I was coming home from football training one brisk January evening when I met a tall, brown man with dreadlocks on his head. He was wearing a white shirt and a jacket. He spoke in a high voice, like a woman, but anyone could tell that he was only pretending because of the deep bass of his voice. He greeted me and introduced himself. He said that his name was Kelly, and that he was gay. 

 

Kelly was very open to me about the fact that he was a gay because he knew that I had already recognised him through his dressing and his voice. I also introduced myself, and after speaking for a while, I asked Kelly what made him become gay?

 

Kelly laughed at me and told me that he was born this way. He said he didn’t think any person could change himself to become gay. I told Kelly that I know a lot of men, some of them my friends, who are now gay, but they were not before. A lot of men have become gay, specifically in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, because they heard that gay people were being supported and relocated to Sweden. Kelly listened to my story. Then he told me that despite my observations, there are people who are born with homosexual feelings. I listened to Kelly’s thoughts very carefully and I came to understand his perspective. Then I asked Kelly why he had called me and stopped me. He said this was not his first time seeing me. 

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‘I have been seeing you passing here and I have been really attracted to you and the way you behave,’ he said. ‘You are a very polite boy,’ he added. I asked him how long he had been watching me and learning that I’m a well-behaved and polite boy. ‘I have known you for a long time,’ he said, ‘I have been studying the way you are. And I realised that you are a polite boy.’ I thanked him for the compliment and told him that I should go home. He said no, he had not finished. The reason why he had called me was that he wanted to be in a romantic relationship with me, he revealed. And if I agreed, he said, he would take charge of me. Then he showed me a bundle of money. 

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As I looked at the bundle, my heart started having lust for the money, and I started hearing a voice in my heart telling me that I shouldn’t skip that money. But I heard another voice telling me that love doesn’t cost money. So I started fighting with the two voices in my heart and I eventually defeated the voice of lust. I told Kelly I was not ready to be in a romantic relationship with him and I went home running. 

 

When I reached home, I was very quiet. My mother asked, ‘Franklin why are you so quiet today? What is the problem?’ 

 

I told her, ‘I don’t have any problem. I’m just wondering how I performed in the exam and our results are soon coming,’ I lied. 

 

My mummy said, ‘are you not sure on how you performed?’ 

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‘I’m very sure that I will pass, but I can’t miss the fear,’ I told her. 

 

I did not tell my parents or my friends what happened to me because I feared if I told them they would force me to go and report Kelly to the police. I never wanted this. Kelly once told me that he lives alone and he doesn’t have relatives nearby. I thought if I reported him he would be imprisoned and have no one to take care of him. That is what made me have mercy upon Kelly.

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After three months, when I had forgotten about the incident, I saw Kelly on the way to the library. He called to me, ‘Franklin, come!’ 

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I approached him. ‘How are you Franklin? Long time. Where have you been? I have been really missing you.’

 

‘I’m just around bro, and I’m fine.’ 

 

‘I had been seeing you passing here every day, but since we last had a conversation, I no longer see you passing this way again,’ he said.

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‘That day we had a conversation,’ I began to explain, ‘you proposed to me that you love me, and you said you would take charge of me if I agreed, and you showed me a bundle of money. I honestly don’t want to be in a romantic relationship with you, but if you kept on showing money I was afraid I would agree because of lust for the money. That is why I no longer pass this way, because I fear I will agree to what I don’t want. There is a proverb that says prevention is better than cure,’ I told him. 

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Kelly laughed at me and asked why I don’t want to be in a romantic relationship with him. I told him that I’m still a student and I’m first focusing on my studies, and I continued on my way to the library. I went to the library thinking that now Kelly will never persuade me again to be in a romantic relationship with him because I was very open to him about my feelings.

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The following day, early in the morning at seven, when I was in a running marathon, I heard a voice calling me from behind. ‘Franklin, Franklin.’ I looked to see that it was Kelly calling me. I didn’t say anything. I kept on with my marathon. When I reached home I was very stressed and scared. I was asking myself what Kelly wanted from me. I avoided traveling the way I used to travel because of him. I was very clear that I didn’t want to be in a romantic relationship with him, but he didn’t stop following me. I felt scared and insecure because he didn’t listen to my request.

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I decided to tell my parents. But before I told them, I remembered that one of my friends, Richard, with whom I had been studying at school, was also approached by Kelly. I decided to visit Richard the following week to seek advice. Richard lived in a village called New Hope, four kilometres from where I was living, so I would have to pay for a motorcycle to take me there. 

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A few days later, I started my way to Richard’s home. When I arrived, I knocked at the gate and the gateman opened it for me. I asked him whether Richard was around. He said he was and welcomed me in. I entered the house and I sat on the sofa as the gateman went to call Richard in his bedroom. 

 

After five minutes Richard arrived and greeted me. He asked me what my favourite soda was. I said I like coca and he sent the gateman to bring me one coca, and a sprite for him. The gateman brought the sodas as fast as possible and then we started drinking. I told Richard that I came to seek advice. He was concerned and asked me what happened. I told him that a few months ago I met a tall, brown man called Kelly who approached me and said that he wants to be in a romantic relationship with me. I was very surprised and unhappy to hear that, I told Richard, and after telling Kelly I didn’t want that, he kept following up on me. He would even bring me money to convince me but still I refused. I told Richard that Kelly knows the road I often pass through and whenever I pass he stops me and pursues me again, asking if I will have a romantic relationship with him. 

 

‘These days,’ I said to Richard, ‘I don’t even play football anymore because I fear I’ll meet him on the way.’  

 

Richard listened to me carefully and told me he was sorry for what was happening to me. 

 

‘I know how troublesome this is,’ he said, ‘because I have also passed through that situation and the same thing has happened to me.’ 

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Richard advised me that the next time Kelly approaches me, I should threaten him and tell him that I’ve been recording everything that he’s been telling me, and if he continues to approach me, I will report him to the police. I was thankful for the advice. It was now around six in the evening so I told Richard I should now go back home. Richard wished me a safe journey and I took a motorcycle back home. 

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The next evening, as I was going to play football, I saw Kelly in a shop. He stopped me and told me again that he wanted to be in a romantic relationship with me. I stopped confidently and told him exactly what Richard told me to say. I told him I was recording our interactions and said, ‘Please stop following me. If you don’t, I will notify the police.’ 

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Kelly started trembling and he said, ‘Okay let’s stop this from here and I will never follow up on you again.’ Then he went. I felt so relieved. It was as if I was finally released from the heavy burden I had been carrying for months. 

I am now free and I have started playing football as normal. Kelly doesn’t want to see me again. He hides himself whenever he sees me. 

*
 

Though it was distressing, I learned from this experience. I learned things that I did not know before. I used to think that love doesn’t cost money. Through the situation I passed through I came to understand that a lot of girls and boys are being convinced to begin romantic relationships because of money. They agree, not because of love, but because of desperation and poverty and lust for money to release them from their difficulties. I believe we shouldn’t agree and do what we don’t want because of lust. We should do what we like, what is beneficial to our lives and what comes from the bottom of our hearts, so that we may not regret our choices in the future.