It was a Race Thing

By Abosede Tobi David

As a child, I watched as my mother get beat up on a daily
basis by my father, even though she did everything in her
power to please him. On some days he would come home
drunk and beat her up for no good reason, not that he needed
a reason to beat her, he shouldn’t even be laying a finger on
her. He called my mother a witch and that she was the reason
he was not progressing. He was too blind to see she was
nothing but a saint and a blessing to him. On other days he
would come home with another woman and act like it was
his God given right. And when we the children protested, my
four sisters, one brother and I, he would beat us too.
Thinking about it now, if we were a little older we would
have ganged up against and possibly beaten the living
daylight out of the man. Being the first child, though still
very little, I tried to be the source of joy for my mother.
Whenever she cried and I couldn’t do anything about it, I just
cried with her.

I remember when I was ten years, one day my father got tired
of beating my mother and us up so he threw us out on the
streets and said he wasn’t interested in the marriage and us
anymore. No relation of my mom or close family friend was
ready to take us in, a woman with five children, who would
want to bear that responsibility? It’s funny how people have
no compassion for anyone, even for blood.

My mom’s closet friend at that time took us and we stayed in
their BQ while my mom tried to figure things out and put
everything together. She said she was going to talk to her
husband to assist mom to start something so she can afford
to take care of us. While waiting for her to talk to her
husband, mom started doing menial jobs, going to houses to
clean, frying akara (bean cake), yam, potatoes and bread at
the junction in the evenings. She did anything just to make
ends meet, put food in our mouths and send us to school, but
it never seemed to be enough. I started hawking sachet water
in traffic after school because she never wanted me to stop
schooling even though I was willing to just to assist her in
taking care of my siblings. She always said I was the first
and if I finish schooling and have a degree I would be able to
assist her better then with taking care of my brother and
sisters. This only gave me the encouragement to struggle and
keep up good grades, I was quick in understanding things so
it wasn’t hard for me to excel in school. On weekends and
holidays that I didn’t go to school, I did other things like
wash the neighbors’ cars and run errands and assist mom in
cleaning the houses she cleaned.

We went on for a few years living like this, from hand to
mouth, but we were always contented with what we had. My
mom’s friend was so helpful, if only with the
accommodation, we were really grateful, that why my mom
never asked her if she had spoken to her husband and if there
was anything he could help with. When she finally did, her
husband said he would see what he can do. A few days later,
while my mom was home alone, the man can back from
work and his wife wasn’t around too. He had a conversation
with my mom and said he was ready to help her start
something she can use to take care of us but at a price. My
mom was ready to do anything and thought he would ask for
a percentage of the business earnings that he would set up
but instead he said he wanted to have sex with her in return
for his assistance. When my mom refused bluntly, he tried
forcing himself on her and while they were struggling she hit
him with her knee on his penis. That day, we came back from
school and met our mom outside with our things, she had
been thrown out by her friend’s husband. No matter how
much my siblings and I asked what happened, my mom just
kept reassuring us that it would be fine. It wasn’t until I was
older, I got to know what really happened.

This was when all hell broke loose. We didn’t have any
where else to go. So we found an uncompleted building and
stayed there. After months of sleeping on a mat on the hard
cold floor, it seemed like things were only getting worse. We
were on our mid-term break and I went out to hawk with two
of my sisters, my little brother, as we have been doing after
school and on weekends, but this day my little brother got hit
by a car and died on the spot. The car didn’t stop and I
watched it speed off as I held my brother’s body trying to
shake life back into him, crying and screaming his name.
People just stood and watched us crying, until someone
picked up my brother and rushed him to a nearby hospital, I
knew it was too late, I can’t really explain it but I felt the life
leave his body that day. This was a really down time for my
mother and it seemed like her cry was never going to stop.

On one fateful day while my mom was selling her fried
akara, yam and potatoes, she ran into her childhood friend,
who was one of the nicest persons I’ve met, this I got to
know later. We moved in with her and she was really helpful.
She was soft spoken, cherished us like her own kids and she
never stopped encouraging my mother. I can honestly tell
you that she was God sent. She kept on assisting mom in
taking care of us, she set up a business for my mom where
she sold clothing wears and things finally started looking up
for us. It wasn’t the dream life but we got by, day in day out
with what we had.

I had just finished high school and my results were
outstanding. My mom’s friend told mom that it would be
better if I go abroad to attend college and completely my
education, that there’s a higher chance of getting a job
afterwards and start assisting her with training my siblings,
that she would assist in my school fees and whatever I would
need. At first, mom was reluctant but she later got on board
with the idea and that was how I left for the United States of
America to further, not before the ‘don’t forget the family
you are from’ talk mothers usually give. That day I swore I
was going to make my mom proud and get her and my
siblings the very best life could possibly offer.

I kept on communicating with mom and my siblings, she
never lost a chance to remind me of where am from and who
was paying my tuition fees, how I got there and I shouldn’t
disappoint her. After four years of hard work and a lot of
sleepless nights, I graduated with a first class and got five
job offers. I did the interviews and got three out of them. I
settled for best out of them and they gave me some time off
to come to travel to Nigeria. That night I called mom and told
her, I could have sworn she was the happiest person on earth
at that very moment.

My graduation party went well and I was going to leave for
Nigeria in two days time to see my family after which I
would return after a month to start my new job. I was all set
and ready to go. That night, I was cross checking my list and
gifts I got for them and found out I had missed a few gifts I
wanted to get for my sisters, so I strolled out to the nearby
store to get them. I got what I wanted and as I was leaving
the store, I bumped into a white dude. I apologized but he
didn’t seem to take it lightly, I tried walking away but he kept
on screaming all sorts of names at me, blocking my way. He
called me a monkey and told me to go back to the zoo. I
didn’t utter a word, tried to remain calm and turned to walk
away, he pulled me back, pulled out a gun from under his
shirt and I heard a loud sound. I felt myself falling to the
floor with so much pain passing through my body. He came
over to my body on the floor and shot me two more times
before running off.

My whole life flashed across my face when the first bullet
made impact and all through the images I saw, my struggling
mother trying to make ends meet was the most constant one.

As I stand here, looking at my lifeless body on the floor,
blood gushing out from the three bullet wounds, I can’t help
but wonder how my mother would take it when she finds
out. Lord, give my mother and siblings the strength to bear
this loss…

*I am not a racist and I am against every form of racism
and discrimination. I believe all human beings should be
respected and treated equally regardless of their skin
color and hope that someday we would have racial
equality all over the world.

This goes out to the family of Trayvon Martin and every
other family or persons that have lost a relation or friend
or have been abused due to racial discrimination and
segregation. My heart goes out to you and may our God
strengthen you to bear your loss.

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