Title: 'Just because my path is different
doesn't mean I am lost'
It was never a challenge
to me. The challenge wasn't my academic prowess as my father thought; all I
needed was focus. In our village, the locals used to say "Gorno surd ayor"
which roughly translates as "know yourself and focus", this had been
my little slogan since I was eleven. My father had just I and my younger
brother,his love for us was divided and somewhat partial, favouring my brother
more.
Daniel was every parents' dream. He was very brilliant and handsome. My father
used to say I was lucky to be born, but for Daniel, he said he was born lucky.
He topped his class after every terminal examinations. My father's pride, my
younger brother, my love.
I was quite the matyr, my father loathed me to an extent and would
sometimes call me a disappointment unworthy of being his first son. He exalted
Daniel over me and this soon gave Daniel an aura of superiority. Daniel would
sometimes question my orders and say insulting words to me. I didn't blame him
much, i didn't expect any less from him of course; favourite son of a favourite
son. Sometimes i'd blame myself more, for while my little brother was studious
and brilliant, I was the brilliant chap who longed for more than just books and
being top of the class. I had great love for money. I had always dreamt of
owning a car at the age of 20. So great was my passion that I would sometimes
steal my Dad's money to gamble at the local bet shop.
I
was careless and I knew I deserved every right to be in this cell. The torments
of the previous night was almost unbearable,the mosquitoes feasted upon my skin
and I had the cold of the night to augment my torment. I was here because of my
recklessness, because of my passion, my greed, my love for Money. I had used
the money my father gave me to register my final Exams to play the lottery,
worst still; my father borrowed it just to ensure I didn't miss the exam. I
blamed myself, I spent two days in the cell and was bailed by my uncle. That's
it, my Dad intended to send me back to the village. I had no choice, The king
had decreed and I had no choice than to obey.
The
Journey to my village was such a long one. I had already fallen asleep in the
mega bus when we hit a pothole. I jerked forward as though I leapt from dream
land into earth. I was unable to sleep again, we soon got to a check point and
I finally had a chance to buy some snacks from the Hawkers on the road. I
bought some few biscuits and sachet water and was about to pay when I found
something in my pockets rather fascinating. It was my ticket, the ticket I got
from the bet store. I hurriedly paid for the snacks and looked at the ticket
heart-racingly. Two nights of torment in a police cell is enough to make one forget
a fortune. I looked at the passenger beside me and asked rather shyly ;
"please can I use ur phone? I want to check my JAMB result". She
handed over her phone: quickly, I surfed the net for the results of the bets I
placed and I found that I had won. It worked, it worked, I screamed, It worked.
Every passenger in the bus looked at me as if I were an Allien. The Euphoria
didn't last long, fear and paranoia soon set in. I folded my ticket into my
pocket as though I had the souls of my loved ones in it.
As
soon as the bus stopped at its station, I boarded another back to the city. My
father was a bit furious to see me, to him I was like an infirmity; a wound
that has refused to heal. Before he could rant I went on my knees and asked for
forgiveness. He seemed rather Adamant and unwilling to forgive. I brought out
the ticket from my pocket and told him I just won 25million naira from the
money I gambled. He looked me in the eyes to verify the truth of my claim, he
saw that I wasn't lying. Tears rolled down his cheek as he held me up. He took
me into the palour and sat me down and these were the words that came from his
mouth: "I have faulted you and I had always done my part as a parent to
discipline you, even now I do not regret my actions towards you. You are almost
an Adult now and I expect you to begin to set your own morality, no more an
extension of my own morality. You see son, Just because your path is different
doesn't mean you are lost".
The
last words of his speech or his apologetic statement as I deem it to be became
my new slogan: "just because I am different doesn't mean I am lost"
Author: Onnoghen
Emara-atu Nkanu
Title: 'Just because
my path is different doesn't mean I am lost'
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