MY AFRO-SHENGHEN MEMOIRS: THE CASE OF JUNGLE FEVER

 

MY AFRO-SHENGHEN MEMOIRS: THE CASE OF JUNGLE FEVER

You people do not know this but yours truly has been had herself a Euromance. This is not to say that I have been to Europe, although I hope to travel to the west world one sweet day. However, yours truly has been on a few dates with several Caucasians during her wild days. Well, my dating a Euro man is not a big deal, yet I feel I must share my life journeys, for I am one heck of a story teller, so brace yourselves for this epic a day in the life of Betty Baijun moments.

Like the rest of my Afro descendants, I too was struck by the jungle fever. Normally this malady tends to occur especially in our twenties, where we live vicariously through our passions and dreams. One beautiful bright day, while I was absorbing the African sun, and minding community business, as it is normal in this side of the Sahara, I bumped into one Euro-blooded man. Well, I cannot really remember his name as such but for the purpose of this juicy piece, let me baptize him as Julio.

Come to think of it, Julio was not my first white rodeo. Actually, there had been several Euro males in the scene well before him but they were all touch and go, pun very much intended. Nonetheless, Julio was most memorable of them all. Back to the meat of the story, so there I was soaking up the mid-morning sun, when Julio dropped on my lap, by means of a casual introduction through a mutual friend. Needless to say, he too was immediately struck by the jungle fever, as I was.

Therefore, he asked me out on a date and I thought to myself, "Why not?" After all, we were both exotic spring chicken, hence we decided to make hay while the sun still shone on our youthful heads, long before we could live to regret our reckless actions and forgive ourselves later in life. Consequently, we both embarked on a few memorable dates, where Julio shared with me some of his tall tales about his Spanish roots, while I enjoyed all the perks that came with dating a big boss.

Moreover, he was well off, and his flirty complements made me all giddy inside. Nonetheless, our first date was not a breeze, for he had all his European posse out there in his bourgie drinking hole, gawking at me like a locally prized heifer at an international trade fair. At first, I had a mind to tell them off but reluctantly held back, not wanting to impulsively show my claws ahead of time. Besides, we were all legal aliens at the time, and a bar fight would have tarnished my beautiful image, as well as my budding career.

Thus, I kept it classy, and let them gawk at me to their fill. Our second date happened consecutively on a Friday night bash at Julio's condo. This time round, I was determined to not be outnumbered by his crew. Therefore, at my request and Julio's consent, I brought on my Nubian brigade to light up his party afro style. You guessed it! It was a wild safari party in Julio's bourgie joint that night, thanks to my ebony squad, who turned the fiesta livid, giving the Caucus people a run for their money, making them pull out their expensive phones, to capture every epic moment.

Ah! To be young and hot is God's way of smiling at us and allowing us to live and let live. On our third date, Julio desired a quiet dinner, devoid of anyone and everyone. He did not want anyone to hog our alone time. I guess it was not easy for him to rave hard-core every waking day, like it was my norm, and parading me in front of blood-thirsty predators. I guess he had learnt the hard way that once you go black, there was no coming back from that phenomenal experience. All was going well three months into our dating spree, until Julio popped the love bubble we were aimlessly floating in, by asking me to move in with him into his house, and shack up cohabitation style.

No sooner had he demanded of me to move in with him, than I sobered up fast, as anxiety gripped at my heart without caution. In all honesty, I was scared of Julio's bold request for us to share a living space, became claustrophobic, for the reason that I was not ready for a serious commitment, and especially so with a stranger, a situation which made me feel like a little girl, beneath all the grown miss independent woman demeanour I was flaunting in public.

Why would this Euro guy Julio go and ruin a good thing? We were just supposed to date and live good, but not rush into playing house this early in the relationship. I guess my jungle fever had worn off as a result of that random proposal, which made me feel cornered, and my independence threatened. Yet, I could not say no to Julio's request right away. On the contrary, I felt I needed to be tactical long enough to dodge this proposition, while I enjoyed the perks of dating a bigwig.

Nevertheless, Julio was keen on provoking me to engage in the "move in with me" conversation on a daily basis, while declaring his undying love for me, much to my chagrin. Could this Euro dude not understand that I was only twenty something years old, and not about to lustfully dash into any situationship that would render me vulnerable? Besides, who would want to move in with a stranger right off the bat?

Consequently, I did what any other rational human being would do, and decided to let Julio down easy. But he was not about to peacefully back down, giving me ultimatums like I was some school girl. I guess my hesitation into a cohabitation was a deal breaker for Julio. Needless to say, I am convinced that the short-term symptoms of the jungle fever had clogged Julio's mind, making him irrational. In the end, and just like it quickly commenced, my Euromance came to an abrupt end.