‘Ma, he’s no queer,’ Julius scoffed. ‘Collins and the twins push Duke around and call him gay. But they’re shitheads. In their opinion, half the kids in school are queer.’

‘I hear this Damola has bleached hair and earrings.’

Julius tutted. ‘That doesn’t mean he’s gay.’

‘And he walks like a girl?’

‘Ma, I don’t know what that means.’

‘You know what it means – with precision!’ Bunmi snapped, banging furiously on her desk. ‘Don’t act the fool with me. You are not stupid. You can always tell these homosexual types.’

Julius raised his voice and tried to push her off-topic. ‘Why did you fire Simeon? I just told Gabe to give him a message. What was Simeon supposed to do?’

But his mother saw through the ruse. ‘Who I employ is never your business. Focus on the matter I am discussing.’

‘I’m fourteen,’ Julius protested. ‘I have no freedom.’

‘You can socialise, but always with a driver. We are a high-status family. You have a target on your back. I did not make this world full of robbers and kidnappers. But that is how it is.’

‘I wore old clothes,’ Julius said. ‘I’m nobody, anonymous.’

Bunmi wagged her finger furiously. ‘Have you any sexual feelings for this Damola?’

‘No,’ Julius lied, cheeks hot enough to cook an egg. ‘Duke is a cool guy. We’re big friends. He’s got a scooter. I wanted to take a ride around the city and hang out. Kehinde and Taiwo are always off chasing girls. They’ve skipped school and dropped their drivers a heap of times.’

‘The twins are punished for high jinks,’ Bunmi dismissed. ‘This type of boy is a bigger concern. You have always been the lonely type. Adebisi is a family with a reputation to uphold. My ministry has a congregation of more than a quarter million. Your uncle is state governor and his re-election is less than one year away. People are always looking for chinks in the Adebisi armour, seeking ways to damage us. Cavorting homosexually could make a massive eruption of scandal.’

‘He’s a mate,’ Julius shouted. ‘I went on his bike. I didn’t tell Simeon, because I didn’t want a four-tonne black Mercedes on my tail. You’re being ridiculous!’

‘Am I?’ Bunmi asked. ‘You are too young to understand these queer people. Before you know it, he tells you his way of what is acceptable, your moral compass is set spinning and you have become a fully fledged homosexual. People like this have no wife or children. They die alone and burn in hell.’

‘You don’t catch being gay,’ Julius said, exasperated. ‘It’s not the flu! And don’t preach to me. I’m not one of the gullible idiots at your ministry, yelling halleluiah and paying twenty thousand naira to read Hot Prayers to Achieve Prosperity, or whatever pamphlet you’re pushing this month.’