The following day, I was on my mission to steal a car battery from my dad. My conscience clearly told me not to, but whenever I thought of Clemo, my insides told me to do what he wanted in order to stay alive.

It was 11:03 am when everyone who lived at home was gone. My mum was at work, my little sister was at school, and our maid left to fetch food for lunch: it was my chance. I went to my dad’s car store, which was at the back of our house, that had a capacity of five cars. Despite this being my first time detaching a car battery, the job took very little time. Luckily enough, I did all the dirty work in time, so no one caught me. Later, around 07:32 pm, I snuck out of the house with the car battery and went straight to Zoya’s apartment.

“Here is your thing! We are done!” I said with a short-term confidence that was going to last until the minute Clemo arrived.

“Cool! You can go. I will contact you when we have sold it so that you can have your share,” Zoya replied.

I left in a hurry, guilt all over me.

Two days later, my dad called me to question me about a missing car battery. I tried to deny it, but he showed me my bangle which I forgot on the day I stole the battery. He had no good words for me. He sent me away and told me he would make a decision about what to do with me. I went to my room to cry, though I clearly knew it was of no help.

A week later, my exam results were out and, as expected, I failed miserably. That day was the most painful day to me and my family, as my dad passed a very painful decision. He chased me out of his house without giving me a penny. I saw my sister almost collapse when the decision was passed. My dad kicked me out with the most hurtful words. I had nowhere else to go. I was hopeless and helpless. The worst part was that our closest known relative was about thirty kilometres away.

Without thinking it through, I went straight to Zoya, and surprisingly, he welcomed me. He understood my situation and was ready to give me shelter. He gave me a room which I suppose was originally meant for Millias as it had his posters and pictures. As promised, he gave me my part on the proceeds from the battery sale. He let me sleep so that I could calm down.

The next day, he called me to his table for a chat. There, he started explaining his story to me: it was a touching story. When his mother died, his father remarried a woman who only wanted one child. His father kicked him out and preferred his brother, Millias’ father. Zoya was homeless and no one volunteered to take care of him. Life in the streets exposed him to a very harsh environment. That was where he met Clemo, who had his back anytime street masters wanted to abuse him. Unfortunately though, Clemo was moody and addicted to drugs.

Years later, their father died, but luckily enough their stepmother did not kick his brother out. As days went by, his brother met him one night and was sorry for him. By then, his brother was in secondary school. From then onwards, he came here and there to chat with Zoya and share his savings.

One day, his brother was fed up, so he challenged his step mother to allow Zoya in or he would get out of the house. This challenge led to his dismissal from the house. The two brothers reunited and started sleeping in the streets.

Just a year later, Zoya’s brother married a lady who was ready to change his life. The bad thing was that the lady died while giving birth before she could fully change him. From the inheritance, his brother started a clothing business while Zoya started his dodgy business of lending money. About sears later, about his brother disappeared, and no one has seen him since. He paused and looked at me.
He told me he was helped and that was why a part of him wanted to help me.

Tell us: How would you feel if your family kicked you out of their house?