16-30 is odd

My name is Jaime and my introduction to the world of relationships began when I was sixteen years old, dating a man fourteen years my senior. It all began the day I attended a party with Jasmine my best friend. Her boyfriend Lucas was celebrating his twenty ninth birthday.

The birthday party was filled with spectacular displays, the girls were all dressed to kill and almost all of the girls in attendance wanted a glimpse of this particular guy. I saw the kind of attention he drew when he walked into the hall. He had a striking figure which is enough to snatch even a married woman from her husband.

Jasmine knew almost everyone in the party and they all seemed to know her too but why wouldn't they know her when Lucas takes her to every single game. I asked her who the well built guy was and she was like; don't tell me that you don't know Brandon. Would I have asked if I knew who he was I protested.

Brandon was the captain of De Tigers and the richest guy in the party. How come I never knew about this wonderful guy who stole the attention of every single girl. He was signing autographs every now and then, I saw a girl flipped up her top so that he could sign on her navel.

I have seen him so many times on television, i was his fan but seeing him in person made me fell in love with him. You might be wondering what a sixteen years old knows about love but don't be awkward because there is something called sweet sixteen. Being sixteen was the craziest part of my existence.

Two weeks after that encounter, Jasmine told me one morning that Lucas invited her for hiking and she wanted to know if I would go.

Ofcourse, I wanted to go so we left for his house around 9am the next day, there were two other guys outside his house and a black SUV but without any introduction, I recognised who the drive was an here I was seated in the front seat with this sweet guy, we cracked jokes as he drove down town.

That hiking was the begining of something that would change my life forever.

Brandon was nothing but a big brother to me, I am the only child of my parents, never felt the shadow, the scold, the touch and the love of a big brother but all of these were wrapped in this guy and to crown it, he became protective of me.

He has money and obviously there was one or two girls around because he was always smiling while chatting with his cell, 'that kind of masculine smile when hit by a feminine text' but he accorded me genuine love and respect. Imagine the fun he was giving me at my age; Brandon spoilt me with expensive gifts and that was what caught my mother's attention.

How would I tell her who got me the rolex wrist watch but how wouldn't I tell her when the cost of the wrist watch could buy both her car and dad's car. She wanted to know where I got the wrist watch from so I lied that D- Tigers gave out goodies to their fans and i got the rolex.

There is one thing about my mum, she is too inquisitive unlike my dad who believed me immediately but mum wanted to know the criteria that got me the rolex as a fan because there were so many die hard fans unlike a TV fan like me according to her. I didn't want her to know about Brandon so I invited her to the weekend game.

I saw the look in her eyes when I boldly told her that I will get her the front row for her to know how hooked I was. I saw the look in her eyes because I hardly go out and she only permited me to visit Jasmine so hooking with D- tigers was a big surprise or should I say shock to her but that is what most parents don't understand, they under estimate their lads and that's my mum for you.

I knew that I needed to workout something really fast because she mustn't know that I was dating or hell will loose.

I told Brandon about the situation and he wanted to see my mum because he detest lies but I made him to understand that we won't be seeing each other anymore if he ever have a word about me with my mum. And he understood it because mum would never support our relationship; 16 30 is odd. Brandon forgave me for lying about him then got my mum a front row seat and guess what?

He got me into the team as one of the cheer girls.

And mum saw the two favorite tiger girls when Andrew lifted me and Debby. And from then onwards, there was no more questions until June 14th.

One of the greatest things in life is to love and be loved and that is what I found in Brandon because he brought joy into my life. Apart from the expensive gifts, money, adventures and promises, there was something he gave me which was priceless and it's true sense of belonging.

Every cheer girl gets a special spot at each game and it's not ilegal to either give out your spot or sell it so I made my mum understood that I always sold my spot but on the contrary, the monies always came from Brandon and I only sold my spot in one occasion when Dad's colleague attended one of the Tiger's games.

One thing I loved so much about Brandon was that he never hid me from his close friends. Infact saturdays was always a day out with their girls and I noticed that they all dated younger girls but who cares. I was carried away with affection and each day that passed had my trust in Brandon increased and this continued till I found myself obsessed about him.

He had kissed me on several occasions but that was the most we have done until the night of June 14th. He invited me to his new apartment for dinner, he said that it was a romantic dinner, that was not the first time we ever had dinner alone but he said lots of things about this particular day, he talked about candle light, roses and stars. After the dinner, he started kissing me and before I knew what was happening, we were both naked on the bed.

Gush! that was my first time and he was rough. I cried but he wouldn't stop even when I insisted, he went on and on and on until I lost count. I couldn't believe what happened to me. Brandon raped me.

He apologised for what he did but looking deep into his eyes, I saw a man I thought I knew. He promised to take care of me but instead took advantage of me. He stole my virginity; a prize I paid for trusting him. I became a different person after that day and tried as much as I could to avoid him. I found myself very sad and the more I think about him, the bitterness in me increased then I realised that I needed to talk to someone and the only person I could open up to was my natural protector; my mother.

Mummy, I lied all these period, everything I said were lies, he raped me mum, mummy he raped me.

My mum wasn't mad at me, she was calm and she advised me to consider what he did to me as my escape from a lion on goat's skin. And she promised to deal with him.

I didn't know what was on her mind to do to him but her eyes were wet and her voice cracked at each word she said. I saw a wolf in her eyes.

"A chicken cannot be a dog's pet because on a day like June 14th, the dog will surely eat the chicken"

Be wise and know that age matters in every relationship because 16 30 is odd. And every mum can shoot.