FREAK OF NATURE
Grace approached Tosin, her heart drumming up a fast beat. Tosin was not the cause of her increasing heart rate however, but Tosin could be her way out of it.
Her history lecture had just concluded and Grace was terribly looking for a place to rest her head and mind after what went down earlier this morning.
Her face contorted into disgust on seeing the caller on her ringing phone and with a short hiss, she cut the call harshly.
Freak.
Grace could not believe that her apartment mate, Alyya would do something as that. Although, Alyya was very forward about breaking gender barriers and vocal about changes in the society, Grace could not imagine that Allya would dare to take it further.
“Tosin, Hi.” She greeted, tossing her blonde braids over her shoulder.
“Ahan. Omo Iya, how far now?.” Tosin replied her cheerfully.
“Actually, I kind of need your help.” Grace said, twiddling her thumbs nervously.
Tosin stared at Grace, the latter’s nervousness overshadowing her naturally exuberant character.
As the only Nigerians in their History 101 class in the United States, Tosin always teased Grace that she could easily take care of Grace and show her the ropes since she was less of a foreigner to the country than Grace but now, with Grace evident fear, Tosin was not so sure anymore. By affiliation with some people, others have been deported and no-one is worth it to Tosin, yet she steeled herself and asked, “What is it?”
“I saw something today. I know how much people here say to be accepting but this is crazy. How much body modifications are we talking about? It’s crazy.” Grace voice grew loud as she spoke.
“Sorry.” Throwing the people around them an apologetic look, Tosin dragged Grace out of the lecture class not stopping until they reached a quiet park sitting on an empty bench.
She took in a deep breath, the air tinged with the smell of the flowers around them.
“What exactly happened?.”
“Today, I rushed into the bathroom earlier because I was late for class. My roommate, Allya was in the bathroom, but I just wanted to grab my toothbrush. You know how our bathroom works right? If someone is in it, the door becomes foggy and you can’t see the person who is inside.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Tosin agreed nodding her head.
“I’m brushing my teeth and Alicia finishes her bath. Apparently, she had forgotten to take her towel with her and she came out to grab it and Tosin -----”
“What is it?. ”Tosin turned slightly to Grace, interest coloring her face.
“Oh, God.” Grace hands went up to cover her face.
“What is it?.” By now, Tosin’s voice had gone increasingly high attracting attention of few people at the park.
“Allya has both a Vagina and balls, Tosin.” Grace whispered.
“Oookay. What’s the big deal?.”
Grace eyes grew wide and she grabbed Tosin’s forearm. “What’s the big deal? She has freaking balls and vagina in the same place down there. Two balls and you don’t think that has gone beyond gender identity and all.”
Tosin shrugged her shoulders, “It’s not a case of gender identity or at least I don’t think so. So the journal I read last week discussed something similar. It’s called Intersex.”
“What’s Intersex? Another gender?. Where did she even get those balls from?.” Grace asked.
“It’s not a gender issue.” Tosin snapped.
“Intersex is a medical condition where a person can not be biologically defined to be of the male or female sex because of their sexual reproductive anatomy.” She continued gently this time.
“Layman words please.”
“So, it’s like this. She – Allya- in this case was born with both balls and her V. Because of that, you can’t really call her a female or male.”
“For real?.” Grace eyes bulged out.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, my God. That’s terrible. How does that even happen?.” Grace asked.
“Sometimes, it can occur due to androgen hormone receptor changes, other times exposure of the embryo to synthetic hormone. More common cause though is Congenital adrenal Hyperplasia.”
“Oh my goodness. That is really terrible. I can’t imagine how much mental trauma she would have faced because of this.” Grace said.
“Plus the one you gave her this morning.” Tosin threw her a knowing look.
“What…? I ---”
“You what?.” Tosin asked, a glint in her eyes.
“Fine, you’re right.” Grace’s shoulders slumped.
“But that’s because I freaked out.”
“Sure thing. You owe Allya an apology though.”
“Yeah. But is there like any cure for the --- you know, the intersex thing?.”
“Surgery. They remove the organ which is less dominant.”
“Oh.”
“Yep. Go craft your apology letter.” Tosin smirked.
Grace rolled her eyes, “What are you doing reading medical journals anyway. You’re a Pre-Law student.” She remarked.
“Quan is Pre-Med. Does that answer your question?.” Tosin replied and they both laughed.
An hesitant smile stretched across Grace lips. It was a real medical condition.
“Intersex”
Writer Details:Temidayo✍️
Location:Ekiti State University,Ado Ekiti,Nigeria🇳🇬.
0 Comments