Hope Is Stupid(…)

There once was a little beggar boy who was lucky enough to find a radiant ball of Hope inside the trash that some students threw away. This was fortunate for the boy and his parents because they lived in a rundown shack in Minna’s City Center, from where they could see the endless billboards advertising this phone or the other, and the kekes moving food to the City’s Market, but neither of those items would ever be theirs. Well, that would change today, because he had found some Hope.

He took the Hope home in his beggar bowl, and made sure to cover it with his shirt so that the bigger boys – or worse, his Oga – wouldn’t take it from him. Struggling to hide his happiness at this find, he ran up to his parents and spoke to them in his native Gbagyi:

“I found something out there today, Mama.” he said, almost out of breath.
“Did you give it to the Oga? We need fish for dinner,” replied his mum, who had her hands full with his two youngest siblings.
“No, it is much better than that, it is shiny and radiant and I’m sure he wouldn’t know what to do with it. He only asks for plastics and metal.”
“Let me see, maybe I could send Amina to the market with it tomorrow when she goes to sell groundnuts.”

The little boy didn’t like that idea very much – his Hope had more potential than as a trinket. He knew it was the key. He may not have had the words or scope to describe what he felt, but when he held that small bit of Hope in his hands, he knew it was the answer to all their problems. Reluctantly, he brought out his precious smidge of Hope and showed it to his aging mother, who screamed in terror at the prospect.

“What!? What is that?! Did you bring HOPE into our house?!” she said, her voice dripping with fear and trepidation.
The boy had lived a hard 7 years of life. He knew when something was wrong.
“I- I just found it, Mama. It looked good so I took it to show to you. It feels powerful, it feels like it could be the-“
“Shut up your mouth right now! Don’t you know that Juju is Haram? Why would you have to do this today, hmm? Why? Couldn’t you just behave like a normal boy and help out your Oga?”
“I don’t even like him. He’s not kind like you. He shouts and sometimes he uses the koboko to-“
“So because you don’t like him you want to drag us all to Shaitan with you? Throw that thing away right now!”

The boy had led a hard life, but his mum had seen worse. She had been given to the boy’s dad at the age of 13. She had her dreams taken from her, so her fear of Hope was not entirely unfounded. She had seen what Hope could do to you, what it could make you excuse in chase of a brighter future that was never to come. However, her despair was not without its effects; the boy’s Hope had shriveled down, just the tiniest bit. His mum barely noticed it, but he felt just the tiniest bit of the power and exhilaration leave him.

Panicked, he left his mum and took to the streets again, wrapping his Hope up where it would be safe. There was no way that he’d let it lose even a bit more of its power. He went to a spot where he knew he’d be alone and considered his options. After a minute or two, he took his Hope and swallowed it. He took it in and made it a part of him, deep down where his mother was never going to find it. He had Hope, and that was enough.