Junior is a young guy from Yaoundé, a house painter by trade, who wanted to do what all real men—mature, level-headed men—do during the holiday season: give his girlfriend a special gift after already giving her clothes, shoes, jewelry, wigs, and the new phone he’d promised. For you immature folks, that’s suicide, but for him—a real man—it’s no big deal, just a gesture to show that, even when money’s tight, love is always there.
Except that in today’s Cameroon, between wanting to and being able to, there’s often a traffic jam of hardship. Contracts weren’t coming in. Promises, as usual, were in “I’ll call you back” mode. Then one day, a phone call: a construction job! A real stroke of luck. He jumps at it and gets to work with a vengeance, especially since his beloved was already upset because of the delay.
The guy gave it his all. Wall after wall, he painted with all his heart. He knew that this job was his ticket to making his girlfriend happy—the love of his life, the future mother of his children.
But there you go—you already know how these soap-opera-worthy stories end.
One morning, while he’s focused on smoothing out a wall, the homeowner shows up… accompanied by a young woman. A girl. From upstairs, Junior hears her voice. He furrows his brow. The voice sounds strangely like his girlfriend’s.
But no, that’s not possible. She’s supposed to be in the village, at a friend’s house, for a funeral. He even gave her some money for transportation and his contribution toward the funeral, like a mature guy.
But something tells him to go downstairs. Just to check.
He goes downstairs. He looks closely. He looks again. He looks very closely.
HOLY SHIT! It really is her. Laughing like a middle school girl with the landlord. The same landlord who, just a few minutes earlier, had patted him on the shoulder and said, “Work hard, kid. I’m off to pick up a girl I’m going to really bang.”
Junior freezes. His heart does a sort of triple somersault. His mind goes blank. His joy has been violently cut short.
The girl sees him and acts as if she’s never known him.
He remembers the posts by Muna Effatta that he used to read on Facebook—posts he found misogynistic.
And he finally realizes that MATURITY COMES AT TOO HIGH A PRICE.
THE DARK TENEBROUS, Muna Effatta