From the time I was a little kid, my parents didn’t care about having a baby boy in their lives. They had a perception that a boy child would grow up and become a tsotsi. Due to this reason embedded in their heads, my presence in their lives didn’t amaze them very much and imagined if they could have a magic wand and turn me into a cute little girl.

They were only human beings, what they thought in their mind was only a myth, like a snake having legs as its means for walking.

I was a problem in their small family. They couldn’t spend a week to go to Jet or PEP stores and buy me some fancy clothes. When I looked outside the naked window, I used to see my friends being loved by their parents as if they were Jesus Christ. Then I used to think that maybe that’s how God planned this world to be. This is to say that there are other people who are meant to be loved by their parents so much while others not.

By the time I reached six years old, I got used to the type of treatment I was receiving from my biological parents. Then one day, I asked them about it.

“Mom and Dad… Why do you treat me like a slave in this house yet I am your only child?”

Both my parents were very shocked by my question, they did not expect it from me. Then they looked at each other with faces full of surprise.

“No son, don’t think like that. Me and your mom love you like the way Joseph and Mary loved baby Jesus, and when we look at you, we see you as our baby Jesus.” My dad said, with a crocodile smile.

Since I was very young I couldn’t tell whether what my dad was saying was really true or not. I smiled at him and I didn’t proceed to ask him more questions.

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Tell us: Why do you think his father had a crocodile smile (meaning crooked)?