Musing; Tomgirl Don Fall in Love

Bode was the last of 5 children and the only girl. Growing up, for her, included playing football, climbing trees, falling through abandoned pipes that were meant for high volume water conveyance in their neighborhood, hunting and tracking rats, jumping after grasshoppers and changing car tyres. Who could blame her? Her mother, who could have salvaged her lady-likeness, had herself got so used to being among males, she was easily the sixth ‘guy’ in the house before she got a physical look-alike in Bode.

Through primary and secondary schools, Bode was always a prominent feature where girls her age did not ever dream to be seen. She could hold her own against any guy anywhere and in anything. Initially, the boys tried to intimidate her but realizing she was a ‘comrade’, they gave her backslaps, shoulder grips and welcomed her into their fold. One fine day, in her fourth year in the secondary school, she overheard some of her ‘comrades’ scheming on their plans for a day they called THE DAY. She got really interested when she realized the objects of these schemes were the ‘happening girls’ in their form. So, being one who such picaresque adventures never slipped past, she hooked on. Never in all her short life had she had such fun planning mischief.

THE DAY finally came. The excitement in the air was so thick it could be touched. Bode looked round. Was it just her or had the girls taken extra care with their looks today? Many of them had folded their skirts in to just above their knees, some had squeezed into their younger sisters’ skirts and those who didn't have sisters simply exhumed their old skirts. She saw new hairstyles all over the place. It was as if the previous day had not happened in the school. Bode wondered why girls would go to such lengths over . . . over what? She asked herself. The boys didn't seem to care if the calendar had suddenly lost its’ memory and restarted the year. Majority of them looked just as they always looked, some even scruffier. Admittedly, others looked groomed – new hairline shaping, new sneakers and yeah, some of them smelled nice, for the first time!

Locating her ‘crew’, Bode grinned, expecting a day filled with hilarious torment. Their first victim was a well-known ‘big girl’ in the entire form. She had placed herself strategically expecting a package from her beau. The package did come but it was not from whom she expected. When she saw the huge box with the glittering wrapper and the red ribbons used to bind it firmly, her heart skipped. As she expected, the delivery was made to her by a student in a junior form. Like flies to bad smelling ointment, her friends swooped on her. Didn't everyone know that a package so beautifully wrapped could contain nothing but eye popping, jaw dropping goodies? Those that were not particularly her friends stood at the perimeter of the ‘chosen’, the anticipation was high. Dili took her time unwrapping the box. The stench that hit the circle was sickening. Before her was a container of mold covered bread ‘garnished’ with toothpaste and garlic and beside it, a decomposing rat. Dili flung the box as far away from her as she could and laughter erupted from the onlookers. She rushed into the closest classroom she could find to cry her eyes out. In a corner, Bode and her comrades looked at each other and burst out laughing.

As all phases must definitely come to an end, Bode’s secondary school days were soon over. Though playful, she was a very bright girl and when the next session in her university of choice started, she became a ‘freshman’. She chose to study Mechanical Engineering. Her university days were as fun as her secondary school days, maybe even more fun. The days sped by fast and was she sad to see it all end? The compulsory youth service came and she was posted to one of the Eastern Nigeria states. That was where she got struck! It was the moment he brushed by her, almost knocked her over and in hurried apology helped stabilize her that the thought of she being all that different from guys registered to her. That brief touch ran through her like electric current. Then, she wondered, “is this it? Am I going to have my own THE DAY too someday?” The thought of what she had done in the past to other girls flooded her mind and for some seconds, remorse hit her before her natural fun nature took over. That night, as she returned to her shared room with fellow corpers, from her place of primary assignment, she reached for her diary and in it, wrote: Tomgirl don fall in love!