Becoming a male escort: Why the world should hear my story

There is a popular saying that ‘there is no death that is worse than the death of hope,’ that was me. Dead! I used to be that teenager that was scared of the future because I was not privileged to have rich parents. Becoming a male escort was a glimmer of hope at the end of my dark tunneled future.

Growing up I remember that they were days we had to skip lunch, not because we were fasting but because there was nothing to eat. Having a carton of milk in the refrigerator was a luxury. My parents and my two siblings just survived. As the oldest of my siblings, I hated the life we lived and was eager to make a difference.

I was eager to find a better life for my family particularly my sister, the last in the house. She is a lovely soul, and the warmth of her presence was always enough to drive away any gloom I had. She would crack crazy jokes that made me laugh like a crazy dude.

We lived in the suburbs so when I turned 20; I moved to the city. It was a brave and uncertain move. I wasn’t sure what to find or where to stay. I just moved. All I had were dreams and determination and becoming a male escort was not one of those dreams. I had a few friends from high school, and one of them agreed that I could put up with him if I came to the city.

Getting a decent job with a high school result was almost an insane idea, but I didn’t give up. I still searched. After two months I still couldn’t find a decent job. I didn’t get a lot of petty jobs including cleaning, delivery boy – just name it – to put money in my pocket.

I had finished cleaning an office one morning when I ran into this very funny young lad. He should not be more than 25. His jokes reminded me of my sister. We ran into each other more often as I visited to clean and one day he said, “A diligent guy like you would make a good escort”.

I just wanted something better. I met up with him one weekend, and he introduced me to a couple of guys. To cut the story short, I became an escort. My first client wasn’t a scary experience at all like most of the more experienced guys in the industry had warned me it would be. It felt more like a date – the kind of date I would never have been able to afford.

She invited me to this expensive restaurant and paid all the bills. For the first time in my life, I was able to drink an expensive red wine rather than the cheap wines I have tasted before. The sour-sweet taste of the grape wine could only be from years of ageing in wooden barrels.

From there we went to see a movie. It was the highly talked about ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. I have never seen a movie in 3D before. The experience is so cool. It feels like the actions are coming straight to your face.

Becoming a male escort gave me a peek into luxury the kind of life I have always admired but which felt far from my grasp. I made enough money to take care of my loving sister’s education, and I will continue to support her to university. My parents now also eat three times a day, every day, with ease.

However, becoming a male escort, to me, is not all about the luxury. It was about giving me hope, the hope to become what I would never have been able to become judging from my poor background.

Becoming a male escort was my journey to self-discovery, the discovery that my background had little impact on my future, the discovery that there is a place for everyone in this world. I hear the saying, “the sky is large enough for every bird to fly without colliding” but that only started to make sense to me recently.

If you are in such a hopeless situation, there is more to life. Becoming a male escort was my path, but you can choose to become something else.