Becoming Claire Fredrickson Episode 1

My name is Claire Fredrickson.  Im rich and I'm fabulous. I wasn't born this way but i made sure Life gave me everything i deserved. And i deserved a lot of things.
You see i was born Kikelomo Kolawole in a small town in Akure, Ondo state. I exaggerate it when i say town, it was more of a remote village with no electricity, no roads, and no water. My father was a wood cutter and my mother a farmer.
Anyways, enough about them, let's talk about me.
You see, i wasn't born beautiful, in fact in the early days people described me as plain faced. Looking back now, i realize that was God's first gift to me. He made me realize just how shallow people were and i set about to exploit it. Ive been obsessed with beauty all my life, i made friends with the prettiest girls in the village just so they could teach me some of their tricks. I learnt that if you couldn't be beautiful, you should at least be seductive. So I vowed to be seen one way or another, i made sure i bathed twice a day, even though the stream was at least 45 minutes away, i used local oil on my skin so it shone from miles away, i wore fragrance all the time and always carried a red flower in my hair (I dont know if it was subliminal messaging or whatever but it drove the men crazy). I wore my skirts a little lower than the other girls showing off my bee stings and my navel, even my waist beads were designed to attract attention. It was like i was born a goddess and it was no surprise when the men in the village started to visit my father more often than usual and bring expensive gifts for me. I would smile at all of them, bite my lip and look away whenever they made their declarations and this only excited them further like little children jumping at the sight of chocolates.
I was well aware of my power and all i could achieve with it, so i never settled for these less than worthy merchants and poultry owners. I encouraged my parents to accept the gifts but made sure they never committed themselves to any suitor. You see, my parents, like me, were greedy people. The logic was why accept from one when you can accept more from several? The excuse was that they wanted me to choose for myself and since i never turned away a suitor, they all tried to outdo themselves. It was laughable.
The thing is, I had dreams of the city. I was going to Lagos, a city of bright lights, money and power. I was going to marry a rich man who could offer me these things. I was going to be beautiful, rich and powerful. I wanted beautiful women to envy me and handsome men to fall over themselves to be beside me. I wanted power and fame. I wanted it all, and i had it all but it came with a price. Everything does....
I met Bode one afternoon on my way to the stream to get water for my evening bath. It wasn't a particularly fine day because i had just had a fight with my mother who was suddenly tired of all my fun and games and was insisting i marry Segun, a man with two wives already who could give me a 'good home'. I knew she was only insisting because he promised to build her a poultry if i agreed to marry him. My mother was the worst kind of hypocrite always hiding under some religious guise to further her evil.
Anyways, back to Bode and i. As i was walking to the stream and generally having a bad day. Bode pulled up behind me in a black SUV, it was the most magnificent car i had ever seen. I immediately wiped the stupid frown off my face and plastered my most innocent non flirtatious smile(you cant go around flirting with the guy you just met, makes you look desperate). He was young, probably in his early thirties. He wore a safari and sunglasses and even then i knew he and i were meant to be. So i played the good girl card. The i'm-not-trying-to-be-sexy-i-just-am card. He asked for directions to his uncles house and i made him get out of the car and walk with me to a clearing on the road so i could 'better describe' the house. He thought it was just village peoples enthusiasm to help, he was dead wrong. I wanted him to see me sway and bend over and lightly caress his arm as i pointed in the direction he should go. He was impressed.
I spent the rest of the day daydreaming about us. What our life would be like, was he married, how many wives if he was, could i share him? was he jealous? How rich was he? All that thinking was making me nauseous and i couldn't sleep so i took a walk to my friend tosin's house. I hadn't seen her since her wedding (not that i intended to, i don't keep married friends, they tend to be boring) but she lived close to Bode's Uncle and i just wanted to see if i would bump into him or something.
At tosin's i was treated like royalty, she always thought i was one of the popular girls and she liked to please me. I didn't mind the worship. I know i sound like a bitch but i never was. I was kind to the people that mattered and aloof to the people that didn't. I was never rude, being rude stole from my allure. And i lived for my allure.
Anyways, tosin and i talked about her marriage and how her cousin was in love with me. She laughed because she thought i was out of his league. Looking back now, i realize she was one of the few people who truly believed in me. I guess she genuinely bought everything i was selling. Poor naive tosin. Life did eventually steal her innocence but this isn't her story.
I didn't bump into Bode that night but i continued to think about him. A little less since i had seen tosin but a lot all the same. The following day his Uncle came to see my father. He said his  nephew wanted to marry me. I was overjoyed. My parents couldn't understand my foolishness, i mean i had never seen the boy before( or so i let them believe), i was going to throw it all away just because he was from the city? I couldn't care less what they thought. By mid day i was packed. You see Bode wanted us to live together for a while before the wedding and since he was leaving for Lagos that same day, he didn't see the need to make me come alone. My enthusiasm to go with him only convinced him further of my naiveté(or so i thought) . I couldn't believe just how lucky i was. I dreamt of having only two children for him so it doesn't ruin my figure. I dreamt of being a mistress in his home. I dreamt of owning houses abroad. I had big dreams. I realize now that i did have most of those things, just not in the order i dreamed. Life does that to us...
Bode took me to lagos, in spite of my parents protest, and that was when my life truly began...

written by
Rahina Zarma aka sunshyn