“Please! Please do not kill my son. He is the only one I have left in this world. Please, I beg of you,” wailed Mrs. Andrews hysterically to the group of well-built men before her, whose body, arms, legs, seem to be filled with fine imprints of tattoos.
“Shut up! Your son owes us money. He took a lump sum of thirty thousand dollars a few months ago and if he does not pay up today, we will kill him,” said the leader of the group of men, who Mrs. Andrews now realizes, were loansharks.
“Caleb! Caleb darling, where is the money? Return it to them love or they will surely kill,” pleaded Mrs. Andrews.
Caleb who had been tied to a chair, finally spoke, “Mum, the money is gone. Those people whom I thought were my friends told me to loan the money from them but never gave me a share of it. They have gambled it all away.”
It left no choice for Mrs. Andrews but to offer her life in return for Caleb. She would rather die than have to live without him. “Take my life, but please don’t hurt my son. He is still so young. There are many other things that he has yet to do or achieve. Let him go,” cried Mrs. Andrews.
Caleb was stunned to see his mother giving up her life for him without thinking twice. He have not been a filial son but his mother have never held it against him. He recalled the times when he refused to acknowledge his mother in front of his friends to save his pride or so he thought. However, the sight of his mother, on her knees pleading to be killed just so he could live on filled him with utter remorse. The only feeling he have for himself was of hatred and disgust.
The leader of the loansharks lifted the gun to Mrs. Andrews’s temple and as he pulled the trigger and fired the shot, Caleb screamed for his mother with all his might only to be slapped in the face. He opened his eyes to realize it had all been a bad dream. He was slapped by Robert, one of his gangmates. Without saying a word, he grabbed his belongings and made a dash for home with the dream replying in his mind.
“Mum, I’m home,” Caleb screamed in excitement only to be greeted by a soft whisper. His mother had been ill but she was clearly happy to see him. Caleb let that dream be a lesson to be learnt in life as he could only have so many friends in this world, who might not even be true, but he only has one mother whom he now know will go the distance, just for him.
