The Rise of Damola

Chapter 1- The Beginning

Damola skipped barefoot through the village singing to himself as he headed for the market.

"Today is a very important day. Mama said she is making eba and vegetable; my first solid meal in a while and I cannot afford to mess up," he thought.

It was no secret that his joy knew no bounds and he was not afraid to show it. He continued along the path to the market oblivious to his surroundings which included the bald headed man standing right in front of him.

"Bam!," was all he heard as they both descended to the floor.

"Oloriburuku!," the man exclaimed, bursting into a fit of rage as soon as he noticed the tomatoes he had just purchased from the market were now scattered on the floor.

"Ma binu Sir," the young boy said running to pick up the few tomatoes that were left not smashed.

"Don't 'Ma binu' me. We are going to go to that market and you are going to replace my tomatoes for me. A whole #400, No! You must replace it!"

Damola looked at the crumpled #100 note in his hand then looked back at the man. His mother had only given him #100 to buy tomato and pepper and this man was trying to take all of his money away.

"Sir please understand. My mother only gave me #100 and I cannot give it to you. We have not eaten all day, please sir it was a mistake," the young man pleaded.

"Do you know what was a mistake? Your birth!," the man said as he continued to rain down abuses on the boy.

Occurrences like this were not uncommon in the village especially aimed at Damola being the son of a detested household. Anyone could notice where he lived just by the mere sight of him, from the grey shirt that was filled with wholes varying in different sizes to the trousers that were barely covering his knees and lest not forget the unkept hair.

At first glance, they all would know were he was from; the slums.

It were times like this that made the poor boy feel like life was unfair. The man clearly knew he did not have that much but just needed an opportunity to release his frustrations on him. He just wished he could roll up into a ball and dive six feet under.

Damola aggressively wiped his tears and took hold of a stone. With impeccable accuracy, he flung it towards the bald man that had now backed him before running away laughing.

"That should teach him a lesson after all....," he started but the aggressive growling sound that his stomach made was enough to bring him back to reality. He had already wasted a lot of time trying to reason with the bald man and now, he knew he had to hurry up because his parents were counting on him. This was the first real meal that the family was going to have in weeks, finally something other than stale bread and left overs from the neighbours. He was not going to let some old man deter his mood.

Being born to a farmer and trader, everyone was amazed at how their lives had turned into this sad predicament because it was not always like that, not until the great flood that happened when he was barely two years of age.

His father used to tell him stories about back when his land was very fertile and he would take his numerous proceeds to the market square and get sold out in minutes, then came the great flood. It took away everything for most of them that were now occupants of the slums. Most of the other farmers had moved on and found other sources of income but not Papa Damola. The middle aged man still had hope that one day his farm would go back to what it used to be regardless of his wife's advice.

Iya Damola on the other hand was once a petty trader. She was doing very well for herself, earning an honest living then came Damola's accident.

On a bright Thursday morning, she got ready with her wears and dropped the toddler off at their neighbours-Iya Momodu's house were she usually kept him before making her way to the market, only for her to come back to a son with a scalded stomach. She made up her mind, right there and then, that she was better off at home.

Life was tough for the trio as what they used to take for granted were now considered as necessities. They survived solely on hand to mouth and prayed endlessly for a blessing. They tried asking for help countless times but everyone turned a blind ear.

It was just him and his parents wallowing in the shackles of poverty. This went on until Damola finally graduated from secondary school. Now a handsome nineteen year old that would make all the girls go weak in the knees. He had his whole life ahead of him.

The ladies too could attest to his beauty but because of the rags he always wore and the status of his parents, no one appreciated this young man's handsomeness. Most of the villagers looked down on him and called him names until he finally reached his breaking point.

Damola was tired of it all and he made a promise to himself on his 20th birthday.

" I, Damola the son of Akanbi Lanre III will make all those people that have looked down on me and my family in this life I will make them suffer, they must all pay. Oduduwa is my witness...MARK MY WORDS!"

After succumbing to society's unfair standards for far too long, he decided to finally break free from the shackles and fulfill his dream. He was going to become an A-class Yoruba Demon and the only option was oogun owo (money ritual)

A/N :
Toby Bakre as Damola😊
Yoruba- one of the many dialects spoken in Nigeria

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⚠️𝐃 𝐈 𝐒 𝐂 𝐋 𝐀 𝐈 𝐌 𝐄 𝐑⚠️

This book has chapters that contain:

~ drug use
~suicide
~representation of mental health illness
~depictions of emotional abuse
~depictions of physical abuse
~depictions of sexual assault
~Abortion
-depictions of bullying
~language
~graphic and violent scenes

🅁🄴🄰🄳🄴🅁 🄳🄸🅂🄲🅁🄴🅃🄸🄾🄽 🄸🅂 🄰🄳🅅🄸🅂🄴🄳

𝐓 𝐇 𝐀 𝐍 𝐊 𝐘 𝐎 𝐔