TRUE CONFESSION

TRUE CONFESSION: By Chris Okafor

I and my parents came to United Kingdom during the first spring of the 2001 from Banjul the capital of Gambia in West Africa. I was barely 13yrs then; I have no idea why we were leaving Gambia and where we were going when my parents first came up with the idea. The only thing I realized was the drastic change in family circumstances. Dad used to be a banker while Mum was teaching in a secondary school.

I also realized that Dad came back one day looking very sad and Mum was there trying to console him.  I am the only boy and only child and as far as I remember, I was over pampered such that I never lacked anything.

When I returned from school the following day when we were having dinner, Dad told me that he have lost his job and would not be working for now unless if he can find another job as soon as possible. I tried to console him just like Mum even when I never realized the full meaning of those consolations.

Less than 3 months after this incident, things began to change at home. There were constant argument between Dad and Mum as I have never seen them in such mood since I was born. In addition to this, I realized that our lifestyle has changed tremendously as Mum meagre salary was not enough to keep the house going the way it was before Dad lost his job.

The frustration in Dad face was obvious as he took to drinking and getting drunk on daily basis which further resulted to more argument with Mum. The frustration was beginning to take toll on me as well as I needed to do something to help my parents. But what exactly can I do?

After the first 2yrs, we have been reduced to beggars in order to survive. Life was becoming unbearable such that I was contemplating suicide. My 15yrs birthday was the worst I have ever had as we hardly have anything to eat that particular day. My Mum had wept profusely and had continued to assure me that things would get better. How?  The truth is that I do not know when and how things would change from the circumstances we found ourselves.

School hardly mean a thing to me any longer. I wanted to quit and abandon my ambitions of being a medical doctor. A turning point in my life came one day when I met a group of bad boys in school who were preparing to rob one of the richest men in the capital. I quickly volunteered to join them with the agreement that we would only use our weapons to frighten anybody we met without shedding blood.

That evening before the operation, I told my parents that I was going to spend the night with a friend and they did not object. We got into the house around 9.45pm, pointed our arrows, cutlasses and machetes and had ordered the man to bring all the cash he has been saving and he had surrendered.

I got about D400,000 Dallasi as my share which I hide in my room. Two days after that my parents had informed me that we have gotten a visa to travel to United Kingdom but the problem is that we have no money to buy our tickets. I told them I will ask my friends and within days, I had given them the money I got from that robbery.

Fifteen years after, I have finally actualized my dream of becoming a medical doctor here in United Kingdom. My Dad is now one of the Manager in company that specializes in I T while Mum is back to teaching. Would this confession make any difference because I don`t know how to live with this for the rest of my life as what I did continues to hurt me.