A Boy Called Wole

Tunde bought a lot of toys for Oluwole as a young lad. He wanted to use his wealth to ensure that his dear son was very comfortable. He felt that comfort was the best way he could share his love, especially since his birth mother was not there to give it to him. Few years into their marriage, Kate began to grow and nurture hatred towards Oluwole.  

She felt Tunde showed him so much love and care and she became very bitter towards Oluwole, such that even his mere presence irritated her. She became so jealous of Oluwole because she wanted all of Tunde’s attention to herself.

Not that she loved Tunde, Kate never really married Tunde out of love. Katherine had married him because of his fat wallet. More so, he was rich, hardworking and was much more successful than all her other suitors. As a result of this, their love life was dead. 

Hell broke loose for Oluwole when Kate gave birth to her first child, Mirabel. 

Kate made sure he was beaten at every slightest offence, even when it wasn’t his fault. She began to derive pleasure in seeing the little boy cry. Antagonizing his every move as a child under her care.

At often times, Oluwole would take up his birth mother’s picture in his early years of age and let out sobs of pain knowing fully well that his childhood would have been a lot different assuming she was the one in charge not the evil and heartless figure ranting all around as his stepmother.

Oluwole was neglected severally by Kate even at a young age. At a time, when Tunde had travelled for a week long seminar in Abuja, she almost starved Oluwole for a full day because he accidentally injured baby Mirabel. One of his heavy duty toy blocks had fallen on the toe of the little infant and Oluwole couldn’t remedy the situation before Mirabel tore down the once peaceful atmosphere with her persistent cries.

If not that Kate would have had to answer to Tunde when he returned from his trip to the nation’s capital territory, she would have skinned Oluwole alive that fateful morning. 

In Tunde’s sight however, Kate was an angel but to Oluwole, she was a heartless hypocrite.

One day, because Oluwole failed to bring Mirabel’s feeding bottle on time, Kate got so upset that she poured hot palm oil on one of his fingers which eventually became black and blue on its surface. 

Oluwole this time, reported to his father and told him all that Kate had put him through in the past. Bad mistake. Tunde was gum smacked at what he heard and he beat Kate mercilessly that night. He warned her never to raise her hands on Oluwole again. Knowing the true nature of Kate however, that did not change her. 

It only made matters worse than they already were.

The following week, when she had recovered from her aching body, she carefully plotted out her revenge. Katherine put a harmful concoction in Tunde’s lunch, just before he was about to leave for the hospital. Tunde ate the food thinking she had let bygones be bygones concerning what had happened the previous week because he apologized for his rash behavior that night. 

Just few minutes after finishing the food, Tunde had the most severe stomach pain he had ever experienced.

Even as a doctor himself, he couldn’t diagnose what was wrong with him because he never suspected Kate would be capable of such an evil and despicable act. 

With the assistance of one of his colleagues, he was taken in for a medical examination and was diagnosed to have suffered from a minor level of food poisoning. Tunde was bed ridden for the rest of the day. When Kate came to pick him up later that evening, he looked so pale and sick that she smiled to herself inwardly for a plot successfully carried out. 

Katherine had gotten her revenge on Tunde for daring to lay his hands on her.

“Ahh! Dohhh!” she falsely exclaimed in their local dialect while putting his briefcase and office documents in the car’s back seat. 

Tunde winced in pain all through the drive. On getting to their house, Kate parked the car in the garage and assisted him upstairs. Tunde did not have his usual after work chat with Oluwole but retired straight to bed after saying a word of prayer and taking some pain relievers.

At times when Mirabel his younger sister was lavished with expensive clothes and ate food to her fill, Oluwole was left with nothing but his previous clothing and wears. His father, was the only one looking out for his upkeep even in the negligible ways that he could. 

Tunde was more than an average doctor and his primary duty was to carry out medical operations and research in hospitals and clinics. He was highly ranked by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and as such travelled quite frequently. Even during the few times he spent in town, he usually returned from the hospital late at night and as such had very little knowledge on what conspired at home in his absence. Kate took advantage of this and filled him with all sort of lies that made her seem like a saint. 

Academically, Oluwole had always been sound even right from his crèche days. He started schooling at the age of 3 and Tunde made sure he was sent to one of the best schools around. Oluwole enjoyed learning and always looked forward to weekdays. Unlike most children who cried profusely at the departure of their parents, Oluwole would go straight into his class without looking back whenever Kate dropped him off. This was simply because he found comfort in the midst of teachers and his friends with whom he could play around with roughly without the fear of being beaten up by anyone. He loved to look at his coloring books and scribble in his little notes. 

Oluwole found joy in reading and scribbling a lot.

Soon, Kate began to find pleasure in seizing his coloring books and Oluwole would cry. Oluwole was determined however to make the best out of his academics. He once came in contact with one of his friend’s dad who was a professor and he aspired to be like him even though he got little parental assistance academically. He liked the sound of the title of ‘professor’ attached to his name. He would study his text books and complete the entire syllabus even before the start of a new academic session.

“I would grow up to be a wealthy professor and make daddy proud!” he often thought to himself. 

Little did young Oluwole know that the worst was yet to come and that his travails had only but just begun?

In Primary 6, when Oluwole was 10 years old, an incident that could potentially ruin all Oluwole’s dreams and steer the direction of his life for the worst, struck the Ajayimore family.