SEALING THE DEAL: THE FIRST KISS
Botho’s party would be my first party as a teenager, with a date. Mike’s party could have been but due to the cancelation those two weeks back, this one would be it. I wanted to look simple yet my best for the party theme, which was black and white inspired. I decided to go for a black pair of jeans with my white Converse sneakers and a white t-shirt by Le Maj, a fashion line started by a young man from right here in Francistown. It had a print of my motivation, Che Guevara on its front. From there I sneaked to my parents’ bedroom and sprayed a little of my dad’s cologne on myself before taking my black All Kasi® jacket and my cell phone then left.
I got a message from Bagomotsi who told me he was already outside when I left and I couldn’t say my goodbyes to my parents as my dad was out and my mum was still showering but I wrote her a note and told her I had left. The only person who saw me leave was my little sister, who was watching cartoons.
‘You sure you want to do this buddy?’ I asked Bagomotsi and he nodded. I gave him a hug before we left.
Soon we arrived in Molapo Estates and it was really happening. There were laser lights flashing from the yard and I asked myself if this really was a grandmother’s house. His brother had hired a local DJ and I must say, the guy knew his trade, dishing out only the best music for the revelers from gazebo. We sat by the pool in which bikini-clad girls were busy enjoying themselves along with some guys. Botho, who was a few meters away with some girls in the Jacuzzi just a meter from the pool, saw us and called us over.
‘Brandon, Bagomotsi, come on and get in here!’
‘Ah…we good man; if we could just get something to drink, we’ll be good’ responded Bagomotsi.
He got out of the Jacuzzi and greeted us formally.
‘There’s a lot of beer in the house and some whisky; go and help yourselves. As you can see, I’m a little heavy right now so enjoy yourselves’ he said, pointing at the girls in the Jacuzzi and they waved at us. I could see that Bagomotsi so wanted to get in but I insisted we go inside the house.
‘Where are Tyler and TreShawn by the way?’
‘Inside with their girls I think. Anyway, see you all around and I know you…actually…we have always wanted to be teenagers. Now we are; let’s enjoy it while it lasts!’
‘Sure thing bra, we sure will’ and he raced back to the Jacuzzi.
Just then, this good-looking young lady pumped in to Bagomotsi and spilled some beer on him.
‘Oh sorry; I’m really, really sorry’
‘It's okay, I’ll just go in and borrow a shirt’ and she was still panicking but I could see it was all an act when I saw some girls looking in our direction. I decided to let Bagomotsi use this opportunity.
‘Hey, whoever you are, why don’t you…’
‘Boago; my name is Boago’
‘Yes, why don’t you go in to the house with Bagomotsi and help him change in to something. How’s that buddy?’ and I could see I had caught him by surprise but either way, he agreed.
‘Sure, no problem’ and they walked towards the house.
I stood there all by myself looking at everyone dance and remembered just then that TreShawn and Tyler were in the house. I looked at my watch and it was 19:56 so I went inside. I wondered whether Winona was going to come but either way, I decided I would not let it stop my fun. Already, a few girls and boys were a little drunk while some were making out in the sofas. It was your typical teen soiree and with amazement, I just admired the whole set up. Another shocking reality about the generation of today would be their early encounters with alcohol, smoking and other enhancing substances. Despite the continued outcry to curb the behavioral change in society, media still continues to make it look cool to do all these things and a lot of them were going down at Botho’s party that evening. I went on to the kitchen and grabbed myself a can of soda.
‘Wow, a can of soda; you must be taking freshman-ship very seriously’ said a familiar voice and when I turned around, it was the girl from swimming practice. She looked tremendously sexy in a brown boob-tube dress and a pair of heels, making her a bit taller than me. With her hair let down, she almost doubled for some Greek goddess in a fairytale lifestyle. The dry red lipstick against her fair skin did not make it any easier to contain the beauty of her face, all majored up by her glittering eyes.
‘Hey…how are you? You came to the party as well? And I’m not really that much of a boy’
‘Who wouldn’t come to a party like this? Anyway, I am sorry if I sounded a bit rude. I’m Samantha by the way; Samantha David and you might have already noticed that I’m in 3A’
‘Nice to meet you Samantha, I’m Brandon Chidzala’.
Samantha April was a young woman of by no doubt, undisputable beauty. No words better defined her than I already have and she was of mixed-race as well, her parents of French and English origins and brought to the dry lands of Botswana by work. Her father was a famous art collector based in Pretoria, South Africa while her mother traded in hotel management, a skill she had attained in her native France. Travelling so much had left the mature Samantha all alone in Botswana and she would see them rarely in periods of four to six months at the most. With not much to say further than her beauty, she was the girl I would later learn a lot from in just a period of six weeks, and almost loose Winona over. She was my first Samantha.
‘And how come you are not dressed in accordance to the theme?’ I asked as she took a plastic cup from the kitchen top and went over to the beer vending machine, where she poured me a beer.
‘Well, I am a rebel in my own way sweetie, you’ll learn with time. Now, take this and show me just how much of a man you are because I don’t believe you…freshman’.
This was a challenge and I was not going it turn it down. As she looked at me with her hands folded in wait, I took the cup and closed my eyes before gulping the bitter beer down my throat. I opened my eyes and gave her the cup before coughing.
‘Oh, nice one bra, nice one’ commented Tyler who was standing on the kitchen door-way with TreShawn. I looked at Samantha and she was laughing.
‘That was nothing Brandon; you’ll have to prove to me even more. Can I borrow your phone?’
‘Sure’ and I gave it to her.
I could still feel the taste of beer on my saliva as I watched her press a few digits before calling and her own cell phone rang. She handed me back my phone.
‘I’ll call you and we’ll talk. In the meantime, go over to your babe; she’s been waiting for far too long’ and she walked away. A few meters behind TreShawn and Tyler stood Winona. She was probably looking for me so I gave the guys some guy-greetings and went over to her, throwing a dental gum in to my mouth to do off with the beer scent.
‘Hey; looking nice tonight’ I complimented, looking at her highly defined figure in a similar dress to Samantha’s and at her feet, donning black heels.
‘You look good too and I like the Le Maj’ she said with a smile and I smiled before I looked down, getting a full view of her quite attractive legs. I turned around and Trey and Tyler were not there so I decided to take her outside.
‘It’s kind of stuffy in here so how about we go outside?’
‘Sure, no problem’ and I took her hand as we did, showing the guys in the room that she was now mine. I had obviously read about this in the Protocol, which had so far taught me a lot of things. Once outside, I managed to secure some chairs by the pool and we sat down.
‘Um…want something to drink or eat?’
‘Any juice could do, as long as it’s hundred percent’ and I quickly stood up and went on to the house where I got an apple juice and a soda and went back to her. I found some guy sitting in my sit talking to her and cleared my throat to show my presence. He was a big guy actually but it would show how much of a coward I was if I did nothing so I had to act.
‘My boyfriend’s here so ciao!’ and the guy looked at me before walking away. I sat down and poured her juice in to a glass.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Bagomotsi took off his shirt and started to put on the one Boago had given to him. As he did, she sat on Botho’s huge bed and looked at Bagomotsi. Some would describe Boago Molokai as the obnoxious type at first sight due to her serious facial expressions when she concentrated on something. She was first cousins to Botho and Mike, born to their father’s half-brother. Not much to say about her really. She was nice and short in height – those ones who just stay winning. At that very moment, she sure was concentrating on Bagomotsi as he went about with the changing of clothes. Her long, loose see-through white dress was nice for her body too.
‘So, you go to JMS too?’ she asked Bagomotsi and he nodded.
‘What about you? Which school do you go to?’
‘Selepa JSS and in case you want to ask, Botho and I are cousins and he invited me’
‘Oh…but I never saw you back when Botho stayed in Block 3’
‘You must have forgotten because I so do know you…and Brandon. He used to crush on this girl…what’s her name again; oh yes, Esther’
‘Okay…so you do know us hey? Nice meeting you then’.
When he was done he signaled that they leave but she had other ideas.
‘It’s a bit noisy out there so why can’t we just stay in here for a while and, you know, talk. Maybe get to know each other a bit’.
This caught my boy by surprise as he looked at her and knew exactly what she meant. After all, he mastered these lust things. He went back over to her and sat next to her.
‘So, what’s there to talk about?’
‘Well, we could start by telling me how your girlfriend is’
‘Unfortunately, I don’t have one; got dumped for another guy’
‘It’s such a pity and quite a huge coincidence because I dumped my boyfriend after he cheated on me with my best friend so cheers to that’ and they both laughed. ‘Have you ever kissed a complete stranger Bagomotsi?’
‘Strangely enough, I have been thinking about kissing the stranger in front of me’
They laughed again, more to make the situation even less awkward.
‘Maybe it’s just the mood in this room but I don’t want to be alone right now Bagomotsi. Just in case it does get a little out of control, I think I know where Botho keeps his…you know…condoms…’ and she got closer and kissed him. They shared a passionate connection and it was only a matter of time before they stopped, looked into each other’s eyes and they were all over each other, passionately kissing like old lovers.
While the two were doing their thing inside the house, I was busy getting my game on outside.
‘My dad didn’t believe me at first when I told him I had found the one but once he sees you, I’m sure nothing will stop him from really believing me’
‘Wow! The one, hey; so I am assuming you and your dad must really be close?’
‘You could say that because we basically talk about just anything’ and I took another sip of my soda. She also took a last sip of her juice and placed the glass on the ground.
‘Want a refill?’
‘No, I’m good for now but a dance could do if you don’t mind’.
The DJ played a song that was a favorite with everyone by a local, South African-based DJ so we stood up and joined the crazy crowd. As we danced, I saw Botho and one of the girls from the pool heading for the house in a speedy pace and I knew that could mean one thing: sex. The guy was so obsessed with sex and as it would later turn out, it was the reason why he and Neo broke up. Sometimes I wondered if he even chose his sexual partners or if he just did it for the sake of it. That was the one thing I kind of hated about parties: sometimes you don’t think before you act. The guy had so many parties annually so question is, how many different girls has he slept with? The sinful joys of being a teenager!
We danced for a while and I saw a bit of Winona’s wild side as we danced to the beats of the popular DJ. Everyone else was dancing wildly as well and I must say it was quite fun as we all formed a circle and someone stepped in the circle to show his or her skills. This went on for a while until the DJ changed the tune to a much slower song by a local artist. It was a love song so couples started to reveal themselves as boy and girl got closer and danced together. I looked at Winona and reluctantly took her closer in to my arms. We dance in that position until she laid her head on my shoulder.
‘Nice scent; which cologne is it?’
‘My dad…I mean, yes, it’s a cologne by the some Italian guy’ and she smiled.
I was a little nervous because this was my first dance with a girl, who happened to be my first girlfriend. After a few minutes into the song, a few couples started to kiss and it seemed only I could see them as Winona continued to lay her head on my shoulder. I cleared my throat and she looked up at me.
‘Is there something wrong?’
‘No, of course not; it’s just that I’m a little…I’m a little…I feel really special having you in my arms. It’s a once in a life-time opportunity that is really special and I must say I really, really appreciate it Winona Simons’
‘Aw, that is really touching; you are welcome Brandon Chidzala and I promise you, it will happen for as long as you want’.
We looked into each other’s eyes and, our lips approaching each other slowly, we kissed. That, guys, was my first teenage kiss. Her lips were almost the sweetest thing I had ever tasted and I loved it. Sometimes we do not appreciate its power in bonding one and one to two but kissing is powerful; I felt its power that night myself. As we kissed, however, I nervously pulled back but she realized it and held my neck.
‘Hey, listen to me; I understand how you feel Brandon but just…just go with the flow and I’m telling you, you will enjoy this’ and she kissed me yet again. We continued like that for what seemed like forever and once the song stopped we, like all the other couples, continued to kiss. That night made me and Winona officially official. It was not as easy as I had won over Esther back in the years but it was all worth it. I had a girlfriend and we were both teenagers. Stories of the old days about kissing and all of that would be a thing I would be experiencing myself from that day onwards!
Bagomotsi got a girl too and, well, lost his virginity that night. All the kissing did get out of control for him and Boago. They lost it, locked the room and the rest as they say is history. I guess it is one of those things that come with partying, hey? My best friend had lost his virginity.
Botho, on the other hand, got ripped off by his mysterious girl after they had sex; the girl got away with his wallet, containing P145 and his expensive cell phone. He did not know her so it was his loss and her gain. Tyler and TreShawn enjoyed the rest of their night with their girls. That night went down in my diary, and history. The formation of St. Wiz was anything to go by; my first true date with a catch; my first wild party as a teenager and my first true kiss as a teenager. This can only be done the teenager’s way. It sure was a night to remember.