The Restaurant | True Story

The Restaurant by Collins Dieudonne

This is a true story that happened to me. My name is Collins, and I grew up in a community full of hardship. The hardships that we experienced in our community were reflected in the palace of our king. I am certain it was the worst palace ever. Our king was so broke that he had to eat one whole chicken for three weeks. Our community was plagued with poverty, but we got used to it and accepted our destiny. None of us dreamed of going to the main city, let alone another country. I had a friend called Patrick; he was a guy who loved life but was so broke that he couldn't even afford to buy another shirt. For as long as I have known Patrick, he's had two shirts, two trousers, and two sandals. I call the sandals "The Sandals of Life". Patrick has worn those sandals so much that they are falling apart, but he still keeps on using them. One good thing I noticed about my good friend Patrick is that he was always happy and always saying positive things to himself. So, I really liked him because he was a positive guy.

​

It was on a Friday afternoon when my life changed. Patrick came to my house around 10 am in the morning and asked me to accompany him to meet someone who owed him money. He said he would give me some of the cash so I could get myself prepared to travel to another city where we could become successful. I dressed up and told my parents I was going out with Patrick. They knew and loved Patrick too, especially my dad. I remember one day when my dad told me, "why can't you be smart like Patrick?" I think he saw me as a foolish guy.

​

On our way, I asked Patrick where are we meeting your friend. He said, "We'll get there, relax." We took a bus, which took us to another village near my village. When we got there, a bus was waiting for us already. I was surprised, and I asked Patrick what was going on. He said, "Don't worry, we are safe." We got into the bus, which took us to the main location where Patrick wanted to go.

We arrived at a beautiful, very big house. I was surprised to see such a beautiful house, compared to where we were coming from. Patrick told me, "We are in another city called 'The Rich Man's City'". I was excited to finally be in the city. We went into the house and saw an old man with a bald head, who looked angry. He shouted at us, "Who are you?!" I was shocked because I thought Patrick knew the person we were going to meet, as he had told me that he was going to meet a friend to collect money. Patrick replied, "It's me, Patrick, sir. I was sent to you by George," and the man said, "Oh okay, I remember, from george the Shooter." When I heard "shooters," I became very nervous.

The old man then told us to follow one of his bodyguards, and I was curious about what was happening. I couldn't speak with Patrick because they looked so angry and didn't smile. We followed the bodyguard to the back of the house, where there was another building that was a restaurant. He told us that this was the restaurant he wanted us to manage and offered us a large sum of money. I couldn't believe my ears because it was a lot of money compared to where I came from. As I had grown up in poverty, I kept asking my mom and dad who they had offended for us to be so poor.

​

We happily accepted the job offer, but were surprised when they told us that we were not allowed to leave the premises. Our work was to start immediately, and it was to be performed during the night. Patrick and I were assigned to be the only cleaners in the restaurant. Although we were never able to see where the food was being cooked, it was always there, ready to be served. We slept in a room in the restaurant, which was shared by the two of us. All the other staff members lived outside the premises. What puzzled me was that we were not allowed to clean the kitchen, even though there were always many customers, and the place was always busy, with many cars parked outside every night. It was a beautiful restaurant that was frequently visited by people who loved to have fun and socialize in the evenings. The restaurant opened at 8pm and closed at 3am and by exactly 3am, everyone had already left, and the place was deserted.