After school, I would hit the street and go and sell water. Those days water wasn’t in a sachet. It was in a bucket with a cup in it. When someone stops you to buy, you fetch the water and pour it into the person’s cup or another cup you have that everyone drinks from it.

There was no money home. My mom was the only one taking care of five children. I was the eldest so a lot rested on my shoulder. One afternoon, I was hawking water when a guy called me. He was way older, maybe ten years older than me.

When I got to him, he took me to his shop, helped me bring down the bucket I was carrying and asked why I was selling water, “A beautiful girl like you.” I told him it was what my mom sold so I was helping her. I remember he bought everything and asked me to go home.

The following day, I went there and this guy bought all the water again. I should have left his shop but I decided to stay for a while. He was jovial and very kind. He bought me food and gave me extra money. So each day when my mom puts water on my head, I will go to him and he’ll buy everything. I will stay with him for a while before going home so my mom doesn’t give me more water to sell.

He proposed one day and I accepted. His kindness has gotten into my head. I was so innocent I didn’t even know what to do to make him happy except to be in his presence. One day he took me to his house and because he didn’t want anyone to know I sell water, he asked me to leave my bucket of water in his shop and follow him.

He had a very beautiful place. I wished I lived there with him. I was sharing a mat with three siblings so a place like his looked like heaven to me. He started touching me and I was looking at him. He tried kissing me and stopped. Maybe he didn’t like the flavour in my mouth. And then his hands started travelling far.

I was scared. I remembered my lessons in school. That when a man touches you, you can get pregnant. I asked him to stop. I was pleading with him but he was stronger. I started asking myself, “Why did I even follow him here? What was I expecting?” This guy was fighting me as if he had gotten his mate. Luckily for me, someone came to knock on the door.

He got up to open the door and I tip-toed behind him. Immediately he opened the door, I dashed out and ran away. It was a woman. I heard her asking him who I was. I couldn’t go home because my bucket was in his shop. He hadn’t also given me money for the water. I stood behind his window begging him to go and pick my bucket for me. He asked me to come inside before he would go with me. I said, “Forget the bucket, just give me the money.” He answered, “What have you done for me that I should give you money?”

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I started crying. I knew what my mom would do to me if I went home without her money and bucket. I overstayed at his place, begging and even crying. He never came out and I never went in. It was when the sun set that I realized I had to leave.

The first thing my mom asked when she saw me was, “Where is the bucket?” I started to cry. She screamed, “Where’s the money?” I started shaking. One slap and I started singing like a canary; “A certain man took it from me. He locked it in his shop.” She asked what I was doing in his shop and I couldn’t explain. The beatings continued unabated.

The following morning, I didn’t go to school. She held my hand and dragged me to the guy. If it wasn’t for that day, I wouldn’t have known my mom could display in public and go to the extent of beating a man. At a point, the guy had to be sneaked out of his own shop. She carried my bucket, poured the sales the guy had made and said, “I’ll use your own money to bring the police to come and arrest you.”

When we got home, she asked me calmly, as if she wasn’t the one who was hyper in the guy’s shop; “Tell me the truth, did he do something to you?” I shook my head. “He didn’t try to push a finger somewhere you don’t like?” I shook my head. “Or he pushed it there but you liked it.” I shook my head.

“You’re lying to protect him? Then how did your bucket end up there?” I didn’t answer. She said, “I know what happened but pray nothing happens to you. You know me.”

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I married a virgin but my mom didn’t believe I was a virgin. One day, I told her what truly happened in the guy’s house. She said, “Shame on you. As old as you are, you’re still lying to me. Do you think I will beat you when you tell the truth?” I screamed, “But Mom, that’s the truth. He couldn’t do anything to me. I didn’t allow him.” She said softly, “Ɛsɛwoara”

#MyFirstRelationship

—Lulu

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