Marrying Mr Wrong

The first time I fell in love time stopped moving and butterflies fluttered about in my stomach. Nobody told me that falling in love was like crossing the road without looking both ways or I would have looked both ways and guarded my heart . I was 18 and he was 21, I was an innocent wallflower and he was a seasoned baby daddy of one. I should have known we were doomed the moment my eyes met his and he smiled at me. You see, I was not supposed to have been there at all but my parents were out of town and I was staying with Gogo for the holidays who had decided that extra lessons would make me stand out from my peers. So she enrolled me at Eden College so I could stay busy and out of trouble and by trouble she meant far from the temptation of DSTV. If she had known that I would meet my Adam and lose my innocent perception of the world at Eden College she would have locked the gate and kept me safely tucked away in her yard but she didn’t.

I don’t know whether I regret the moment our eyes met or feel cheated by Cupid *sigh*, all I know is that I loved the wrong man.That April morning, I heard nothing in Biology class except my beating heart and the April Butterfly parade in my stomach. Was he looking me? Did he notice that my hair is straightened? Am I attractive? Those were the only phrases in my mind and definetely not the workings of the human digestive system. He never approached me that day and to this day I wonder why , I should have asked him but I was too stubborn to admit I cared. Days turned to weeks before he finally said ‘hi’ and I couldn’t speak. You would have thought my parents never took me to pre-school or got me help for my speech impairment but alas I was mesmerised by white teeth and a smirk that promised danger. All I could do was nod my head in response and darn he smiled at me . He asked for my number and with the eagerness of a girl who had never been in love I gave it to him and began the long wait for his text.

His first text was ‘Ndeipi Shamie” and you would have thought he had promised me a trip to Kariba and a lifetime supply of fried chicken but alas he had just said Hi. i replied quickly but my texts had depleted and so i had to dash quickly to the shops and get airtime so I could text him back. I was Cindrella and he was my Prince charming and I was determined to change my relationship status. That first night we talked about school and our plans because what else was there to talk about.

The following morning I took a bath for a good 35 minutes because I was now being courted and needed to look good. I was never one to wear lip gloss prefering Vaseline to shiny glossy lips that smell like Strawberry but alas a girl in love will pull all the stops to look great. My ancestors knew what lay ahead and they tried to stop it but sometimes you can’t stop something from happening. That day everyone knew Shamie was and if ever I have ever felt like a piece of meat on display that was the day. I swayed my hips like a swinging pendulum when I knew Tonderai was looking because like every good hunter you bait your prey.

It didn’t take long for him to ask me out and start bringing extra Maputi and crisps for me to my class because we were in love righ!? I had plans to go to Yale and become a chemical engineer and he just wanted his A Levels so he could enrol for the motor mechanics program at a local Polytech so he could quickly get a job and look after his baby and keep his baby mama happy. We had different plans but at that point we were in love and love is all we needed (I thought)….

To be continued next sunday