you before you had it done,” he said. “The scalpel that they use is treated by Aro. There’s juju on it that makes it so that a woman feels pain whenever she is too aroused … until she’s married.”
AFTER HE LEFT, I went to my room and wept. It was all I could do to curb my fury. Now I understood why a scalpel was used instead of a laserknife. A scalpel, simpler in design, was much easier to bewitch. Aro. It was always Aro. For most of the night, I considered the many ways I could hurt that man.
I considered ripping the gold chain from my waist and spitting the stone in the garbage, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Somewhere along the way, these two items had become part of my identity. I’d have felt so ashamed without them. I didn’t sleep a wink that night. I was too angry at Aro and too afraid of another visit from my biological father in my sleep.
The next night, I slept only out of pure exhaustion. Thankfully, there was no red eye. By the time I met up with Binta and Diti after school the next day, I felt a little better.
“You know that photographer? I heard all his nails had fallen off,” Diti said, playfully rolling her diamond in her mouth as she spoke.
“So?” I said, leaning against the school wall.
“So that’s disgusting!” Binta snapped. “What kind of man is that?”
“Where’s Luyu?” I asked, changing the subject.
Diti giggled. “She’s probably with Kasie. Or Gwan.”
“I swear, Luyu will fetch the highest bride price,” Binta said.
Had any of these boys tried to touch Luyu? “What of Calculus?” I asked.
Calculus was Luyu’s favorite. He was also the boy who scored highest in math class. All three of my friends had several suitors, Luyu having the most, then Diti. Binta refused to talk to any of hers. We were still chatting when Luyu came around the corner. There were dark circles under her eyes and she walked bent forward.
“Luyu!” Diti screamed. “What happened?!”
Binta started crying, grabbing Luyu’s hand.
“Sit her down!” I shouted. Luyu’s hands shook as they made and unmade fists. Then her face squeezed and she shrieked in pain.
“I’ll go get someone,” Binta said jumping up.
“No!” Luyu managed to say. “Don’t!”
“What happened?” I said.
The three of us crouched around her. Luyu stared at me with wide hollow eyes. “You … you might know,” she said to me. “Something’s wrong with me. I think I’m cursed.”
“What do you …?”
“I was with Calculus.” She paused. “… at the tree with the bushes around it.”
We all nodded. It was where students went for privacy.
Luyu smiled despite herself. “I’m not like you three. Well, maybe Diti will understand.” Binta reached into her satchel and handed Luyu a bottle of water. Luyu took a sip. Then she spoke with a rage I didn’t know she was capable of. “I tried, but I enjoy it,” she said. “I’ve always enjoyed it! Why shouldn’t I?”
“Luyu what …” Diti began to say.
“Kissing, touching, intercourse,” Luyu said, looking at Diti. “You know it. It’s good. We learned that early.” She looked at Binta. “It’s good when it’s right. I know that no man is to touch us now, and I tried!” I took her hand. She snatched it away.
“I’ve tried for three years. Then Gwan came one day and I let him kiss me. It was good but then it was bad. It … made me hurt! Who did this to me? No one can just …” she was breathing too heavily. “Soon we’ll be eighteen, fully fledged adults! Why wait until marriage to enjoy what Ani gave me! Whatever the curse, I wanted to break it. I’ve been trying … Today it felt like I was going to die. Calculus refused to continue …” She looked beyond me, and screamed, “Look at him!”
We all turned to see Calculus standing behind the schoolyard fence. He quickly started walking away. “I’m not going to be the one who kills you!” he shouted.
“Ani will make your penis curl!” Luyu shouted.
“Luyu!” Diti screeched.
“I don’t care,” Luyu said, looking away.
“It’ll pass,” I said. “You’ll feel better in a few minutes.” It wasn’t the first time I’d seen her like this. That day she walked right past me looking sick, I thought.
“I’ll never feel better,” she said.
“Is it a curse?” Binta asked me.
“I don’t think so,” I said, annoyed that they thought I knew all about curses.
“It is,” Diti said. “Two years ago, I let Fanasi … touch me. We were kissing and … I hurt so badly that I started crying. He took offense and still won’t speak to me.”
“It’s not a curse,” Binta suddenly said. “It’s Ani protecting us.”
“From what?” Luyu snapped. “From enjoying boys? I don’t want that kind of protection!”
“I do!” Binta retorted. “You don’t know what’s good for you. You’re lucky that you aren’t pregnant! Ani protected you. She protects me. My father …” She slapped her hand over her mouth.
“You father what?” Luyu asked, frowning.
I growled low in my throat. “Binta, speak,” I said. “Ah, ah, Binta, what is this?”
“Did he try again?” Diti asked when Binta refused to speak. “He did, didn’t he?”
“He couldn’t do it because you were writhing in pain?” I asked.
“Ani protects me,” Binta insisted, tears falling down her cheeks.
We were all silent.
“He-he understands now,” Binta said. “He won’t touch me anymore.”
“I don’t care,” Luyu said. “He should be castrated like the other rapists.”
“Shhh, don’t say that,” Binta whispered.
“I will say and do what I want!” Luyu shouted.
“No, you won’t,” I said, putting my arm around Binta. I chose my words carefully. “I think juju
