Straight Boys 26 FOUND A COOL FRIEND Obi walked quietly to the place and knocked on Martin's door. Martin inquired again. Martin: Who is it? Obi: I'm sorry, it's me again. Maxine: Did you forget something, or should I open the door? Are you coming to sleep here? Obi: Martin, just open the door. Martin opened the door, and to their greatest surprise, he was not wearing any clothes, as he preferred to sleep without anything on. Obi: Ah! This boy! This guy! Wear something now! Is this how you sleep? Martin: I'm sorry, this is how I sleep. Hahaha. 😂 Obi: So when my bro used to sleep over in your room, and Mustapha too, this is how you slept, right? Martin: Yeah, this is how I sleep. Obi smiled and went to the bed, trying to get some sleep. Martin: Are you not going to get angry, shout, or go back to your brother's room instead of staying here with me? Obi: I know that’s what you want because there’s no way all those guys stayed here with you, and you’re telling me you sleep naked. Martin: Why would you say that’s what I want? Obi: You’ve been acting strange for some days now, and I know what it means, but I don’t want to do anything that both of us may not like. Martin: Obi, I am literally going to sleep naked beside you. That’s not just the problem—the other problem is, I don’t know what I do when I sleep. So you might wake up in the morning with me on top of you or you on top of me. Obi: Hahaha! Please, I want to sleep. I'm very tired. Let’s continue this funny talk in the morning. Martin: Guy, these are no jokes; I’m telling you the truth. Obi: Hahaha, oya, I’ve heard you. Just come and sleep so I can also sleep, and we’ll all be happy. Besides, once you start sleeping, you’ll forget all these things you’re talking about. Obi climbed onto the bed, trying to get some sleep. But Martin wouldn’t give up—soon after, he got on the bed after him and hugged him from behind without wearing anything. This left Obi laughing all through. Martin: You’re just laughing. Won’t you do anything? Push me, beat me, chase me away? Obi: Hahaha, just continue acting your movie. Don’t disturb my sleep. I’m very tired, and I have class tomorrow. You and I have the same lectures tomorrow. I don’t know why you don’t want to sleep, Martin. Martin started humping him from behind playfully, behaving as if he was doing the deed. Obi: Hahaha! Martin, Martin, Martin! How many times did I call you? If I feel anything—any type of thing—try to enter anywhere, I will shout, "Rape ooo!" Martin: Why haven’t you shouted since? Shout now, I’m waiting for you. Martin then slid his hand inside Obi’s singlet and started pinching his nips, trying to make him either angry or turned on. But Obi just kept laughing, feeling ticklish. When Martin realized Obi wasn’t going to budge or show any sign of anger or acceptance, he tried the next big step—putting his hand inside Obi’s boxers, trying to grab his junk. Obi: Hahahaha! Hahaha! Ahahaha! Ohoooooo! Martin! Oya, relax! Hahaha! This is so funny. Martin: I really don’t understand you. Obi: I just have one question to ask, and I need you to be honest with me. Martin: The answer is no, I am not gay. Obi: Hahaha! Guy, guy, chill, relax. You’re very funny. I wasn’t even going to ask you that. Martin: Really? What were you going to ask me? Obi: I was going to ask you what you want me to do for you so that I can have a good night’s sleep. Martin: So after all these jokes and playing, it didn’t occur to you that I wanted to do the real deal with you? This made Obi stop laughing for a bit. He sat up on the bed, removed his singlet, and covered Martin’s waist to conceal his stiff boner. Obi: Hahaha! Hahahaha! Haha! Martin: Now your life is becoming worrisome. Is it that I don’t look good? Or just tell me, what exactly is so funny about this? Obi: Haha! Martin stood up to leave the bed, but Obi pulled him back, causing him to fall on the bed with his chest resting on Obi’s lap. His singlet had moved due to the wind, so he reached for it to cover his naked friend. Obi: I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Don’t be angry. Martin: In reality, you’re the one who’s supposed to be angry, and I’m the one who’s supposed to be sorry. Some guys would have busted my head with a lot of blows or slapped the hell out of me right now. But you’re just sitting there comfortably, laughing. Why is it so funny to you? Obi: Haha! Well, it was funny because I thought you were joking, right? But it seems you’re serious about being intimate with me. Martin: Why are you not angry? And why are you not getting hard? Are you even human? Obi: Hahaha! Wait, am I supposed to be hard just because you’re naked? Martin: Yeah… maybe. Or maybe not. Obi: Haha! Okay, guy, relax first. You’re not attractive like that. Maybe to me alone, but you are. This is just not my thing, sha. Martin: Girls are your thing? Obi: Yeah, kinda. Martin: Then why did you let me touch you like that? I still believe you can do this with me. Obi: See, I had a friend in my secondary school days. If you played this kind of play with him, he would have thrown you out of this window. I swear! He wouldn’t care about the consequences. He hates gay guys like mad. Martin: Why don’t you hate them? And why are you comfortable with me? Obi: Were you seriously thinking it would be possible this night? By whitman micheal join on facebook ourstory tb Martin: "Honestly, no. I just wanted you to hate me and stay away from me like your brother." Obi: "Okay, listen now. My brother likes you. I'm sure if it were up to him to connect me with you, he would. Whatever reasons you guys had to quarrel, I think you have to find a way to settle it with him. He's a good guy. I don't think I've seen any guy as good as my brother before. "Besides, have you thought about me being around making things hard for him? Like, I got admission, and he had to run around to get more stuff, help me get into school, and do things for me. Didn't you think he was too busy doing all these things too?" Martin: "I'm so sorry. I never really thought about that." Obi: "Yeah, we don't really talk about a whole lot of things. Now, I need you to be straightforward with me. What do I have to do to sleep here in peace—both now and in the future? I don't need all this distance from you." Martin: "First of all, what am I going to be to you? Your friend, your schoolmate, or your brother?" Obi: "Martin, wait first. Are you an only child?" Martin: "Yes. Why?" Obi: "That explains a lot—a whole lot, for that matter." Martin: "Explains what?" Obi: "Well, only children—boy or girl—tend to see the world differently from those who have siblings, especially those who didn’t grow up with cousins or even children in their neighborhood. They tend to mix up emotions a whole lot, and it gets very confusing. I have a friend like that." Martin: "I don’t understand. Your friend is gay, or your friend is mixing emotions? I don’t get it." Obi: "When a child grows up alone by himself without siblings, he doesn’t understand how the world works. "You see, for me right now, I can condone some of this things because I lived a happy life with my siblings. Some people did not live happily with their siblings; some even hate each other at home, and they carry that hate outside and give it to others. Some love each other at home and carry that love outside and give it to others—just like my brother now. "though, at home, we fight. I’ve fought with my brother a lot of times, but we still make up. He is my brother; that cannot change. We will fight when we need to fight, but we are together. We are blood. You know how it goes. "But for you now, when someone shows you love, you mistake it for lust. Emotionally, you think the person is in love with you." Martin: "I did not say that you are in love with me." Obi: "You didn’t say it, but you wanted to do some naughty stuff with me. Haha." Martin: "I just wanted to do it." Obi: "Now? You just met me? you don’t have to. Maybe my brother showed you too much kindness, and you think he’s in love with you."\ Martin: "So, what now?" Obi: "I think it’s up to you. It’s very late now. Do you still want me to go back and stay in the other room, or...?" Martin: "Shut up. You’re not going anywhere. You’ve already seen me. The fact is, you are already my special half." Obi: "Hahaha! I told you, you are a very funny guy. I knew all of this was planned. I know you’re not serious about it, but somehow, my mind is telling me that you are a bit serious. "And if I had given way, you would have wanted it. But seriously, I don’t want this—at least not now, and at least not with a guy. "I just want to focus on myself right now. I have a lot of things to think about. See, my elder brother is a great guy. He went through a lot of hardships when he was in school. Do you know he had to repeat SS3 twice just because of some naughty decisions? Just like this. So, I don’t want to fall into that category, and I don’t want to go beyond what I want for myself." Martin: "So, how are you and I going to live a normal life here now? You have already seen me naked, and you already know the type of things that I can do." Obi: "Hahaha! Relax. You’re not the first guy I’m seeing naked. I grew up with brothers, right? Sometimes, three of us would bath together. So forget that one that you're talking about. Seeing you naked now is not even an issue. "The main thing is this—your touching body. Are we going to be friends? Will you be touching me like you touched me this night? Hahaha!" Martin: "Hahaha! That is what I’m trying to get from you. That is what I’m trying to know because if we are friends, there is no way that I cannot touch you when you are here." Obi: "Okay, Martin, see what’s going to happen. We are not friends. We are twin brothers. "See, we practically look alike somehow. We have the same height, the same body stature. Both of us are slim. Sha, we have flat chests. We need to go to the gym. We need to ask Big Bro where he got his gym routine. "Can’t you see how he looks with his friends? We need to go and gym—like, as in, grow muscles and become big like them. Before they graduate and then newcomers start bullying us, that is what you should be looking at. "So, no, I’m not your friend. I am now your brother, and brothers don’t do stuff like that." Martin: "But you just said now that at home, you people bathe together, and then you sleep anyhow, and they can fall on top of you in the night." Obi: "Hahahaha! Oh, oh, oh! This guy! This guy! "Okay, see, yes, I said those things. But I did not tell you that there was any time my brother slept naked. "So, if you want to be my brother and you want to be staying in this room with me, no more sleeping naked." By whitman micheal join us on facebook ourstory tb Martin: I agreed to that if you agree that at least we can be bathing together. Obi: Hahahaha! Okay, that will be absolutely only when necessary. Martin: I think that's a little... I don't need to be stupid. So I just want to be clear—are we saying that you don’t have feelings for guys, or right now in your mind, you don’t want to do anything with a guy because you want to focus? Or you don’t have anything to do with a guy at all, at all? Obi: I’ll be honest with you—I don’t want anything to do with a guy intimately. And if you respect this decision, I bet you, me and you are going to be best friends for life. I like you—you’re a chill guy, like the type of guy I want to be friends with. Just don’t bring this into our friendship. You can bring other guys that you and them will be playing this play. Just remove it from my dictionary, and me and you are good to go. Martin: Okay, all right. Let me leave you to sleep. But you see, I’m already naked, and your singlet is covering that part. I cannot go and wear anything—I just want to sleep like this, and I want to hold you this night while I sleep. Obi: Hahaha! Martin, so you’ll just enter trouble one day. They will just carry you like this and charge you for raping your roommate or your friend. You will just enter police trouble. Obi slept with his boxers on while Martin slept covering himself with his singlet. He did try to hug him, but Obi did not push him away—he just left him. And that was how their great friendship started. He found himself an understanding, non-homophobic friend. I came back in the mid-afternoon and found only Mustafa at home. Me: Where are the others? Mustafa: They all went to do something. I asked him about my brother. Mustafa: He went out with Martin? Me: martin? Mustafa: Yeah, they went out. Is there a problem with that? Me: ( sighs.) as if, you don’t know who Martin is. Mustafa: He’s just a boy, like my younger brother. Isn’t that what you used to say? Me: So I cannot express myself again? Mustafa: I didn’t say you cannot express yourself. I just assumed that’s not what you used to say. Now your real younger brother has come, you don’t want him to do anything with Martin, abi? Me: Mustafa, go away. Mustafa: So, did you brought more food for us? That woman is going to finish us with food. Me: Especially you and Ejiro. She was keen on making sure both of you are okay and eating very well. Mustafa: She’s just like my mom. Remember her? She used to feed you extra meat when you were in my house, and she forgot that I was there. Me: Guy, come here first. He was surprised I asked him to come close to me. He walked carefully, but he came close. I just gave him a snug hug. Mustafa: What happened? Did something happen at home? Me: No, nothing happened. I just had a very good time out last night with my dad and my brother. Don’t tell my other brother—we went out; he’d be furious. Mustafa: Ah, you have to pay me. You have to pay me big money so that I will close my mouth. If not, I will tell him things happening behind him in his own house. Me: What do you want? Mustafa: No sharing of room with anybody except you for like one month. Me: You’re not serious. If you want something, just say it—don’t stay there and be joking. Mustafa: Haha! You know it’s been long since we actually had time together, just the two of us. Me: You know that we’ve had a lot on our plates since. Besides, why I was calling—a detective called me again and asked me to move our meeting to Friday. Saturday was not available again, so we have to go and see them on Friday. Thank God it’s Friday, when we do not have school. Do you think we should still get ourselves a good lawyer, or should we just go meet them? Mustafa: Here’s what I think—this is police, two things are involved. If we’re now going there to meet them with a lawyer, we should at least look for another uniformed personnel that is going to follow us. You know we are ex-boys—we can call for help from the barracks, just for them to send at least two or three soldiers to escort us so that they will know something is up. They won’t look at us like idiots. Me: I like that idea. I remember the last time I did something like that in my house—it was chaotic. Mustafa: Do you know that you, yourself, right now, are chaotic? Me: Hahaha! Just tell me—what did you guys have for breakfast? Mustafa: Well, nothing so much, just bread. Me: Who bought bread? Mustafa: Do you think you are the only Father in the house? We have to fend for ourselves now. Larry bought bread. I think he got some money from the pastor of his church—the one he uses to take care of himself, not his school fees. So, he just bought bread for us this morning. We are going to eat both in the afternoon and dinner today because no one is going to school. They just went out. But I will not be cooking dinner again since you brought fresh soup from home. Me: Let’s save this one now and use some of the ones that are in the refrigerator. Let’s keep this one—this one is still new. Let’s eat the old ones first. Mustafa: Stay there and keep speaking English. Let’s do this, let’s eat. Something tells me that woman prepared this food for me. Me: Haha! Okay, if you insist. I cannot stop you from eating your mother’s food. Mustafa: I noticed you didn’t speak to Martin for like these days, or should I say since the day of the brother came. You’ve been acting somehow. Don’t lie to me—I know before, you were always with him. You couldn’t stand anywhere without him; the two of you were always together. So what happened? Me: Nothing happened. Let’s leave that talk. By whitman micheal Mustafa: "When others ask you what happened, you tell them, 'Let's leave that talk.' You don’t tell me, 'Let's leave that talk,' because you know that we are the talk. So tell me, did he force you to do it with him like he forced me to do it with him?" Me: "They are very funny. Yes, he did, but that is not the main reason." Mustapha: "I know the main reason. It feels funny with your brother around and all the love you were giving to Martin. Now, it feels somehow, sharing the same love between him and your brother, so I understand." Me: "That’s why you are my best friend in the whole wide world. I didn’t have to tell you anything; you just understood everything." Mustafa: "Kai, aboki, you had two brothers before at home, right?" Me: "Yes, I do." Mustafa: "So what is the problem? Just imagine to yourself that your two brothers are here in school. Give them the same care, the same love. Don’t make one more important than the other. Make sure you look at them the same way every time, and then, what you divide by four, one bites for the other person. Do not allow one to be more important than the other, and then you are good to go." Me: "That is easy for you to say, but you know Martin will not just be a brother. There is that other stuff that happens in the dark." Mustafa: "Kai, that one has to stop! It is not hard to stop. You have a discussion with him privately, take him somewhere, and have a talk with him. You guys should decide on how it will go. Tell him to make his choice. Is he going to have you as his friend while doing that stuff with you, or is he going to remain your brother? Toh, if he says he is going to remain your friend, that means you don’t have to treat him like a brother anymore. But if he says he wants to be your brother, then whatever you do for your brother, you do for him. Sekena!" Me: "When was the last time you and I had a long talk? Every time you speak, you just make me proud to have you as my friend and brother." Mustapha: "Kai, Emeka, you need to work on yourself. You need to know what is wrong with you. Everybody around you cannot become your brother. You need to differentiate between your brother and your friend." Me: "You are very funny right now. Are you still angry at me because I did not agree to your terms and conditions?" Mustafa: "You are just on your own. Besides, I have something I want us to talk about. Our business is growing, and there’s less space for us to keep our stuff inside this room. Now your brother has come with his own stuff. I’m beginning to think we should consider Tunde’s idea of getting a flat. There will be enough space. We can use the big sitting room as our workspace for our machines and customers, while the rooms will be for sleeping and other things." Me: "No, Mustapha, I have also thought about the idea, but..." Mustafa: "Yes, the last time we spoke about it, you brought up the issue of Martin. Now, is Martin still the issue?" Me: "No, not at all. He’s no longer the issue. The issue now is that we are eight boys, Mustapha—one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! We are eight boys. How many bedrooms do we want to rent? Is it a two-bedroom or a three-bedroom? We will still be eight boys! Where are we all going to sleep?" Mustafa: "I've asked you to stop worrying about nonsense. If we can afford the cost of house rent, where we are going to sleep is not going to be an issue. If we get a three-bedroom flat, we divide ourselves, three-three in each room. The last two people will stay in the sitting room, which is going to be wide enough for everybody. In fact, there will be space everywhere. Toh! There will be space! But inside this tiny hostel room, we have little or no space." Me: "All right. When Tunde gets home, bring up this topic so that we can speak on it again. Then we can assign two, three, or four people to start looking for a place. I think it’s better, and I will tell Larry and Nats not to rent the house they wanted to rent before, so we can join all the money together and get ourselves something good and better." Mustafa: "As you wish, Daddy. Welcome back, Daddy!" Then a knock came at the door, and Mustafa went to open it. It was Emma, our rich neighbor. Mustafa: "Ah, Oga Emma, welcome ooo!" Emma: "Thank you. Please, President, I want to see you." Mustapha: "Yes, he’s right here. Excuse me, sir, you said you want to see him?" I still talked from the bed, laughing at the joke Mustapha made. As I got to the door, he ran away and went inside. I followed Emma outside to the balcony, where I usually played around with Tunde. Emma: "So sorry, sir. Please, I want to see you about Larry." Morals Do you have a good friend—one who allows you to joke around, play in a mischievous way, and do unusual things without complaining? Do they laugh along with you? That is not an invitation to continue being an idiot. Respect boundaries, and respect yourself. Do you have a friend who knows you are different but still chooses to be by your side? They always support you and stand by you. Do not take that for granted by treating them poorly or making them feel worthless for being there. Respect yourself, and respect their boundaries. Do you have a friend who jokes around with gay humor or makes playful, flirtatious comments? That is not an invitation to act on those jokes in real life. Respect yourself, and respect their boundaries. Just because someone isn’t shouting at you, pushing you away, or hitting you doesn’t mean they feel the same way as you. Some people are simply understanding and kind. Not every friend is homophobic, and not every friend is accepting. There are cruel people in the world who would rather see you suffer than accept you for who you are. Be mindful of this reality. Do you hate gay guys or gay girls? Yes, there are people who hate themselves and, in turn, direct that hatred toward others like them. But that does not justify or give you the right to cause harm to anyone. If you struggle with self-acceptance, find a way to love yourself. Being different does not mean your life is over. There are countless beautiful and great things you can achieve, even by being different. Just make sure you are always doing what is right—your identity is not an excuse to make the wrong choices. Just because someone is different does not give you the right to invite harm upon them, hurt them, or steal from them. If you do, you are still a criminal, and there is no moral justification for it. Do not mistreat people just because they are different. Respect yourself, and respect their boundaries. Do not go around forcing people to do what they don’t want to do. Respect yourself, and respect your boundaries. By Whiteman Michael Join us on Facebook at Our Story. Like, share, and comment! Give us at least 200 likes to unlock the next chapter. I hope you are enjoying these daily posts. Everything must come to an end someday—except you keep up the likes and comments up. thank you for being here. Your Anonymous Sponsor loves you. By Whiteman Michael