Chapter One

“Hey! What are you doing outside at this time of the day?! It’s after six and you are still here playing, my goodness! Maya, I told you to stay indoors before I left for work! Here you are playing with the other kids! Now, at the count of three, go inside the house and wait for me! One…two… and…”

These were the words of Samuel, Maya’s father, after he saw her in the company of the neighbourhood kids.’

Maya swiftly ran towards home, five houses away from the Kimberly Children’s Playground, with every Tom, Dick and Harry sternly looking at as she ran home.

Ten minutes later, Samuel decided to give her the punishment he felt Maya deserved. She sat nervously on the sofa in the living room and Samuel stood opposite her. Maya knew that she was in for trouble.

“Maya, hmm…you failed to listen to my instructions for the third time! I left for work at 7:00am and I told you that I expected you to behave well. In June, you’ll be eleven years old. You’re no longer a baby! You’ve reached an age where you should be able to take and follow instructions!. You were told not to step out an inch from this house. You’re on holidays. I expect you to study your books and watch the TV programs. But you chose to play a lot. Oh my goodness! Maya, why did you not follow the instructions?”

Maya stuttered, “I wanted….to….stay indoors but I was…”So you want to tell me some lies! Who taught you how to tell lies? You’ve suddenly lost your voice. Haven’t you?” Samuel asked her angrily.

“No!” Maya replied. “Then tell me the truth!”

“I’m sorry, Dad, for what I did. I promise it won’t happen again! I promise to always follow your instructions!” Maya assured him.

“I’m tired of your apologies and the ‘I am sorry’ attitude, Maya!” Samuel told her, his words cold and angry. He took a stern look at his daughter. “What did the wall clock say is the time – 8pm. Your punishment is that you’ll have to write in this twenty- paged notebook the sentence ‘I am sorry, daddy’ a thousand times.   If you disobey me a third time, I’ll punish you. Take this and go to bed. Before I go to work tomorrow, I want to see that you’ve completed what I commanded you. Get out! Maya.”

Maya tearfully went to her room, glancing at her dad, who ignored her departure. He was already busy watching ‘The News at Nine’ on his LCD TV set.

Hours later, knowing that his daughter was probably asleep, Samuel couldn’t help but ask himself, “Am I actually playing the role of a father to her? How will she feel when I eventually tell her that I’m not her biological father? How do I tell the story that led to her birth if she asks me someday? In this life, anything can happen! Left to me, I don’t intend to disclose anything to her about that infidel! But how would she feel if I decide to tell the story of her mother’s lifestyle? How would she feel if I told her that her mother was a flirt? Am I really disciplining my precious pearl the right way? One day, she’ll ask me where her mother is. How do I explain to her that her mother and I have been divorced since she was three years old? Oh, how I wish Cynthia and

I weren’t divorced! If we were still together, would raising Maya be such a mental challenge?.”

He went to bed after taking a sip of Coca cola..

It was seven a.m., and it was time to leave for work. Fully dressed and prepared to go, but having forgotten what he had told Maya to do the previous night, Samuel reminded her: “Remember, this is the time you ought to be awake! I have trained you to always be awake at this time when you are on holidays. But when you’re going to school, you should be out of bed by 6:00a.m. I have to go to work now! Make sure that you stay indoors and never ignore my orders again! ”Cynthia the cook will prepare your breakfast and take you to school.

“Yes, I will, Dad.” She smiled at him.

Maya was punished for not listening to instructions. She had to write , almost filling her notebook with ‘I Am Sorry, Dad.’ But Samuel had forgotten as he was getting ready for work.

“Last night, you told me to write ‘I Am Sorry Dad’ on my notebook. I did,” Maya reminded him. “I have it with me…you can have it.”

“Oh…I forgot! Okay…let me have it,” he requested.

Samuel glanced through the pages of the notebook handed over to him.

“That’s my girl! I want you to behave well and be the Maya I’ve always taught you to be,” Samuel said, patting her at the back. “From now on, are you assuring me that I’m going to be proud of you?”

“I’m the good girl you‘ve known me to be! Daddy, I am happy having you as a father!” Maya said gladly, with smiles written all over her face.

In a haste to leave the house, Samuel quickly hugged her, saying, “I believe in you, Maya!”

She saw her dad to the front of the house, where his Cadillac was parked. As soon as the engine roared to life, Samuel waved ‘’bye’ to her. A corresponding wave of ‘bye-bye’ came from Maya as she saw him drive off to work.

The holidays was over, and for Maya, it was time to resume school…

To her, it meant spending more time with her fellow pupils. Maya couldn’t wait to see her friends Elizabeth, Tara, and Maria, especially during school break time and after classes. In the next three days, Samuel had to make plans to ensure that the beginning of Maya’s school year went smoothly. It was successful, and went as planned – a new Adidas designer child-sized bag, a pair of shoes, stockings, and the payment of her term’s school fees were put together by Samuel two weeks before school resumes...