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GHOSTS: THE GENESIS

This is a story about Doyin Omotoyr, the daughter of the richest woman in Africa who is accused of killing her step-father and guidance counselor. This is a mind twisting tale of how she fights to prove her innocence and fight the ghosts of her pasts.

Get ready and come with your pop corn.

Da Bold

It's ready. Enjoy.
GHOSTS: THE GENESIS

CHAPTER 1

Tap! Tap! Doyin kept tapping on the car’s dashboard to purposely annoy her mother. The car ride had been solemnly but not unusually quiet. If her mother was going to ship her to another purgatory as usual, she had to have her pound of flesh.

“Would you stop that, Doyin?” her mother finally barked at her. She had tried ignoring the petulant teenager but it was really getting on her nerves and making it hard for her to concentrate on the road. Her daughter, Doyin, was proving to be a hard nut to crack. As the acclaimed richest woman in Africa, she barely had time for her daughter. This was the main reason she tried to make her as comfortable as she could but also restrain from over pampering her. But having to attend 8 schools in 5 years was becoming a dent on her name. Why couldn’t Doyin see the bigger picture? Why couldn’t she stay in one place? It’s either she got expelled, suspended, or probably just stopped going at all. She was frustrated and she knew she really had to have that talk with Doyin.

Doyin kept wondering what was going on in her mother’s mind. This was the only time she had to really discuss with her mother. Before leaving the house that morning, she had spent hours looking at herself in the mirror. Why did she have such a voluptuous body? She kept wondering. Her bras were becoming tight and today, she was wearing her mother’s bra but her mother was yet to notice. Her body size was always a source of headache to her. It made her open to lewd remarks everywhere she went. Whenever she went out without Adamu, her personal guide, men, both married and single always rizzed her up. “How on earth could she explain that she was just 15 years? How on earth could she stop people from sexualizing her? By the way, will this school have a uniform for her size or will she have to sew one personally? Why was she created this way? Will the teachers in this school be any different?”

All her life, Doyin has felt uncomfortable attending school. She was always the subject of ridiculous statements and sexual remarks. She had caught the PHE teacher at St Marks College ogling her severally. The biology teacher at Greendale always used her as example during classes that she had to skip classes before she stopped going altogether. The boys in her class were not left out and the girls who were supposed to understand how uncomfortable it is to have such a body size hated her. To the boys, she was a prize, but to the girls, she was just an overfed monster who had no business in the classroom. It was only at St. Catherine Girls College she had a semblance of sanity but that was short lived. It was there she got in touch with her sexuality and started loving girls. How could she love boys when all they wanted was to get in her pants? How could she love boys when what all the men in her life, teachers not excluded, did was to abuse her and have their ways with her because they are stronger and were in post of authority? All she could do to stop them was to stop seeing them and that at times, involved changing schools but her mother never seemed to understand her because she barely had her time. She had been caught pants down with her bunkie, Ruth, going at it one night and expected expulsion. The principal, Rev. Sr. Bernice, thought it was one of her antics to get expelled so she forgave her and put her on therapy. Having been caught the second and third time, Rev. Sr. Bernice had no other option but to expel both of them. She knew she was going to miss Ruth but she had no option as her parents immediately flew her out of the country.

“You know, Doyin, you could have saved me this stress”, Mrs. Omotoye suddenly jolted Doyin out of her thoughts.

“What – do – you – mean- by- that?” Doyin slowly answered while she turned to face her mother.

“This whole school stuff”, her mother replied, “8 schools in 5 years; what do you think you are doing?”

“Well… let’s just say I’m an explorer and I love to explore….”

“You love to explore? Did you just say explore? Explore with your education?”

“Mum”, Doyin started then paused, “You could have saved yourself the stress by allowing Adamu to drop me off. It’s not like you really care. Nobody knows I’m your daughter anyway”, Doyin replied as she started looking for something in her bag.

“Look young lady……”

“Mum, how much does that your lemon coloured Versace bra cost?”

“Is that the topic of discussion and what is your business with my bras?” Mrs. Omotoye replied her daughter looking very pi**ed.

“Well, for what I know, that’s the only lemon coloured bra you have and that’s the fourth bra of yours that I have worn in the space of six days without washing”, Doyin retorted.

“Doyin!” Mrs. Omotoye parked the car and suddenly looked hard at her daughter. “What happened to your bras and why are you attacking my closet?” Doyin refused to reply or look at her mother as she sat seething with anger. “Doyin…” Mrs. Omotoye called again but was cut short by Doyin’s sudden outburst.

“Mum, look at me. Take a good look at me. Do I look 15 to you? Did I beg to have such a body? I’m just 15 for God’s sake, why should I be dragging size of bust with you? Why should I be looking like a goddamn nursing mother? I just want to be normal, can’t I have that? I don’t know how you are comfortable being you but I’m not. This body has done me more harm than good and you sit there and pretend like everything is okay. The only time you ever have time to talk to me or rather preach to me is whenever I change school. Mum, I’m so damn tired of all this”, Doyin replied her mother, folded her hands and faced the window.

Mrs. Omotoye was dumfounded. She held her head with her hands and placed them on the steering. She had always avoided this line of discussion with Doyin. She had always voiced her displeasure about having such a body but there was nothing she could do about it. She wasn’t God who created her and she had told Doyin this. She had no other option but to love herself. She began to think. Was Doyin leaving school because of her body or was there something else. “Oh God!” she gasped, “Hope I haven’t failed this girl”. She knew she really had to talk with Doyin and at least, rebuild the mother-daughter bond they once had. She steadied herself and drove the car without looking at Doyin. Luckily, Doyin also cooperated and they had the remaining ride in silence.

“Here we are, Doyin”, Mrs. Omotoye told her daughter hoping to have a little chit chat before they got in. “I don’t want to tell you that I know what you are going through but I’m here for you. You don’t need to face the world alone. Please, I beg you Doyin, do me this favour, try and stay here and finish your secondary education. I promise to always be here for you. I know I have a little bit of catching up to do but please, don’t make this any harder for me than it already is.” Doyin was quiet. She took a long look at her and then came down from the car. Doyin also came down and as she was about moving to the gate of the school, her mother pulled her and hugged her. “Shh, my doughnut, it’s going to be alright. I promise. Now go and show them that my doughnut is a winner”. And with that, she released her and they both walked to the school.

Doyin had many thoughts about Dabiz International College. Despite her outburst in the car, she was determined to make her mother proud. She hoped the teachers here will see her for who she is, not physically but intellectually. She also hoped that the students here are nicer. She watched her mother present the necessary registration documents to the administrative officer before they were directed to the principal’s office. Samuel Adeyemi was on the name tag on the table when they walked in to the office. It was a nice looking office having the different awards and plaque that have been won by the school. She saw that of the recent spelling bee and believed that she could see a faint outline of herself in that picture as St. Catherine Girls had beaten them to the first position. The room smelt nice and was fully air conditioned. She looked around and saw the CCTVs stationed there. The principal welcomed them and took a long look at her like he was either surprised or shocked to see her or was trying to recall where they had met before. He started off by saying how happy they were to have her there and all the usual ‘B.S’ school heads always say whenever she went to a new school. She let her mind wander and was totally not part of the conversation until her mother touched her hands. At that moment, the principal repeated the question he had initially asked her. “Are you ready to be one of us, an exceptional scholar who will always fly high the flag of Dabiz International College, Miss Omotoye?”

“It’s Doyin”, she replied, “And once there is a conducive environment, I’m definitely doing well”, she smiled hoping to impress both the principal and her mother.

“Okay, if you say so. Do remember, if you need anything or if you ever feel confused, lost or overwhelmed, you can come to me or the guidance counsellor”, the principal replied her and with that he directed her to class while her mother waited behind. She knew her mother had made a bargain getting her there so it was probably time to fulfill her promise but that wasn’t her business. She just hoped for God’s sake that Dabiz will be different.

It took her a while but she finally located the SSS 2 science class despite the principal’s directives. Immediately she entered the class, it was like time stopped. Everybody left what they were doing to look at her like she was a kind of ghost they were surprised to see. “Oh sh*t!” she exclaimed, “here we go again”, she said as she expected the worst to happen.

“Ho!Ho!Ho! Manta Claus is here” a tall lanky boy, whom she later got to know as Praise, exclaimed and the whole class burst into laughter. She knew that by then they had assumed that she was a student and not a teacher. After the laughter died down, a girl shouted, “Ladies and gentlemen, I officially present to you the mother of the class”. And the laughter started again. When she thought it was over, another boy exclaimed, “God damn! Look at those mammary glands. Mummy when are you going to breastfeed me?” This time around, it wasn’t just laughter but also whistles and cat calls accompanied it. She still stood there unflinched determined not to allow their remarks get to her after all, she had experienced worse things than this. A teacher suddenly appeared and the class went back to normal though some students struggled with controlling their laughter. She scanned around and saw an empty chair and desk on the last row. She went and occupied it. Immediately she sat down, the girl next to her slipped her a piece of paper. In it was written, “Ignore them; they are just a bunch of losers”. She folded the paper and smiled at the girl. The teacher was asking what led to the commotion but everyone remained silent and so, he began his class.

The day went uneventful, although, teachers had started noticing her academic prowess. She was top in Chemistry and got all the maths questions correct. It seemed to her that Dabiz students were not that intelligent after all, no wonder St Catherine Girls piped them to the National Spelling Bee title. At the end of the day, Praise walked up to her and apologized for his conduct when she came to the class. He introduced himself as the clown of the class. She ignored his outstretched hand and told him that his conduct towards her will determine if they could be friends. As soon as Praise left her alone, someone called her from behind.

“Hey new girl or should I say, Doyin”. It was the girl who had slipped her the paper at the beginning of the class. She walked towards her with a swagger and charisma that Doyin didn’t understand.

“Hi..”, Doyin replied trying to recall the girl’s name. “How do you know my name?” she suddenly asked surprised that someone already knew her name.

“Well, it’s not hard to decipher the name of the student who blew our Chemistry teacher away, who topped the maths class and is now the talk of the class. My name is Esther”, she said stretching her hands towards Doyin. “Or you can call me ghost”, she smiled again and laughed a little showing off her sparkling teeth.

“Why ghost?” Doyin asked shaking Esther’s hands.

“The class calls me that because I’m always alone and have refused to join any clique. I don’t have time for their frivolities. They are all losers”, Esther replied as Doyin suddenly laughed and they both burst into laughter.
“So are you taking the bus?” Esther asked Doyin when they had both stopped laughing.

‘Nah’, she replied, ‘I’m waiting for my driver. What about you?’

“I walk home. Can’t afford the bus”, Esther shrugged.

‘Where do you stay?’
“Billiamilo Close, Progressive Estate”

‘That’s my Estate. Well, my driver is here. Come let’s drop you off’, Doyin said as she dragged Esther to the car. They both greeted the driver, Adamu, when they got in and Doyin instructed him to drive to Esther’s place first. During the drive, Esther confessed seeing Doyin at the National Spelling Bee and wondered why she left St. Catherine Girls to Dabiz. They spoke about the class they had and Esther told her the characters of all their class mates.

“Madam, we are here”, Adamu informed them both when he got to Billiamilo Close.

“Keep driving ahead. It’s the only one-storey building here”, Esther replied and with that Adamu drove off.

“Well, I should have your number”, Doyin told Esther when they got to her house.

“Rich girl, I don’t have a phone”, Esther laughed as she came down from the car. “By the way, thanks for the ride, I will see you in school tomorrow.”

“Bye”, Doyin said as they both waved at each other.

As Adamu drove her home, she couldn’t help but wonder how quick it was for her to make a friend at Dabiz. Esther had come across as such a likeable person. But who doesn’t have a phone in SSS 2 at this age? It was both shocking and surprising to her that Esther didn’t have a phone. If she got one for her, will she accept it? All these thoughts ran through Doyin’s mind as she settled down at home.

RENAISSANCE (A POEM)

Picked up the pen to be a bard
But that dream was barred
By a Literary wiz at my backyard
So I locked up my zeal in a jar
And admired people‘s work from afar
And I swore that till I got to the grave
Never will I pick the pen again
Never will I stray
Into the writing bay
For a long time that dream remain marred

Went into the studio to mix some lines
Believing perfectly that I could make words align
Dabold as a name, D was my sign
But then came along a Cuz of mine
“All they do in the mic house”, he Whined
Is to puff like a chimney and dine
He suggested I be kept in a confine
I couldn’t whine due to lack of spine
There was no one to give me a lifeline

As little as I was six I could roleplay
Step on the stage and I could act the whole day
The sun was shinning I needed to make hay
But big mama was afraid of me going astray
Or rather her child was afraid of being betrayed
By my loquaciousness, so he kept me at bay
Under the radar I was like a cache
With treasures of talent in a stash
I kept mum because I was afraid of continuous backlash

Doing the recent global confinement
I picked up my pen initially for personal entertainment
Recently started frequenting The studio
Now I have a couple of melodious audio
Joined a group of people who roleplayed
And my gift finally had the opportunity to be displayed
I regret all the negative criticism I accepted

This is my Renaissance, this is my rebirth
Chasing my dreams till the day of my death
I was born blessed, I have no dearth
The top is where I belong, that is my berth
This is my Renaissance, it is yours too
The earth was meant for us to subdue
So don’t let what they’ve said or done get to you
So get up and go get what belongs to you

©Young Dabold

GHOSTS: THE GENESIS

CHAPTER TWO
Esther didn’t find her mother at home and so believed that she was either at the clinic or had gone to see a patient at home. She quickly prepared noodles for herself and settled to do her assignment before Doyin suddenly crept to her thoughts. She was from a wealthy home – no doubt about it- but she wasn’t pompous and proud about it like those as****es in her class. Also, she was academically sound without rubbing it in anybody’s face. She knew that was the kind of friend she wanted to have. If she was a friend to a wealthy person, she could always use the connection sometime in the future. Wasn’t that why she was at Dabiz?

Things had not always been hard for Esther and her mother. In fact, Esther didn’t know what it meant to be poor until she was 13 years, just three years ago. She grew up as a spoilt only child in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. She had everything she wanted and asked for as her father called her his princess. Things took a turn for the worse when her father, the managing director of a realtor company, collapsed at work one day. He was rushed to the hospital and was diagnosed with stage five pancreatic cancer. She watched her mother spend all their savings trying to save her father but they still lost him to the icy hands of death. To compound anguish to their sorrows, her father’s family members laid claim to the only piece of land left to her father’s name after his death, chased them out of his house and sold it off. It was during this period that she learnt that he wasn’t really her father but that her mother had given birth to her for another man before they got married. Ultimately, living in Abuja was tough and they tried for a bit but soon ran out of money and things became harder. Her mother’s meagre salary was not enough to cope with the expensive lifestyle of living there. As a result, she had to drop out of school. One night, her mother came back to the house and told her that they had to leave. They packed the little they had and on they went to Lagos State.

Things had not initially been rosy as her mother kept getting rejected by hospitals. She had finished her studies as a nurse but never really got to practise because her late husband wanted her to be a stay at home wife. When the school session was about to begin, her mother sat her up and told her the story of her life - how she got pregnant for her secondary school sweetheart but his family never supported the union and she had to train her on her own. Now that things were a little bit difficult, she had to run to him for a favour. As he worked at Dabiz, he had agreed to pay her school fees but on the condition that nobody knew the relationship between them.

Coping and adjusting to the new reality was difficult for Esther. They were days she threw tantrums because she couldn’t have things she wanted. Initially, her mother tried explaining to her that times were different; later, she let her be. She gradually learnt and adjusted to living in Lagos. When she started schooling in Dabiz College, she tried to get accepted by her class mates. When she found out that they would never accept her because she didn’t come from a rich family like theirs and they’d rather she became their slave, she kept to herself and avoided them totally. This earned her the name ‘Ghost’. She wasn’t a dullard per se but she was definitely not one of the brightest students in her class yet she could hold her own. Not being one of the brightest students helped her slip under the radar at Dabiz and she was determined to keep it that way. She couldn’t match the students’ dressings, or attend the kind of parties they did so she was usually inept when she was in their midst. Oh! How she wished her father was alive.

Things took a turn last year when she clocked 15 years. She had woken up one night to hear her mother lament and cry over her inability to pay the rent. Of course, she didn’t want her mother to know she was awake so she quietly went back to bed. The next day, she went to school and asked her father for help. He turned her request down stating that it wasn’t part of the agreement he had with her mother. He also cited the fact that he had a family to feed and won’t be able to squeeze the rent out of his pay.

Grudgingly, she waited till she was able to meet their landlord the day he came around. He was a tall fair man with a gait that was funny to her. He seemed brash at times so she initially found it hard to approach him. When she finally did, she went on her kneels and pleaded with him to consider them. He told her that that wasn’t how things are done.
“You see my dear”, he started as he ran his fingers on her cheeks, “Life is transactional. You pay rent and you stay. I’m not an NGO nor a charity organization, neither am I Santa Claus.” This time his fingers were on her lips. Holding them tenderly, he bent and whispered to her. “I can make you stay here rent-free; you’ll just pay a one-time fee. When you are ready, let me know. If not, I’ll get my cash”, he winked at her and walked away.
She was fifteen but she understood what he meant and wanted. Her mother was everything she had and she hated seeing that woman cry. It broke her that she was unable to help her mother. Her only fear about giving in to her landlord’s desire was here fear of unwanted pregnancy and even STDs. One couldn’t tell if someone was a carrier by simply looking at them so she had to get herself prepared. She had purchased after morning pills in preparation for whatever was going to happen and hoped for the worst. If that was the price she will pay to put a roof over their head, she was ready to make that sacrifice.

Despite hoping for the worse, she couldn’t deny the fact that she enjoyed her first time with him. He took it slow and meticulous with her, calming her down and reassuring her that he wasn’t going to hurt her. At intervals, he stopped to ask her if she was comfortable or enjoying herself with what he was doing to her. She couldn’t say he r***d her; what he did was make love to her. Thinking about it now made her groins wet. Since that first day, he never bothered her although he was barely around. When her mother had later informed her of the fact that they were not going to pay rent, she was happy that he had kept his own part of the bargain. As a matter of fact, she had gone back to him willingly whenever he was around and she felt like it. Whenever she hears her class mates speak about their bad sexual encounters, she was happy that hers was different.

She was determined to keep her resolve of avoiding her class mates but an enemy of her enemy was definitely her friend and that was the reason she spoke to Doyin. Luckily for her, Doyin seemed to be different from the jerks in her class or so she had thought. She quickly shook Doyin off her thoughts and settled to do her assignments and the chores her mother had assigned to her. Since she landed a job through the landlord’s assistance at the general hospital in her vicinity, she was always busy and Doyin knew today would be no different. She smiled when she remembered the car ride with Doyin and suddenly wished her father was still alive. Well, to her, her transportation issue was definitely solved – walk to school in the morning and get driven home in the evening.

The next day, she went to school as usual and was surprised not to see Doyin in the class till the end of the first period. When she cat walked into the class, the whistles and cat calls came on again. Esther could never understand teenagers. Yes, Doyin had a big body but damn, it was a banging one. Her new uniform hugged her body and exposed all her curves. Stopping above her knees, Doyin showed off her sleek legs and waited for the calls and whistles to stop before walking majestically to her seat. Whatever Doyin had in mind was amusing to Esther and at the same time, it was working. Doyin had made a statement that she was going to put them in their place and she did this without even talking but with her mere looks. She sat down and winked to Esther.
“Hey, how was your night?” she asked as she brought a bubble gum to chew.
‘Just bland’, Esther replied parking her books.
“Care for a gum”.
‘Nah! They hurt my teeth.’
“Where are you heading to?”
‘The farm. I have agric.’
“Which means, I have TD. See you in the cafeteria during recess.”
Esther left the class while Doyin parked her stationery to attend the technical drawing class.

*I DID IT*
(A POEM)

Mummy, I'm sorry I did it.
I ate the forbidden fruit at thirteen
At sixteen, I had my kid
But you didn't despise me.


I'm sorry, mummy I did it
I lost focus, I didn't know my goals
So I veered off the road
Many lies, many stealing
My kid was with you - it wasn't giving

I'm sorry mummy I did it,
I ran from Owerri to lag to Mowe
All this without knowing my way
I dreamt I soared from Antartica to Norway
But my fears kept screaming no way

Mummy, I did it
Sorry but not sorry that I didn't realize it earlier
You said life was important and not wealth and riches
But without wealth how could one survive
I'm sorry I lost my way,
I'm sorry I hated those I was meant to love

Dear son,
This is your mother speaking,
I finally found what was lacking in me,
I didn't abandon you, love
I just couldn't face this travails with you
You are one baggage too enough
Your mum suddenly realized she was lacking value
If you ever need to speak me
I will be waiting in my grave
Please visit,
I hope you understand and don't hate me
I had no place in the world but one in the underworld where I truly belong
Mummy, I'm sorry I did it
©Young Dabold

Bold Publishing and Educational consult will be organizing a free one month online tutorial for students in Secondary schools.
Subjects involved are English, literature, maths and sciences.
Classes will hold from Monday, April 11 to May 10.
The Tutorials will hold on:
Facebook (Bold online Tutorials group)
WhatsApp
Telegram
Google classroom.
Time 12 pm and 4pm everyday on both WhatsApp and Telegram.

To join the telegram group.
https://t.me/+mgmcIbutSv9jOTNk

To join the online tutorial WhatsApp group.
https://chat.whatsapp.com/D2EH42JGfxw63da2wLKGYw.

To join the Google classroom,
https://classroom.google.com/c/NDk5ODE2MzM5NDYw?cjc=gqoh33p

You can also share this information and tag people you know that need it.

No knowledge is a waste.

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In order to improve the literacy level of our society in order to create an enabling environment for success in other areas of our daily living, we have decided to come up with a reading Clinic to help people with reading and writing challenges.

Free Registration
Free Reading materials.
First ten students pay for only two months.
Pay for three children and get a discount on the fourth child.

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