The Rejected White Stone

By Joseph Asuquo

When Ken Udokah is born, he brings great joy to his paternal grandmother, who sees something special in him. Unfortunately, tragedy soon strikes when Ken’s mother rejects him at the tender age of six months old. Left with no other option, his grandmother does her best to raise him for the following five years. However, when she dies and leaves him under the care of his father, it is only the beginning of his troubles. As Ken’s journey leads him to a life of poverty, he secures work as a houseboy aged ten where he must endure abuse from his punitive, disciplinarian boss who forces his young domestic workers to begin their labour at the break of dawn before walking to school. Every mistake is sanctioned with a flogging. As Ken embarks on a challenging path through his childhood, he endures struggles, failures, rejections and pain. However, with perseverence, self-belief, an undying determination and God’s grace, Ken’s hope is ignited and he eventually learns to trust God’s plan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Jan 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781684717170

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Asuquo

Copyright © 2020 Joseph Asuquo.

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ISBN: 978-1-6847-1718-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1717-0 (e)

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 01/23/2020

The stone which the builders reject has become the chief cornerstone.

This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvellous in our eyes.

— Psalm 118: 22–23

Acknowledgements

My first thanks goes to Almighty God for His amazing grace, love, and favour. He has granted me the ability to conceive the idea and the courage to write the book. The story in this book is a clear testimony that God’s favour is without partiality. He will honour whoever He will honour. To Him I give all the glory, honour, majesty, and dominion forever and ever, amen.

My second thanks goes to my late parents, particularly to my beloved father, Mr Asuquo Joseph, although he had very little in material wealth, whose heart was a deep sea of love for me and my siblings. I still carry a deep scar on my heart that he did not live to share God’s abundant blessings for my life. Father, though you are gone, I will never forget the joy, laughs, and advice we shared in good times and bad. And to my mother, Madam Nkoyo Akak, I love you very much, in life and in death. Thank you so much for all you did for me. I greatly and sincerely appreciate you. May your soul rest in perfect peace of the Father.

To my wife, children, and grandchildren: I am so blessed by God to have you in my life. You are the best thing that have ever happened to me. Thanks to you for the love and joys we shared and will continue to share together every day of our lives. I thank you for all your accomplishments in your lives and am confidently optimistic that God will take you to greater heights of achievements in chosen careers in line with God’s ordained destinies for your lives.

I acknowledge the excellent and wonderful works of the researchers, reporters, and authors of Innocenti Digest (UNICEF), the International Labour Organisation, and national and international organisations and NGOs in highlighting the plight of child domestic workers all over the world. Your tireless campaigns and advocacies are forcing many governments across the world to put laws and regulations in place for the protection and safeguarding of child domestic workers.

Introduction

The Mysterious White Stone

A long time ago in the town of Ekaffing, two lovers were swimming in the river beside a white sand beach. While they were having great fun, splashing water on each other, they did not notice a mysterious old man suddenly appear and place a white stone on the man’s clothing. Inside the stone was a beautiful diamond, but no one could tell by merely looking at the stone, except the old man. The stone looked very peculiar and attractive to the eye.

After they came out of the water, the young man was surprised to find the white stone on his clothes and was fascinated by its appearance.

He shouted to his lover, Come see what I’ve found – isn’t it absolutely beautiful? Did you place it on my clothes?

His lover said no, as she was surprised to see it too. The man was overjoyed, wondering where the mysterious stone had come from and who had placed it there. He gave the stone to his lover as a token of his love for her.

The girl was delighted and gave the man a warm embrace and kisses for his generosity.

They both loved the stone and took it home, and the girl promised to keep the stone and treasure it as long as she lived.

As their love blossomed, the man asked the girl to be his wife, and without hesitation she agreed to marry and move in with him.

The man was already married, and the first wife was not too happy with him and his new wife, since she was unable to persuade him not to bring another woman into their matrimonial home. To make matters worse and make the first wife jealous, he told her about the mysterious white stone he had given to the second wife.

A few months after they married, their love turned sour due to unfulfilled expectations. Not too long thereafter, the lovers separated, and she left the man’s house. In her anger, she returned the white stone – the symbol of the love they once shared – and went away without looking back.

The man still treasured the stone dearly, but he couldn’t keep it as he feared that if the stone got into his first wife’s hands, she would throw it away to spite him for giving it to his second lover first.

The man’s mother volunteered to look after the stone. To his amazement, his mother loved the stone even more than he did. She took very good care of the stone, put it in a prominent place in her room, and when she noticed any mark or stain on the stone, she cleaned and polished it. She was very protective of the stone, not allowing another person to touch it. However, the man’s mother was very advanced in age and died a few years after.

After the death of his mother, the man did not have a safe place for the stone, as his wife still had strong negative feelings towards it. He decided to give the stone to close relatives for safe keeping, but none of them could take good care of the stone as his mother used to. Some of the relatives used it as door stop or to break palm kernels or other nuts. The stone became neglected and marred with stains. The man was very unhappy with the way his relatives treated his precious stone, but he was helpless to do anything about it.

One day, he heard of a distant cousin from the city who was in his village on a holiday with his family. He approached the cousin and asked if he would take care of the stone for him. The cousin agreed and took the stone to the city. Again, the cousin treated the stone in the same way as the other relatives, or even worse. He used the stone mainly as a door stop, he threw it about everywhere, stepped on it, and treated it roughly. After a few years, the cousin returned the stone and told him he was sick of looking after it.

By this time, the man’s first wife had left him and he had remarried. The man’s new wife was affectionate towards the stone; she even loved it, but pressing issues prevented her from giving the stone the full attention it deserved. Over the years the stone had been with his cousin, the man’s economic and financial fortunes had significantly deteriorated, and he too struggled to care for his beloved white stone.

One day, the man was walking along the beach, deep in thought about what he could do to clean up the white stone and restore it to its glory.

Suddenly, the old man who’d placed the white stone in his clothes many years ago walked up to the man and enquired why he was so worried and sad. The man told Him about the white stone – the stain and roughness of it and his desire to restore it to its former glory.

The old man asked if he could hand over the stone to Him and trust Him to take care of it. The man reacted negatively, saying he did not know the old man and that the stone was too precious to him to give it over to a total stranger.

But the old man assured him that He knew him very well, including his parents, and that he should trust Him with all his heart to take good care of his white stone. David said when my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take care of me (Psalm 27:10). God took take of Ken when his father and mother could not.

The man was convinced and handed over the stone to the old man, thanking Him for His love and generosity. The old man was true to His promises. He not only took good care of the stone but restored it to what it was created to be – a precious stone!

All the while, no one knew the true worth of the white stone, not even the man, his ex-lover, or his relatives – except the old man. Although on the outside it looked like an ordinary stone – just beautiful and more peculiar than other stones – on the inside was a precious diamond. Only the old man was capable of caring for the stone to reveal the diamond inside.

*

This book tells the story of a young man who had a difficult start in life – born into a dysfunctional family, rejected by his mother, abused as a houseboy, and endured many life’s challenges, but God changed his course and walked with him towards his destiny.

In the story of the white stone, the old man represents God. Ken is the white stone, and the man and his lover were Ken’s parents. The moral of this story is that children are gifts from God, each with uniquely gifts and talents, a destiny, and a purpose for life. They must be carefully looked after. Scripture says, "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward" (Psalm 127: 1).

Chapter 1

Early Years

At a time when his paternal grandmother was well advanced in age and had no hope of seeing any grandchildren from her only son live past the age of 5, Kenayo (Ken) Udokah was born. His birth brought unspeakable joy to the old woman and attracted many well-wishers.

She saw something special in her new grandson. She loved him devotedly and nicknamed him the setting sun, reflecting the fact that he arrived so late in her life.

However, tragedy came early in his life. Before he was 6 months old, his mother rejected him. Thereafter, his life was not the same, but it could have been worse if not for the loving care of Grandmother. Although his father was very happy about his birth, his joy was not shared by his first wife—Ken’s stepmother. She did not want anything to do with him and was likely the reason why ken’s mother left his father.

Grandmother lavished all her love, care, and attention on Ken, but she couldn’t provide one necessity – breast milk that only his mother could provide. So Grandmother did what she thought best and fed him what she thought was a suitable substitute: sweet and fresh palm wine, a common drink in the southern part of Nigeria. This intoxicating drink contained alcohol and should not have been consumed by any baby. Grandmother had no