It was morning, and I was lying down in the backyard of our hut.
The cold breeze of the angry harmattan blew slowly over me. I was lying face down on the white soil, as white as the goats who were enjoying the cold floor.
My stomach was empty as it grumbled loudly, demanding food.
I am just a six-year-old boy. Without appropriate parental care.
Mum awoke and left the house for an unknown destination, unaware that she had a child.
Dad work up and follow suit. Without even glancing twice at me.
It’s been up to three months mum place a pot on the fire in this house. Cause of the constant argument between her and dad.
I only leave at the mercy of some good villagers who took pity on me and gave me food at times.
Some days, if luck smiles on me, I will return home with enough oil on my stomach. On other days, I would be shooed away like a pest.
My entire system was vibrating with hunger.
I stood up weakly from the cold ground and headed for the village, hoping to find some food.
But I was pushed away like a rejected soul.
I hiss as some of them pour cold water on me.
I walked dejectedly to the village restaurant.
And I stood at the entrance, staring at the people eating and wishing I were there.
I did not realize I was already in front of the woman selling the food.
“Help me, I am so hungry, and I do not mind washing the dishes all day?” I said faintly, and she looked at me angrily.
“Leave here now; I do not sell on credit.” She muttered as she pushed me out of the restaurant.
I was pushed outside, she violently left me, and I fell to the ground because I lacked strength.
She returned to the kitchen, and when I stood up from the ground and entered again, I noticed a food dish on a plate at the table.
I took it and ate from it; by this point, the people had finished their meals and most had left. Just left with a teenage girl who was focused on her phone.
I was eating quickly because I did not want Madam Stella, the restaurant’s owner, to come meet me.
But luck was not on my side when she emerged from the kitchen, opened the cuttons, and met me eating hungrily.
Her eyes changed instantly as he rushed towards me.
I kept the spoon and dashed out before she could reach me.
But she screamed falsely, accusing me of stealing her money.
She was running after me, asking the passerby to hold me for her.
She screamed and called me a criminal. Some guys misunderstood me and stopped me because I was running.
Before I could say anything, I was booted down and fell face down.
I felt a giant leg match me so hard that my spinal cord creaked.
People began flocking to the location without conducting a thorough investigation. I was severely beaten. That I could not hear or see anyone anymore.
I closed my eyes in death.
The world is cruel. Why did my parents give birth to me at all?
“WHAT WAS MY OFFENSE ❓
That was the only question I wanted you to ask the villagers and my parents for me.