Terror Kid (16 page)

Karima went home with her family. Rico went to jail. They transported him from the court in a small cell in a secure van. As they left the court a horde of press photographers ran after the van putting their cameras to the windows, desperate to get an image of him, but as the van gathered speed they were left standing. Rico looked back out of a darkened window to see curious members of the public looking his way. He watched as they got smaller, but then the last person he saw, standing impassively as if he was a passer-by who just happened to be there, was Speech. Rico's heart skipped a beat. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists, and then watched as Speech became smaller and smaller, and disappeared. Rico let his anger go, sat down in his mobile prison, and began to think about all the things he would never do again.

I was militant and lonely

When my innocence was battered;

There was no one to hold me

When the hope I had was shattered.

My city and my life in flames

All our foundations shaking;

Fake people playing deadly games –

Not fire of my making.

 

I too have suffered terror

It came to me in person;

I made a drastic error –

Now I must bear the burden,

I was shaken by the horror –

Don't mock my immaturity;

For in my darkest hour –

I was tricked into this tragedy.

 

This tragedy has broken me,

I struggle to communicate,

I'm trying to hold my sanity –

Their bombs do not discriminate –

This tragedy keeps killing me,

My self-esteem must be rebuilt,

I used to dream of being free –

Now I am filled with fear and guilt.

 

I must rise up and forward on

And overcome the guilt and fear,

Now my innocence has gone

And I must serve my sentence here;

I too have suffered terror,

And I still dream of being free,

But I promise to do better –

And not let evil conquer me.

Benjamin Zephaniah was born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham. By the age of fifteen he had gained a reputation as a young poet who was capable of speaking out on local and international issues. His poetry was strongly influenced by the music and poetry of Jamaica and what he called ‘street politics'. He is also a musician and was the first person to record with the Wailers after the death of Bob Marley.

As well as writing poetry, novels for teenagers, screenplays and stage plays, he has also written and presented documentaries for television and radio, and he has been awarded sixteen honorary doctorates in recognition of his work. He is now a professor of Poetry and Creative Writing at Brunel University and lives in Lincolnshire. To find out more about Benjamin, go to
www.benjaminzephaniah.com
or follow him on Twitter:
@BZephaniah

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First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Hot Key Books

Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT

Copyright © Benjamin Zephaniah 2014

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4714-0178-7

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