A grieving father’s plaintive cry for deliverance from his deranged son

HEAD bowed in shame, 75-year-old Dennis Robinson tells of his stormy relationship with his son, a young man who’s so tormented by drugs, he’d do just about anything to lay his hands on it; even if it means killing his parents.
And to think that he and his wife, Ursula, took him in 24 years ago when he was just eight months old.

Of late, the New Amsterdamer said, the death threats have intensified, especially when he or the wife has cause to rebuke him about his lifestyle, or if he cannot lay his hands on the money he needs to finance his habit.
Just last Friday, the pensioner said, his son threatened to send him on a trip to “skin-teeth-land” to meet his Maker.
Such threats, he told the Guyana Chronicle, sent shivers down his spine,and he was forced to send his wife to spend some time with her sister, so she can be safe in the event anything should go horribly wrong at their Angoy’s Avenue home.

He also placed a telephone call to Central Police Station, and the police rank at the other end promised him faithfully that he would send the patrol, but up to the time of taking this report, the police were a ‘no-show’, Mr Robinson said.
“I do not know if they are waiting for something to happen before they come,” he muttered, “but, should anything occur, I will defend myself.”
The part-time bicycle technician recalled that over the years, life with his ‘only-child’ has been a challenge, as he gave him no end of problems, even while he was at school.
Mr Robinson recalled that it was after the boy left school that he started to smoke marijuana, which resulted in his being convicted for possession.

But even incarceration did not help, as the boy escaped from prison, which resulted in his being rearrested and charged with escape from lawful custody.
This time around, he served his sentence, and upon his release, promised faithfully that he would change. But those promises were short-lived, as he continued his addictive ways.
“He stole several items, including a laptop, which was subsequently recovered,” his heart-broken father said, adding:

“He later ‘tripped’, and a series of problems followed. He would behave disorderly. He was charged, but the presiding magistrate sent him for an assessment at the National Psychiatric Hospital.
“However, two weeks later, he was released and sent home with medication.  But, he stopped using the tablets, and his behaviour pattern declined, as he continues to do utter nonsense.”

Mr. Robinson recalled, too, how his son would become easily agitated, whenever he asks him to be careful with the water, as it comes at a price. As he explained, his son is in the habit of using a whole bucket of water just to wash his hands.
“He launched into a series of expletives, threatening to kill me; the way he glared at me, eyes filled with hate, I cannot sleep,” Mr Robinson said, adding:
“But whenever I do, a baton has to be by my side. My wife, too, cannot sleep, for she is fearful of what he can do.”

Robinson, a staunch Catholic, stated too that during his son’s mental episodes, the family Bible and other religious artifacts were destroyed.
Further, when meals are given to the unemployed youth, he would throw the food away through the window.
“I just don’t know what more to do,” the elderly man said, head still bowed, as his voice trailed off into a whisper.