By Chol Peter Majoh
I never felt the power of love. Sorry to call it love. I would rather call it infatuation, not love. I never felt its power until I got into it.
One day as I walked in the evening that was around Gudele town, I saw a beautiful brown-skinned girl. Her eyes were as bright as that of a newborn cat. Her shape was like that of a Coca-Cola bottle. She seemingly looks almost like a figure eight (8). If it were not forehead and limbs, she would look exactly like future 8. She has red, small and cute lips. You would think her mouth was made only for kissing and not for eating as naturally.
Her beauty isn’t describable. Lack words to describe it. Without makeup, I even thought I saw an angel. But from the way she dressed, I could just know she was from this planet Earth; no angel could dare dress like that. She was wearing a very short mini-skirt and a blouse covering some parts and exposing some parts of her body. Her breasts were pushed up a bit. Some parts of them were seen. She has what this generation calls Nyash. Pardon me, I don’t know the etymology of this word. To continue with the story, the perfume she had applied was sweet to smell, and the lady was good to behold. Like a forbidden fruit, she aroused in me a feeling of uncontrollable desire.
Let me tell you, when I first saw her, I just felt like my heart had disappeared in the thorax. I came down to my senses,, and I later realized that my heart wasn’t out of its place; it was available. To confirm, I checked and I found it beating. Although the beats were not as normal as they used to be, I never again worried. The only worry I had was how to approach her. That was my only worry. My mind had begun to think about what she would say if I called her to stop or wait for me. As I contemplated, something also came to my mind. Two days ago, I met my friend, and we talked about slay queens in Juba. My friends had cautioned me not to tamper with any of them, the slay queens. He said their (slay queens’) main goal is money, money that they don’t help their families with but only spend on beautification of themselves.
So I was contemplating how to approach this beautiful flesh, in that moment of contemplation, my ego told me, “You are a man; why not clap your hands to tell her that you are just behind her and that you want to have a conversation with her?” I cleared my throat and said, “Hello! “With big eyes, she turned to see who was calling her. I just made a sign, and she stopped. Just in front of her, I felt so small, but manhood and ego kept me a little bit calm and confident in a suit, I was. She might have been contemplating something about it, but I couldn’t guess. All I was seeing was her eyes looking straight at mine, and I knew that was normal, for I understood she wanted to understand what I would say. “Hi,” I began the conversation. “It’s our first meeting; would you mind an introduction?!”!” I enquired. “No problem,” she said. “Call me Angella.”Well, I am Cephas. We chatted and exchanged our contacts.
From here, we nurtured love, and we became like Tom and Jerry. We could play, fight, plan tours, and go hiking at Jebel Kujur together. During the weekend, end, I tell you, going out was a routine. This time her beauty had charmed me so much that I didn’t think of taking her for a medical check-up. We just became intimate, and we ventured out, living like a wife and husband.
You know the experience of a new relationship. I was blinded and vice versa. I mean, she was, too. We never question anything. Whenever she called, even if I was eating, I would stop eating and pick up her call. If I were in the bathroom, I would pour water ever so so fast to pick up her call. No objection when she asked for money.
A month later, I visited myself, and I asked this big head over my body, “You have the eyes and the brain; are you sure this lady is healthy?” From this time, fear began to fill my body. I had crossed over several times, and this question never crossed my mind. I began to realise I should take her for a test.
This time I was watching the videos she posted on her TikTok account and reading through the romantic messages we shared. Now I decided to give her a call. The phone went through. “Hello, Babe! Greetings,” she responded. “Oh, sweetheart I am okay. I just missed you, and I had to give you a check-on call.” “Ha, babe, that’s why I love you, Ma, she replied.
“Babe, guess what?? It’s been a while in this relationship; I suggest we see a doctor for a medical check-up and consultation. You know, it’s good to know our health status as we prepare to marry sometime later,” I suggested.
“Hello! Hello! Babe, are you there?!” Mrs. Babe was no more. “Network!” “Maybe I should give it a try again,” I told myself. “Oh! It’s not going through.” The phone never went through again. This raised a suspicion of tawali (immediately). It clicked that something must be wrong. “Why would she hang it immediately?? I asked her to go for a medical check-up with me,” I asked.
I phoned my friend. “Hello,” he picked up. “Yes, dear. Are you at your clinic?” “Yes, I am,” he answered. “Okay, I am coming,” I told him. “Is everything ok?” a friend asked. “I just said I am coming, be patient,” I roughly replied.
“Boda, boda, boda, hey, boda!” The boda stop. “Take me to Life Care”, I told a boda man. At Life Care, I arrived. Sweating and feeling unwell, my friend took me inside. ‘Kong, Kong,” a knock on the door. My friend opened the door, and it was a boda man. “You have forgotten your balance.” He returned a balance of 500 SSP. I had given him 2000, and he wanted 1500. My friend took it, and he closed back the door.
Inside was me and my friend. “Are you okay?” My friend asked. “I don’t know, and that’s why I am here. Please do not bother me with a lot of queries. Just take a sample and check if I am HIV+ or not,” I answered. “No, it’s not like that. I need a history first,” he tried a joke. “How did it start?” he answered. Seeing anger boiling on my face, my friend said, it’s okay, it’s okay!” “I will, but first take a cup of tea,” he said as he moved closer to his heater and poured a glass of hot water. With a smile on his face, he said, “This is to warm your body so that the blood can flow well.”
I took the cup and sipped it. My heart was beating. My brain was contemplating a lot of things, but my friend kept cracking jokes. Here my sweat reduced a bit, and my heartbeats were now returning to normal. Then my friend was like, “For how long have you stayed without meeting a woman?” “I am not ready for all these stories, bro,” I told him. “Well, do you know that HIV doesn’t kill?! He continues. He wanted to calm me down before he could take a test, but I wanted it done. “What the hell are you talking about? Just do the shit, aku.” I almost burst him.
Well, he put back his headset, moved to the desk, and picked up some stuff. I was watching him. He came back to me and held my hand. He looked straight into my eyes and was like, “Cephas, nothing should worry you.” He said. “You are a man, and as a man, you must always be ready to embrace the realities of this life. Everything in this life is possible. HIV is possible, death is possible, and anything else can be there, but as many as you only need to accept the reality that life is above them all. I haven’t tested you yet, but if you have it, you aren’t the first man to have it on earth. Besides, people live with it and pursue their dreams, living life as normally as before. So far there are drugs for it. What makes you so afraid of it? Bro, be a man. I am going to test you and whether it’s there or not, be ready to meet life’s challenges.” He spoke to my heart. “Okay.” I beat my chest. “Just do the damn test,” I told him.
The samples were taken, the test was made, and now was the result. We waited for minutes, and it was all double red lines. I was positive! It choked my friend, and as a doctor, he couldn’t show that he was worried. He smiled and told me I was positive and that it was good to have been noticed earlier before the viral load could rise. He then counselled me. He told me to accept the reality and go on medication. He assured me that HIV doesn’t kill and further warned me to be extra careful with my health.
Very disheartening, the first hello at long last turned into HELL OO! Beauty has landed me on new ground.
Now, my advice is: be careful and always be mindful of your health before you indulge yourself relationship-wise. Excuse my English.
Thanks for reading.