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I had an STI… but I was a virgin.

Based on a true story.

By Nathaniel BenjaminPublished 10 months ago 6 min read
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Ok! Damn, where do I start??

I have deleted and added bits to this piece so many times, I thought I’d never share it.

Ok so, it was January 2021 right? I had just started preparing myself for school. It all happened so fast actually, wrote entrance exams on a Monday, came back home thinking I’d have to wait a while before results are posted, and saw my results on Tuesday, I got in (yay) I left home on a Wednesday.

Boom, I was in school. New environment, strange faces, and close to ridiculous living conditions, but it wasn’t all that bad. Soon enough, I started making friends. My first friends were my roommates, luckily for the four of us, we were all offering the same courses, so it made things easier for all of us. I made friends with their friends, their friends made friends with my friends, and so on. We started attending classes together and all, our circle was growing.

One beautiful Tuesday morning, I noticed a couple of bumps on my left arm, “Fuck, my body’s already reacting to something” I thought. Didn’t pay much attention to it.

I went to the school store later that day and bought a bottle of Dettol Antiseptic Liquid. Mind you I didn’t tell anyone about my “super normal and ordinary skin reactions”. So I started bathing with the antiseptics, morning and evening.

Weeks later, this stupid thing was still there, WTF! My roommates and friends already started to notice, and when they’d ask what’s up? “Oh it’s the stupid water here jahre, can you imagine they don’t even wash the tanks??” I’d say. We’d maybe jest about how shitty the whole situation was and that was it. At this time, I knew this was more than an infection, or if it was, I wasn’t curbing the problem. I thought to myself, wtf could I be reacting to?? I changed my bedspreads and pillowcases every week, made sure I don’t sweat too much at night, reduced my study time (part stress, part guilt on this one), and even changed where and what I ate!

One morning in late March, I woke up, and this motherfucker was all over my face!! Like really?? It wasn’t enough for you to ruin my arm, now you chose my face??

That’s it, I’m going to see a nurse.

After classes that day, I went to the clinic. The nurse, really sweet lady, asked me a couple of questions and concluded I had acne. Which at the time made sense, cos I was a 19-year-old man who’d never had acne. Puberty did me a solid on that one. Yh that, or maybe I’m just a late bloomer. Are you happy?

So! She gave me some pills and this very weird lotion. “Rub it on the affected areas in the Morning and night,” she said.

Finally! I’ll be done with you. Now you’re probably thinking: “Acne mostly grows on the face, and if it decides to appear anywhere else, certainly won’t be the arm!” Yes, you’re right. But like I said, it’s a new experience! I didn’t know this.

Mind you, this whole situation fucked with my fine boy. My friends were almost always with girls, but because of obvious reasons and the fact that I just was never in the mood to answer questions like: “Oh what’s this on your face?” Or “Have you seen a doctor for what is on your face?”

Oh, shut the fuck up Sewa, don’t talk to me with a passive condescending tone, I know you don’t care, Just fucking move along. Pardon my French.

So it’s May, my situation is getting worse, my face looks like a rotten potato, no improvement whatsoever. Everyone has eased up on the WearAMask deal, but me?? Nose masks were my best friend at the time. Never took it off every time I was out.

My mom still doesn’t know about the situation, but after pressure from my friends and common reasoning, I decided to let her know. Told her about it, and even sent pictures. Of course, she was pissed I didn’t tell her earlier on, but she eased off my back.

She told me my body never really agreed with materials with heavy Calcium and Sulfur. So she figured, I was reacting to the water. So I bought Soda Ash (a chemical used to soften water basically) and used it for about 3 weeks. The situation got worse people!

By now I’d given up. Maybe this is my life now, maybe this is the new me. Then just for the fuck of it, I decided to see a dermatologist.

He did some fancy doctor shii, took skin samples and all. Told me to come back in 3 days.

I went back to her office at the appointed date, very giddy, and eager to finally find the solution to my seemingly unsolvable problem.

She told me to talk to her confidentially, and that I should know that this is a safe space.

Ok. I was like.. Tff? What kind of joke is this?

She asked me if I’d been sexually active with anyone in the past 6 months. Inside I was cackling! Part of me felt accomplished for some reason, the other part felt very fucking scared! Did my spirit wife find me and rape me??

Forgive me, I’m African. It’s a possibility! Lemme think what I want.

So I told her, honestly speaking I hadn’t been with anyone, that I was even a fagin!

She then told me, I HAD AN STI!

I almost fainted!

Source: Med Bullets

Molluscum contagiosum. The bane of my existence. The thorn in my flesh. Though, a not-so-common infection, can be very sneaky and dangerous. Spreads incredibly fast. And basically has no specific cure. It develops into bumps on the surface of your skin, and the bumps just disappear when they’re ready. Average of six months.

So the doctor ultimately figured out that if I wasn’t lying and if I didn’t get it through sexual activities, I must have gotten it from an injury. She asked me to think hard about any injuries I’d had or treated within 6 months.

I thought hard, and my mind finally concluded that I must have gotten from an injury I sustained at the place I was working in December. I’d lost a nail, my index finger. I know. Ouch!

So I missed one of the dressing sessions, very painful stuff btw. My mind had to drag my body every time it was dressing day. I only went for 3 out of the 4 dressing appointments. Which means I wore the same dressing for two weeks. So I must have gotten it then.

Ok, enough talk. How tf do I get this off me Doc!!

“Oh there’s really not much you can do”

Ma?? Come again??

“Yhh, you just have to wait for when it chooses to disappear on its own, I’ll give you some antibiotics to quicken the process”

Well, fuck me. I was getting all worked up about something my body totally had control over, and was doing its thing just fine!

I went to my hostel that day very fulfilled. I didn’t tell my roommates the test results, but they found the papers on my shelf, and started calling me “sweetie”. It’s this local name, people call someone with an STI. Probably because people with chlamydia or staph feel this sweet sensation when they comply with the itching urge on the bumps that surface on them. Hence the name “sweetie”. I wasn’t even mad, I was just happy it’ll the horror will soon be over.

I think it’s also noteworthy to say that I never felt any pain whatsoever from these bumps. No itching, no burns. They were just there.

But it’s definitely one of the experiences I would never forget.

What’s the lesson from this?? I dunno! That’s for you to find out. But yeah, thanks for sticking around till the end. I really appreciate it.

I’ll be sharing more stories and reviews soon.

SecretsEmbarrassmentCONTENT WARNING
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