Lisa walked in with her mom. I had seen her a couple of times before when she went to fetch Lisa at school and when I had gone to Lisa’s birthday party. Lisa lived in Amalinda, which was far from where I stayed, so we only met at school. I had last seen her the previous day at school, it was the last day of school.

They came to my bed, Lisa running to me as though we had last seen each other years ago.

“Hello my child,” Lisa’s mom said in her sweet voice.

“Molo Mama, hello mother,” I replied trying to manage a smile.

“What happened friend?” Lisa asked concerned.

I narrated my sad story to them to the very last part of being disowned by my dad, my hero, my role model. And the only parent I had ever known in my life. They cried with me and tried to comfort me, but no amount of words could take away the pain that I felt inside.

“I’ll speak to the doctor, you are coming home with us. And I am going to take you as my child,” Lisa’s mother said wiping the tears off my face.

I felt loved. Nobody had ever wiped away my tears before. I had always cried myself to sleep every time my heart was sore from thinking of my mom.

“Thank you.” I said shyly.

I smiled sincerely just to show how grateful I was. After all, they were doing me a huge favour. Had it not been for them, I would have been in a house of strangers that I didn’t know and who didn’t know me either.

We chatted for a while, my heart feeling lighter and relieved altogether. They stayed till visiting hours were over and they had to leave. The doctor had promised that I would be discharge the following day. And Lisa’s mom had promised that she would come fetch me. I was thankful for that.

That night I dreamt that I was in a place with many trees. I was tied to a big one in the middle. There were two men wearing black gloves that I couldn’t recognise. And there was the third one that I would recognise from anywhere.

Next to him was sis Londi, laughing at me as I screamed my lungs out. They all joined her and laughed at me. I cried, trying to free myself from them.

“Shut up!” One of them said.

He slapped the living daylights out of me. My head spun and I felt weak all of a sudden. I tried to keep quiet but I couldn’t stop my tears as they created their own Victoria Falls on my face.

“Daddy, please help me,” I cried out to my hero.

But he just stood there with no expression whatsoever. He seemed unnerved by this whole situation, as though he didn’t know me or didn’t care.

“I am not your father!” he said coming close to me.

He took out a gun and pointed it to my head. The gun went off. And then I woke up.

I was sweating and panting. It had felt so real.

***

Tell us: Why do you think parents abandon their children? If things were tough for you, would you give your child up?