Wild West of the Heart
SIXTY TWO

"I dare you to—" Obi stroked his chin as well before a mischievous smirk formed on his lips. Nate narrowed his eyes at him.

"Lick your armpits" He burst out laughing and Nate almost threw a chair at him as he palmed his face. "What the fuck?" He cussed. "What kind of fetish shit are you into?" He asked, giving in. He brought his feet to the ground as he reached to unbutton his wine school shirt. Obi felt the need to turn away but he looked from the corner of his eyes. "You can look" Nathaniel suddenly said.

And Obi cleared his throat, locking eyes with Nate's amber ones. They were filled with revenge and tears that came from laughing so much. He cupped his chin with tongue out, and he at the first attempt, he licked his upper arm. Obi walked to him, holding his arms and Nate looked up to him. "You're enjoying this, right?" He whispered, being inches away from each other. He mouthed a chuckle. "You haven't done it" He said as his shirt fell to the ground. for about five seconds, they both shared an intense eye contact.

And then he briskly licked his pits, scrunching his nose in disgust. Obi pulled away, trying his best to hold in his laughter, an attempt that proved futile.

Nathaniel reached for his shirts as his eyes met the clock, a chunk of the time had hone without their knowledge and Obi hadn't even realized that. As he slipped his arms through the shirt, he asked- "Truth or dare" It was his turn. Nathaniel.

"And don't you dare say truth" He added. Obi looked to him, rolling his eyes. "For a person that claims not to be in a bubble, you sure are scared" Nate pulled his legs and he saw right through it. "I know what you're doing" He replied.

"I'm not doing shit. Same goes for you" He began buttoning his shirt, and when he was done he rested back against the table. "I'm not in a bubble" Obi replied, with mischief in his eyes. Meanwhile, in the course of the game, he had chosen not a dare.

"You know w-"

"Dare" He predictably replied and a smirk evaded Nate's lips. He was fond of rubbing his palms together whenever he was about to ask a question.

"I dare you" He hesitated a bit as his gaze lingered across Obi's body, realizing there were a million options for a dare and Obi would have to do it. But he redirected his eyes up and decided to take it easy on him.

He wasn't the type that attacked unprovoked.

"I dare you to take off five clothings off your body" He said, folding his arms and Obi turned around. "I said nothing sexual" He didn't hesitate to reply.

"It isn't sexual" Nate argued. "Besides i don't see why it couldn't even be since you're not even seeing anyone. Since you're not seeing Ab-" He was cut short by a hand in his face.

"Please don't say his name" Obi interrupted. "Or maybe you're just having a little fight" He said and he rolled his eyes. "It's none of your business" Obi flatly replied, changing his tone in that instant. And Nathaniel didn't understand why. "You don't have to do it" He mumbled as Obi kicked off his shoes. "Those are two" He pointed to the grounds and Nate surrendered his hands in the air. "Whatever you want" He replied.

Throwing his watch to the desk, he mouthed. "Three"

And then he cupped his chin as his fingers embraced his buttons, one by one he undid them. And now, it was Nate who felt the need to turn around. "You don't have to do this" He replied, free of the vibes of earlier. "Nope. I'm mot paying any stupid cash. Besides this is proof-" He paused.

"That i'm not in a fucking bubble" After each word came a frustrated pause as he tossed the shirt to the ground. But as he was about to reach for his shorts or perhaps his belt, Nathaniel just hefted up his cardigan that was spread across the chairs.

"Five" He turned around to Obi, who was in a singlet tucked in his waistband. Obi froze, realizing the only person that had seen this much of him was Abdul. And his wandering eyes didn't help much.

Instead he just walked forward, snatching the sweater from his hands."Five" He pulled off his belt, waving it in his face like a medal for not cheating. And Nathaniel just rolled his eyes.

Now, if Marissa or Collins were to walk in that very moment, it would certainly raise more questions than answers for them. It was why he hastily wore back his shirt, scrambling with the buttons. Nathaniel filled his hair with his fingers as he turned around. "I think it's your turn-" He said.

"I'm not playing anymore" Obi muttered, sitting to tie up the lace of his shoes. Thankfully when he was done, he saw it was just ten minutes left. Ten minutes that he spent in the corner of the room, his back against the back and eyes that wandered.

Nathaniel might not have understood why his mood had suddenly changed, and even it was sort of a mystery to Obi.

Because when his eyes gazed down on his body with his clothes off, he felt the dysphoria after thinking it was gone the past few weeks.

He pushed a dry lump down his throat as he held his cold palms together till he heard the sound of an unlocking door. It was then he stood, dusting off the back of his trousers.

Marissa's eyes spread between the two of them, so far away from each other and she gave way to Nathaniel that pushed first. "Same time, tomorrow"

Her voice echoed through the now empty school corridors before she looked back at Obi, who packed his books in his bags. "Spend an hour locked in with someone, you're bound to fight" She suddenly said, dangling the keys in her hand. Obi looked to her and then back in his lockers.

"You know something" He replied instead, diverting the topic. "You know what happened to the exams" He added and she looked to him.

"Why would go searching his office?" Marissa was calm, the kind of secretary that spent most of the day mute and silenced. She was always one of those slim office shirts and pencil skirts of various colors.

And she had these huge glasses he doubted were recommended, although they made her eyes seem bulgier. Not too much though, nonetheless she was cute in them. She looked like she was in her early twenties, and if in fact she was older- -Obi just assumed she had the best of genes. She had wigs for each day, a person her age didn't have so much to care about, so she gave in a handful of attention to how she looked each day. Obi's eyes went down on her before he rested back.

"I had no other choice"

"He left me with no other choice. I know what i wrote in that exam, all for it to just appear held. I know how many nights I stayed up reading for biology and literature. And government. You have to help me" He plunged himself five steps towards her.

"I'm afraid i can't help you Obi" She looked away, but Obi was close to see scarings on her neck. She always wore a scarf, and he'd realized that in that moment, she had let it go.

She turned back to him, holding up the door. "You need to leave" Her hands unconsciously made their way to the side of her neck.

"Did he hurt you?"

"Collins" Obi inched closer to her like he could even do something. But instead it just made her alot more uncomfortable. She was frantic, taking a step back. "Marissa, we can help each other out"

"Is it Collins that did that to you? Did he hurt you like he hurt my friend-" "Obi, step away from me" She held out her arm between them as his voice echoed. He halted the moment their eyes met. And he made sure she saw the tears well up in his.

He faked a well acted sob, burying his face into his elbows. Marissa rolled her eyes to the back of her head, being empathetic to a fault. It was a character Obi noticed and used against her. "Come on"

She stretched her arms out as he fell to the ground, giving an Oscar worthy performance. "Tall" She suddenly said and Obi stopped the mini play to look up in her eyes. "What?" He whispered and she nodded for him to take her palms, which he did. Dusting off his bag, he turned to her.

"He was tall, the boy on the football team. Dark hair, arm tattoo. Varsity jacket" She barely made a full sentence as Obi arched his brows at her. "What are you saying?" He asked in quagmire as she faced away. Her heels coined against the grounds as she walked all the way to lock the door.

It was then it hit Obi, with the descriptions. "Ayo?" He said, with disbelief as Marissa nodded. "He came with the tip to Collins that you cheated. It's why your results are held. You and a few others" A gasp escaped his dangling jaw as he stepped backwards.

"That son of a bitch" He remembered the exact promise he made to himself and Ola, to make both their lives miserable.

And he had succeeded the night of Hollow Fest with Mide and this was his second act. Obi knew he had to put it to an end, if at all he was to graduate that year. And for the first time, he was overwhelmed with rage and anger, the type that convinced him he could finally stand up to his bully.

-

The room was cold, certainly wasn't to the help of her nervousness as Fi shivered. Even Deborah's palms which she held was too.

And Rose, the person on the other end of the table looked to them but failed to aak any questions. Rose was comfortable with the degrees that way, somehow proving that she'd adapted to the a.c being that way.

She was on a call for about two minutes and they just sat there, waiting to be attended to, like the two hours they'd spent in the reception. "I'm sorry" She later turned to them, placing the landline back to the platform, The coil might have curled around the edge of the table but she didn't care.

She was desperate to not keep them for any longer than the sun would set. "You must be " She pointed to Deb first as she sat forward. "Deborah"

"Your mum gave me a call. She's a friend of mine back from medical school" There was a smile across her face that somehow eased the tension. But Fiyin wasn't sure she needed that, she just wanted to be done with this as fast as she could.

"It's a pity we didn't get to be gynecologist besties like we'd planned. But i'm so happy she found her footing as well" Rose nodded, a woman that was close to six feet, and still wore sinful red stilettos.

"Being a model isn't exactly in this day and age. And a successful one" She locked eyes with Fiyin, and seeing how much she shivered, the smile vanished from her face. "Are you cold?" She reached for the remote and both girls gave a frail nod. It gave a beep sound once she turned it off and then she rested back in her chairs. "So you can't travel abroad like this" She teased, an attempt to show them just how friendly and comfortable she was before they talk about the procedure. But she noticed Fiyin never said anything.

She couldn't understand what was going through her head. Actually she could, because a few years back, it was her, Rose in that chair.

And she'd wished someone had had small talks like these before sucking out a fetus from her womb. She didn't have the luxury of coming to a clinic, or even a hospital nor seeing a person in a labcoat.

Not that it was legal now anyways, but at least she made sure that girls like Fiyin didn't end up in the hands of a drop-out quack like she did. Rose stretched out her slender arms to Fiyin and she took it. "You must be Bamidele" She called her and Fi nodded before taking her hands.

"It's okay" She nodded. "You're okay"

"You have people that care about you, including me and i made sure you knew that on the call. It's a very simple procedure, which hopefully by eight to ten minutes we would be done" She nodded. "Don't fret, it isn't today. But it's soon, i called you here to have a conversation with you about your options, the risks, your decision and to tell you your feelings are valid. That your reasons are valid"

"I've been you, Bamidele. And i didn't have the luxury of this, i had a doctor that opened me while judging from above. And for years i hated myself. I think some of that ptsd is still the reason i never had children, but i can't tell my parents that" She forced a chuckle as Fiyin looked to Deb.

"You thank her mother whenever you get the chance" She added before burying her eyes in her desktop again. "A little while back, the Nigerian Society of Gynecologists supported lifting the ban on abortion but we were opposed by the people and several religious leaders. It's been years but we're still fighting for that change" She said.

"We're still fighting to take back the power of our bodies from men who know nothing about it"

"Your mother and i were part of that movement. Still are. And i'm pretty sure you know it's still very much illegal and i could lose my license" Fi was restive but she peered from behind the monitor.

"It doesn't mean i won't still do it" She paused.

"I don't care about repercussions. As long as one single person's life is changed by what i do, for the better, then it would make it all worth it" She said.

"Before i begin my questions, which are less invasive and less of who the father is, but more of how you feel. How you feel going into this-" She paused, peering from behind the monitor.

"I would love to know if yourself have any questions" Rose asked and the two of them looked to themselves. Her head was a blank page, Fiyin.

But as soon as her eyes fell on the hands that had never left Deb, she realized the only question she wanted to ask. "Can she be there?" Fiyin parted her lips to speak and Rose turned to Deborah, leaving the choice solely for her to make. She nodded, squeezing Fi's palms. "Of course i will"

-

Nigerians seldom watch foreign news.

Silva didn't even watch any news at all, between the late night club and the mornings he spent hungover, he didn't have much time for the television-

same went for the rest of the demographic that weren't half a century yet. But in that moment, his interest had piqued and he spent the entire day gathering thousands of articles of the US media. He had saved a day long worth of clips and videos of interviews and he waited till everyone was asleep before he got the plug to the television to watch it.

He'd have a much different reaction if the news were falling stock, or even a serial killer on the loose. But this one was different. From the looks of it, this was an epidemic that only affected gay men. Like he was.

It was a spear that was headed for him, and it struck a little close to home.

He couldn't fathom the fact that this was going on for close to a decade and there were only a handful of things on the internet about it. Almost like it had been censored. And it meant worse here -because no one knew of the deadly virus. And it took Jazzlyn for himself to even hear of it. He sat in front of the television, holding up the remote.

He'd pressed play on a broadcast that had aired two years back: December 15, 1999. It appeared static at first but it had cleared the next minute.

There were two men across the screen, one behind a wooden desk and the other, legs crossed. "You talk about AIDS as a judgement of God upon moral perversion in this society-" The host said and Silva narrowed his eyes at the television. "AIDS is God's judgement against the homosexuals-" Mira turned, fast asleep on the couch but the moment she saw the light on, she opened her eyes.

"Why are you still awake? Told the girls to take the night off" She muttered before falling back asleep. Silva's hands held her ankles as he shook his head.

It was then his phone rang, startling. He reached for it, but nothing could prepare him for the news he was about to receive—

Because he realized, it changed everything everyone thought they knew. "What?" He whispered.

To be continued...