Brought Out Of Thorns
Chapter 1
My name is Ken Obute Johnson. I am an orphan child who was born and bred in the city of Lagos. My parents were humble Christians. They were not too wealthy, but they were comfortable. They had died in a ghastly motor accident when I was just a little boy.
When my Parents died, My Aunty, Mrs Akemi, asked me to come live with her. She promised to take care of me. She told all my family members that I will be given the best education money can buy. She promised to feed me daily and make my life a sweet one.
Mrs Akemi came like an angel. She was like a saviour who had come to pick me out of a dry desert into a fruitful Island. When my parents were alive, they loved her so much. She had a very good relationship with them.
I still remember how she bought me sweets any time she came to visit my mum at home. Whenever I sighted her, I ran like a puppy to embrace her. She will then hand over the sweets to me, carrying the cutest smiles in the world. She would rub my head and sometimes lift me up to ask how I was doing.
When she offered to take care of me after my parents demise, I was very excited. I was filled with Joy. I couldn’t wait to live with Mrs Akemi. I knew she was going to be a very nice person to me. Hence she knew my parents very well, and was closer to my mum, I trusted and believed she would take care of me like her own child.
I moved into Mrs Akemi’s two bedroom flat Located in Ikeja. It was a very beautiful house with simple decorations. She asked me to feel at home. That day she called me to reassure me that she was going to take care of me. She encouraged me not to give up. She said she will bring me up like her own child.
But things didn’t turn out that way. Mrs Akemi changed within a short period of time. She became a wild animal, a barking bull dog, and an angry Lion.
I lived with her like a helpless lamb. I was just like a slave serving a wicked master. I was a boy without hope. A child who was beaten like a cow whenever he committed the slightest mistake. I was blamed for even the crimes I shouldn’t be blamed for. I was starved of good food, and left to sleep outside in the cold for little offenses my parents would have normally forgiven.
Mrs Akemi dealt with me like a soldier in a barrack. She made me feel like a notorious criminal who had robbed a bank.
She was merciless when it came to whipping me with her black robber. She will whip my back until it bled. Then she will mix hot pepper in cold water and pour it on my back.
I wailed and cried like a widow who had lost her husband to the painful hands of death. I will beg and plead for mercy. But Mrs Akemi had none in her dictionary. She was brutal even to a five year old child like me.
I was eighteen years old when Mrs Akemi returned one hot Monday afternoon, and asked me to park my belongings and leave her house. My heart sank. fear gripped me. Tears rolled down my eyes in tiny rivulets. I knelt down and begged Mrs Akemi. I pleaded with her to forgive me if I have offended her in any way. I begged her not to push me to the streets and make me a homeless boy.
“Aunty, my parents would not do this to me if they were alive. Aunty they will not. They will not make me live on the streets even if I am an armed robber. They will take care of me and try to correct me. Aunty don’t do this to me. Please Aunty. Please.” I begged.
Mrs Akemi paid deaf ears to my plea. She pushed me out through the metal door and slammed it at my face. Seconds later she opened the door and flung my bag of clothes outside. Then she returned and flung my bible at me.
“Get out of my house. Get out! I don’t want to see you. I have no need for you. God has blessed me with children. You are just an extra problem to my life. Don’t ever come back here.” She thundered loudly and slammed the door for the last time.
I cried as I picked my bags and walked away from the house. I had warm tears dripping down my eyes. I was wiping as I carried my big bag on my shoulders. As I walked out of Mrs Akemi house that day, I knew my journey in life was about to begin. At that moment, I remembered the words of my mother when she was alive. She had called me once and told me.
“Ken never give up. There shall come a time when you shall face challenges in life. A time shall come when I may not be there by your side anymore. But I want you to stand strong and be bold. No matter what life throws at you, pick it up and make gold out of it.”
I felt my mother was a prophetess.
I wondered if she had seen this moment a long time ago. But then, I held on to her words. This was my moment of challenge. I was determined not to give up no matter what life throws at me.
I found a table where I slept that night. I was hungry and had not eaten anything throughout that night.
To be continued
ยฉ Johnson Ezekiel Sunday
