He felt like a warlord and always had his aides around him. Anytime he spoke, it was like a decree. He ruled and reigned at Westcroft. The teachers did not know what to do with him anymore. Different strategies had been put in place to support him, as he defied every known and well-tested strategy. He felt he was the boss and was growing up to be like Pablo Escobar. He was the wrong model for kids, but the role model for those aspiring to be like Escobar.
Coza lived with his mother, Loreen, in a council estate. His mother had him at sixteen, barely a kid herself. Loreen shoved Coza over to her mother, Doris, to look after. Doris had Loreen when she was fifteen, and when she took full custody of Coza, Doris was thirty-three years old. So, the person whom Coza grew up with was Doris. Coza started living with Doris when he was about two years old, and at age fourteen, he did not have a relationship with his mother. He didn’t have a clue who his father was and did not hear male voices around him.
Loreen was given a council flat and subsidised utilities. You could never catch her with an unlit cigarette. She felt cool with herself and was dreaded in the estate. She would pick a fight with anyone any time of the day without an iota of thought. She was ferocious. Her mouth was as sharp as a razor blade. She had no GCSEs or plans for the future than to wake up and be a gangster.
Luck shined upon Loreen, and she did manage to get a job at the local Tesco, but her bad attitude was not an ally of hers. She would not report to work on time and struggled with teamwork. She had poor interpersonal and communication skills and was a dread to work with. She also disrespected authority, though she had a manager who was a supportive lady and always tried to bring out the best in her. Since she was garrulous, Brenda, her manager, tried to switch her to a different department, where she would be able to channel her talking trait into something productive. She accused Brenda of not liking her and wanting to move her away from her job.
Brenda could not cope with her, so she was moved over to Mr. Roshan’s team. Mr. Roshan had a reputation for being patient, the Mr. Patience of the team. He had worked at Tesco for over twenty years and climbed the ranks. He started as a night staff, unpacking items and stacking on the shelves, moved over to the till, and grew to become a team leader, supervisor, assistant manager, and manager. He was a good worker. He went to the local Croydon College and studied there until he got a degree. When one looks at Mr. Roshan, no matter how hopeless their situation may have been in life, one would be inspired to dream.
Loreen carried on with that attitude, forgetting that she was a mother who had a future to face. She forgot that someday, in the future, she would look back in time and wish she could turn back the hands of the clock. She forgot that biology is irreversible.
Mr. Roshan never gave up on anybody in life. He tried everything possible to help Loreen succeed. Loreen was just an inch away from being sacked. Mr. Roshan could not take her lackadaisical attitude anymore and told her to get herself together or he would be forced to apply the template.
“You want to end up like the rest of the folks on the streets, yeah?” he cautioned her, and all hell was let loose.
She lounged at Mr. Roshan and fought the manager, accusing him of saying vile things about her and disrespecting her. She accused him of racism and held him by the tie, and all attempts to disentangle her from him failed. As patient as a predator waiting for its prey, Mr. Roshan waited. Then Loreen kicked him in the groin area, and he lost it. He bent down, swift as an eagle would do to a prey, jacked her up straight into the air, and slammed her on the floor. That was what changed Loreen. Loreen was never the same from that day. She changed!
Coza was finally sent off to Feltham, a young offender’s institute. The entire Westcroft celebrated the departure of Coza. Nobody obviously wished anyone to be sent to Feltham, but for Coza, it was everybody’s wish that he got sent there especially after what he did to young Nick. Nick was the sort of guy who would not hurt a fly, according to those who knew him; a fresh year seven intake into Westcroft. Coza asked Nick to hand over his sandwich and lunch money, and Nick refused. Coza and his boys beat the hell out of Nick causing severe body injuries. Coza was expelled from Westcroft. His mum, Loreen was not the sort you could hold a decent conversation with. Coza’s father was never seen and nobody knew where the man was. Doris his grandmother was fed up and tired of coming to Westcroft. She could not control Coza.
Nick’s dad pressed charges for causing bodily injuries to his son. Coza’s records were dug out and it was decided that it was time to send him off to Feltham. If he was eighteen, he should have been sent to a proper prison.
Eight months after his departure to Feltham, Sean, a former student of Westcroft, got an early release back from Feltham. He brought news about Coza. He said that Coza was as quiet as a mouse caught in a trap that had exhausted its energy trying to escape only to find out that it was a futile attempt. He said they bullied Coza at Feltham without mercy and did things to him that he did not like.
Twelve months later at Thornton Heath station, stood a young man with a megaphone in his hand proclaiming, “Repent, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Flee from all your evil deeds.”
People walked past and continued with their business.
“Coza, Coza, is that you?” a young lady exclaimed.
“It is written in the volume of the book of life. I come to do the will of my father,” the voice blared on.
A young mother tugged her son along, a few faces turned in that direction, and a few ran past to catch their trains while two people stood still to listen to this voice.
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
“Coza, Coza, is that you?” the young lady kept asking.
“Old things are passed away, and I am now a new person. I am now Bartholomew,” the voice declared.