CHAPTER 2

So she locked me in, while my siblings and others went out to chill and enjoy the fun of the day.

Mom kept on reminding me, how it was just for one Christmas and that I still have many other ones to celebrate.

"Maybe I should atleast have being informed on who was planning to kill me, so I can literally avoid the person's house" I sobbed to my mum, who looked at me eyeing me maliciously, as if asking me to dare her

VACATION AT UNCLE SAM'S HOUSE

Some days later, my father informed me that I would be going to spend the holiday with uncle's Sam's family. He and his wife were serious business people and usually lacked time for themselves. They were dealers in all kinds of soft drinks and snacks, situated in a popular car park, and were making huge sums of money.

Sometimes, they desired someone to help them at the shop, since they also had other business to run. My father then decided that I should be the best person to do that, since I was on holiday and he also believed that I was smart enough and wiser than my younger ones. My elder ones would be too busy with helping my parents. So I was the only one free on hand to go.

So I became the chosen one. My joy knew no bounds. I was very happy to finally spend my holiday with uncle Sam and his beautiful wife. I somehow prayed that God would also give them a child, so they wouldn't feel too lonely.

My mother never stopped praying and encouraging them. They advised them to wait on God's time, and the awaited child would surely come.

After school vacated, I began planning for the vacation, I quickly washed and ironed my clothes. I also arranged them properly in my bag ready for the vacation.

On that fateful day, uncle Sam came to pick me up in his bike. The journey seemed like forever. Riding through a busy market, we entered into the express way, almost leading outside the state, until we finally got to the house.

It was a big compound with some other tenants also residing in it. Opposite their room was a room occupied by another family, a fat man and his fat wife. They had a little baby, who usually cried and almost wakes the entire compound at night.

As days began to go, I started to become familiar with some of the people, especially the children living in the compound and usually joined them to play, after returning home from my uncle's shop.

I would leave the house as early as six in the morning, while uncle Sam and his wife slept. They usually woke late, since they always worked till the late of the night.

Getting at the shop, I would sweep the entire shop area, before other retailers would begin to show up. At almost to seven, I would arrange some drinks on the low and top shelf of a small container and dust them thoroughly to remove dust. Then I would sit and call at customers to come patronise me.

One day, while I was helping to arrange some drinks on the shop's shelf, Some already fixed drinks at the top came crashing down. It hit on the ones at the bottom, and suddenly almost all of the drinks, fell down bursting and exposing their contents. Only few of them were spared. I immediately began to cry and panic out of fear of what to tell uncle Sam, when he arrives.

I quickly gathered the half empty cans and the almost filled ones, which hadnt entirely poured their contents. I knew I was in some deep troubles, and wished I knew how best to escape it.

As soon as I sighted uncle Sam coming at a distance, I immediately began to panic again and weeping. I began blaming myself for being responsible for him losing money that day.

As soon as he got to the shop, I quickly narrated what had happened.

To my utmost surprise, Instead of being harsh or get angry, he mildly cationed me to be careful next time, even encouraging me to drink the ones I could and dispose the remaining ones. He also got me some snacks to eat along with the drinks. I couldn't understand how someone could do that.

My parents would have beaten the living daylight out of me, reminding me how it cost money to get what I had just destroyed. I became very happy and promised myself to live longer with uncle Sam and his wife.

As time went by, I began to long for home. I started having scary imagination of how my family had suddenly disappeared without me, and how I was the only one left in my family. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't shake the thought out of my head.

Deep down, some fears began to creep into me, as I constantly reminisced on those awful thoughts, especially when I was alone.

Days passed by, almost turning into month, I woke up one morning to inform uncle Sam that I wished to visit my family again, even though I refused telling him of the scary imaginations I was having about them.

Few days later, uncle Sam announced that I would be going back home, and my Joy knew no bonds, I quickly began to pack up my bags and some other gifts, he and his wife had gotten for me, in preparation of going home. I missed my parents and siblings and couldn't wait to see than again.

OWN PLACE

Getting back home, my sibling's all rushed and embraced me. It had being long they had seen me and they were all happy to see me, as much as I was too. They said they couldn't wait to have me back.

My elder sister also couldn't wait to share the good news with me. "what is it about?" I asked, impatiently. I was then told that Uncle Mike had left our house to go rent a space for himself.

I was elated and kind of relief that finally one would rest from his constant bully. He had also probably had enough of the hide and seek he did with different women,.sneaking them into our house when our parents were not around. And now, he had finally decided to get a place to explore them without hindrance.

One day, I fell out with him again, when Mmadi, my elder sister came back home one evening weeping bitterly. She had being badly battered by uncle Mike for daring to ask him for a money he owned her while he was living with us. He had therefore beaten her to a pulp leaving her dripping with blood from a cut on her lips.

I was very furious with uncle mike and decided to go challenge him and also express my dissatisfaction and dissapointment on what he had done to Mmadi.

And as soon as I got to the entrance of his gate, in a house he shared with other tenants, I saw him at the front of his room.

I then began to curse at him and tried by all means to provoke him, atleast in revenge for his actions towards my sister.

But like a flash of lightening, uncle mike bounced on me too and began to beat me mercilessly. I struggled to wriggle out of his grip but he was too strong. He beat me almost the same way he had beaten Mmadi and then left me on the floor where I managed to continue cursing out my remaining bitterness at him before finally leaving.

I openly prayed that he would reap the result of the wickedness he had being doing. He had not only beaten me openly, but also disgraced me Infront of some old friends I had fallen out with, due to a bad incident that happened in their house.

It had not being my fault though, as we all had being engaged in it. I had only being the one who wasn't lucky like the rest.

We all had being playing a game with worn out car tyres. We were six in number. Me and five other boys. The game was to throw tyres up, with the winner throwing his or hers higher than the rest. The higher it went, showed who was winning. Anyone who threw his, the highest would be crowned the winner.

As the game began, we started throwing it as usual, and different winners kept emerging at different trials

When it was the final stage for crowing the overall winner, I threw mine so high, that it went up, but instead on falling down straight on the ground, it came crashing on the wire that connected electricity to the entire compound. Immediately it crashed on it, the wire splited into two and all bulbs in the compound went off, and serious screams began eminating from the children and some adults on how I had damaged the compound's electricity.

I became scared mmediately, and almost began to tear up, thinking of how my parents would beat the living daylight out of me, for going to another people's house to destroy their source of electricity.

I began sweating profusely when one of the women in the compound suddenly grabbed my hands and began leading me straight home, to report to my parents what I had done.

That incident marked the last time I visited that house.