Must Read: A Teenage Love Affair

7 years ago

Must Read: A Teenage Love Affair

‘As do you. When you were her age,you really knew how to pump up the party,or have you forgotten?”,she asked. “Of course not. When i was her age,i lost my way. I hurt myself,and others before i found it again. I don’t want her to have to go through that”,her father said. “Messing up is part of growing. Failure,mistakes,they’re part of life. You know that”,she said,paused and continued;”I know you’re trying to protect her,but this is not the way to go about it. You’ll just end up hurting yourself”. “Myself?”,he asked. “Yes.

Yourself. You keep this up and she’s going to end up resenting you. It’s already started Mo.

She’s angry at everybody,but mostly at you. If you keep treating her like this . .”,she said,throwing her hands up in frustration. “You don’t want that,do you? Miriam resenting you?”,she asked softly a few seconds later. “Of course i don’t want my daughter resenting me.

She’s just so. . problematic”. “Because she’s angry. And she’s lashing out at the people who are making her angry. Us. Mo,we’ve raised her. We’ve taught her right from wrong,good from bad. We’ve taught her to respect others,and to stay focused. We’ve told her that the greatest achievement any human can have is to love God,themselves and others,and we’ve lived by our words. We’ve taught her how to fly. Now we have to let her go.

She has to find her way,make her own path,and it’s a journey she’s going to make on her own”,her mom said. “Her sisters weren’t like that. They appreciated our guidance

,welcomed it even. Why is her own different?”,he asked in seeming frustration. “Because she’s different. She’s always been different.

When her sisters always went along with what we wanted,she’d do the exact opposite. She’s always had a mind of her own-right from when she was a toddler. So she’s got to start living her life-and if she makes mistakes,if she falls down,then she’s gotta learn to stand up,dust herself and keep moving,and she has this spirit,this will,inner strength,and the principles we’ve imbued in her.’

“Miriam’s my strongest child,but she’s also the one i worry about the most”,her mother said. “You worry about her too?”,he asked. “Of course i do. I worry about all our children,and i’ll probably still be worrying about them when they have children of their own. I worry about them,but at some point,i trust them.

I have to,if i want to maintain a good relationship with them”,she replied. “So you think if i let Miriam go to this party,it’ll fix things between us?”,he asked. “Not completely,no. But it’s a start”,she replied. “Fine. I’ll extend her curfew by two hours. 7 o’clock”. “7? That’s when the party’ll be getting started!”,she said in protest. “My point exactly”,he said. “Moses. . .”,she sighed in exasperation. “Fine. 9 o’clock sharp. Not a second
Party night. . . .

Miriam entered Paul’s house nervously. It was Friday night,and miracle of miracles,her father had let her go to the party. She’d heard the news from her mother in shocked disbelief. Even as she entered the living room,she was still a little bit shocked that she was actually there.

It was about 6:20pm,and it was starting to get dark. She’d left her house around 6 and had taken a bike. She walked around quietly,wondering where everyone was. She waited for a few seconds and then heard voices. She followed them and found her way to the swimming pool area. There were already a few people there. She scanned their faces and saw him in a corner at the exact same moment he saw her and they both smiled simultaneously,and he walked to her. He was wearing a light pink short-sleeved shirt,black denim trousers and a pair of palm slippers. The pink shirt perfectly complemented his complexion which was somewhere between light and dark. The first two buttons of his shirt were open,and she saw the silver chain he always wore lying on the soft cotton of his white singlet. “Hey”,he said,smiling at her. She wore a casual white gown with little blue flowers all over it,a small black jacket and black flats. “Hey”,she replied with a smile of her own and then couldn’t resist adding;”You clean up nice”. His shirt was faintly formal,and his outfit was in stark contrast to his usual sweatshirt/cargo pants look. “You don’t look too bad yourself. What did you do to your hair?”,he asked. “I flat-ironed it. You like?”,she asked. “Yeah”,he replied,and continued;”It suits you. You look really pretty”. “Thank-you”,she replied shyly. She wasn’t used to receiving compliments. “I wasn’t really sure you would make it. I thought your dad might change his mind at the last moment or something”,he said. “I’m still in shock myself. But,he didn’t change his mind,and so,here i am. I just have to make sure i’m home by 9″. “Speaking of which,how do you plan to get home?”,he asked. “I dunno. Taxi? Or a bike”.