19 Crazy MaryJane

Judith got to her hostel and everyone could tell she had a great day. People don't return from the library whistling and blushing. Once in her room, she quickly with excitement shared everything that transpired between her and Tony to Maryjane her roommate. The roommate seemed to be happier for her than she was for herself.

"Am happy for you; so there is someone in this school that you can like?"

"Of course, I just haven't met him and still not sure I have…"

After a quick mocking hiss, Maryjane responded

"You met him today. You better make this one work or do you want to die a virgin?"

"I don't blame you, am the one that told you am a virgin, stupid girl!"

Later that night, on her bed, she pondered his words, recalling the special feeling it gave her. No one had given her that kind of feeling before, though she doesn't really believe him because flattery flows from his mouth like a water fountain.

In intricate detail, she recalled the scent of his perfume, his naughty playful smile that exposed his perfect white teeth through his pale and thin lips. The way he looked at her with eyes burning with passion. The few times he accidentally touched her, her heart sank and the hairs at the back of her neck rose.

She couldn't understand what was happening to her, could this be love, infatuation or lust? How can she be having a million feelings, a thousand thoughts, and a hundred memories just for one stranger? Could it be destiny? Did fate bring them together for a reason? Maybe their stars really aligned because everything seemed perfect and right. She could feel it deep in her soul. She left the library feeling like she had known him all her life, maybe they were lovers in a previous life.

She snorted a laugh and slowly turned to the other side, her both palms buried between her legs. Then a wave of simmering anger began inside of her as she remembered the warnings of her mother and the fucking tradition of her people.

In her village Azummiri, a woman must get married to the first man that gets between her legs. If she gets married to someone else or has sex with a different person after that she will die mysteriously. A woman can't leave her husband for any reason whatsoever, if she does, her fate is sudden death. If a man forces himself upon a woman, he dies terribly some days after. It is that simple.

Though Judith had never been to Azummiri, her mother told her when a girl comes of age, they are taken to Mmiri the village stream; the chief will use a calabash to get water from the stream, after some incantations he will give it to the girls, asking them to wash their privates. When that is done, he will use a thin broom to flog their growing breasts, still saying some more incantations. There is a usually big celebration afterward to welcome them into womanhood.

She didn't partake in such barbaric tradition but her mother warned her to obey the customs of her people. Saying "Some traditions run deep in the veins and calling the name of some guy that choose to die for our sins some two thousand years ago won't change anything." This is the reason she has remained a virgin; suppressing her sexual urges and keeping away from things and people that will turn her on.

She wants true love, the real deal, the Hollywood fireworks version; where your lover is your best friend, confidant and eternal refuge, trustworthy and kind. Not like her mother who married her father simply because he was the one that took her virginity when they were young and full of wild dreams. They have long fallen out of love, but continued living together. Her father married two more wives but her mother can't leave for the fear of sudden death. That's not what she deserves or wants, so she has to be dangerously careful.

Still lost in her world of fantasy, an unpleasant smell awakens her senses. Soon it was strongly evident in the air. She covered her nose, screaming the name of her roommate. Maryjane, a royal pain on her backside was no longer in this world but was causing physical damages to it.