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JamesKudooski:
Episode 33 (Chapter 28)


TOMIWA WAS TOO DEJECTED to move but he somehow found the strength to drag himself to his car. He drove straight down to his house. Going back to the campus was not an option. He had suffered two landmark setbacks in one day, so he needed somewhere to calm his head and the campus wasn’t the kind of place he needed right now.

Back home, he crashed into the couch and wept profusely once more. Where did he get it all wrong? Had he wronged someone in the past that was bewitching him? Rachael was misbehaving and he had just lost the other two ladies he thought he could fall back on! He was now sure that life, in its wickedness, had definitely marked him for misery and pain. How he wished he could see life face-to-face and ask it what he had done to deserve all the woes it had slapped him with. With teary eyes, he looked up and cried out, “God why?! Why God? What have I done to deserve this?!” But there was no answer. He cried and crawled on the floor begging God to save him. By this time, his eyes had become red, his nostrils were drooling with mucus and his shirt was soaked in tears.

He cried until his stomach started aching. He knew at once that it was that agonizing pain again. He tried the technique of tightening his stomach muscles and breathing slowly but instead of subsiding, it was escalating. He knew he would soon have an emergency in his hands if he didn’t act fast. He couldn’t drive so he dragged himself to the bus stop and flagged down a taxi that took him straight to the hospital.

The doctor, fortunately, calmed down the situation before it got out of hand. After Tomiwa became stable, the doctor prescribed a series of laboratory tests while he admitted him into a ward. After few hours, the results of the diagnosis were out and the doctor was surprised by the results—they came out clean; nothing was wrong with him! The doctor then engaged him a discussion.

“Mr Lawson, I am surprised at what I’m looking at here. The results show that there is nothing physically wrong with you…. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“Not at all, doc. Please go ahead.”

“Do you smoke?”

“No, doc.”

“That’s good but do you use alcohol?”

“Not at all.”

“Really? Not even a little?”

“No, doc. I don’t do alcohol at all. I am a soft drink person.”

“Interesting! And what about women?”

Tomiwa laughed. “No, doc. I am a one-woman man.”

“Wow! This is remarkable. You are the first man I’m meeting in my years of service that doesn’t do any of the three. It’s so rare to see men like you who don’t do even one of these things. I think the percentage of your type is about one percent of the world’s men population.”

“Well, I guess that makes me a special patient, doc.”

“Yeah. You are indeed special…. I was just wondering what might be wrong if you don’t do all these things and the results of the laboratory diagnosis show a clean sheet.”

“Doc, I think I know what the problem is …”

“You do? I will be glad to hear it.”

“The thing is that I have been battling with heartbreak for some time now.”

“Oh, I see. So, can you tell me about it?”

Tomiwa narrated all that had happened to the doctor. He started from how he and Rachael were made for each other and how the relationship suddenly went sour few months to their wedding. He further explained how he lost the two ladies that would have been worthy replacements for Rachael. The doctor listened intently as he narrated the story, asking questions here and there for clarification. The questions were meant to make him talk about it as much as possible and, all along the doctor displayed a great deal of empathy.

Unknown to Tomiwa, the doctor was trying to heal him with a therapeutic procedure. He realised that the more he talked about it, the lighter his heart became. The doctor gave some advice and suggestions on how to handle his dilemma. After the discussion ended, the doctor scribbled some drugs on a prescription form and handed it over to him. He didn’t even bother trying to read it because he couldn’t make any sense of doctor’s handwriting.

“Mr Lawson, please take this to the pharmacy. They will give you some drugs and explain how to use them to you. You should be fine by the time you take them.”

“Thank you so much, doctor. I really appreciate.”

Tomiwa said as he collected the prescription from the doctor. When he turned round to go, the doctor called on his attention. It was like he suddenly remembered something.

“Excuse me, Mr Lawson. One minute, please.”

Tomiwa went back and sat down in front of the doctor.

“Hmmm … I was thinking that in addition to the drugs, I should perhaps give you an injection that will slow down your heart a little bit. That way, the pain will go away faster.”

‘Slow down my heart? Oh, Jeeeez! Are you kidding me? Doc, which kain play be that nah? Ki la gbe, ki la ju? (Has it come to that?) On top this matter?’ These were the thoughts slugging it out in his brain.

“Doc, sorry I didn’t get that.”

“I mean an injection that will slow down your heart so that the pain can go on time.”

“No … no … no.… Doc. Slow down my heart ke? Don’t bother, I will be fine, doctor.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely, doc.”

“It’s going to be a small dose.”

“That won’t be necessary, sir.”

“Okay then. But whenever you feel like you need it, I’m always here.”

“Oh, thank you, doctor but I don’t think that will ever be necessary.”

“Okay. Bye then. Take care of yourself.”

“Thank you. Bye, doc and take care too.”

Tomiwa quickened his steps before the doctor changed his mind. ‘Can you imagine? What was the doctor thinking? Give me an injection to slow down my heart? What if the heart failed to respond thereafter and it leads to stroke, paralysis or even death? God forbid!’ He found it difficult to get the thoughts out of his head.

That was the motivation he needed for the strength he earlier discovered…. It was the motivation that had been lacking all along! He thought about all the misery and pains he had gone through.… He remembered his encounter with Mr Aregbe in the examination hall the year before and he wondered what would have happened if Mr Aregbe had caught him and the school authorities had rusticated him. All would have been for nothing. Additionally, he sustained an injury to the head, a fractured arm, and two broken ribs. And now they almost gave him an injection that would slow down his heart. What about the sleepless nights, the nightmares, and the countless visits to the hospital? What of the trauma and the phobia of fair ladies—the whole spectrum of emotional and psychological bruises? All because of Rachael who had now left him in the lurch! And he wondered if it was really worth it!

That was the day he walked out of the prison of love with renewed vigour to face life head on!

By the time he got home that night, it was already late and for the first time in six months, he had a resounding sleep; he snored his way to dreamland! When he woke up the next morning he was famished and this time around, he welcomed the hunger with an aggressive appetite. He ate as if the end of the world was around the corner. His intestines thanked him and the enzymes in his stomach jubilated. He dressed up and got set to go back to school. He, thus, stepped out of the house as a new person … a new Tomiwa that was ready to take back full control of his life!

He got back to school and from then on, he started looking radiant and his liveliness began to come back to him. His physical and emotional health equally improved. He faced his studies squarely and worried less about Rachael or whatever any one would say about the remarkable love affair going sour. He had so much to cover for he had missed enough classes already. He paid no more attention to Rachael, which somehow did the magic.

It seemed that Rachael gained so much strength from the attention she was getting from Tomiwa hitherto. As she began to suspect that Tomiwa was no longer giving her any attention, it became dawn on her that she might eventually lose him even as the plan B and that worried her a lot.

One bright Tuesday morning, she met a friend on her way to class and the conversation that ensued between them confirmed her suspicion.

“Hello Rachael, looking good as ever…. How are you doing?”

“Hey Jumoke, Good morning. I’m not doing badly.
Thanks for the compliment. You aren’t looking bad either…. On your way to class?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to miss Mr Okanlawon’s lecture.… By the way, I saw Tomiwa …”

“Oh! When was that?”

“About thirty minutes ago. He was driving into the campus and said he was just coming back from home.”

“Ehn-Ehn.”

“You didn’t know?” Jumoke asked, a little taken aback that Rachael wasn’t aware that the love of her life was back on campus giving the fact that they were usually seen together everywhere. She was definitely living in the past because she seemed not to have noticed that Tomiwa and Rachael had grown apart since the Residential period started.

“Oh! Never mind. I must have missed his calls.” She lied to safe face. If Jumoke wasn’t aware of the new development, then it was better to play along.

“Alright then. I was already wondering … since when did Romeo start going places without Juliet being aware.”

“You can say that again.” Rachael said and both ladies laughed. The laughter obviously wasn’t from Rachael’s heart; it was simply a façade. Deep down she was worried.

After she parted ways with Jumoke, she took her time to reflect a bit. She had been suspecting that Tomiwa was beginning to get over her and now what Jumoke told her simply confirmed it! Tomiwa could go home and come back to the campus without her knowing about it? Not that she would have cared initially if he had told her anyway but she knew that Tomiwa, out of love for her and in an effort to reconcile would have, at least, hinted her about such movement. But now, she cared! It was becoming sure to her that she definitely still felt something for him unlike she convinced herself to believe before now. The fact that the Residential period brought the two of them together on campus and as such they saw each other in class everyday though the relationship between them was strained, and being away from Bayo was the eye-opener Rachael needed to see this clearly.

Soon, the final paper came and was written. The euphoria amongst Tomiwa’s set knew no bounds; they had just concluded the five-year programme that had brought them a lot of stress. People celebrated in different ways and pulling all sorts of stunts and pranks on each other. It was a joyous moment for them and understandably so. What started as little acts of jubilation eventually turned into a carnival of some sort with the celebrants whistling, singing, and dancing. In the midst of the jubilation, Tomiwa requested that he and Rachael see. They both strolled down to a serene place to have a heart-to-heart talk.

It was there that Tomiwa broke it to her that he had thought through their unstable relationship and was willing to end it for the last time. Rachael didn’t argue this time around for two reasons. Firstly, she needed time to sincerely examine her recent feelings, brought to the fore by Tomiwa’s withdrawal of attention from her lately. She needed time for deep reflection and meditation and not as an excuse to indulge her lust for Bayo.

Secondly, it wasn’t the first time Tomiwa was ending the relationship and coming back especially after being persuaded by her mum and with some moments of niceness and attention from her. Hence, Rachael was confident it wasn’t going to be the last time—he would come back again!

But she was mistaken; Tomiwa left and never came back!


To be continued...

Love is too strong to let go. Tomiwa, please don't look back. You will surely heal with time.

Bold step taken... Tomiwa weldone

Thanks boss...!!!

JamesKudooski:
I believe Yemi didn't want to go there because of Trade.
Just thinking ni ooooo!

yap me too

JamesKudooski:
Hmmmmm... Oro (word)!

You are welcome to My Story, My World, bigkuba.

thanks boss, update more please

Now am happy for Tommy. Thank u OP, I really enjoyed this update.

YINKS89:
baba na God i take beg pls honor mi and drop probably one or two update ... i think i need it abeg....

YINKS89, ah! You are my person and I find it difficult not to oblige you. I have given out three updates today already.

Ah! My hands are tight oooo.

But to honour you, I will do one more update tonight.

Takia.

I'm so so happy for Tommy. Now it Rachel turn to suffer..
He has finally cut the hold, now unto the next one

tommy is now a man,take the bull by the horn. Mr James two leg up for u.

JamesKudooski:
YINKS89, ah! You are my person and I find it difficult not to oblige you. I have given out three updates today already.

Ah! My hands are tight oooo.

But to honour you, I will do one more update tonight.

Takia.

Thanks u so much OP, will be expecting it.
Thanks to u too YINKS89

JamesKudooski:
New Update Loading...
Courtesy of YINKS89...

much appreciated

JamesKudooski:
YINKS89, ah! You are my person and I find it difficult not to oblige you. I have given out three updates today already.

Ah! My hands are tight oooo.

But to honour you, I will do one more update tonight.

Takia.

thanks boss i really appreciate ma d lord honor u too....... u just burst ma brain now thou

toyhin123:
Thanks u so much OP, will be expecting it.
Thanks to u too YINKS89

we takia of our own dear..... dis story is too interesting not to ask for more

Episode 34 (Chapter 29)


TOMIWA CONTINUED WITH HIS life. Back at work things began returning to normal. The costly mistakes reduced drastically and his performance soared. His colleagues started feeling his vibes once more. Madam Rosie was especially happy for him because she had been very worried about him and had proved very valuable in helping and encouraging him in his time of dilemma. His female colleagues too were delighted at having him fully back because that meant that they would be getting those lovely comments and compliments about their looks and new hairstyles constantly once again. Additionally, the music-loving part of him returned.

One fateful day, he was returning from work and as usual, he was blasting his favourite Naija Gbedu. The traffic was much and tiring so he could use some music to lighting things up. Customarily of Lagos traffic, there were so many hawkers with a wide variety of merchandise to choose from. Just then, he saw a plantain chips seller. He loved plantain chips so he bought one and a bottle of Coca-Cola to go along with it. Plantain chips, a bottle of Coca-Cola, and sweet music—oh, what a wonderful combination. That was surely a stress killer for someone like Tomiwa and with it, he enjoyed himself without being weary of the hold-up.

Unknown to him, on the other lane, about three vehicles behind his was a pretty dark-skinned lady in her Nissan Primera salon car treating herself to a handful of walnuts. Her eyes had been keenly fixed on Tomiwa since the moment he bought the plantain chips and drink. She had watched him with keen interest as he enjoyed the chips and nodded his head to the music blasting out of the car’s powerful speakers. She was fascinated by what appeared to her as a lovely young chap enjoying himself and completely undisturbed by the annoying traffic jam.

In time, the traffic on her lane of the road moved and she caught up with Tomiwa. She honked her horn to catch his attention. Tomiwa didn’t notice at first but she was persistent. By the time she got his attention, she wound down her window and her lips parted into an entrancing smile that revealed her attractive set of brilliantly white teeth. Tomiwa was wowed by the beauty that just smiled at him. He tried to remember if he knew the face before and he realised it wasn’t familiar at all. Then the lady motioned to him to wind down his window and said something which his loud music prevented him from hearing clearly. He tried to figure out what a complete stranger could be trying to tell him in the traffic. Oh, maybe one of his tyres was flat and she was trying to draw his attention to it. He later realised that wasn’t the case.

He reduced the volume of the stereo and leaned towards the window so that he could hear her better. That gave the lady the opportunity to get a better view of his face.

“Hello, what I am saying is that this …” referring to the walnut she was eating. “…is better than those plantain chips of yours.”

“Seriously?” The surprised Tomiwa asked.

She smiled again. “Yeah, this is more natural and nutritious than the fried plantain in your hand. You might want to try some you know” And she sped off as the traffic in front of her had cleared.

“Oh, Jeeez! Are you kidding me?”

But the lady had sped off before he could say anything else. Such a beautiful lady took the pain in traffic just to tell him that her walnut was more nutritious than his plantain? That was funny. And that charming smile of hers? Wow, it was something else!

Tomiwa tried catching up with her but, unfortunately, a wretched waste disposal truck broke down about two vehicles ahead of him and before he could maneuver his way out of the deadlock, the lady was completely out of sight!

All through the way home, Tomiwa found it extremely difficult to forget the little drama that just happened. Pictures of the ‘Walnut Lady’ kept flooding his mind, especially her charming smile.

Blessing too kept thinking about the ‘Plantain Guy’ as she drove home. He was full of life as he enjoyed his music and snacked on the plantain chips. The way he handled the steering wheel showed that he was a charismatic person who knew how to enjoy himself no matter how little. He was her kind of man and she felt attracted to him instantly. She blamed herself for not engaging him more, perhaps she could have had the opportunity to drop her contact. But how could she have done that with the intimidating honking of the horn by countless impatient drivers behind her? Could she ever be fortunate enough to see him again?

That was difficult to answer and the probability was infinitesimal. That had been her route for years and she had never for once sighted him before this day. Perhaps, the situation might not be as bad as she thought. It could be that she simply wasn’t looking before now. Whatever the case was, she soon shut thoughts of the Plantain Guy out of her mind. It was pointless thinking about what might not be.

To be continued...

Thanks Boss

You really made my day
Tomiwa's happiness is just around the corner

Thanks boss...we gat dis tomiwa u kan do beta

Tomiwa is happy again. A joy to read.
Kudos James for the updates. God bless.

Tommy baby..

Happiness at last

OP thanks for d update

Timaya was a plantain seller and Tommy is a plantain buyer. something good is coming to Tommy's way. thanks for the update.

Love - Enjoy while stock last

Blessing follow Tomiwa


Gbayii boss

Tanks 4 d update tommy boy u gat every reason 2 smile blesssings on d way

More blessings for Tomiwa

Am so happy for Tomiwa, everything will soon be alright.

Thanks Op

tomiwa story is about to change

boss abeg hope u re kul.... we re all anticipating how it would change ooo.

please Come and update o.
Nice one tommy. You got God blessings

Op. .pls update

Update oooooo, Oga JamesKudooski