TRUTH AND FICTION (PART A) CHAPTER ONE

EGO

15-05-2005, 12:20pm

ARE YOU A VIRGIN? Ego stared at the heading to a church write up that had been left on the notice board of her Secondary School. She didn’t bother to read the rest of the write-up or give thought as to why the school would put up such an article for everyone to read; the reasons were quite obvious. Instead she stared hard at those words, confusion etched on her face, her brows knitted together deep in thought trying to make sense of a question that she had never bothered to give thought to till now.

“Why are you staring so hard at that stupid, hypocritical, badly written article?” Her best friend Adanne walked up to her with a quizzical look on her face trying to decipher the answers from Ego's expression. Ego smiled at Adanne; she had always been so inquisitive, asking questions about everything, trying to store up all the knowledge she could find. It was her dream to one day contest on the game show How Smart Are You and she wanted to be prepared when it happened. Why do bats sleep upside down? When was the first railway constructed in the US? who was the first Japanese on the moon? Which actress has the most Oscar nominations? How many eclipses have been recorded?... sometimes Ego wanted to throw a book at her in annoyance but most times she put up with it, accepting that this was probably the cross of their friendship.

“Come, let’s go to the tuck shop and grab some snacks… I’m hungry”

At the mention of junk food Adanne’s face light up…she was a lover of sweet treats and junks and never passed up an opportunity to indulge.

Ego’s mind drifted off to the reason why she had been staring so hard at the notice board... memories she had safely buried up…questions she never wanted answered…feelings she didn’t want to process were suddenly pushing to the surface

 *******************************************************************

20-02-1997 2:30pm

Gooaaar…. A belching sound escaped from Caleb… the girls Amaka, Ego, Ifunanya and Ogadinma always loved it when he belched or made bean seeds disappear from under his armpits while their brothers Ike and Ebube always looked on in mild amusement at how such stupid tricks could be so interesting to their sisters. Caleb, the 16 years old neighbour who is like a brother to them was always around either helping with the housework, playing with the Umunachi children or having lunch or dinner in their household. He lived with his brother Peter a few flats above the Umunachis’. Mrs Prisca Umunachi believed him to be a good young man. He went to church four times a week, could quote a lot of verses from the bible and he was never found in the company of hoodlums who were always around the neighbourhood, so she encouraged him to spend time with her six children with the belief that such an influence would be good for them.

"Do it again Caleb! Belch again!" Ogadinma screamed. She had a huge crush on Caleb and the rest of her siblings watched as she smiled in adoration looking up at him like he was performing a Criss Angel worthy magic trick.

Gooaaar… Caleb released another belch while managing to smile at Ogadinma

"Are you satisfied now Dinma, I would like to go and sleep for a little while if  you're done using me as your entertainment?" his eyes twinkling with mischief so Ogadinma knew he was joking.

"Yes… yes… I am, for now but you have to come and show me how to do the trick with the lizard when you wake up ooh"

No problem, he replied

As Caleb stood up to leave he gave Ego the look… it was a message which she dreaded yet understood. He was asking her to meet him upstairs in 15 minutes.

After clearing the dishes… seven years old Ego walked into Caleb’s apartment. She did not need to knock because he only gave her the sign when his uncle was not around or he was sure the coast was clear.

Quick! Take off your pants and lie down on the floor, my uncle will be back in 40 minutes. 

She bunched up her skirt and drew her panties down to her knees and stared up waiting for him to apply the cream on his privates before he started using his organs to play with her vagina.

Ego focused on the ceiling; there was black mold on the right side of the ceiling that had been growing for some time and it was to this mold that she always stared at until Caleb was through with her. She hated looking at Caleb’s face when he was on top of her; it was always scrunched up in perverted sort of excitement and she was trying hard already to not lose the image of the sweet, charming boy who could perform tricks with his armpits, or help her with homework. One time she asked him why he put his cream laden penis in her vagina because it always hurts and he replied that he was trying to groom her for the future.

She didn’t understand what that meant seeing as Caleb was only 16 and the future seemed so far off for her. Still, she lay down on the floor until Caleb was done and he asked her to pull her panties up and go play with her friends.

As soon as she stepped outside, she closed off on what had just taken place and rushed downstairs to play house with her friends. She was the favorite of Caleb in the entire compound and he told her she was the only one he was taking time out to groom for the future. 

"Uzoamaka! You better not have started without me!"she screamed while running downstairs to play with her friends... the incident with Caleb forgotten for now.