Rays of the Sun: Life Is a Lesson, Those Who Pass Are Those Who Gain Here and Here-After

By Ogedengbe Adeyemi

It must be born in the mind that the tragedy of life doesnt lie in not reaching our goals. The tragedy lies in not having a goal to reach for. This is what Mr. Idos Ukechukwu realised when he lost his job as a marketing manager, following the recapitalization policy made by the Nigeria Central Bank governor. He learned a cold and bitter lesson of unemployment. He, however, became a mentor to his only son, Samuel. Is it something worth living for to make a landmark in the land of the living? What kind of positive impact could Samuel possibly render to Folarins household, a highly respectable family who had the world to their feet? This is an inspirational story about life, love, and success.

EXCERPTS: This is an inspirational story that shows the simple rule to success and happinessthe publisherPrime Afrique Magazine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Aug 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477222416

Ogedengbe Adeyemi

Ogedengbe Adeyemi is a professional career guidance. He is a project manager of a human resources consulting and facility management firm. A Nigerian born, from Ogun State, South western Nigeria.

Book preview

RAYS OF THE SUN

The rays of the sun is a consecration

That streams in to the soul of nature

And bring out seeds of glory

For human survival lies in his existence

As the day grow older

The night springs afresh

Ushering the night for stars to claim his abode

And the stars cluster to illuminate the night

So as star is in everyman

Sticks with him like his shadow

It is the only chandelier that can illuminate every soul

The chandelier that commands all light all influence all fate

CHAPTER I

Yewande, nee Miss Folarin was on her way to her father’s office. She stepped into the building, putting on a long jeans skirt and an autumn orange silken long sleeve blouse, carrying a duffel bag, big enough to be used as a traveller’s bag. The gold bracelet in her left hand twittered in rhythm and the sound of her stilettos gracefully glided across the tiles corridor towards a man.

Good afternoon; she greeted with a tender and soft voice.

Good afternoon. The man replied, gazing into her eyes and suddenly turning his head into another direction, turned on his heels and left.

Yewande then turned slowly to face him, stared at him as if mesmerised as he walked past her.

Please excuse me, now calling the attention of the man as she approached him.

He turned back, and the lady’s approach inspired awe rather than trepidation. Are you talking to me? He asked in a flat voice.

Yes! I’m sorry for taking out of your time. It seems your face looks familiar, but I don’t know precisely where we had once. She smiled.

He shook his head with a choking sensation in his throat. I don’t think so. You know sometimes people look alike. Excuse me please!

Ok! I’m sorry. She then walked towards her dad’s office but still has the strong feeling and tried to reminisce on her past escapade. She turned right and tapped the door and without reply, she stepped into the secretary’s office.

Good afternoon, she greeted the secretary who was absorbed with a typing job.

Good afternoon ma!

Is dad in? She asked softly.

Yes! He’s in, looking at her with admiration.

Hey! What a pleasant surprise, her dad remarked as he saw his beautiful daughter in his office. You never told me you were coming. Yes dad, I didn’t really plan coming, I’ve been willing to come all this while but I’d always put it off to another day. So, I came to Bollor Shopping Mall and decided to check on you. As she spoke, she walked towards a recliner and then threw herself on it.

"‘C’mmon’ stand up and let’s go to the visitor’s room." Father and daughter sauntered slowly, side by side into the visitor’s room where she made herself comfortable. Meanwhile, chief Folarin dashed to the refrigerator to bring a bottle of drink for his daughter. One can feel the flutter of delight and love that spread around chief to see his darling daughter come visiting.

Meanwhile, Yewande sat comfortably, resting her elbow on her right knee that is bent up before her and leaned her cheek on her hand. In a flash, she remembered the man she met on the road. Yes! That’s Richard. She talked softly to herself. What’s the fuss? Why is he lying? she thought to herself.

Her dad came back with a bottle of blue cocktail and two glass cups

Thanks dad, she smiled bleakly.

I know this is your favourite drink and I’m sure you know I too relish it.

Chief Folarin smiled delightfully as he reclined on the chair contentedly.

Dad, do you have any employee here named Richard!

Yes I do. His name is Richard Raymond He’s my Assistant Personnel Manager. He responded, gazing at her steadily for her reply. Suddenly their conversation was disturbed by a phone call.

Excuse me please, chief said.

Hello. Who is it? A voice responded from the other end.

Oh! Habib. Thank God you called. I was still contemplating calling you earlier. When will the container arrive?

Sir! The ship sank! was the caller’s word. His lips twitched in a faint voice. Habib is one of the chief’s dock workers, who managed his goods offshore.

Sink? Chief asked and continued. When did that happen?

This time, Yewande’s eyebrow lifted and directed her gaze on her loving caring dad

It was just last night sir! He answered in a dull tone.

Anyway, you know what to do. Take necessary photographs and other relevant document and fax them to Spring Assurance Company and call me back immediately.

Ok Sir the caller responded.

Chief continued, make sure you do it now, instructing in a firm voice.

Dad, what’s actually going on? Yewande asked with a voice full of concern.

No . . . No . . . problem. Everything is in order. It’s just a minor challenge. He said and continued, Yewande, please be kind to call me the secretary, He said and immediately started drenching in perspiration.

Ok dad! She swiftly dashed to the secretary’s office and bellowed the name of the secretary as she opened the door slightly.

Excuse me. dad needs to see you now!

Ok I’ll be right there, pulling out the chair, the secretary walked towards her boss’s office. Yewande closed the door behind and followed her.

Sir, you need my attention. She said and took a balanced glance at chief. The gaze in those eyes was wild and cold.

I need Tobi’s attention right now. Tell him to come with you right away.

Ok Sir, the secretary responded and made off to fetch Tobi.

Yewande then walked towards her dad and sat closed to him. Dad, are you sure everything is alright? She asked passionately.

Yes! Everything is alright. Don’t bother about me. I just need to send out some urgent messages.

She poured the drink into the cups and gave one to her dad and sipped one. But she still kept a side glance at her dad.

The secretary had exited chief Folarin’s office, going through a gleaming corridor. She walked across Mr Richard.

Hello Angel, he greeted her in a pleasing voice.

Good afternoon,

Where is chairman? Richard asked.

In the office with his daughter, the secretary responded.

Is she still in the office with him . . . ? Anyway in case the boss asks for me, just tell him I went to have my lunch. I probably have to stay a little long at the café, he thought.

The secretary looked perplexed. She discovered there was anxiety and fear in Richard’s voice as he talked to her. This is not the time for lunch, she taught. Besides they always have lunch together except in rare occasions . . . . and the look in chief’s face! What’s going on? She taught to herself.

In a few moments, Tobi came into the office and saw his sister. He greeted her with cheerful excitement but Yewande’s look diffused a dim gloom and her reply, absentminded.

He turned his gaze to his dad. Dad, you sent for me. Any problem?

No, No not at all, only that I need you to give me the Spring Assurance file, I need to go to their office myself.

What happened dad? Tobi asked in a rather curious tone.

Nothing, I think it’s just high time I enjoyed the fruit of my labour. My goods sank and I believe it’s high time I received the dividends of my policy, don’t you think so?

Why not dad? I’m just a little curious, he stuttered and kept his glance out of reach. Tobi continued, due to the record I’ve seen so far in the company. I just believe it’s a waste of money if we continue to pay that insurance company every year. So, what are you insinuating? Chief Folarin asked angrily.

It is two years dad since I’ve paid the annual premium, He murmured pathetically

What! You must be stupid, Tobi! chief retorted with a wild rave. Look at this young man . . . what I have built for over a decade . . . . I think you’re joking, He added. He then stormed around his office with sweat leaching out his body despite the cold air from the gigantic air conditioner beside the black arm sofa.

Tell me you’re joking! he repeated slowly as strands of veins swelled out on his forehead. Do you know what you’ve done?

Yewande interrupted, Dad! Please take it easy, Ok? Chief then walked semi-consciously towards another chair in the office. "Obum . . . obum . . . obum . . . obum", he murmured and drawled his Greek-like words language.

He gasped. You ruined my life. He said Polly stoutly as offensive silence hanged over him. He placed his hands on top of his chest which seemed as if his heart wanted to jump out from his body. He held it firmly as the heartbeat grew faster. He felt a little pain and his eye brow shut up, making him to look dizzy, unable to see clearly.

I’m sorry dad; I never meant to hurt you. I don’t know it will turn out this way, Tobi pleaded, I was just trying to be prudent.

He crouched as he lowered his gaze to the floor in front of his dad, giving a piteous expression.

No, I can’t believe this, shaking his head and angrily, he rose to his feet and towards the door. He mistakenly hit his left leg on the centre table and fell, just like an elephant that fell on a Dogoyaro tree. He collapsed and was unable to breath

Spontaneously, there was an alarming cry for help and all the legs in the office except Richard’s stomped into the room and quickly they plodded him out of the office to the hospital. They were all shocked and anxious to know what happened to their boss.

Yewande called her mum to tell her all what had happened. Upon hearing the news, she was jolted, as though in a dream and wishing to wake up to reality.

Mrs Folarin and Pomi stomped into the hospital where they found Yewande striding back and forth the reception, looking extremely haggard.

Yewande, what happened? I didn’t understand you when you called me. Sober reflection covered her face and her voice was shrilled with distress.

I don’t know either. He had a phone call concerning his goods since then he has been acting so scary. I have never seen dad in such condition.

So where is he now?

The doctor is attending to him; I hope he’ll be alright.

Tobi sat at the extreme of a long bench in the reception. He was so worried.

I won’t forgive myself if anything happens to my dad. Why was I careless and selfish? Why is this coming up now? Oh, my God please save my dad. He thought.

This was eighteen years earlier.

The clock was indicating six, in the evening; the weather seemed to be foggy and cloudy. The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fhemico firm was heading home. His name was Ade Folarin usually called chief Folarin by his subordinates. A workaholic, caring, loving and successful husband and father

Chief Folarin was in the car, at the back seat, by the right side. The driver put in an audio disc in the car set. His boss was skimming through the dailies, spread out at the left side of the black leather interior sit. He quickly glanced through the headlines; House of Representative Renovation Scam; Two Hundred and Fifty People Died in Tsunami; Thirteen Nigerians Face Execution in S/Arabia, five thousand Nigerians convicted in UK. He read the most fascinating story which was the story of the House of Representative scandal that involved the Speaker of the house who illegally awarded a contract which has been a controversial issue which the daily news tends to unravel to the public. He was so engrossed with the reading that he never discovered some four men approaching, but as they came closer, he saw them whilst they were raising their hands in appraisal to his unpredictable stop over. They did this so as to attract their attention and probably ask for alms.

They all looked scruffy and haggard. Their look was ferocious like that of lobsters desperately in search for prey. This further made them to look terrifying. One of these street urchins aggressively moved towards the driver’s seat. He had a fuzzy rough hair and a long goatee beard that was attached to his long chin, just like the face of a black goat. They were chanting praises in their local dialect so as to arouse more attention. Chief Folarin then gave the driver a few naira notes.

The driver hurriedly gave it to one of them, and as the car zoomed off, he could hurriedly view them through his Bluetooth rear view mirror as they were fighting one another, perhaps they wanted to know how much he really gave them.

The road drama made Mr. Folarin unable to continue his reading; he then adjusted himself comfortably and then started to listen to the Nigeria music as it played softly. Being a Yoruba man and playing Yoruba music, Mr Folarin enjoyed every beat and line of the very popular Yoruba lyrics, as it stressed the passion that Yorubas have for their indigenous music.

As the driver was cruising along the road at a smooth and steady pace, Chief Folarin took a glimpse at the gully side of the road which was congested with worn out tyres, rubbles and broken pieces of different materials and sand littering the whole scene. Kiosks dotted every spot along the road, displaying all kinds of products. Men and women gathered around some of those kiosks like roosters would a corn garden.

Mr. Folarin later found out from his driver that those men were gamblers, eagerly waiting if their luck would show up. Countless youngsters hawking all sorts of items; perishable goods and several other food items and confectioneries, packed attractively in a nylon sachets. One can even shop on the road, he talked softly to himself.

It was now ten minutes past seven, the driver meandered down and glided towards an estate which was barricaded by an extremely large gate. He drove through the gate entrance and on each side of the road, there was a security guard who maintain the safety of the residents,

Welcome sir, the guard greeted him as they drove past. The street lights that line across the street along side the sun flowers planted side by side blinked them welcome too.

As the driver glided on, one could vividly notice the attractive nature of the estate, as beautiful as morning lavender. The rays of the street lights illuminated the estate as galaxies of stars lighten up the expanse above at night all to add to the attractive nature of the estate. The road side gutter was well covered and by the road side, each building was expensively and beautifully constructed, having its own security guards, alongside well fed Rottweilers, ready to pounce on any intruder and if overcome with fury, their roar can lead to an earthquake! The kind of exotic and posh cars that crept along the road also looked luxurious and splendiferous; the place was sometimes called Nigeria-paradise by Nigerian folks.

The car eventually arrived at the front of a magnificent duplex having a gargantuan gate. The security man rushed to open the gate at hearing the blearing horns of his boss’s car, he was just beginning to step into his old age, in his early fifties and from a Yoruba tribe which is noticeable from his tribal marks, drawn in echelon all over his face as if he had a terrible injury from a ghost monkey

Welcome sir, he greeted his boss with cheerful excitement.

The driver manoeuvred the car into the parking lot and Chief Folarin alighted from the car, putting on a native outfit. He is a tall and a huge man in his mid forties and beginning to show a little flap around his waist, which is referred to by some physicians as MAS, meaning Middle Age Spread. He wore a low cut down to the scalp and there was a fleshy fold at the back of his head. His tiny white gold jewellery slept on his neck and flowed down to his chest like a wave in the middle of an ocean. He looked well groomed and his two piece native outfit of brown guinea brocade was crisply starched, having being rumpled and creased due to sitting in the car.

What’s all this mess? He said to the security man as he approached him. He lowered his gaze on the floor where he saw crumbs of food littering the floor.

I was eating when you came in, he answered faintly as he swiftly picked up the blue plastic which had in it a little portion of leftover rice and dashed into his room which was attached to the fence and by the far end leading off to the main entrance, there was a swimming pool and at each side, were different kind of deckchairs, rocking chairs and white plastic round table covered by a colourful sunshade

Chief Folarin ignored what he said and dashed inside.

Meanwhile, Mrs Folarin who was in the kitchen with the maid heard the pim-pim pim that blurted out from her husband car in a locomotive approach.

‘His back, she said thoughtfully, exited the kitchen and stepped into the living room. She was of an average height, slightly plumb and her well shape body and lovely hips sheathed in and were further emphasized by her tight indigo skirt and a silk fitted blouse with golden buttons all the way to her graceful neck. She looked so younger than her age. She was light in complexion having a long dark hair and her lovely round face containing sparkling liquid eyes with bright white teeth coupled with her conspicuous dimples adding to her beauty.

The sitting room was an ample room but completely taken up by a brown leather settee, the wide glass centre table, dazzling array of electronic home entertainment and beautiful decorated frame coupled with old photographs. Yet the décor of the room was simple and the tiles floor made the room so immaculate that one hardly finds a swirl of gritty dust.

On getting to the living room to welcome her husband she discovered that he was not their.

Probably he might be in the room: she thought!

She collected the brief case and the car key from the driver and told him to drop the dailies on the centre table; she then walked gracefully, holding the briefcase in one hand and placing the other hand on the handrail to tweak her self to the top of the stairs. She moved a few steps along a gleaming corridor with different doors leading off from it and crept into the room where her husband was having his shower

Welcome folly, as he was fondly called, a shortened name from Folarin, she greeted her husband with her charming voice,

Chief Folarin stepped out from the bathroom shower, pulled aside the shower curtain and towelled his body dry with a white woollen towel. He then wore his boxer whilst standing on the bath mat, In front of it was a laundry basket and tossed his under wear into it. He came in to the room to meet his wife who was arranging the clothes into the closet. The closet was extremely large as it extended from one side of the wall to the entrance door. He cuddled her from the back; she leaned backward and rested her head on one of his shoulders

Welcome, how was your day? He asked, raising his appealing eyebrow

‘I’m fine’, she replied in a low heart warming tone. She slowly turned to him, rested her head against his chest as Folarin stroke her gleaming black soft hair tenderly, and kissed her gently on the forehead.

He then padded to the other side of the closet, opened it and put on a white Jalamia dress

This time, Mrs Folarin took his shoes placed carelessly on the marble floor and treaded down to the extreme end, where she placed the shoes on a three step shoe chest by the bed side

Chief Folarin sat on the edge of the bed facing the shoe chest and removed a pair of flip flop when his wife approached him and fondled his hair down to the scalp of his head and smiled warmly

How was your day too? Giving her a questioning look as she glanced at him coyly! Anyway my day was splendid.

So did I, except for the terrible traffic, he replied

He stood up and to the opposite side of the bed where there was an extremely large mirror with a silver plated design which was attached to a fine golden colour cabinet. He reached for his laptop which was placed on the cabinet

Haba! You just came back from the office and you need to relax. His wife cautioned,

Ok, ok! He flapped his hands as a sign that he had agreed. They both left the room and strutted alongside each other as they descended the stairways.

They were in the living room and both got engaged in a low tone conversation. Whilst still on their conversation, Mrs Folarin suddenly bellowed the name of the house maid, demanding that she brings some coffee, for her husband to drink.

Few minutes had passed, chief Folarin was again scanning through the dailies, when he remembered that he had not yet seen any of his children come to welcome him

Peju, calling his wife the real name; where are the boys? He asked in a loud voice to his wife, who answered from the rear side of the house, probably in the kitchen.

So you’ve forgotten their usual monthly picnicking; she responded with a light smile. Oh yes I remember! But aren’t they supposed to be back by now? I’m sure the driver whose responsibility is to watch over them and ensure they return home early is perhaps carried away and influenced by them.

Where is my phone? He asked in a firm voice

As he reached for his phone on the centre table, it started ringing and it was a call from his first child at school. She was demanding that some more money be sent to her at school for her up keep. He promised to do what she had requested.

No sooner had he hung up than the other children he had wanted to call flocked in with cheerful expression on their faces. Of course they have enjoyed their picnic going by their lively countenance.

They ran with excitement to give their dad a warm greeting. He took a few steps forward toward them, squatted and cuddled them with an affectionate hug.

Just around this time, the driver walked in and greeted

Good day chief, as he bowed his head to hand out a more dignifying greeting

Chief Folarin stood up, ‘his eyes brow had lifted a bit’ as he retorted

Obum-bum-bum. These are some of his personal words. It may be Greek words. He alone knows the meaning. But what people do know is that he says such whenever he was angry.

Immediately, the driver knew that chief was being emotional, so he quickly replied with a light smile, it was traffic congestion.

Barely had he concluded his answer when Chief asked,

Where is the car key? He asked with a bit frowned face.

However, his wife’s interruption suppressed his anger.

CHAPTER II

Mr Idos Ukechukwu, a Psychologist, who was now structurally unemployed due to recapitalization policy that made their firm liquidate. The economic hiccups had finally made the ‘mighty man’ to loose his dignity. He had a son Samuel who was about fifteen year old and was in his final junior class. His wife Cecilia a petty trader and nanny, with her little income pulled out all stop to make ends meet for the family. She contributed to the hip and hop of the house chores. This family tussle and hassle had turned her into a veteran hustler. Despite the domestic burden and heavy financial responsibility, she was still a subservient and a submissive wife.

Mrs Idos headed home after a busy day at the shop. She wore a slightly rough Kentucky—green long sleeve blouse and a wobbly walnut skirt. She lugged a black sack on her head, held her hand