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He started life on the streets
A tall skinny boy with an unsure gait
His eyes were bloodshot
Driven mad by hunger
He did anything just to survive
From hawking loaves of bread
To washing cars with sinewy limbs
He gazed longingly at the houses of the rich
Counted cars on the highway as they sped past
At night he will slither into a deserted motor park
And lay his head on a wooden bench
He often dreamt where he died
Lying prostrate in a cheap wooden coffin
His skin pale and ashen
He will suddenly awake to the chilly night
Goose bumps dotting his entire skin
Sometimes he thought about his mother
And wondered what she looked like
He knew only what he was told
His mother had given him up after birth
She wanted to go the University
And raising him stood in her way
He had ran away from the orphanage
And developed a strong hatred for school
He graduated into a thug
The most trusted of Chairman's boys
He sat in discussions and contract negotiations
He saw the wads of naira notes in 'Ghana must go' bags
Enter and leave the mansion
His loyalty was soon rewarded
Small contracts were tossed his way
The contracts grew bigger and his portfolio expanded
He metarmorphosed into a shrewd businessman
It was an election year
On their way back from a meeting
Chairman was shot
His gubernatorial ambition dead in the water
Before he gave up the ghost
Chairman made him promise to keep his family safe
He relocated Chairman's wife and daughter abroad
Settled them into a comfortable life
His empty left eye socket
A constant reminder of that night
He took over the running of Chairman's business empire
Wealth multiplied exponentially
He always wore dark shades
Models scrambled for his phone number
Sprawling mansions and fleets of cars came
The frothing champagne tasted good
The gold-gilded railings of his penthouse suite felt smooth
He watched a wave break against the shore
The water scattered like a thousand pin-pricks
The gnawing emptiness he felt within
Was impossible to shake
His heart was dry, his soul parched
He has gone numb
©Kelvin Alaneme, 2014. Follow on Twitter @dr_alams.
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