Thursday 9 August 2007

On......how the love of two young people missed road

Theirs was a love that had existed since their childhood. As far back as she could remember, Kunle Odemuyiwa had always been there for her. They were both products of broken homes and Kunle was the one male figure that she had as a role model. After Kunle's father absconded, he was sent to a boarding school and she saw him infrequently. Her adoration never waned. The holidays were spent almost entirely with each other and they would spend several hours playing, fighting and talking. He always seemed very assured and this only added to the high esteem in which she placed him.

Their relationship had not been without tribulations along the way. The dynamics of their association undulated with time as two young people came to terms with their feelings for each other and the new sensations that arrived with each metamorphosis.

The love affair proper had begun in their early teens and it was kept quiet for fear of the unwelcome scrutiny. The first time they had sex was a culmination of several failed attempts in which trepidation, shame and nerves had hitherto combined to ruin the occasion. Here were two young people, barely a year apart, who were going through the entire gamut of emotions of the adolescent who has yet to experience sexual intercourse. The first time, as is usually the case, had been no less clumsy and awkward than their earlier attempts. Kunle laboured long and hard before judging the exact location of the desired orifice. Even then, the job was barely half done. His next task was insertion; and he had to do this with the right amount of force to penetrate yet avoid hurting either of them in the process. She, as ever, lay in rigid silence, offering neither encouragement nor dissuasion. The truth be told, she could have lived to her end of days without yearning for the physical consummation of their relationship. On each failed occasion, it had been Kunle's hormonal urges that instigated the attempt. Loving him too much, she had been only too willing to relinquish to him her most sacred of treasures. She secretly abhorred the idea of sex. She considered herself abnormal for feeling this way and her silence was an apology of sorts.

There would be many more sexual encounters but they felt no less illicit and unnatural to her. Their relationship suffered as a result of this. The openness and joy they shared as children had been replaced by hollowness and muted exchanges. By the time Kunle had started university, they were hardly on speaking terms. They avoided each other and spent very little time in each other’s company.

Her mother died shortly after she started university and Kunle attended the funeral. She was happy to see him and they both cried in each other’s arms. The awkwardness of the past few years temporarily lifted by the tragic event. Kunle introduced her to his girlfriend and they promised to stay in touch. They did not.

Many years passed and she was now in her late twenties and a married woman. Her and her husband, Alan, had just bought a house and he was in the attic storing up the miscellany of her old apartment. He descended with a tattered looking photo album which he had bookmarked in the middle with his index finger.
“Look what I found love. An old album of yours”

“My goodness I honestly thought I had left that in Nigeria. They are mostly old pics Alan.”

“Excellent! Now I can find out more about the life that you never talk about”

“I like this picture here, looks like some sort of birthday party. Is that your mum on the right?”

“Yes o! I still can’t believe that you never met my mum. She would have really liked you even though you are an oyinbo pepper”

“How about this brooding looking chap on the left next to you?”

“Oh that’s just Kunle”

“Kunle? Hmm....don’t think you ever mentioned him. Childhood friend?”

“No. Kunle is my senior brother”



This is loosely based on a story I know to be true. Names and events have obviously been altered. I did not remember it until a ridiculous article I read a few months ago. It is, arguably, the last great taboo but how long before laws are being passed to make it acceptable? I fear o.

29 comments:

Ms. Catwalq said...

WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!

Incest!!
I am not sure whether to be disgusted or not.
AtuP, omo men, u went another level o
so what happened?

AIVY said...

please i need to know what happened...

Thirty + said...

So when is the next installment, not that I will be stalking your blog or nanything like that (lol)

♥♫♪nyemoni♫♪♥ said...

God abeg o! I no fit shout oh! NYEMONI was here...Have a nice weekend!

kulutempa said...

@ all: why should there be a next part? this is it - this is the story - abi no be so, atutu?

by the way, how gross and brilliant. we're not worthy...we're not worthy...

classybabe said...

WTF!!!!!!!!I was still doing aww before i got to "he's my brother".
Incest ke?!God forgive us all

UndaCovaSista said...

Wow! It took a second before the penny dropped at the end. That's some scary stuff

Kafo said...

wow

no

i can't speak

seriously

mercy


like seriously

WHAT

ahhhhhhh

Anonymous said...

I just saw your blogs via Catwalq. Very interesting read. Will be stopping by often!

Waffarian said...

Is this my first time here? I can't believe it.....good stuff!

As for the incest thing, beacsue we are brought up with our siblings, one never feels that kind of attraction, but there have been many cases of adults meeting and falling in love without knowing the family history...i mean, I am sure most people can fall in love with their own relatives (based on character, you are most likely to get along with your own family memebers, although this is not true in all cases) if they were not hindered by cultural and social factors.

Ms. Catwalq said...

CATWALQ ACADEMIE II HAS BEEN POSTED....

SOLOMONSYDELLE said...

OMG!!!!!!!!

Thirty + said...

Hold on Atutu, I thought she was just lying to her husband that Kunle was her brother...abeg come and unravel this thing for me, now now, now. You did not refer to the father as 'their' nor the mother too.

Thirty + said...

Don't be messing with my head you know...give the 411 otherwise

Jaja said...

I know this is the 2nd time, but i tot i left a comment.. i guess my internet connection is wack.... I shld have refreshed and tried again or something...

Anyway, about Incest, its a rather curious topic. unpleasnt too.

Its sad and confusing, can siblings really fall in Love like that eh? Atus.. tell me more.. you must know

Atutupoyoyo said...

Thanks so much for commenting guys.

The story is one that saddens me. As Kulutempa said unfortunately, this tory no really get part 2. The story is based on something I witnessed by accident many years ago. I was young but there is no mistaking what I saw.

To be honest I don't think that her feelings towards him are anything more than sisterly. It seems to be Kunle that has violated the sacred brother/sister relationship.

The ending is perhaps more uplifting than you may think. It suggests that the tragic events have not left her completely scarred. She now has a husband which suggests that she has the capacity to be in a healthy relationship. They have just moved into a new house which represents a new start with all her terrible secrets locked away in her old life which is symbolised by the attic.

UndaCovaSista said...

Update! Update!! Update!!! :oD

Ms. Catwalq said...

Atutupoyo, bad guy!!!
Abeg update o...
so wetin happen?

SOLOMONSYDELLE said...

Now that I have read your explanation, I feel a little better. Yes, there is and can be light at the end of the tunnel. Good one.

Femme said...

what!!!.
i had to go back and read it again incase there was sumtin wrong with my eyes.
still speechless!

princesa said...

Sounds like something from "Flowers in the attic" by V.C Andrews.

Unknown said...

Abegiiii, incest surely must happen more often than we like to admit it... i remember one year when my sister's came back from their well reputed boarding school in naija and the gist was not two, but three girls found out they shared the same father only when so many people had noticed and commented on how much they favored each other and some brouhaha on visiting day.

as for the story... wow.

cinnamonqueen said...

no way! scary stuff... well told.

bArOquE said...

...i had to read the story over again, i totally missed the incest in it because i thought she was just lying to her husband about an old boyfriend until i saw the first comment!
...GOD ABEG OH!
...my dick has just crawled right up into my belly
...which kind story be this?

Onome said...

waaaaaaaahhhh!!! am so saaaaddd!!Kunle her brother???!! so terrible!!(sniff!)

Jennifer A. said...

na wa o...

Jennifer A. said...

Reading ur explanation made me feel better abt this specific case sha...

At least, she seems to be healed from the inside and is now leading a very healthy life...what about Kunle though? Is he now married too? And do they still contact each other as normal brothers and sisters do? I hope so, what happened in their past can be thrown in the thrash...at least its still possible to re-establish their relationship...

They were so young and unfortunate...

Anonymous said...

Hey i'm an odemuyiwa, don't ruin the name. I take an offense to you using my last name is ur sordid story.

Anonymous said...

Although, u seem to be a very adequate writer, this is the odemuyiwa fellow again.