I stood in court trying to explain to them that I didn't know she was 15 years old, but the more I talked, the less sense I made. I was about to be sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for something that could not be explained, it just didn't make much sense to me anymore.
Sandra was one of those girls that looked 22 but isn't. I was caught in her web the very first day I set my eyes on her. Sandra was as beautiful as she was elegant. She was a complete woman, she had the kind of back and front that could command a whole platoon to stand at attention, she was truly the definition of endowed.
I had just gotten a new job in a new state and I had recently parked into this beautiful estate. Sandra was walking home with her junior brother when we first met. Her smile was filled with promises of love and understanding, her face was like the night sky in a celestial event. She had the curves of mount Everest, you could not see the end of it.
Thankfully, she lived just a stone's throw from where I stayed. The next day, I was determined to wait and talk to her. I had just found my heartbeat and I wasn't ready to let go.
"Hello beautiful, do your legs hurt?", I asked. She looked confused, "my legs?".
I smile, "yeah your legs, because it seems as though you fell from heaven". She broke the most beautiful smile I had ever seen in the whole wide world.
"I'm glad I could make you smile, sorry but I'm lost and searching for something important," I Said. "What's that" she replied. "Your number", I said. She broke another smile and from there it was just a landslide.
We talked for days on end, but now I think of it, I wonder why I never bothered to ask her of her age, probably the fear of the saying that women feel offended when asked about their age. So I just assumed she was 22 while I was 23. A perfect match.
And so one day she finally came to my house. I cleaned up properly, ordered delicious meals and drinks, played her favorite song on my radio, the mood was set for whatever could happen. After eating, we talked for a while before things began to heat up.
I placed a soft kiss on her chin, then on her forehead, traced her lips, and covered them with awesomeness. She moaned in pleasure, I knew I was right on track. We went from the bed to the bedroom in Iyanya's voice, she was receptive but I noticed how naive she was when it came to these things. So I asked
"Have you kissed before", with a sweet smile, she said no and she was glad that her first time was with me. We were already curled up in the bed, half-naked, doing the first time ritual talks before we went down to business. My hands had cupped her breast and I was playing with her nipples, I could feel her yen for me.
"So how come a 22-year-old lady is just kissing for the first time". Her countenance changed immediately. I apologized, " I didn't mean to say all ladies Should have missed before 22, you know, I'm just surprised."
She said no, that that wasn't why her countenance changed, "I'm not 22, I'm 15".
You are what??!!
I jumped up immediately as I was in utter shock, shocked at the very existence of my being. Sorry, you are what?
I am 15 years, she said.
Stop this joke, I replied. My heart was already racing, regret was already filling my heart. How?
"I know you may think I'm still too young or immature, but I know what I'm doing and I know what I feel, and what I feel is that I love you with all my heart", she replied.
I was shattered, I felt I had betrayed humanity. What have I done? How could I make her understand that we can't be together? How could I make her understand that what she feels isn't love, she wasn't matured enough to understand what love means, how could I make her understand without breaking her tiny fragile heart. I told her to dress up and I tried explaining that society and even my conscience frowns at our relationship. She was still too young and naive to understand the consequences of her actions.
But she kept swearing that she understands and she is was matured enough. After hours of trying to tell a 15-year-old girl that what she feels for me isn't love without success, I told her to go home. I began to avoid her calls and chat. She sent me countless messages apologizing if she did something wrong, but I kept telling her I was the one to apologize, I'm the wrong person here. But we could not be together.
She didn't understand. She didn't care to. She broke down, she was desperate, she cried all day and then it happened. One day I heard a knock on my door and opened it to see Sandra crying, at her side were her dad, mom, and relatives. She had told them all that happened, you know, in a heartbroken 15-year-old tale, and no one would save me from being the villain in the story.
I was beaten blue and black, no matter how much I tried to explain that nothing happened and I didn't know. But the chats were there, the pictures were there, the messages were there and they said otherwise.
And so here I was, standing in the court, waiting for the Judge to sentence me for a crime I did not commit, or rather a crime I did commit, unknowingly.
Four years later, my lawyer tells me that my case has been dismissed and that I could go home, and someone was waiting for me. I went out to see Sandra standing outside, she was 19 now, and recanted her story. I stood with tears in my eyes as she came close to me.
Why Sandra, I asked, why?
"Shreds, I did it so that I would be sure you wouldn't fall in love with another until I was matured enough to officially be yours"...
I felt dumbfounded
