HADIZA & EMEKA 1
My name is Hadiza and I am a girl of 15, I am in my second year in senior secondary school.
I loved to do art but my dad said,
"It’s a waste of time. Face your books."
My mum said liking boys is a taboo reserved only for adults. And if they touched me slightly I might get pregnant. I was a bit scared of boys but my friends assured me it’s okay to have boys around you. I found myself feeling funny around a particular boy. I liked him and longed for his embrace. I wanted him to care for me in a special kind of way.
I wished I could speak to my mum but I could not. It was a risk too high. Mum already told me I should not be involved with boys. I am a child of God and must not get pregnant. If a boy touches me, I will get pregnant. But my body wanted it and longed for it and so i shared it with a friend and to tell her how I felt. She laughed at me and said, "Hadiza, you are not serious. Liking a boy is natural. I do have a crush in school too. He is cute and I do eye him. I hope one day he comes around and woos me.
"But Maryam would you not get pregnant?"
Laughing hysterically, Maryam said, "C'mon, don’t be naive Hadiza. Having sex is okay. I even heard Atinuke is already doing it and she says it’s great."
"I plan on starting soon, you should consider it too."
"Would you not get pregnant if a boy touches you?"
"Haba Hadiza, No! You just make sure he uses a condom and you will be fine. Or you could just shake it out. It’s all about experience."
Maryam is a great friend I can confide in, Hadiza thought, I would tell her of my love for Emeka. Maybe she would see reasons with me and tell me how I could go about it.
Hadiza is in a painting club in school and her dad must not know. How would a soon-to-be Medical Doctor daughter be in an Arts club? When she should be using her smartness in the Jets club. Just as she stayed back to do some paintings before going home, she sang with a voice sonorous and sweet,
"When I become rich and famous, all these faces would know who I am cos I would be a super star..."
She sang with reckless abandon and was oblivious to her surroundings.
