Chapter Two

After dinner, Nene made me do the dishes(one of the chores I hate the most). After I was done, I went into my room. Our house is not spacious enough, I would say it is more like a cubicle compared to the houses of my friends. Even if it wasn't big enough, Nene made sure it was always clean and every item in place, she even sometimes clear out my room. Whenever she does that, I begin to look for some of my buddies(toys) that she thinks are trash because to her, I was a grown man(rolls eyes). I decided to get a little safe box for my personal things which had a lock, lock that I made myself. 

 I laid on the bed, going through what I call 'my wishy box', and a nostalgic feeling washed over me. In this box were my photos when I was much younger... My mom's picture was there, and my dad's half-thorned picture was there too. Some paintings I made on cardboard and other things, brought back memories. Looking at my mom's picture, I can still remember what she was wearing when she left home. I was three at that time. According to the story, Nene told me about my mom, she said my mom was a promising young woman. She was in her last year in College, aspiring to go to Law School on a scholarship. Everyone around her was full of high hopes for her, like a twist in a beautiful tale, she met Richie, my dad. He was a fine man(I think I got my looks from him) and a serial Casanova. My mom made him commit to her because he so much loved her that he could move mountains for her. That same year, my mom got pregnant with me. Her mom, my Nene, did not take it lightly with her cos she was a respected elder in the church. My mom dropped out of school to have me, since she couldn't go to school with a baby bump whose daddy she is not married to. When she told my dad that she was pregnant with a child, he was so happy about it even with the fact that he had no steady job to support my mom. 

    After several months, my mom gave birth to a baby boy, me. My Nene had to come to terms with the whole situation, carrying me in her arms with love. My dad wasn't doing much in providing, my mom on the other hand, was full of regrets. She was always cranky, and bitter and nagged my dad all day, blaming him for making her not pursue her dream of going to a Law School. She resorted to alcohol most times to get off reality, and whenever she becomes like that, my Nene usually takes care of me because she 'forgets' to even change my diapers not to talk of proper baby care. My Nene did all the work. My mom became an alcoholic, and never went to church, even though her mom had tried severally to make her go. My dad became irritated by her lifestyle and she suddenly became unattractive to him. He resumed his escapades with other women, this time, with rich women... He knows he will not be billed or asked to provide anything apart from pleasure and company. My mom became more and more frustrated and most times, took out her frustration on me when her mother left me with her. She locked me up in a room just to hear me cry all day, my cry was like music to her ears, not until Nene came to my rescue, by then I was already weak, hungry, and pale from crying too long. 

   A long-time friend of my mom came to town, and they decided to meet up. On a Friday night, my mom was all dressed up to meet with this friend at one of the clubs downtown. She came home very late and not in her usual drunken state, but more of a reflective state. She went straight into her room and did not come out for a late-night beer, which was strange. Through the weekend she wasn't home during the day but came home late at night...and not drunk. Very early on Monday morning, she told her mom she was leaving...