The travail of a young lad

Greetings!

Being emotional is not something you try to do, but something natural. There's things that come our ways that makes us to be emotional or have this strange feelings. Some even believe that women are more emotional than men, well, to some certain extent, it's true. But one thing I know is that anybody can be emotional. Once you are human, emotion is already part of you. Even the most hardened person on earth can be emotional. It all depends on the situation of things that happened. Hmmm! Since anybody can cry, be happy or get angry, that means emotion is innate.

Back to emotions and feelings. This community has actually helped me to share most of my real life experiences to people on hive. Well this is very commendable and a thumb up to the community. Another experience of mine that I will like to share to my people here is the that has to do with my journey in life and how it has shaped my life till today.

As we all know that when talking about emotions and feelings, it's not necessary a story or experiences of sad event, It can of be of joy and that's why we have tears of joy. My journey has been full of ups and downs and this one I'm about to tell you started from when I was just 5 years old.

When I was 5 years of age, my parents who were living at Cotonou the capital city of Benin republic sent me home to come.and be living with one of their relatives from my paternal side. So, when i got home, at Iwo, a family meeting was called to welcome me to Nigeria and to hand me over to the said relative.

This is where my journey to real life started. So, after I was being handed to the man, and after a while, the man got me enrolled into one of the public primary school in my area. DC primary school Iwo in osun state Nigeria. So, after a while and whenever I came back from school, the wife of my uncle always use me to hawk for her. During my stay with my uncle, I hawked series of goods that ranges from fish, pepper, fruit such as oranges, pineapple etc. detergent just to mention but a few. But was hawking for her my problem? No! It was not, but the way she maltreated me after hawking for her was the problem. In those days, the woman, after hawking and selling of the goods given to me will still beat and molest me, telling people around how I used to steal her money. She used to be like the money of the sold goods was not even up to what I remitted to her.

Atimes she used to follow me to my school to disgrace me even when I was still a little boy. Hmmm, this was so painful and pathetic. Then I used to cry whenever this happened to me. But who would help me. The only thing is that my classmates that know me very well will just come around to console me, atimes my pry 3 class teacher will also come around to console and encourage me.

Hmmm! During this time, I used to be afraid of going home, just because of fear of what would happen at home. I think you people should have asked me about this women's children. This woman, madam fola, has two children, shola and janet. These two kids were well treated, even the well treated is even an understatement. They were being over pampered. Everything needed were always given to them. Although, they were my younger ones and I used to take care of them, bath for them, and take them to school. If the children should complain of anything about me, maybe I beat or take out of their biscuits and they reported to their mother, then I'm in soup already.

Those kids have a very good uniform but mine is tattered with no hope of getting any soon. Do you know even before going to school, the woman will still make me hawk and as a result, getting late to school has always been part of me. Atimes, I get to school at around 10am. Can you imagine a pupil getting to school around 10am.

What of the house chores? I used to do most of the house chores without any resentment, I used to wash all the clothes, the dishes and even grinds pepper with my hand. What can the poor boy do?

There was a particular that I bed wetted and you know as a small boy then, there's no sin when you bed wet although, the parents can be like it's not good, but this day, I was embarrassed in the neighborhood that I was made to carry on my head, the mat that i used to sleep, the woman even followed me to school to embarrassed me.

Now, as if that was not enough, there was a day the woman alleged me of stealing meat from her pot of soup, that day, I cried and cried and this was because I hate being alleged of what I didn't do. So, this one threatened to take me to a native doctor in the town if I would not confess. I told her I was not the one who stole the meat, but she insisted and told me that she would take me to the native doctor and that my hand would be cut off. What can I do? Thanks God for the immediate intervention of our neighbors who pleaded on my behalf. Thank God she yielded to the plea. But I was still beaten just that she didn't take me to the native doctor.

What of the husband who happened to be my uncle, in the house, my uncle, didn't have any say, it's the woman's command that takes stand in the house. But one thing that baffles me was the role of my parents. Were they not aware of my plight, were they not informed. Seriously, my parents thought I was enjoying staying with my uncle, in those days, phones were not this available and whenever they called, they call through NITEL. So they no nothing about my plight. And if they were to send anything, they will send it through those people coming home from Benin republic.

Hmmm, on the day that I would be liberated, I was at school and on break. So , as we were playing on the field, I just heard a voice that called my name. This voice was the voice of my class teacher calling me that my uncle was looking for me. When I got there, I saw my uncle and a man. Guess whom this man is. The man was my father, when I saw my dad, I was having this mixed feelings. I was not happy to seeing him neither was I sad of seeing him. I was not happy just because of what he had made me to pass through and I was not sad because I knew that my day of liberation has come.

Immediately I saw him, I prostrated and greeted him, he was not happy to see my state of life and he asked me with tears rolling down his cheek, I was reluctant to tell him all what I have passed, but I summoned courage and related everything to him even at the presence of my uncle. My dad got angry even as my uncle was trying to explain and justify their actions towards me, but my dad would not listen and that was how he took me from the place back to Benin republic where I'm now staying, going to good school and being treated like a king.

Just yesterday I was at a event at Ejigbo in osun state, the southwestern part of Nigeria, we came home all the way from cotonou for a coronation at the the event, I saw the woman, she could not even recognize me again when I greeted her, although she was like happy to see me, but I don't know if she's pretending. But thank God I'm now big and better.

Thanks for reading.

All images are mine.

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