This stubborn little man’s name was Christoph. The son of a Beninois father and a Liberian mother, he was introduced into the world in Zwedru, on Dec 18, 1986. His father, Basile, a fairly skinny man, has escaped from Benin to Liberia, avoiding the burden of marrying the woman that his family presented to him. His mother, Sara, was a strong-will, playful beauty, eighteen at marriage and thirty-four when Christoph was born. In their villa where both English and French were spoken, Basile, Sara, and the rest of the children called Christoph “Gologo!”
As a young child, gologo spent most of his time with his grandmother, a petite, sassy lady with beautiful black long hair and a symmetrical physique. Like his grandmother, in his early years on planet earth, Gologo couldn’t be corralled.
His siblings would recall seeing Gologo careening about, hurdling furnitures, the living room his soccer stadium and the dinning room chairs his spectators. Whether he was appropriately addressed or not made no difference to him. From the moment he could walk and talk, containing him in the house was a constant struggle for the family, and living in a very populated community didn’t help either. He vanishes from the house whenever he finds the opportunity to do so. His usual habit, sitting on the sidewalk and watching by-passers. Sometimes he went on naked tear down the street – and then chased by his older siblings while by-standers watched in amusement.
His Grandmother was the only person that could contain him. She had some magic homemade candies that she always bribed him with.
His grandmother lived in Kanneh and from time to town, she comes to visit the family in Zwedru. She is one of his favorite persons in the family and whenever she is around he pretends to be a good boy. During Xmas of 1989 his grandmother came to Zwedru to visit.
A few mornings after grandma’s arrival, his mother told him, he was going to spend the Christmas season with his grandma. Even though Gologo was young, he was very clever and is gifted with the ability to detect wrong signals. Though he was excited to leave with his grandmother, Gologo knew there was something wrong. As he recalled, usually each Christmas everyone comes together at mom’s house to celebrate, but this time around he was being sent away-like a prisoner being transferred to different location. He had mixed feelings, but overall he was content that he would be spending the Christmas with his beloved grandma. She’s his favorite person in the whole family, and also he couldn’t help realizing that all her homemade Christmas candies would be just his.
The night before their departure, he didn’t get much sleep. He kept picking through the window to see whether it was bright outside. He spent all night fantasizing about the candies at his grandma’s.The next morning he was the first one up and ready to go. The family drank tea, as was the family tradition. But there was an unusual sense of calmness around the table
To be continued…
