Genesis IV

This is where it all started

19 years ago

a 7 year old girl

Alone in an airplane,

Was greeted by her father

At the airport

She looked at him perplexed.

Who is this man?

And ran away from him…

I’m your father, he says…

And she looks in his eyes,

And …recognition

She throws herself in his arms,

And is carried home

This is where it started,

But that’s a lie

It started way before that,

In 1986 In Mogadishu, Somalia

A daughter was born,

And unlike most Somali men, he was excited,

He was happy…He held her, and rocked her,

And looked at her with amazement.

A daughter was born, and he was in love

Really in love.

He held her tightly to his chest,

And leaned back, and rocked her to sleep…

A daughter, he thought, my daughter

What a miracle

He was a young man of only 21

And a father now

Responsibility was like a heavy rock,

That you had to carry forever

And never set down

Because once you had it, it was yours,

Forever

Responsibility started today

Responsibility to provide

To care for,

To teach,

But above all, the responsibility to love

It started today, *********, 1986

Hello, Responsibility

Goodbye, Freedom

After the airport, he took her to his home

He told his new wife,

This is my daughter, my life

You will care for her like your own

She didn’t really like the idea, but she loved the man, and so she obliged

She bathed the filthy little girl, washed her after she handled her business in the bathroom, she fed her, and clothed her, but she didn’t hold her like a child should, she didn’t love her like a child should be loved… She was a burden, a responsibility that she never asked for.

And so it began,

My story. It was rather, sad, actually. I left my grandmother, the only mother I knew, and was put in a helicopter to Nairobi, Kenya. My uncle, Hassan, was with me. My dear uncle, may he rest in peace, flew with me to Nairobi, Kenya. I stayed with a relative there, and my uncle took me to the airport, and I got on a plane by myself. I was supposed to take a present for my sister, but I forgot it with my uncle. I remember as I waved goodbye to him, he was still holding the dress for my sister. I was in an airplane by myself, a 7-year-old girl, with a stewardess watching over me until we got to our destination. There my father was waiting with a friend. He ran over to me, and I ran away, because I didn’t recognize him.  When he told he was my dad, I threw myself at him, and he held me so tightly. I loved that man.

He took me home to his wife and his new daughter. She was only a year old, and a month later, another daughter would come. My father just wanted a happy family. He was just a young guy, not even 30 yet, with 3 children already. He hung out with his friends, sometimes, to escape the responsibility, but nonetheless he was a good dad; a loving father who doted on his daughters.

My childhood buddy, a fella that lived near us, took me under his wing. He went to school with me. He was a kind soul. Children can be so kind and considerate, more so than adults, at times. He taught me how to read, write, and even ride a bicycle. He was my best friend. He had long hair, and I, silly me, thought he was a girl all this time. Well, until my stepmother caught me kissing him in the living room. To my defense, it wasn’t a romantic kiss, but a friends kiss. I thought he was a girl, and my best friend. She told my father, and told me I wasn’t allowed to have him over. That was sad. His dad talked to my dad, and told him how hurt my buddy was by everything. My dad told him it was all a misunderstanding. 

But you see,that was the beginning...