Shame!

by Mary Tipoki   (Age 15, From the Cook Islands)

My mum, my family and I went to the mall to do our shopping. Man it was embarassing!

I saw my boy friend there.

My mum was yelling at me: “Go buy some toilet paper.”

My face went red. My boyfriend looked me right in the eye

“What are you doing here?”, I asked

“Doing shopping for your birthday”.

He knew I was shamed.

He went off to the toilet. When he was gone I ran into Deka and bought the toilet paper.

When I got to the counter he was waiting for me. And he could hear my mum yelling.

It was the worst day of my life.

So I dumped him.

I ran away because it hurt and I was shamed. I hid for four hours.

I waited for the mall to close when I knew my family would be looking for me.

I decided that day that I am never going shopping with my mum again.

This work was originally published in the YWCA booklet, Ehara i a Koe Anake - You're Not Alone, and is subject to the copyright conditions of that publication.