Landlord tried to 'look' me

Dear Pastor,

I am a regular reader of your column. I have learnt a lot from you. I am 15 years old and I am living with my father and an older sister. We are renting from a man and his wife. They don't live on the premises where we are.

We have been here for the last six months. Sometimes when I am going to school, this man suddenly shows up and stops his car and asks me if I want a ride. The first time he did it, I told him that I was grateful for the ride, but then he offered to come back and take me home.

I told him no and that wouldn't be necessary. A few days after, he showed up again and when I went into his car, he told me that he liked me. I told him that I was only 15 and I was not interested in him because I was too young to have an affair with him and I knew he was married.

He told me that would only be between the both of us.

I told my sister about the two occasions that I saw this man and what he said to me. My sister called him and told him that she was going to tell our father. He begged her not to tell our dad because he was only joking with me.

He has never spoken to me again and he only comes by now on Sunday evenings to collect his rent. When he comes by and sees me he says, "Hello, Miss So and so". I know I did the right thing by telling somebody about it, but he said he was only joking with me.

Pastor, I know that was not a joke he was making because he mentioned how I had lovely breasts.

F.S.,

Dear F.S,

This man thought that you were just a young naive girl but you are very wise. You did not expect him to want to become intimate with you. You knew he was the landlord and when he offered you a ride, you accepted the ride not knowing that he wanted to establish an intimate relationship with you.

You should be commended for the stand you took. You were quite correct in telling your sister about the encounter you had with this man. I am not surprised at all that he said he was only joking. Some men would say that you were lying. He said he was only joking. That is not funny at all.

Evidently, your sister did not tell your father what you told her. But I commend her for talking to this man about his behaviour. You need not be sorry for complaining to your sister. And let this be a warning to you that you should not trust men in general. Not all men are decent, upright and trustworthy.

Pastor