PART 10
” THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401″
©Opeyemi Akintunde

I was told someone was outside asking to See Me. I thought it was one of the villagers coming to ask for money, because ever since I got to the village, it had been one villager after another coming to ask me for money…

I told my immediate younger sister to discharge him, but she insisted I see him as he was a stranger and he asked of me by the name ” Sis Grace”…That caught my attention, immediate fear gripped my heart as I hoped it was not Larry. I ran out of the house through the back door to escape, and hideously stole a peek at who it was…. It was a strange man with a Bible under his arm. I looked around and there was no sight of danger. I walked towards him and as he saw me coming, he had the best and most innocent smile I had seen in a long time…

” Sis Grace!… I knew my eyes could not deceive ME, I said it, I knew it was you I saw yesterday, when I drove past here, ” then he looked down at my bulgy stomach

” Hallelujah!… God has done it… Okay .. No wonder you came here to hide from the public eye… That is wisdom MA… The thing is I have been one of your secret intercessors, praying that the Lord will bless you with the fruit of the womb… Sis Grace, you don’t know who you are to me, you are my personal bishop, Your songs are the messages I listen to day and night and the way you sing with our native Yoruba Language makes it drive home your message into my soul “… He said

This man must have spoken excitedly for over 5 mins without me uttering a word…. I just kept giving fake smiles as the conversation warranted….

“Sis Grace, the best time of my life was after I Lost my beloved wife, I thought I was going to die, but your song was my daily capsule of hope…. Now, I think this is the best time to pay you back, you know ma, now I know why God brought me here…. You see I was just newly posted here as the branch pastor of our church in Igbonla…. I was a bit angry, but now I know God brought me here to keep interceding for your safe delivery…. You shall deliver this baby with ease, this baby shall be a great baby, this baby shall grow up to do great works for the Lord, this baby shall…..”

” Enough pastor, please with all due respect I don’t need all these prayers. I am fine… the GOD of the Christians have failed me, I am no longer Sis Grace, I am now Orishamuyiwa, I am back to the gods of our fathers.. Thank you for stopping by…”

I walked back into the house and from what my younger sister told me, the man stood in that position for over 45 mins like someone who saw a ghost…He left much later really downcast.

Later, that evening Ifakolade paid me a visit, and I saw him and my mother having a secret discussion. After the discussion kolade walked up to me…

” Oosamuyiwa, the loss of my brother can not be in vain, and the death of your sister and husband can not be in vain either…. Who does this Larry think he is? , wherever he thinks he got his charm from, I know somewhere deadlier to go to… I just came to inform you I am going on a revenge mission and your mother is in support… All I need from you is financial support, I am going to spiritually reinforce against Larry, so whatever money I am told to bring, you will have to bear it… So are you in OR….? ”

” I am in…. I don’t have any choice anymore… He is after my life too…. Just tell me what it cost and I will pay….”

My mother took Ifakolade to the most terrible herbalist in all of the 6 towns that makes our local government… Baba Jawegbona.

I was told Jawegbona said Larry was the son of a herbalist and had been fortified heavily, and could not be easily destroyed. He said no bullet could ever penetrate his body except if a man and woman who are married, hold a gun together to shoot at him in unity…. Only then could a gun penetrate into his body as the blood of a couple was used in the preparation of the charm used in fortifying him.

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In essence, my mother and Ifakolade came back with the news that if I wanted revenge, I needed to marry Ifakolade and together pay Larry a visit… So with hands in unity, we will shoot Larry dead….

Did this make sense in anyway…. Me? Marry Ifakolade…..

Ifakolade was ready, he didn’t mind I was pregnant, the fire of revenge was burning in HIm…He said he didn’t mind sleeping with me while pregnant to consummate the marriage, and thereafter, we go to the city to finish Larry… He went further to promise that after the killing, we could go out separate ways…

It looked simple but the part I didn’t like was that I will have to sleep with Ifakolade too, making it 3 men…. Was I not gradually becoming like my mother and was the search for revenge not going to give birth to something else???

To be continued …

THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401

PART 11

“THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401”
©Opeyemi Akintunde

“I can’t marry Ifakolade, God forbid… Ifakolade of all people, because of revenge… Maami, don’t force me into another error, this was exactly how you forced me into marrying Daniel the Igbo man because of money. Maami because you want to kill Larry out of revenge, you want me to marry Ifakolade… a drug addict, an assassin , a tout…. Maami…. Please let me be… You know what, I am no more interested in killing Larry again, Let God fight…” I said

” What did I hear you say?, God will fight?… How come God has not been fighting, why did God not stop him from killing my daughter…. Muyiwa, why did you come back, you have brought us back luck…. Get out.. Get out…. “Maami said

” Maami, what? ” I asked in disbelief

” I said get out..” My Sisters were pleading on my behalf, My mother was definitely high on something, I took my slippers and left the house, it was around 12:30am… My immediate sister was calling me to come back…. But I was not listening… I wanted out..

I kept walking with no destination in mind as a lot crossed my mind, from suicide, to insanity or going back to Larry’s place in the city and asking him to Kill ME…. but in the midst of this, it seem like someone was pushing me from behind towards a particular direction.

I must have walked for 20 mins when I became conscious of myself,… ” Where was I going at this hour of the night? ” I asked myself. I decided to turn back, but suddenly I felt this painful leg cramps that didn’t let my leg move one inch from where I was, I didn’t want to scream so as not to attract unnecessary attention, so I sat on the floor giving my leg time to rest…

Everywhere was silent, but in that silence, I could hear a familiar tone, it was one of my old songs titled ” NINU IRORA” ( IN TIMES OF PAINS). I stood up and followed the sound…Hoping I would be given shelter for the night…

I kept singing along as I drew near to the house where the music was coming from…

” Ninu Irora, Mo ba Eleda mi soro
( In times of pain, I speak to my creator)
Ninu Isoro, mo ba Eleda mi soro
( In times of Problems, I speak to my creator)
Tori Eleda lo Da Eda
( Because, it was the creator that created the created)

I kept singing this song as it’s meaning hit me… I wrote and sang this song over 7 years ago, and now I suddenly understood the song… In all of my problems and challenges, I had not been speaking ( Praying) to my creator… I started singing the song with so much passion, I didn’t care if any one heard me…. I sat on a closed well beside the house…

” Sis Grace…. ” I heard my name. It was the Newly posted pastor who had visited me few weeks back, the music was coming from his house…

” It’s late out here, what are you doing out here… Are you OK? ”

No words came out of my Mouth but the song and tears from my eyes. I saw him stretch forth His hand to me, the hand looked to me like a chance of a new life…. I was torn between accepting or declining, but I am grateful that I accepted that hand because it shaped the next two weeks after that night…

I got to know his name was pastor James, he had lost his wife Two years earlier, and he didn’t have a child. He took me in and for two weeks, I was pampered, he never asked me any question, he never preached to me, but every morning he would come to me in the room and pray for me and the baby…. His prayer was simple…

” Lord, show my Sis Grace how much you love her, Please encourage her and make her happy in Jesus name”…He always ended with a smile, a smile so genuine I wondered if he was human. Every day before he left for church which was just close by, he would play one of my Audio CD’s he had and put it on Automatic replay…

I had time to heal, I had time to think…away from the harsh world.

I spoke to him for the first time after 8 days…

” I need to tell you something, pastor James and I hope you still like me when I am done” I said very gently

He showed no expression as I narrated EVERYTHING… but when I was done, He looked at me with that golden smile and said ” Is that all?”….The way he asked so simply further broke ME IN tears… as he held my hands and said his simple Prayer again.

He wiped my tears and said this to me…
” The fact that a Lion is wonded and injured does not make it less of a Lion, it just needs time to heal and rise up to return back to the position of being called the “KING OF THE JUNGLE”… I believe my own Sister Grace will rise again, Larry was just a distraction…You will rise again… ”

I had not felt love and care like this before, Pastor James started making me see the pregnancy as something I should be joyful about. His smiles …. I was always looking forward to it…

Was this redemption?, Was this God’s second chance? Could God be Merciful enough to make Pastor James write a new chapter in the story of my life Or was this another deceiver like Larry….

To be continued…