Christopher is not my real name. It was the name I got when I came to this county 15 years ago.
Life in my own country was a happy one. I lived with my mother and her parents, my grandparents, in the country far from the town.
My father had been killed in the civil uprising. It does not matter where I lived except that it was far from Europe.
I still do not know why she married the man I now call Dad.
She says it was for a better life but it was not better in many ways and the first few years were difficult for me. I had started to learn the language of his country at school. It is the second language there.
But much of the culture and the practises here were strange to an eleven year old who had at least the advantage of growing up learning to respect one's elders. Except for this life in the beginning would have been a lot more tough for me....and they were tough enugh as I will tell you now.
I had not met my new Dad until the wedding day. I was surprised that mother was marrying such an old man. He seemed much older than my mother. I remember how beautiful she was that day and how smart I was dressed.
Tis was a change for me as I always wore shorts and teeshirt to play in the fields around my grandparents home with my friends. At school we wore the same type of clothes, but cleaner. Most lessons took place outside and we spent more time doing sport than real lessons, if my memory serves me correctly.
We lived an informal life which changed mood with the seasions. I especially remember the summers. They were hot and wet.
I can only remember a few things about my new father in the first days of meeting him. He promised me a television of my own when we returned to his country. This was extraordinary to hear as none of the people in our village had such a thing. I had only seen them in the city.
The other thing my father said was that if I was obedient he and I would get along just fine.
Well like most eleven year olds I had somethimes been in toruble but I was determined to help my mother in her new life and to do everything that my new father wanted.
I did not know then how hard he would make things for me.
I did not know that he had wanted a son as much as he wanted a wife.