A TRUE LIFE STORY
I had the dream again. "I am finally with them", Solomon whispered to me with smiles on his face. I'm used to having this dream and I use to have this similar dream every 5th of October.
I've been waiting patiently for this day to come. The day I'll see Solomon in my dream again so that I'll be able to share the incident surrounding it with you all.
I once had a close friend called Solomon in my primary school days.
Solomon and I were so very very close, probably closer than any other friends in our school. If I'm not with my twin brother, you'll always see me with Solomon.
The reason for our closeness isn't far fetched. It's because of Solomon's unbeaten intelligence and brilliancy. He was probably the only pupil that was more brilliant than I in my primary school days.
Solomon snatched the first position from me the moment he changed to our school. Solomon was just like the biblical Solomon that God endowed with wisdom and wealth.
I haven't told you Solomon's story.
Solomon used to live in Lagos with his parent. His parents were quiet rich and comfortable until death took them away at a very young age.
Everything about Solomon literally changed the day his parent died in an accident. He was six years old then.
His clothes, education, feeding and everything else about his changed few days after his parent died and his poor maternal grandmother took over of his welfare.
His school was changed from private school to a public one and he started attending a public school in Ogun, and that was how I met Solomon.
Solomon literally went from grace to grass and from fire to fry pan because his grandma was so poor and helpless. Coupled with Solomon's malnourishment, his grandmother used to maltreat him.
I could always see the hunger on Solomon's face whenever we get to school and I used to tell my twin brother about this. We started sharing our food with him every morning.
It all started one day after the school hours. Solomon was crying and he refused to go home after the school hours. Solomon started crying immediately the school bell was rang.
"What's it Solomon"?, I asked immediately I noticed the tears in his eyes.
"I don't want to go home. My Grandma is going to kill me. She is going to beat me", he answered amidst tears.
"Calm down, Solomon. Why is she going to beat you?".
"She will beat. I wish that I'm with my parent", Solomon said in tears ago.
Apparently, Solomon has offended his Grandma and he didn't want to go home to avoid being punished. My twin brother and I eventually offered to help him beg his Grandma so that she won't beat him.
We met the shock of our lives when we got to his Grandma's house. She beat the hell out of the three of us when we were trying to plead on his behalf and we had to run as fast as our little legs could carry us, abandoning Solomon to his fate.
Solomon was not able to come to the school the next day due to the beatings he received the previous day. That was when I knew how brutal Solomon's Grandma was.
Solomon was able to come to school the following week and he never stopped wishing to run away from his Grandmother's house .
We were in the class, debating over a topic as usual when our teacher informed us that the top three students and class prefects should go to the library.
They gave us a paper to that contains some scholarship schemes to fill and we filled it.
We were given some difficult general questions to answer and we answered it to our best possible abilities.
We later got to know that the exam we just did was answered in about 20 other public schools and the best ten student are going to be offered a scholarship.
Solomon didn't come to school the day they announced the result of the exam. "Maybe he has received another round of beating from his grandma", I thought to myself.
Solomon was part of the few people that got the scholarship. Finally, something is going to free him from his Grandmother's grip.
I couldn't wait for my twin brother after the school hours. I rushed over to Solomon's house in other to share the good news with him.
The door of the house was wide open when I got there and I didn't even wait to confirm if his Grandmother was around before I rushed into the house to meet him.
What my eyes saw the moment I entered the house shocked me till today.
Solomon was lying motionlessly on the ground with his Grandmother beside him.
I sighted a an empty bottle of drugs beside his legs and a note thay says "I'm finally going to meet them again". That explained it all.
Solomon had killed himself.
