I Will Never Forget

by Kingsley
(Lusaka)

It’s yet another year but I recall like yesterday, the night before you passed away. All the sweet words you said that gave me hope but the early hours of the following day all was history. We always moved from house to house not because you failed to adapt to the environment but because we kept running from Dad and we couldn’t keep up and maintain the rentals.

Though I never knew much about my daddy, I recall the night he came to our one roomed house. You had to ask our neighbour so I could spend a night there. At night I head you screaming for help but I wouldn’t come out because I was not only young but it was late at night.

I saw you in the morning with cuts on your face and I failed to ask but shed tears. The only words you said to me were "we are shifting." I didn’t understand why things were always like that but one thing that I know now is that my daddy had another woman somewhere and you had to leave him and face life on your own.

Life became worse when thieves broke into our house and raped you in my presence. The only thing that I saw was blood in your eyes. You cried not because it was hurting but because it was been done in my presence.

The man who helped in bringing me on earth was alerted and the best thing he thought of doing when he came to our house was to hit you till you fell and became unconscious. He left after spitting on you.

I managed to reach for a cup of water which a poured on you till you gained a bit of consciousness. You woke up and rested till you were all fine to talk.

You told me how that had extended from your parents till to you, my grandfather was like that towards my grandmother and it’s something that will go on if I did not do anything about it.

Being as young as 13 made it seem like you were saying it because you wanted me to forget. it’s now clear that you did all that to see me through in life so that I wouldn’t be irresponsible like the way my father and your father were.

Now you are gone and am doing anything within me to make life a little better for someone. I’ll never forget.

It’s now a challenge for anyone to add some extra effort so that we can make life worth living for someone.