Mum and dad lived happily until she passed away, although they fought sometimes, I never saw them fighting. All I knew was that I heard loud voices from their room and whenever mum came out she was always crying and when I asked her, she said that she was praying and got carried away and started crying. I never understood how someone can cry while communicating with my father, but I believed anyway – that was the only thing I could do at that time, just believe because mum was always right. Mum was hit by a stray bullet on her way from the market. A riot broke out and in a bid to curb the riot which was getting out of hand, the police had to fire some bullets in the air to scare the rioters away. Mum was subsequently rushed to the hospital where her stomach was operated on as a result of the bullet, but she didn’t survive it. She died in the process. This was exactly how dad had explained the story to me and although I didn’t understand the circumstances surrounding her death at that time, I understood that my mum had passed away. Mum had promised to cook me some fried plantains that day, that was my best food and I believe that was the reason behind her going to the market after work that day. I still couldn’t understand why mum had to die, she was so nice and caring, not just to me but to everyone around her even when dad would always want to beat me for putting the tap on and not putting it off back which would always lead to the house being flooded, mum would always defend me and volunteer to clean it up herself, but she still died. I was nostalgic, I wanted to meet death and ask him why my mum had to go with him, he could have taken my dad, because he is so cruel and hostile or mummy Ndubisi that fries bean cake along the road that is always raining curses on children like me. Ndubisi is a dipsomaniac and he eventually landed himself in prison for indulging in cult related activities, I don’t like her. Or even me and leave my mum to take care of other children in the future. I couldn’t concentrate anymore in class because I wanted to see death. And I was about writing my exams the next week, but I still wanted to see death and interrogate him before I wrote my exams, maybe he would have taken me to my mum and I wouldn’t not come back, mum was not perfect, she had her flaws but she is still the best. I met with death later that year after my examinations, I passed of course - I have never failed any examination before. I was walking home after school and I ran into a bicycle, it hit me so had that I fell into a gutter, and broke my ankle. I believed that I met with death that day, the pain was just so excruciating that I didn’t want to go see my mum again, and so I gave up all my plans to see my mother again and moved on with life.
It wasn’t easy living with dad alone, I was an only child and I had no company at all. My dad didn’t allow my friends to visit me and didn’t allow me to visit them either. He went out very early in the morning and always came back late at night probably when I was about sleeping or after I had slept. I wonder why he came back so late at night but I never asked, until one day, he came in early with a lady, a very beautiful one and they walked straight into his room making gestures I could not understand. They didn’t seem to notice me and I pretended like I didn’t see them either. After much thinking that evening I discovered that mum had been gone for 4 years now and dad hadn’t remarried and then I understood that this was one of dad’s mistresses and probably the reason he was staying out late everyday but today, he decided to bring her home, maybe he was passing a message and I think I understood the message very well because in less than 3 months, they were already married. I was the only child of my parents and all attention was always geared towards me until dad married Mary. I wonder why Mary was so ironical to the Mary in the bible because life became harder for me. Mary was always telling my dad things that made him to dislike me but I did not care, I eventually found a way to live with the fact that life would never remain the same again,do I really know what the future holds?...no but I'm just telling you my story, as it is.