Momotheka el mina, ami ncane imbasa...
Smile for me, my little star.
*~*------------♥-------------*~*
When people see their home, it gives them comfort.
A place to unwind, to relax, and be themselves.
To me, my home was heaven, and no one would ever take
that away from me, no way, no how.
My mother, Natsu Zayiiti, was a small and rather large woman,
as she had grown up in a rather wealthy family,
but was looked down upon by her older siblings and even her parents.
To make sure that she was not the same to me, she doted
on me, hand and foot, and literally spoon mouthfuls of food down
my throat when I wasn't hungry.
Good ol' umama.
My father on the other hand,
was a very successful business man,
who had several ties to important companies, as well as the government.
My father only concentrated on money,
politics, and new changes in the South African economy.
He did have some time to stop and chat with his wife,
maybe even buy a present for his daughter
and two year old son, my bother, Kuli.
But most of the time, his eyes were glued to a newspaper
or the television in our family room, watching the recent
news.
My baby brother, Little Kuli, or Ku-Ku, as I called him,
was an energetic sac of fat that rolled around in his bed,
crawling behind me if he was set on the floor.
I almost thought of him more as a puppy than I did a brother.
He'd curl up in my lap and doze off while I did the homework
from my school classes.
His favorite thing to do with me on warm nights was go out
side to the back yard, where we'd sit on a blanket and watch the stars.
He was always staring at them, as if these small clusters of
light were the most interesting thing to do in his life.
Then again, there was nothing else he could do at 2 year old.
Sometimes, I would grow jealous of that little fuzzyball,
as Father only looked at him with a smile, pride glowing in his eyes.
When he looked at me, all I saw was the same face he gave my mother,
a face that said: You may be part of my family, but you will amount to nothing.
I would pout outside in the dark as he crawled around in the grass,
chasing after lizards and fireflies.
Then he'd see me sitting there, and crawl silently over,
using my knees to balance himself as he stood,
looking at me with a stupid smile.
But that stupid smile was all I needed to snap me out of whatever
jealousy I was feeling.
That smile was my light in a field of darkness,
no matter how stupid it was.
I suppose that's how I survived the horror that was to come the next day.
*~*------------♥-------------*~*
No comments:
Post a Comment