate my daughter and niece—at the same time!”

“He?” the statement stunned him like a wasp sting. The drink fell to the ground, pouring its precious contents all over the concrete pavement. His jaw dropped open into a large gape.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about!”

“I don’t!” he protested bitterly. By now, a crowd had gathered and was watching this spectacle with fervent interest.

Mrs. Mbewe furiously opened the rear door of the car and ordered the two girls, Sandra and Martha, out. They were clad in heavy clothing, chitenges draped over their dresses. David’s eyes roved around their bellies, and he noticed with great alarm that they were bulging out as if they had had too much inshima. The two girls had their heads bowed, eyes to the ground and did not stare at him.

“See what you did?” Mrs. Mbewe squealed. The crowd murmured.

“I didn’t,” David said sincerely. “The girls can tell you.”

“The girls told me it was you.”

“No, they lie!” David shouted, feeling great anger building up inside of him. In an instant, he was going to blow up to bits.

“Tell me you did not touch them and I’ll believe you.”

“I did not.”

“You did not?”

“I…only…kissed them.” The crowd roared with excitement. For Mrs. Mbewe, this was the only confirmation she needed. She grabbed him by the belt, and in a move that not even his imaginary master could perform, hurled him into the car where he continued his protests of innocence.

“Get in, you two!” she snarled at the girls. They obediently and quickly got in. She slammed the door after them and dived back into the driver’s seat. She started the engine and the car roared off, leaving dense, black smoke in its wake.

Mrs. Mbewe continued screaming and shouting as she drove the three criminals to David’s home where she was going to dump the two girls, because now, whether they liked it or not, they were husband and wives. David had realized that it was no use protesting, but he was too confused and distraught to hear what she was saying.  He leaned towards Sandra who was seated next to him in a solemn, silent stance.

“Why?” he asked.

“Sorry Lover boy,” she replied, a glint of triumph in her voice. “We needed a scapegoat, and you were stupid enough to fall for it.”

Martha looked up and when he stared into her face, he saw not an ounce of regret. She winked at him. He looked away in disgust. He had never known that girls could be so dastardly. It suddenly became clear to him in that very hour: if a boy kissed a girl under the cover of darkness and claimed he had not gone any further, no one would believe him. So no one was going to believe him. So much for being nice to girls. So much for being Lover Boy.

 

Lover Boy
© 2009 Kundananji Creations
All Rights Reserved

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