Grandma beat me when she caught me having sex

Dear Pastor, 

I am 21 years old and I have found myself in a problem. I grew up with my grandmother. 

She  used to buy and sell goods; there were good days and bad days. My mother did not care much about me, so my grandmother took me. My father gave me money every week to go to school, so I used to go to my father not only for school money but for money to cook Sunday dinner.  

One day I made arrangements with my boyfriend to meet me at the house. We had planned to have sex. My grandmother left early. My boyfriend came about 8 a.m. About 9 a.m., my grandmother came back to the house as she was not feeling well. When she arrived, my boyfriend and I were in my room having sex. We did not hear her enter the house. She went into the kitchen and took up a cutlass and came into the room. I thought my grandmother would have murdered one of us. My boyfriend cried out and she asked him what he is bawling out for. She told him to continue what he was doing. She gave him two slaps of the cutlass and when I tried to run, she blocked the door and gave me two as well.  

My boyfriend ran out of the room naked. She beat me while I was in the room with her and I was begging her to forgive me for what I did. I learnt something that day. My grandmother told me that she suspected that I was having sex. One neighbour came over and asked her what was happening because she heard an unusual noise. My grandmother told her that I was only making noise because I saw a big rat in the house and I am afraid of rats. The lady asked me why I was crying and I told her the rat jumped up on me. I don’t know where my boyfriend turned, but he left and went his way. He even forgot to take his ID with him; he left it on the table.  

L. 

Dear L., 

When your grandmother caught you having sex with your boyfriend and she went for her cutlass, she did not mean to chop you or the guy as some women love to use machetes to beat others. 

But was it because she thought that you were underage? She could not have thought that way. If you had passed the age of consent, you were safe and your boyfriend was not breaking the law either. So perhaps grandma decided to beat the hell out of you because she thought you were out of order to be having sex in her house. I don’t know.  

The young man ran away. Why do you feel that he should have stayed there while your grandmother had a cutlass in her hand? I am glad that you and the young man were safe and that your grandmother did not get into any trouble. I would have loved to hear what happened to this relationship, whether this guy and you are still together. You must be careful how you live. I hope that this young and you are still together.  

Pastor