The big mistake
I am in a boarding house at secondary school. Although I have friends to chat with I still have a problem. For some reason, I feel very uncomfortable around them. The reason?
They are always talking about boys who they are dating and because I don’t have one, I often find myself in a very awkward position.
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Because of the numerous boys they are dating, they seem to have enough of everything –money, provisions and clothing. I was surprised to learn from one of them that they were also dating married men.
My close pal, Diana and I were the only members in the group who didn't follow their example. As such, they were always on our necks so that we would get the kind of things they had. When we refused, they called us names like “anti-so” or “ador”
Diana was the type that could easily be persuaded. I have always known that about her so anytime I realised she wanted to change her mind, I got closer to her. It happened that I fell sick and it was so serious that I was asked to go home for a week.
In my absence, Diana run into some financial difficulties when her mother, a single parent, lost her job. So with the help from nowhere, she finally gave in to their pressure and befriended one of those old men who could even pass for her grandfather.
Dade was very rich and, therefore, showered Diana with so many gifts and money that soon she also had many things like other members of the group. When I returned to school and realised the mistake Diana had made, I advised her to break the relationship but all that she said was, ”who doesn’t like good thing?”
I told her she was too young to be in a relationship. She would not listen to the fact that the man was married and that should anything happen, he would just dump her after destroying her future.
Diana soon saw me as a stumbling block in her love life and so started avoiding me. I was hurt and wondered why she had refused to see this wisdom in what I was telling her. Diana who in the past was afraid to break school rules was now breaking them just to be with her sugar daddy.
She sneaked from school with her gang during light-out and sometimes because she was tired from lack of sleep, began to cut classes as well. Gradually, this had an effort to get her to sit up proven futile. When I realised that
Diana was not prepared to change her ways I withdrew from her. She was no longer the friend I knew. And she in turn went about life with her so called new friends.
One evening, after prep, I was lying in bed when I heard whispers. I was curious but I ignored the urge to ask what the problem was. Then the whispers intensified to the extent that I could now hear clearly what they were saying-Diana had been beaten and dragged to the headmistress‘s office by Dade’s wife, after she had caught Diana and her husband at a pub.
I did not believe this until the morning assembly when Diana’s name was mentioned by the head mistress and she was asked to face the whole school. She was described as a disgraced to the school. It was obvious that
Dade’s wife had given Diana a good thrashing, looking at the scratches all over her face.
The headmistress then advised us all, as young girls, to wait till we were fully grown before going into relationships. She said it was wrong for a young girl to get involved with married men and added that we could end up like Diana or even worse.
She said apart from being embarrassed, there was a risk of getting pregnant or contracting sexually transmitted diseases. I took her advice seriously and promised never to expose myself to the embarrassing situation Diana had found herself in.
