Contest ||Throwback:"Memories of my Sweet 16"|| A tale of betrayal, pain, frustrations and disappointment by @alexanderpeace

Greetings and thank you once more to fabio2614 for this opportunity to share our sweet sixteen memories.

When I was growing up, I always looked forward to turning sixteen because of the popularity attached to the number. I had always envisaged my sixteenth year memories to be sweet like its popularly called but it wasn't so for me. As a look back to sixteen years ago, It feels bad to know that my suppossed sweet sixteen memories was rather filled with pain, betrayal, frustrations and loss. I don't know if I should call it bitter sixteen but am glad all those things happened because they helped to turn me into a stronger and better woman.

I was in the last class of high school. In my country Nigeria, high school is called secondary school and I was in senior secondary class 3. I had a boyfriend in high school who had been my friend since our junior secondary school days. We've been friends for about five years. I also had a girl friend whom I confided in. You know girl talks and all. Something very sad happened between us that was quite frustrating. I had travelled home for holiday and came back with a gift for my boyfriend. I didn't know how to hand the gift over to him because I wasn't actually the outgoing type. So I confided in my girl friend and told her I had bought a gift for my boyfriend. She advised me to give him the gift in class. I was actually so enthusiastic about giving him the gift that I didn't realize that it was a bad idea. I should have waited till after class and given him in private. So while we were in class I wrapped the gift and slipped it beside him and signalled him about it. He rejected the gift. I didn't know the reason why he rejected my gift even up till date, he simply didn't want it. So I took my gift back with a downcast face. I told my friend that he rejected the gift in confidence. I was actually in shock to find out later that the entire class had come to find out that I got my boyfriend a gift that he rejected.

I was wondering how the whole class got to know only to find out that my girlfriend had talked to another girl in the class about it. And the girl in question was a bully and she bullies me at every slightest opportunity because I was of small stature and the bully was way bigger than me. The bully classmate had spread the news to the entire class in a bid to get back at me. My embarrassment reached its peak when we came back to the hostel because I schooled in a boarding house. The bully literally followed me everywhere taunting me and saying that I was busy buying singlet for a man when I couldn't afford a singlet myself, (The gift I bought was men underwear). It was so embarrassing. I hid my face in shame as I was the object of ridicule in the class for a long time. That singular act made me know that I couldn't confide in my so called girlfriend anymore, I really felt betrayed by her.

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This was supposed to be a secret between us and this incident put a strain on the relationship with the girl. With time I made up with my boyfriend and we continued the relationship and soonest we graduated from high school. We continued the relationship even after high school.

I sometimes go to his house to visit him. He lives with his Aunt whom we both didn't know was his biological mother. Most times when I go there, the Aunt is usually out for work until one faithful day when I had the worst embarrassment of my life from her. My boyfriend had lost the grand ma. So I came around to console him for his loss and I met the Aunt at home. I was in the room talking with him when she came into his room. I greeted her, she answered sluggishly and left. After some time she came back to the room and open fire on me. She called me all manner of names, said I was deceiving her son and said all manner of despicable things to me. That was the first time of meeting her and it was obvious she didn't like me. She so embarrassed me that she threw me out of the house. I was dumb founded and I couldn't just place my hands on where I got it wrong. My boyfriend pleaded on her behave, he was just as confused as I was. I've never been so humiliated and degraded my entire life. I left but we continued the relationship. All manner of thoughts were racing through my mind. I was just turning sixteen and all this are already happening. I was looking forward to a sweet sixteen experience but it wasn't so.

The last experience that broke the camel's back was that my father took Ill immediately after my sixteenth years birthday. The only good thing I remembered was that he gave me a bottle of wine as a birthday gift. In my house, we don't celebrate birthdays, so that bottle of wine was like a jackpot. I opened the wine and drank with my siblings and danced and that was all I got for turning sixteen. My dad's health deteriorated and he was taken to the hospital. He was very sick and my younger sister too was very sick. I had to look after them with my mum. The most painful aspect of this memory lane happened few weeks after my birthday. My father died.

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It was a period of pain and frustrations. The most frustrating part of this whole experience is that we used all the family financial resources to invest in saving his life but to no avail. The entire family was broken, it was a period of tears and uncertainty. He was buried few weeks later.

As if these were not enough, I wrote an exam for college and I didn't make it to college. I was depressed. As all these were happening, I broke up with my boyfriend. The Aunty was instrumental to the break up. She threatened and warned me to stay away from her son, so I had to take my leave. It was a combo of bitter experiences. My sweet sixteen experiences were not exciting but in all these things I look back to the years that have gone by and I see that those terrible situations forged me into a strong and better person. I had my trying times but I didn't give up. I was determined to pull through and I did. Life has it twists but how we react to them is what matters the most. So I'd say I had bitter sixteen memories whilst it was supposed to be sweet sixteen memories. But am glad for life and how far I've pulled through.

Thank you for going down with me on this memory lane and hope yours was really sweet sixteen memories and not bitter like mine. Your comments are welcomed. I invite @jovita30, @benson6, @giftye, @ngozi996 to participate in this contest