chapter 4

Dressed in a plain white sleeve, with a cobalt blue coat draped over a smart pair of trousers of the

same tone, and an attractive pair of cufflinks holding on to his cuffs was Oluwole. With the

properly knotted polka dot tie on his neck, he looked exquisitely dashing!

It was his 64th birthday. At 64 years of age, Professor Oluwole Ajayimore looked more youthful

than his age foretold of him. He looked at his eyes in the mirror as he adjusted his glasses. It still

bore the scars of a past bruise. He lifted his eyes to his old but treasured collection on his

bedroom shelf and smiled. He took a picture frame of himself off the shelf; stared at it, and

beamed with smiles and light laughter in between.

Those type of smiles that arose from the joy and happiness gotten from an accomplished aim. He

held the picture to his chest. So was the mid-morning of the old professor. Again, looking at the

picture in his slightly wrinkled hands, he led himself in a blur back to his past. The days of

suffering and sorrow, of been stripped and rejected by the society he called home. Life showed

him her ugly sides majorly but he has always been a wrestler with fate. He had a couple of

physical scars to prove that. He took his inhaler and dragged a long puff.

Born in Lagos State, Oluwole David Ajayimore was rather odd at birth. Unlike most children,

Wole didn’t cry at birth. He just stared blankly at his apparent environment. He had those cute,

dreamy set of eyes that made him greatly admired as an infant. He was neither too fat nor too

slim. He had a smooth hair texture and was a great beauty to behold. He could even pass for a

baby from a royal lineage as he had the physical makings of a prince. He was wonderfully made.

Wole had the resemblance to his mother, although he was never privileged to meet her. He often

wondered what she would have looked and been like.

Mrs. RoselineAyayimore had died after labor. Wole was her first child after several years of

unfruitful marriage. She was born in Delta State and was a catholic by faith. She was fair in

complexion, tall and had rosy cheeks. She often had her hair up in curls. She was a Masters

Degree holder, after studying Nursing in the prestigious University of Ibadan, most commonly

referred to as U.I.Tunde bought a lot of toys for Wole 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 Wole. She felt Tunde showed him so much love

and care and she became very bitter towards Wole; such that even his mere presence irritated

her. She became so jealous of Wole because she wanted all of Tunde’s attention to herself.

She never really married Tunde out of love. She married him because of his fat wallet. More so,

he was rich, hardworking and much more successful than all her other suitors. As a result of this,

their love life was dead. Hell broke loose for Wole when Kate gave birth to her first child,

Mirabel. She 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.

Wole 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 Wole 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 Wole couldn’t remedy the situation before Mirabel tore down the once peaceful atmosphere

was her persistent cries.

If not that Kate would have had to answer to Tunde when he returned from his trip to Abuja, she

would have skinned Wole alive that fateful morning. In Tunde’s sight however, Kate was an

angel but to Tunde, she was a heartless hypocrite.

One day, because Wole 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. Wole this time, reported to his father and told him all that Kate had put him through in

the past. Tunde was gum smacked at what he heard and he beat Kate mercilessly that night. He

warned her never to raise her hands on Wole again. Knowing the true nature of Kate however,

didn’t 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. She put a harmful concoction in Tunde’s lunch, just before he was about to leave for theHe was raised up as a ward in St. Theresa’s Catholic orphanage, Warri. He never experienced

true motherly affection. Back at the orphanage, all the children were treated fairly, although

some a bit more fairly than others. The Bishop of Warri Diocese sponsored and ran the

operations of the orphanage, which included the education, feeding and accommodation of the

children.

The name of the founding Bishop was Bishop Benedict O. Ajayimore. He had to struggle with

life and the challenges it brought his way, even up until he eventually graduated with a First

Class in Medicine and Surgery.

At just about 3 years of age, Wole also started exhibiting the signs and symptoms of asthma and

after a thorough medical examination, he was diagnosed positive. At 7 years, he was fit to take

his medications by himself and had mastered proper use of his inhaler. This however didn’t come

as a surprise to Tunde, judging by the fact that his mom, Rose; also had the disease.

This moved him even more into marrying his second wife, Mrs. Katherine Ajayimore, who was

an Anglican by faith. It took a long while of courtship before Tunde finally proposed to her.

After their marriage, she still attended the church of her faith and took Wole along with her

sometimes - when Tunde wasn’t chanced to take him to his own church.

After Wole’s baptism, Tunde had great dreams for him. Often at times, when they played

together, he would imagine the bright future he intended on ensuring Wole had. Whether or not

those dreams and imaginations would come into actualization, even Tunde himself wondered.