TEMPTED SOUL
Chapter 4

As he moved his hand slowly and reached out to my breast, he grabbed it and gave it a very soft, romantic squeeze. At first, I started feeling the emotion and sensation running down to my thinking faculties and I let out a very sweet melodious tune, moaning out in pleasure,

“Ahhh! Ohh!” The feeling was absolutely out of this world. He continued with his gut. By this time, I’d come back to my senses and realized that Alfonso was trying to have his way with me.

“Stop it! Stop it! I said, stop it!!! What are you doing to me?” I blurted out in rage. Then, I gave him a Bianca slap on his cheeks and pushed him away. He fell off my body and lay on the bed without uttering a word. He was just staring at me like deaf and dumb. I was mad at him for attempting that.

“Because I followed you to your house, does that give you the audacity, temerity, or effrontery to attempt to take advantage of me? Are you out of your mind? All of you men are just the same, wanting sex and nothing more.” I fired as I stood up from the bed, reached out for my bag, and headed to the door.

Alfonso quickly stood up from the bed and followed me. “Please, don’t leave me. I am so sorry for trying to do that. I promise I will never try that in my life again with you. Please,” he pleaded as he grabbed my hand, knee down.

I returned my gaze and stared into his cold eyes and innocent face. I could see tears trying to build up while begging. I gently held him up, and though I didn’t know what came over me, I started smiling as though he hadn’t done anything to me,

“Promise me you’ll never do it again?” I asked, “I promised you. Trust me, I will not try it again. If I try it, cut off my manhood.” he whispered in an affirmative tone. From his look, I could read from his mind that he meant what he said.

“I don’t like to be touched by a man who is not my husband. I am still a virgin and I am not ready to defile my body. I will only submit my body to the man who will get married to me, my future husband, and not to anyone else.” I said in retaliation.

I could remember my mother lecturing me about sex education, the sweetness, and the bad outcome of it. My mother was a victim of sex, and that was the reason she got married to a poor man who was unable to take proper care of her. She got pregnant with my father and that was the end of her dream. She ended up being a nursing mother in a poor home.

According to my mother, she was enjoying regular sex and never took time to think about the future. “These men would come; they would always appear good, nice, and sweet. They will promise you heaven and the earth just to have their way with you. Once they get you pregnant, you become a dirty plate that has been used, a dirty piece of cloth that is not worth wearing. So, my daughter, shine your eyes and don’t let anything pleasure you into having sex when you are not yet married.” My mother’s advice came to my mind.

When it comes to sex education, my mother was a good educator in that aspect. She will teach you without shame. She will mention the word “sex” very loudly. I could remember a day my mother spanked my ass and said, “This thing, don’t let any man touch it. I and your future husband are the only ones who have the right to touch it. Though, I was shy and blushing.

Just then, my phone started ringing out loud. I reached out for it and glanced at the screen. It was my elder brother calling, “Hello, Nkem, where are you? I am here to pick you up.” My brother said, almost at a time.

So, I told him I was coming in a jiffy and hastened to meet up with him. As I was about to go out, Alfonso handed me a piece of paper that contained his phone number. “Please call me when you get home,” he said, and I agreed as I hurried out of the house to the main road.

After that night, I didn’t tell my brother anything pertaining to Alfonso, nor did I relate it to my mother. I decided to swallow it into my stomach. I forgot to call him as I promised to. And since that very day, I’ve never seen him come around and he was no longer reflecting in my memory that I had meant a guy named Alfonso before.

One Saturday morning, I was packing my dirty clothes outside to wash, including the ones of my brother and mother. Then, I saw a piece of white paper fall off among the heaps of clothes. When I bent down and picked it up, I realized it was Alfonso’s phone number. Ah, I was surprised to see it.

Later in the day, I called him and he was surprised I called. He thought I’d forgotten him. He thought that I was no longer going to talk to him again, but I told him I forgot to call him and apologized.

We discussed a lot of things, and we got to know more about each other. Him, he said he was a graduate of Business Management. He told me he had lost his rich parents in a ghostly air crash while on their way to the land of South Africa. It was a sad tale to tell.

He told me about his ruthless uncle, who had illegally taken away everything that his late parents had ever worked for. However, I felt pity for him and sympathized with him as a close friend. Gradually, Alfonso and I became good friends. In fact, I fell in love with him because he seemed to be very nice and someone who had a great sense of humour. At a certain time, Alfonso called me on the phone and told me he needed some money to venture into business.

“Nkem, if you can help me with 10 million naira from your business, I promise I will pay you back in interest.” He cried on the phone,

“I am managing this business for my brother. Forget the fact that I told you I own the business. This is not my business, sorry, I can’t take such an amount of money from the business please.” I declined his request, but he kept on pleading for it.

“Please do it for me, for the love that you have for me. Do it for our love. I promise you I will never disappoint you on this. You’ll surely get a reward from this when the time comes. Besides, you won’t let your brother know about it,” he pleaded one more time. I told him I needed to think about it and decide what to do next.

“There is nothing to think about. You said you love me. Why can’t you prove the love you have for me now?” To me, this was a very difficult and risky decision to make and not just all about proving my love for him.