Fifteen Gets You Forty

Fifteen will get you forty, let the numbers hit the wall, a child near the fire, an adult bound to fall. Twenty-five years between duty and disgrace, between the hand that crossed and fear upon her face. She was not your equal, she was not your peer, she was a child with danger ringing in her ears. You can soften every sentence, you can dress the story clean, but truth still has teeth when it steps into the scene. She ran. She knew. She told. Truth grew. You reached. She fled. Now hear what the numbers said. Fifteen will get you forty. That line does not bend. A child should never run From a hand meant to defend. Fifteen will get you forty. The truth leaves scars. Bro, you should know by now, Fifteen gets you forty behind bars. He had the years, he had the role, he had the burden to guard her soul. He had the voice, he had the choice, he had the simple road he chose to avoid. Ask for the object, let the child move, but the method became what the reason could not prove. Do not point at the pocket like that settles the night, when she ran from the fire because the reach was not right. Now every explanation has to answer what she did, she left, she told, she locked the door, still just a kid. No late invention, no distant rewrite, she carried the truth from the fire that night. We were adults, still slow to see, she was the youngest with the clearest read. So let the comfort crack, let the silence break, some peace is just denial wearing clean white paint. Fifteen is not responsible For making adults brave. Forty is old enough To know what lines are made. Fifteen should be sheltered. Forty should know why. When safety has to run, The numbers testify. Fifteen will get you forty. That line does not bend. A child should never run From a hand meant to defend. Fifteen will get you forty. The truth leaves scars. Bro, you should know by now, Fifteen gets you forty behind bars. No more shrinking what the numbers show, no more asking why she had to go. She was fifteen with fear in her eyes, he was forty with no excuse left to hide. You can polish the story, you can soften the dark, but truth has a way of finding locked doors and leaving a mark. Bro, you should know by now, the line was clear from the start. Fifteen will always get you forty behind bars.