Contents Of Life

02: OUR BOYS.

Adolescence.

That word came through my mind as I looked at my reflection through the mirror. A dark brown skinned girl with round white eyes, small nose and plump brown lips stared back at me in awe. Her lips were parted because she couldn't believe she was in her adolescence stage.

I couldn't believe it. It happened so fast.

My breast were rounder and fuller than I had ever remembered, my hips were broad and my butts, bigger. This was the stage mother once told me about. She once told me that there would come a time when I would become more mature and went ahead to explain to me that my physical features would become prominent, my beauty would become more radiant and men would be attracted to me.

It was true because, after that day I stared at my reflection on the mirror, I too noticed it. I noticed men would snap their heads my way when I walked past them. I caught a glimpse of Mr. Bolaji licking his lips lustfully, one time that I had gone to deliver mother's message to him. Damola, my elder brother's friend once winked at me when he came visiting or maybe I was just seeing things.

Sometimes, it was disgusting but most times, it made me feel good. I don't really know why but I liked the fact that I was almost always the central of attention where ever I went to so I began to take my appearance seriously. I made sure I was always well dressed and pretty.

There came a faithful day mother called me and said she wanted to have a word with me. "I notice you now wear lip gloss," She began, "Hm. I know you are trying to get the attention of those teenage boys out there and that's why I called you. I want you to listen attentively. Sex before marriage is a sin. A woman should always keep herself until the night of her wedding. By doing so, her husband would love and respect her."

I gave a nod, indicating that I was listening.

"So.. My daughter, do not let a man deceive you. Remember that your body is the temple of God. Do not let a man touch you. Once he touches you, you will get pregnant. Stay away from boys. Do you hear me?"

"Yes mama." I replied.

Mother did not just end there. The lecture continued almost everyday. She never stopped to remind me to keep myself till the night of my wedding and stay away from boys. It showed that mother was a good African parent but then, I knew something was amiss.

Few days later, a man came hitting our door and kept shouting, "Where is that useless boy that impregnated my daughter?"

Mother had went to get the door. I stayed in my room and peeped through my window at the scene. The man talking to mother was holding a girl of about my age, who was shedding tears. I couldn't hear everything mother and the girl's father had discussed but from the look of things, it was easy for me to figure everything out. My elder brother, Bolo, had impregnated somebody's daughter and now her father had come to our house to demand that he took responsibility.

That was when I knew what was amiss; Bolo. Mother had never sat Bolo down like she always did me. She had never told him to keep himself till the night of his wedding. Neither has she told him to stay away from girls.

It's wrong and this is what most parents out there fail to do. They fail to tell our boys that their bodies are sacred too and that they shouldn't give themselves away.

If it's important for our girls to know their worth, it is equally important for our boys to know too.

In conclusion I'm saying, teach our boys too. That way, things wouldn't be so messed up in our lives and just maybe, they'd be less teenage pregnancies out there.

©Love_Richie,
The storyteller.