My papa was always working,so one day i locked myself in his car in the morning so he could not go to work.As a child,the message i was trying to put across was, am tired of not seing you!
He pleaded for me to open the door so he could get to work.I looked into his eyes and i believed him when he told me he'd take me with him.I quickly opened the door,he simply picked me and placed me into ma's hands and off he went.i never saw him until the next day,again,only for 5minutes before he left to go to work.
I carried on,constantly seeking to spend time with him.I adored him,i loved his cars and fancy suits.
But when i got older,i faught with him more than i wanted to spend time with him.As a teenager my experiments,as you'd expect, did not yield the best conclusions.Therefore,he crashed me with his citicism.He shouted,he got angry but he was always patient to sit me down whenever he was telling me off.He was a real father.He was well informed,abandant knowledge,fun and had lots of charisma.I realised i liked these things about him if we weren't fighting.We'd sit and he'd tell me all about the do's and don'ts and his growing up days...We were close so much that we played a game called "knock knock".
He'd knock on my bedroom door and when i ask whose there,i'd hear his voice on the other side of the door say "its me".He'd ask what am up to,and more often than not,my asnwer would be nothing,he'd suggest i give him a hand in the garden and thats how we'd kick off a conversation. After which he'd give me spending money.I'd catch the bus to go up town and meet my mates.I usually borrowed his cell phone so alot girls adored me,typical african atitude.
Every morning he'd knock on my door even if its just to ckeck if am in.He'd refer to me as the man of the house and he always told me to pay attention to my sisters.He said they would one day rely on me so it was important that i understand their needs.He once told me that if he died,my Mom would look up to me,so would my sisters.
Reality hit me when that knock never came.
I knew i had to grow up but some how i was not worried because my old man had prepared me for the moment.True to his word,my shoulders were loaded with responsibility but the guidance he'd given was enough to carry me through. However,i was some how angry with him,i'd wake up half way where i'd dreamt that he was knocking on my door and i was just about to ask "whose there?" This went on for a while.I'd hear a voice on the back of my mind asking "whose there,whose there,whose there"..so one day i woke screaming " I am".
