Teen Spirit: Part 2

Damilola is around!!!

Sally, weirdly, wasn’t excited at the text message she’d just received from Cynthia. Certain circumstances in her life changed dramatically after her last encounter with Damilola Taylor. So many sad occurrences that made her not want to think of him and ruin the relationship she’d suddenly formed with depression. She stared at her pimply face in the mirror with resignation and a forlorn sigh. Not that she planned to go to Apapa for any reason but what if the fates magically arranged a meeting with her and Damilola? He would be disgusted at her face. This was the face of a disillusioned ‘about-to-be-an-adult’ girl whose previously mediocre standard of living had been rudely plunged into outright poverty. She did not even want to consider her mother’s hand in their unfortunate circumstance.

Two months after her meeting with Damilola, their landlord had gleefully thrown them out of their tiny apartment at Point Road in Apapa. Apparently, her mother had been owing rent for several years. Sally couldn’t bear the shame, especially as neighbors had been around to witness their shameful eviction. She and her mother had had no choice but to go live with a Church member for 6 months. But even that had quickly gone awry when the lady realized that an unusual amount of red wine was the only way Mama Sally could cope with depression and her rising dementia. With some luck, the pastor of their church had coughed up money for accommodation for Sally and her mother, and that was how a bonafide Apapa girl became an Isheri-white sand resident.

Sally hated their new abode, hated the area, and hated her mother for putting them in that position. Worst still, she was still a virgin at 19, and suddenly, she hated Damilola for not taking her roughly that night, when he had the chance. Lord knows she’d had endless dreams, day-dreams, fantasies of Damilola, his water-shrunken p£nis and their midnight swim. She was tired of the dreams now and furiously blocked them with thoughts of death, depression, and everything negative that would keep her in constant grouch-mode. They’d moved out of Apapa so disgracefully that Sally couldn’t bring herself to go back there, even to visit Cynthia, her best friend. She’d managed to get admission into Lagos State University the following year and had fought tooth and nail to live in a semi-hostel near the school, away from her mother. That move was obviously the reality check that Mama Sally needed to get her life back on track. The woman cleaned up her act, started a relationship with a man Sally tolerated, and now seemed a lot less paranoid about her daughter. Though Sally could still see the traces of madness lurking in her mother’s eyes… to all intents and purposes, all was good in Mama Sally’s hood!

Sally read the text message one last time and deleted it. Cynthia knew she was still hung up on Damilola and made it her business to update Sally constantly on any and every Damilola-related news. She thought it would cheer Sally up, sadly, she thought wrong! It only served to depress her even more. To ensure that she got no more messages from Cynthia, Sally switched off her phone and returned to her listless, insipid life in the hostel.

A week later, she had a shocker.

Sally had gone home for the weekend to harass her mother for pocket money when their doorbell rang. It was Cynthia. Since Mama Sally’s attitude adjustment, she’s been far more favorably disposed to Cynthia’s presence, mainly because she knew that was one person who could reach her daughter when she herself couldn’t. Mama Sally’s smile was welcoming. Mama Sally’s lover was seated on the couch like an effigy, pretending to watch the early evening news.

“Cynthia… How are you? See how you've put on weight…” This was Mama Sally’s idea of a welcome greeting.

“I’m fine ma… Good evening, sir…” Cynthia said shyly.

“How are your parents and siblings? It’s been a long time o… If not that Sally told me you visit her in school sometimes, I would have thought you and her are no longer friends…”

Sally was a bit relieved to see Cynthia, but she was even more curious. She grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen unceremoniously, leaving her mother and the lover in the living room.

“Haba Sally… Your Momsie was still talking to me…” Cynthia said with a disapproving frown.

“Leave that woman abeg. I want to know WHY you are here!” Sally replied.

“What? I can’t come and see my best friend again?” Cynthia asked with a saccharin smile.

“You usually let me know before you come over, and besides, you don’t like coming here. You’d rather visit me at school. So why are you in Isheri at 5 pm, on a Saturday, acting like one innocent nun?” Sally’s suspicion had mounted.

Cynthia laughed at her obvious suspicion, shook her head, and told her… “You know say you dey behave like ogbanje shey?”

Sally trained her with a cold stare. “Cynthia, I’m not in a good mood. Momsie is being stingy, and I have to return to school tomorrow… I want to know what you’re doing here.”

“Abegi… you’re never in a good mood. At least your mother is happier now that she has a boyfriend, and she doesn’t see to your life like she used to. But YOU, with your grouchy behavior, will die a bitter virgin. By the way, let me just use this opportunity to tell you that your behavior is rubbish, and if you continue this way, you will have no friends in the future.

Sally sighed in resignation. She could see that she had managed to tick Cynthia off… and yes, she knew her attitude was stank; she’d been unnecessarily testy since she found out that Damilola was in Nigeria, but what irritated her was how Cynthia stopped updating her about it for a full week. Though she hadn’t responded to Cynthia’s text message telling her that Damilola was in Nigeria, she hadn't expected her not to call or text her with further gist. She also didn’t know that Cynthia was coming over.

“Ok, fine. My attitude is bad, but why didn't you call to tell me you were coming? What if I were still in school?

Cynthia gave her a dirty look. “I saw your Facebook post nah. Anyway, I only came here because Damilola asked after you.” Cynthia said flippantly.

“Hoin…???” Sally sounded confused.

“This afternoon, I saw him drive past, so I hailed him and asked him for the chocolates that he promised me the last time he was in Nigeria. That's when he said I will only get the chocolate if he sees YOU!”

Sally’s heart stopped beating, literally. She couldn’t believe what Cynthia had just told her. Damilola wanted to see her? Dear God…why?

“Anyway, I told him to give me transport money to come and get you. I thought he was joking and would brush me off… Instead, he asked me how much I needed for Uber. To cut a long story short, Madam Sally, go and bathe, change, and get ready to follow me back to Apapa. I must chop UK chocolate today even if I have to drag you away from here, kicking and screaming!!!”

Sally gawked at her friend in speechless surprise. Taking matters into her hands, Cynthia returned to the living room and sweetly asked Mama Sally if Sally could follow her back to their home in Apapa for a sleepover. Mama Sally agreed quickly; anything to get her daughter out of the house and out of her hair.

“Of course, Sally can go with you. You know you’re the sister she never had. You’re family, Cynthia… She’s even supposed to go back to school tomorrow. Sally, won’t it be easier if you pack your bags and return to school from Cynthia’s place in Apapa.”

Her mother wanted her out of the house. It was obvious she wanted some alone time with her lover. Sally guessed that there was no point arguing, so she packed up her things, showered, and stretched forth her hand for her pocket money. Her mother handed her an envelope, and Sally knew instinctively that she was getting less than she asked for.

Cynthia and Sally left the house and got an Uber that ferried them straight to Apapa. They arrived at Apapa at little past 8:30 pm, no thanks to the demonic traffic all around. Sally expected them to head for Cynthia’s house first so she could drop her bag, but instead the Uber stopped in front of the Taylors’ residence. Sally turned to Cynthia nervously.

“Shouldn’t we have gone to your house to drop my bag first?”

Cynthia gave her an incredulous look. “Do you know what time it is? It’s almost 9 pm. You think if I enter the house with you, my mom will allow us to stroll out again? Abeg, we’re here… Let Damilola see you, give me my chocolate, probably take us to eat shawarma, then we will go home.”

Sally couldn’t argue with that, but where would she keep her bag? She couldn’t meet Damilola, face to face, after two years, with a student backpack and an unmade-up face. Luckily, the Taylor’s security guard was a good spot. He allowed Sally to keep her bag in his small security post and even gave the girls a few minutes to rush through make-up before buzzing Damilola on the intercom to announce their presence. A few minutes later, Sally and Cynthia were ushered to another wing of the house. It had obviously been newly renovated because Sally couldn’t recall seeing it the last time they were here, 2 years ago. She stood beside Cynthia, her heart in her mouth, wondering why Damilola wanted to see her and if this wasn’t some big prank on Cynthia’s part. The door opened, and standing there, looking like a bag of gold coins, was Damilola Taylor. He was more muscular, more handsome, taller, and so, so desirable. He smiled at them both and uttered the words that melted her heart…

“Hi, beautiful Sally….”

His eyes burned her like a fever, but his smile was bright and genuine. Sally felt that weird heat between her thighs again. She had only ever felt once before, and that was during her n@ked swim with Damilola two years ago. She entered the house self-consciously, walking past Damilola and trying hard not to faint. There were three other guys in the spacious living room, playing PS5 and arguing loudly. Sally didn’t know what to expect on seeing him and didn’t quite know how to act. Cynthia, on the other hand, bloomed before her eyes at the sight of Damilola’s friends. She joined the friends, started up conversations, and was soon cheering one of the guys on like a besotted girlfriend. Sally shook her head in mock pity. She loved Cynthia, but her friend had the trappings of a “hoe”.

“Eheh, Dammy, where’s my chocolate? See Sally here o…” Cynthia piped up gleefully.

Sally almost died of embarrassment. She felt like a cheap ornament used for barter trade. She plotted Cynthia’s death in her head. Damilola chuckled and turned to look at Sally. There was something in his eyes anytime he looked at her, but she couldn’t decipher what it was.

“Okay! The chocolate is upstairs… Let’s go and get it. He turned to look at Sally with a mischievous smile. Sally, aren’t you coming?”

Sally, still tongue-tied, followed Damilola and Cynthia up the stairs to a spacious bedroom with a king-sized bed. The room was typically male, scattered, and untidy but not dirty. It was very cold, despite the Air Conditioner being off, and Sally shivered a little. Apparently, Damilola hadn’t unpacked his luggage because his suitcase was on the floor, open, with clothes spilling out. He reached into it and got out a box of chocolates, which he handed over to Cynthia. She took it and flew into Damilola’s arms in appreciation. He hugged her and laughed. Sally stood by silently, feeling like an intruder.

“I’m not giving you any chocolate from my stash o, Sally. If you want, you’d better ask Dammy for yours.” Cynthia announced greedily.

Sally gulped as both Damilola’s and Cynthia’s eyes stayed on her. Sally stared at them, without a word, looking unsure and a little uncomfortable being there. Cynthia rolled her eyes and shook her head at her. She thought Sally’s behavior and inability to warm up to the situation were embarrassing. She stylishly gesticulated at Sally, urging her to say something. But before Sally could speak, Damilola spoke up…

“I wanted to see you because I thought you’d be all grown up and matured, but apparently, you’re still the timid, insecure 17-year-old girl that left my house crying because she couldn’t find her friend…” Damilola said with a little irritation. Then he shook his head and walked out of the room with a disappointed frown.

Cynthia gave her a disdainful look.“See your life? This attitude you have, ehn, Sally, it will ruin things for you. You like Dammy, and I think he likes you, too, but I don’t even know what’s wrong with you. You have your mom’s character, and it's bad. Abeg let’s go before you fall my hand more than this.”

Cynthia turned and walked away. Sally stood frozen and immobilized in Damilola’s bedroom.

She sat on the bed, paralyzed with shock at what had just happened. This was not how she’d dreamt it would be. This was not the expected outcome. She was supposed to be in Damilola’s arms, lost in his kisses, pressing against him till his manhood poked her belly. She’d read enough and even heard enough s£x stories to make her confident that she would be good at it. Unfortunately, she had succeeded in making him hate her and felt her heart breaking into tiny, fragmented pieces. She bawled on the inside, but the tears didn’t flow… Couldn’t flow.

Sally stared unseeingly ahead; images of her millions of daydreams flashed before her eyes and burst into tiny flames…lost forever. She had killed the chance to provide Damilola with the perfect chubby, dimpled baby that would smell of baby powder and would have soft, downy hair and a cherubic smile. Cynthia was right. She was like her mother, a dream-crusher.

Lost in her mournful reverie, she didn’t realize that Damilola had returned. He stood by the door and stared at her, wanting to apologize for his outburst, but she looked like a lost antelope, and the apology caught in his throat. Taking a deep breath, he walked up to her. Sally snapped out of her thoughts as soon as Damilola’s tall frame darkened her line of vision. She looked up at him in regret and blurted out the first thing that came to her head before her nerve failed her.

“I’m sorry, Dammy, I didn’t mean to upset you. I know I act weird, but I can’t help myself…”

The tears had welled up in her eyes, and she turned to run away so he wouldn’t see her cry. She was mortified at how easy it was for her to break out the waterworks around Damilola. But he held her back, pulled her close, and embraced her. Locked in his embrace, she recalled his pained outburst. Her initial mortification and eventual regret turned into despair, and she let the tears flow. He held her in silence as she bawled out her shame and misery. He said nothing. He didn’t speak words of consolation, but he held her close till her tide of emotional tears subsided. Then she stepped back with a wry smile, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I’m sorry……”

“Stop apologizing, I should be the one apologizing to you.” He said to her softly. “Listen, I want to show you something.”

He moved away from her gently and turned abruptly to go squat down next to his suitcase. He rifled through briefly and got out a gift bag, which he handed to her. She looked at it in surprise.

“This is for you…”

She was puzzled by the gift, yet she smiled and took it.

“Thank you, Dammy. This is so unexpected.”

“Aren’t you going to open it?” He asked with a small smile.

She shyly peeked into the bag, gasping in surprise as she saw its contents.

“Wow! I’m — I’m — Wow!!!”

Her obvious delight pleased him.

“Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!!” She said and hugged him.

Damilola hugged her back, noting that her br£asts were pressed against him. He felt stirrings in his loins and gently pulled away. Sally was beautiful in a way that constantly enthralled him. She was taller now; her hair seemed longer, her naturally full br£asts seem bigger, and she had mysteriously grown hips that made her look so feminine. He clearly remembered her boyish figure from their midnight swim 2 years ago, and the sudden emergence of curves on her body left him with mixed feelings.

“Let me go and show these to Cynthia…” She said excitedly, but he stopped her.

“Don’t! She’ll harass me for a gift bag too, and I don’t have any to give her.”

Sally giggled. She could actually visualize Cynthia harassing him for her own gift bag.

“I can’t take it downstairs without Cynthia seeing this. And my backpack is at your security post.” Sally explained.

“Really? Why did you leave it there? Did the security tell you to leave it there?” He seemed genuinely puzzled that she would leave her bag with his security man.

“No. I dropped it there because I didn't want to drag my heavy bag into your house. I’m going back to school tomorrow, so I’ve got stuff packed in it.” She explained.

Damilola gave her a strange, speculative look. Sally’s smile faltered a little, and she hoped she hadn’t unwittingly done something weird.

“Let me go ensure that my friends haven’t killed themselves and use that opportunity to bring your bag up here.” He told her with a small smile before leaving the room.

Sally wondered briefly at Damilola’s sudden change of mood, but the gift bag didn’t make her dwell on it so much. She poured the bag's contents onto the bed with a huge smile. She didn’t know much about gifts, but she knew he must have spent quite a bit on this. There was a 100ml designer perfume, two tiny, cute sample-sized perfume bottles, and sunglasses in their case. Then there were little Knick-knacks like cute sterling silver charm bracelets, a lovely Fitbit watch, lip-gloss chocolates, and surprisingly, a bunch of mint sweets. She refused to ponder the reason for the gifts, and for the first time in a long time, she allowed her thoughts to drift to her favorite Damilola daydream. She lay back on the bed, closed her eyes, and drifted into daydreamland.

Damilola returned to find Sally lying on the bed, her eyes closed and a bright smile on her face. He knew she wasn’t asleep because her feet moved in a steady rhythm, like car wipers. Her T-shirt had ridden up a little, and he could glimpse her flat stomach. He felt the stirrings of need again and turned to lock the door behind him as quietly as he could, but still, it made a ‘click’ sound, and Sally opened her eyes. She smiled at him as he walked towards her and sat beside her on the bed. She was embarrassed that she had poured the contents of the gift bag out and hurriedly packed it up. He sat there, watching her with a smile and darkened eyes. Trying to make light of the suddenly charged atmosphere between them, she started a conversation.

“I’m sure Cynthia is wondering why you brought my bag upstairs,” she said.

“She was. I told her you wanted to get something from it,” he responded.

“Didn’t she ask why I’m still up here?”

“She did. I told her I wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier,” he explained.

Silence fell between them; then he reached for her hand.

“You know I like you, right?” He asked her. She nodded shyly and avoided his gaze.

He tipped her chin up so he could look into her eyes and moved closer to her. A million thoughts zoomed through her head, but she tried hard to remain focused and calm.

“Have you been kissed before?” he asked her gently. Sally shook her head shyly, averting her eyes. Damilola tipped her chin up again to make sure she looked at him.

“Do you want to be kissed?” Sally nods, unable to speak.

Damilola smiles. “OK. I’ll teach you. But first, you have to pay me.”

Sally’s eyes widen in surprise. “Pay you? With what?”

“With one mint sweet I got for you,” Damilola said mischievously.

“Ah… that one is small. Lemme even give you two mint sweets.”

Damilola threw back his head and laughed heartily. This was the first time Sally had ever seen or heard him laugh, and she loved it. He looked even more handsome when he laughed.

“You’re really gonna give me an extra mint sweet? Is that supposed to be for extra kissing lessons?” he asked, still laughing.

“Maybe…” Sally smiled mischievously.

“OK, done! I accept your offer of one mint sweet for kissing lessons and another mint sweet for extra lessons. You have a deal!” Damilola offered her his hand, and Sally shook it like a serious businessman.

Then she handed him the two mint sweets with a comical flourish that made Damilola laugh out loud again. Sally felt her discomfort disappearing and slowly began to relax. Damilola opened one sweet and popped it into his mouth. Then he turned to Sally with a mischievous yet daring look.

“Time for your kissing lesson, Miss Sally. First thing you'll do, get the sweet out of my mouth, using your mouth.”

Sally froze in disbelief. She looked at Damilola with trepidation, her heart suddenly drumming insanely.

"M-my-my mouth?" she stammered. 

"Yes.Your mouth! It's supposed to be a kissing lesson, and your mouth is required, Sally," he quipped.

Sally began to fidget. Her discomfort swooped back in like an evil spirit to chase away whatever relaxation she had begun to feel. But Damilola had made up his mind that he would not allow her abrupt mood switch to deter him from his kissing mission. He moved closer and leaned towards her till his mouth was barely an inch from hers.

"Take the sweet from my mouth, Sally,' he commanded softly.

Taking a deep breath, Sally leaned forward till her lips touched Damilola's, and then he kissed her, slowly and gently, prying her lips open and using his tongue to push the mint into her mouth. A sudden fear and excitement gripped her and made her heart pound furiously.

*Watch out for the sizzling (R18+) Part 3 finale*