In our primary five class, she had placed a butter mint sweet on my right palm while my eyes were closed.
"okechukwu, close your eyes." She said to me as soon as she stood in front of my desk.
I was surprised as much as I was happy to hear that from her. I gave her my kiddy smile painted with love I believed she felt as soon as I raised my head up to meet her gaze. She was smiling already. I smiled more when I looked into her eyes. She was beautiful and her dentition were just perfect. Neat dark hairs on her scalp gave her a look that accentuated her lovely face.
"Why?" I asked just to hear her her talk more with me in that blessed atmosphere.
"Just close your eyes first."she insisted.
My eyes widened in ecstasy, which I believed she saw which prompted her to recoil shyly . Her hands were hidden behind her little butt, and she moved her body like a kid on her first trip to a candy store. I took a deep breath and leaned back on my wooden chair.
"Ok." I said then i closed my eyes.
That day was a special day. The thought of her filled my head all day. I smiled unconsciously as i walked back home. I remembered her coyly run immediately she dropped the sweet on my palm, I opened my eyes as soon as i had the feeling that she'd started running, how we walked hand-in-hand from our school gate to the junction that forced our hands apart and that inner desire never to part ways.
That night was full of imaginations before I slept. My little manhood almost tore the pant of my nightie. I hugged the pillow I held between my folded legs. I couldn't sleep that night. I was just rolling from one edge of my bed to the other. As soon as I thought I slept off, my elder brother tapped me for our early morning prayer, my mom was already leading in worship.
I couldn't wait to get to school that morning. I watched the clock tick several times while my dad prayed. The ticking seemed to be slower that morning. I was the first to get ready for school for the first time in a very long time.
As I got closer to the school gate, my heart almost popped out of my chest. It was beating fast and I was anxious to see how every second would unfold in school. I had never felt love before. She was my first. I became a punctual pupil in school because I always wanted to be the first person she would see after waving her mum goodbye.
I can't forget that unfaithful and unfortunate day when she walked up to me as soon as she alighted from the car.
"I would be traveling to America when we vacate."
I was happy for her, but there was no trait of smile on her face. She wasn't happy.
"Don't you like it? You will meet plenty white people o." I said to cheer her up.
"I don't want to go, I don't want to leave you. My mum said we are not going to come back anytime soon."
That was when I knew what had befallen our young love. It was just a term old.
When we got to our class, she held my hands and kissed me on my lips. That was my first kiss. I loved the feeling. I smiled. She smiled too. She kissed me again but this time it lasted longer than the first.
Nonye, who taught you that!
She finally moved to America. I cried silently most times at night before closing my eyes to sleep for about a month or two. I loved her. I loved Nonye. I have tried real hard to love other girls just as much as I loved Nonye but all to no avail. And now I've come to this realization that "when I was a boy was the only time I had truly loved a girl."
