THE TECHNICAL VIRGIN

CHAPTER ONE

Two little boys were fighting over a piece of cooked meat in the
school where Sade is a teacher and she ran over to them and separated
the fight.

"Why are you fighting, don't you know that children of God don't
fight?" she asked holding them side by side as she stood in between them
looking from the boy at her right hand to the one at her left.

"Tell him to give me my meat," the younger boy protested pointing at

his opponent.

"It's not his meat. It's for the two of us," the older boy shouted back
in defense.

"You are lying. Both of us can't own one meat. Our mother can
never make such mistake. You collected my meat because you are older
than me," the younger boy explained almost crying.

"Sister, don't mind her o, share the meat between the two of us or
else none of us will eat it," the older boy said arrogantly and she turned to
look at the younger boy to know if the idea is accepted by him and the boy
grudgingly nodded in the positive.

"This thing you are doing will get you into trouble one day, I promise
you," the younger boy said almost crying as he pointed at his brother.

Sade calmed the younger boy, and collected the meat. She made to
use her two hands to divide it but the meat was half done and so became
very difficult for her to tear with her fingers. She bent to face the two boys
who were already standing before her and said,

"The meat is difficult to cut with my hands. Can I use my teeth?" She
asked searching their eyes for answers and they agreed. Sade began to
cut the meat with her teeth and the boys suddenly began to cry and shout.

"Arrh! Arrrrh! You have eaten the meat! You ate the meat! Ah!" They
cried and she became shocked.

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 "I didn't eat the meat. I'm only trying to cut it for you," she explained
trying to calm their uproars. But they would not hear of it as they increased
the tempo of their voices in fierce protests. Soon, people gathered around
them to know the reason for their uproars.

"I didn't eat the meat. I only shared it for them with my teeth because
the meat was too difficult to cut," Sade explained innocently to the
onlookers but they just stood there looking at her with the meat in her
hands.

"It's a lie, you ate the meat!" The two boys shouted and the onlookers
started shouting her down and accusing her of eating the boys' meat. She
tried defending herself but no one believed her and she began to cry as
she was made a public shame.

"If you didn't eat the meat, why did you go to the extent of cutting the
meat with your teeth? Don't you know that the juice in the meat is the real
thing in the meat?" Some people in the crowd asked her but all her
explanations fell on deaf ears. They began to throw negative words at her
and she began to weep loud until she woke up from her dream still crying.

She woke up crying from her dream and fear gripped her heart.
"What a terrible dream!" She said in a whisper to avoid waking her
roommate who was fast asleep.

"Cutting meat with my teeth in the dream?" Deep in thoughts, she

asked nobody in particular as she lay flat on the bed and rested her jaws
on her hands which were crossed interchangeably on the pillow.

"But, why would those boys accuse me of eating the meat even
when they both agreed I share it with my teeth? I was disgraced in that
dream and no one even believed me. Lord, What could this dream mean?"
She wondered as she focused her eyes on the blank television set as if she
was watching a movie.

"Ah! Ah! Accusing spirit!" She sat up meditatively with her first two
fingers on her lips.

"Some people are planning to accuse me wrongly for what I did not
do" she said, then continued.

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 "And this must be coming from my school." She concluded.

"It's been a long time my enemies in that school have been planning
to implicate me but God would not allow them to succeed. He has exposed
their plans to me again and I'm going to pray against every wrong
accusation they might be planning against me. It shall not stand,neither
shall it come to pass..." She said then began to pray.

She prayed in her knowledge, casting and binding, and asked the
Lord to disgrace those that are plotting evil against her in her place of work.
She tried praying silently so that she would not disturb her roommate but
when she started praying in tongues, she forgot herself and began to pray
very loud and in no time, her roommate woke up and tapped her to lower
her voice. She lowered her voice and prayed for another 40 minutes before
her 5:30am alarm rang for morning devotion. But she decided to pray
through instead of her usual way of reading Our Daily Manner and the
bible,followed by prayers.

When she opened her eyes and checked the clock in her phone, it
was already few minutes to 7am, so she hurriedly concluded her prayers
and dashed into the bathroom to brush her teeth and then take her bath.

She had wanted taking tea and bread before going to work but
because of the dream, she declared a-three-day fast for herself starting
from that morning. Just when she was done wearing her three-quarter-
gown, her roommate woke up from the bed and murmured a brief prayer.
"Good morning sister Yemisi," she greeted her roommate who was
walking towards the toilet looking moody.

"Good morning Sade," she replied without looking back.

"I’m already off to work. Leave the dirty plates for me, I will wash
them when I come back from school," she said with a loud voice in order for
Yemisi to hear her well.

"Bye!" She responded from the toilet and Sade dashed out of the
room and hastened her steps to the bus stop where she would board a bus
to her place of work.

After standing at the bus stop for about 4 minutes, a loaded bus with just
two vacant seats passed and she halted it and entered.
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 "I’m dropping at Badmus junction o, how much?" She said and the
conductor told her the price and she breathed down and then relaxed back
on her seat.

"Better o, because me I can't fight this early morning o," she said
looking at the next passenger who smiled at her. He was an average young
man with cute dimples when he smiles and she noticed it at a glance.

"You can't fight abi?" he asked laughing and she joined him to laugh.

"Yes na, all these conductors like fight more than food o," she said
and they both started laughing.

"Don't worry, I will fight for you," he said calmly and she smiled and
thanked him.

"It's seems you're a teacher in Badmus International schools," the

young man said and she nodded in the affirmative.

"That's lovely. It's a big school with good standards and it's almost
operating like a government school," the young man said and she shook
her head with pride. From there, they began to discuss other things ranging
from bad government to the Christian community, it was then that Sade
realized that the young man was a serious Christian from the way he
analyzed so many things about the Christian faith using many Bible
references. She loves God and everyone who loves the Lord, so this young
man was no doubt one of them.

As the bus was getting close to the junction where she would drop,
she asked him what church he attends and was overjoyed when she found
out that he was a member of the same church with her, except that he was
a member in another branch. They quickly exchanged phone numbers and
she alighted from the bus. The young man asked her not to pay that he
would take care of her fare. She thank him with a smile and began to run
towards the school gate.

On reaching the school compound, the bell for morning assembly

rang. She rushed over to the teachers' attendance register to put down her
name and time of arrival then came face to face with the vice principal who
gave her a devious look before walking away.

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 He had previously asked her to marry him and she refused, stating
that she cannot marry a man who is not born again and since then, Mr
Afolabi began to seek for occasions to implicate her in order to make her
lose her job in that school. But Sade on her own part made sure that she
did everything required of her in that school perfectly and at the right
time.This made it very difficult for him to carry out his evil plots against her.
He always gave her that devious look each time he expected her to come
late or do something wrong but gets disappointed. Sade greeted him but
he didn't respond, so she walked up to the register and signed in her arrival
then walked out.

After the morning assembly, the class lessons commenced

immediately and she made sure that she covered all her scheme for that
day. When the bell for closure rang, she led her pupils in prayers and
waited for the last child to leave the class before leaving. As she was
arranging her bag to leave the class, her phone rang. She looked into the
phone screen to know who was calling but the number was not saved in
her phone, she slidded the green color symbol on her smart phone to the
right and placed the phone on her Left ear.

"Hello!"She said at the same time with the caller at the other end,
then continued,

"Who am I speaking with please?" She asked trying hard to recollect

the voice but couldn't.

"It's bro Kehinde, the brother you met in the bus this morning on
your..." the caller explained.

"Oh! Okay! Am sorry I forgot to save your number this morning

because I was rushing to beat lateness..." She explained and brother
Kehinde responded almost immediately, "It's okay, I understand..."

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 CHAPTER TWO

"Have you closed from school?" He asked. "I came around your
school to work on my car and I thought I should give my church sister a lift
so she won't have to fight with the conductor," he said teasingly, laughing
over the phone and Sade gave a faint smile.

"Thank you my brother, I just closed from school but I won't be going
home immediately," she replied carefully.

"I want to go to the mountain from here. Maybe some other time
sir," she said calmly.

"Which of the mountains, if you're going to the Aladura Mountain,

you can join me because that's the direction to my house," he explained
and Sade gave a surprise exclamation.

"Ah! Ah! You know the Aladura Mountain?" She asked with her
mouth widely open.

"Yes I do.Who doesn't know Aladura Mountain? That's where I

spend my weekends with the Lord." He replied and it impressed her. She
likes working with like-minded people, people who are lost in their quest for
more of God. She had wanted to turn down his offer even though it was the
said mountain she was going, but for the fact that his Christian life
impressed her she would accept his offer for a lift.

"Alright, am walking towards the school exit gate. Where in particular

are you?" She asked, and hastened her steps.

"I'm outside the school gate, you will see me once you come out of
the gate," he replied and just then, Sade came out and sighted him
standing in front of a Toyota Corolla car waving and smiling at her. She
returned the smile and walked up to meet him. They exchanged greetings
and he opened the front car door for her to enter before he went the other
way to enter the driver's seat.

"You won't believe I've been at the mechanics' workshop since that
morning you saw me. They assured me that my car would be ready this
morning only for me to arrive there and found out that it has not even been
touched," he said shaking his head sadly.

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 "I had to stay back and watch them work on it. Since morning,it is
now that they just finished working on it after several discouraging attitudes
they have been displaying since morning." He narrated with a tensed up
face.

"It's a pity sir.These handwork people are like that everywhere,

their tomorrow means next week. Thank God they finished it today." She
said looking at the roadside hawkers through the glass window as he drove
the car at a moderate speed limit and brother Kehinde took that opportunity
to have a good look at her then smiled satisfactorily before looking away.

"What if you come and worship in my parish this Sunday?" He

asked, concentrating on the highway.

"Me ke?No oo" Sade replied disagreeably.

"Am very committed in my parish so much that if I miss church

service once in a year, everybody will notice it," she said laughing.

"My pastor won't even permit me to miss a Sunday service for any
reason..." She continued.

"Hmmm! Are you the Pastor's wife?" He queried trying to feign

seriousness and she burst into laughter.

"No, I’m not. I'm just a committed worker," she explained and he
twisted his mouth in such a funny way that got the both of them laughing.

"You should worship with us rather, I promise you, and you will
enjoy our parish Sunday service. You may even decide to divert to ours,"
she tried to convince him.

"Well, because of you, I will give it a thought and possibly a try.

But on one condition o," he said whining his eyes playfully.

"And what's the condition?" She asked and observed that brother
Kehinde was not driving through the route she was familiar with.

"Wait, this is not the road na. You have to go straight a bit and then
turn to the right hand side" she quickly spoke up demonstrating with her
hands as she gave him direction.

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 "There are many short cuts to the Aladura Mountain but this is the
shortest and it's a bit motorable. That place you are directing me to is the
longest route." He explained and drove on.

"Back to our previous business," he said smiling like a spoilt child.

"Are you ready to meet my conditions?" He asked looking at her

as she looked through the window fearfully, trying to observe the thick
forests on both sides of the road.

"What's the condition?" She asked absent mindedly without

looking at him and there was silence.

"Brother where are you taking me to?" Sade burst out opening her
two eyes wide and looking behind several times in fear.

"Hahaha... Ah! Sister mi, are you scared?" Kehinde asked

laughing hard in such a way that displeased her. So she frowned her face
but her heartbeat increased rapidly as she began to imagine the worst.
Soon some Bible passages started dropping on her mind and she began to
combine the quotations with prayers silently in her mind.

"Fear, fear baby! We are almost there," he said pointing to an

old sign post which read,

"This way leads to Aladura Mountain" the sign post with a rusted
black arrow symbol pointing to the left read and in no time, the car pulled
over to the backside of the mountain which was almost a plain land and
she recognized the place.

"Ah! Broda Kehinde, you raised my blood pressure. I thought you

were going to use me for rituals," she said, breathing down with her two
hands on her chest.

"Kini? How can you even think of that?" He burst into laughter. "I'm
a Christian not a ritualist," he said calmly then put off the car ignition. "So,
what are you saying about my condition?" He asked looking at her as she
turned her wristwatch over to check the time.

"Am still waiting for you to name it," she said and began to put
herself together to climb down the car.

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 "On the condition that you hang out with me after the service so I
can know more about you and your Christian faith," he said and waited for
her response.

"Well, I can't promise you that yet because I already have an

appointment with my fiancé. We shall be visiting his elder sister in the
hospital that Sunday," she said without looking at him. He shook
uncomfortably on hearing the word fiancé but adjusted himself and feigned
a smile.

"Wow! Good to hear that my church sister is already engaged. But

she can at least squeeze out little time for her church brother too. I don't
think am asking for too much." He said and twisted his neck pleadingly.

"Okay, let's see how it goes first. If we come back in time, I will call
you but if not; we schedule for another day. Let me go and pray before it
gets dark. I need to leave this place before 6pm today." She said and
began to open the car door.

``Can I come pick you by six?" He asked and saw her restlessness
then continued, "You know this mountain is almost my second house. You
may find it difficult getting a bus that will convey you home because today
is Friday," he explained but she didn't respond so he released her to go for
her prayers.

After 3hours of Marathon prayers, Sade noticed that it was getting

dark, so she checked her time and found out that it was already past 6pm.
She quickly said the grace, packed up her bible and jotter and walked
down, following the major road she was familiar with. She had to carefully
climb down the rough mountain which was covered by bushes and large
stones. By the time she arrived the valley, she was panting for air and
sweating profusely. She trekked a long distance and arrived the major road
where she would board a bus but just as Kehinde said earlier, there was no
bus. The few buses that passed by were filled with passengers and the
private cars were not ready to stop as each of them ran on high speed with
their glasses wind up.

Her phone began to ring but she couldn't pick up because she was
worried as it was already very dark. It was her fiancé, Kolade and her
roommate that were calling and the phone kept ringing repeatedly.

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 "Hello" she answered Kolade's call.

"My dear,where are you?" Kolade queried worriedly over the phone.

"I told you this morning that I will be going to the mountain after
work," she said and he affirmed it.

"I'm waiting for a bus that will convey me to the town and I’ve been
standing here for over 1hour but there's no available bus..." She explained
and he interrupted her.

"Buh...but why did you have to stay there till late in the night? I told
you to wait till tomorrow so that we can go together but you insisted. Look
now, you are in the middle of nowhere without any possible means of
coming back..." He began to complain bitterly and it got her upset,

"Please, please am not ready for your nagging right now. Don't
bother about me, I will find my way to my house with or without a bus..."
She fired at him angrily and ended the call when she saw two boys from
nowhere approaching her.

" Haunty, you dey wait for bus?" One of them asked with a deep Yoruba
tongue while the other one walked behind her and stood adjacent to her
without saying a word. Fear gripped her heart, the thought of brother
Kehinde flashed her mind and she began to regret for not allowing him to
come back and pick her up.

Her phone rang again and it was Kehinde, she looked at the two
boys fearfully before picking the call.

"Hello, brother Kehinde," she said in a whisper and he suspected

that she was in trouble.

"Where are you right now" he asked standing up to dress up.

"Am at the major express road that leads..." The call ended while
she was still talking as one of the boys covered her mouth and snatched
the phone from her while the other one forced out her hand bag from her
and threw her to the ground as she tried struggling with them over her
phone and handbag. She let go of them when one of them started

10
suggesting that they should rape her so that she will learn her lesson never
to stay out late in the night as a girl.

"Abi o," the second guy concurred then tore her gown from the
breast part and while she fought hard to cover her body from further
harassment,the other boy held her hands behind and soon they
overpowered her. She raised alarm as the other boy unzipped his trouser,
and made to go down on her, a car light flashed towards their direction but
the perpetrators didn't bulge as they assumed it was a car passing bye.

She intensified her screams and the boys struggled to cover her
mouth and also tried to make out with her but the car began to come closer
to them with its light fully flashed at them. When they realized that the car
was actually hunting them, they fled with her phone and handbag leaving
her almost naked on the muddy ground.

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 CHAPTER THREE

"Sister Sade!" Kehinde screamed and jumped out of his car to meet
Sade who was crying and also covering her nakedness with the remains of
her torn gown.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you? "He asked so many questions
at a time and tried to observe Sade who was almost naked and dirty. He
looked around again to know if those rascals were still around before
holding her up.

"Here's my shirt," he said,removing his stripped long sleeved shirt

and handed it over to her to wear while he was left with only his white
singlet and chinos trousers on. He noticed her discomfort in wearing the
shirt in his presence and turned his back on her.

"Sorry," he said then looked away for her to wear the shirt.
"Please, wear it let's get out of here. This place is not always safe at night,"
he explained with a calm voice. She quickly buttoned up the shirt and made
a skirt with the remains of her torn gown then informed him tearfully that
she was done.

"Stop crying," he said and placed his hand on her shoulder before
leading her to the front car. She sat down there in the car still sobbing as
he ignited the car and began to reverse the car carefully. When he was
done, he turned to look at Sade who was still crying and his countenance
fell.
"Did they hurt you? I mean, I hope they didn't succeed in... “He
asked and she nodded her head in the negative like a child.

"But they made away with my phone and handbag containing my

Bible and other accessories," she explained and he started laughing.

"Are you crying because of the phone and handbag? You are more
important than those things, I mean your safety first! "He exclaimed and
she looked away.

"Okay, I will get you a new phone if that's the problem and... umm...
If you permit me, I don't mind buying another new bag with all the
accessories for you," he said smiling and nudged her hand to talk but she
was cold as she imagine what those boys wanted to do to her.
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 "Where do we go from here ma?" He asked but she didn't hear
him because she was lost in thoughts. He repeated the question but she
didn't respond, so he tapped her on the shoulder and she jolted back to her
consciousness.

"Sorry I scared you," Kehinde said apologetically.

"Huh! Hmm... Not really," she said and looked at him with the corner
of her eyes.

"Okay, I was asking you where I should take you to. My house is
close by,if you don't mind you can go with me and freshen up then first
thing tomorrow morning, I will drop you off at your place,"he explained but
her facial expression didn't buy the idea of sleeping over at his place.

"Ow...Kay! I get it." He said havingread the expression on her face

"I will take you home if that's what you want," he said and marched
the accelerator.

"Where exactly is the place you are living?" He asked,

concentrating on the steering and she told him. There was silence in the
car all through the drive to her place and she felt indebted to him for saving
her from the hands of those rascals. After about 30 minutes’ drive, they
arrived Sade's one room self-contained apartment which was built in the
form of a boy's quarter. She stole a look at him before thanking him and he
waved it aside.

"Like I said earlier, I will get you a new phone tomorrow, so don't let
what happened trouble you at all. I already know the direction to this place,
so expect your phone tomorrow unfailingly," he said as she alighted the
car, stoop down and thanked him before running into the compound
holding her clothes with her two hands.

She arrived her room at some minutes past ten and her roommate
began to bombard her with questions seeing how tattered she was. But she
started crying instead, removed her clothes and ran into the bathroom,
"I had encounter with robbers. When I come out from the bathroom,
I will tell you in details," she said without looking at her.

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 "Hmmm, this one you are crying,I hope they didn't rape you shaa o,"
she asked like a gossip monger but got no response.

The next morning, Sade woke up with serious body aches and her
roommate massaged her body with hot water, looking at her suspiciously.
Sade had assured her last night that she wasn't raped but she didn't
believe her. She had always wished that Sade become like her who was no
longer a virgin but Sade maintained chastity even though she was in
courtship with Kolade.

At exactly 11am, Kehinde was at her house and presented a brand

new Android phone to her in the presence of her roommate. He asked to
take her out to where she can retrieve her lines and she agreed. When they
left the house, her roommate almost ran mad as envy ate deep into her.
She couldn't imagine why Sade was always attracting handsome and
responsible men and not her.

"She is in courtship and still another man is buying her phone and
even taking her out" she said to herself.

"I will tell Kolade that she is seeing another man," she concluded
with a devilish frown.

After the welcome back, Kehinde took Sade to an eatery in order to

make her forget the incident of last night and there, they got talking and
shared a little about themselves to each other. When they were about
leaving, Sade called him by his name and said,

"Brother Kehinde, thank you for not allowing those hooligans take
my virginity. I would have just killed myself if they had succeeded," she
said, put her palms together as if she was praying with her eyes closed in
sincere appreciation. Kehinde on the other hand couldn't believe his ears
as he sat up properly and stared at her with surprises written on his face.

"You're still a virgin?" He didn't know when the question came out of
his mouth as he drew close to her. She smiled at him and said,

"Why the surprise look," she asked looking into his eyes.

"Well, I was just surprised that as beautiful as you are, you are still a
virgin. I'm proud of you though," he said with a smile.

14
 "Thank you sir," she said, then continued.

"I need to go home now because I’ll be going for choir rehearsal by
4pm." she said and began to zip her small hand bag. He picked up his car
keys from the table and said,

"I will drop you, then go from there to my own rehearsals too." He
said standing to his feet.

"Rehearsals," she asked, widening her eyes. "I remember you

promised to worship in my parish tomorrow," she said and he began to
laugh.

"But you are yet to meet my condition," he said, putting his hands in
his pockets.

"I like the way you are posing," she said laughing and he gave her a
smile that revealed his dimples.

"Hmmm… I also like those dimples," she said standing up to her feet.

"All these compliments are meant to divert my attention from our

discussion right?" He said as they walked out of the eatery.

"Not really. I already told you I will squeeze out time for you after my
outing with my fiancé," she said without looking at him.

"He's a lucky man though," he said under his breath and she turned
back and asked,

"You said what?" Looking inquisitively into his eyes.

"Nothing, I wasn't really talking to you," he replied and opened the

car door for her to enter. He drove her home meditatively without saying
much. When they finally arrived her place she climbed down and bent
down to thank him.

"I shall be expecting your call tomorrow," he said.

15
 "And I'm hoping to see you in my parish tomorrow," she replied
with a smile before walking away.

She arrived her house only to meet Kolade's long face waiting for
her. She swallowed hard, and bent down to greet him but he responded
coldly and waited for her to unlock the door.

"Come in" she said standing at the door post, but he didn't respond
nor turn to look at her.

"Or do you prefer staying outside let me get a seat for you?" She
managed to ask, trying to control her anger. When she didn't get any
response from him, she entered the room and left him to himself outside.
After standing there for about 20minutes, he entered the room grudgingly
without knocking and found her dressing up.

"You could have at least knocked before entering the room..." She
said calmly but Kolade was not interested in whatever she had to say.

"What happened last night?" He asked, his eyes red. She tried to
avoid the quarrel looming and began to narrate what happened but he
didn't allow her to complete her story before shouting her down.

"I told you, didn't I tell you to wait so we can go together today? But you
were stubborn! You don't always like listening to me..." He kept on shouting
and his voice filled the room.

"ejo, todu oluwa fimile,for God's sake leave me alone. Kola leave me alone
o," she said pulling her right ear as if sounding him a warning but he got
more provoked and began to recount other past incidents and occasions
where she didn't adhere to his instructions and he mentioned an incident
that got her upset. She fumed up and began to lash at him.

"What about you?" She blew hot at him. "You don't care about my
welfare, you don't call or contribute anything spiritually or physically in my
life. All you do is instruct and command me on what to do, what not to do
with my life and always finding faults. See, Kola am getting fed up with your
quarrelsome attitudes," she blew hot at him and picked up her bag with a
hard cover notebook.

16
 "I want to lock my door and go to choir. Can you now leave?" She
said and opened the door for him. He stood transfixed, amazed at her
boldness.
"Are you asking me out of your house?" He queried looking fiercely
into her eyes but she didn't care a bit.

"I said, leave! I want to lock my door, Am already late and don't have
time for your drama," she said and he feigned a smile then walked out
arrogantly. She locked up the house and hastened out to church.

After the reversals, she switched her new phone on and the first call
that entered was Kehinde's call.

"Bother Kehinde, please I will call you later..." She said hurriedly
over the phone as she was trying to conclude a discussion with the youth
choir leader.

"Okay!" He said and quickly ended the call.

"You're leading praise and worship tomorrow. No excuses!" The choir

leader mandated and she accepted having realized that his mind had been
made up on her.

On reaching home, she dialled Kehinde's number, he picked it up

and said,

"Don't waste your airtime,cut the call let me call you back," he said
and she ended the call with a smile. In less than two minutes, he called
back and they spoke for close to 35minutes before they bade each other
good night. As she was about entering the small kitchen to find something
to eat, her roommate entered. They exchanged greetings and she asked
her what she cooked.

"Ah! No food in this house o. I'm thinking of preparing noodles for us

to eat," she said and the roommate hissed and brushed past her.

"Haba,kilode?" Sade stared at her but she didn't respond. After

standing for few seconds, she swallowed hard and entered the kitchen to
prepare the noodles which her roommate refused to eat.

17
 She picked up her phone and called Kolade's number several times
apologize for her actions but he didn't pick. She put on her data and went
to search for him on WhatsApp, fortunately for her,he was online so she
sent some chats to him and apologized. The chats showed green mark
lines which indicates that he received the chats but Kolade didn't reply. She
gave herself excuses on his behalf that he probably was busy and waited
for his response till she dozed off.

18
 CHAPTER FOUR

Sade's 4 O'clock quiet time phone alarm rang very close to her head
and she woke up. She looked at her roommate who was deeply asleep and
her body suddenly became weak and desired more rest. She lay back to
rest for a while and in no time, her eyes closed in another round of sleep.
At 5:43am, she jumped up from the bed like someone who was being
chased by a masquerade in the dream.

"Ah! I've missed my quiet time," she murmured and quickly climbed
down from the bed, collected her bible, jotter, Our Daily Manner booklet,
pen and went down on her knees close to the reading table to pray. She
prayed for few minute then sat down on the reading chair to study her bible
immediately after reading the ODM commentaries. She jotted down her
personal revelations from the scriptures and prayed. After saying the grace,
she entered the kitchen and put a pot on fire to boil rice.

Sunday school starts by 7:50 and she can't miss it for any reason.
The thought of Kolade flashed her mind and her heart skipped.

"He didn't return my calls nor replied my chats," she told herself with
a low voice.

"Sometimes, I wonder whether this courtship is a kind of prison or

something. I mean, for how long will I continue to be the one to apologize to
Kola each time we have a misunderstanding? I do everything to please him
yet he gets too difficult to please," she said almost crying when her
roommate entered the kitchen to collect a cup.

"Good morning," she managed to greet without looking at her and

she grudgingly murmured back a response. Sade checked the time as she
was stirring the pot of steaming tomato stew on the burner and realized she
was going to run late if she didn't hurry up with her food. She left the stew
on the fire to boil while she got herself ready to enter the bathroom. With
the towel loosely tied to cover her breasts, she entered the kitchen and
turned off the gas, then dashed into the bathroom and had a quick bath.

Her phone began to ring as she was dressing up and she rushed at it
thinking it was Kolade's call, but got disappointed when she saw Kehinde's
name. She sighed and went back to finish up her dressing. She arrived the

19
church two minutes past the Sunday school time; but they were yet to start,
yet she felt bad for going late to church.

The Sunday school started and she expected to see Kolade teaching
in one of the classes since he was a Sunday school teacher but he was
absent. She suddenly became afraid that something must have happened
to him. She quietly walked out of her class when she couldn't concentrate
very well on the teachings and went to a quiet place to call him.

She dialled his number several times, but there was no response. As
she was still thinking of the closest person who could possibly know his
whereabouts, she looked around and sighted Kolade with a lady talking
and laughing as they walked up to the church premises and he had his
phone in his hand.

She intentionally dialed his number again and she saw Kolade
grumbling with a frown on his face as he looked into the screen of his
phone.
"He's probably telling that sister that am disturbing his hone," she
concluded in her heart, ended the call and stood back and watched them
enter the church sluggishly,not minding that they were already late. Then,
she entered and sat on her seat at the front rows from where she turned
several times to look at Kolade who didn't want to maintain eye contact with
her.

As the Sunday school classes were summarizing their teachings, she

bent her head and hot tears streamed down her eyes.

"Lord, please help my heart. Sing through me even in this morning

service and give yourself glory in Jesus name." She prayed, with her head
still resting on achair as if she was meditating over the lessons.

The microphone was handed over to her after the summary, and she
mounted the stage, with her mind made up not to look at Kolade's direction
she closed her eyes, lifted up her slim hands and started to sing in tongues
to charge up her spirit. After some minutes, she raised a worship song that
brought many people on their knees, crying and praying in the Holy Ghost.

By the time she was handing over the microphone to the person who
would lead in opening prayers, people were already lying down on their
faces,and on their knees crying as they worshipped God.
20
 Sade opened her eyes and handed the mic over to an elderly man,
and as she walked up to her seat, she saw someone smiling at her from
the congregation but was too shy to look the second time. But during the
opening prayers, she systematically opened one of her eyes and looked
towards that direction and found out it was Kehinde and her heart leaped
for joy.

After the service, she joined the choir for their usual 5minutes prayers
after service, then rushed out to greet Kehinde. When she found him, he
was hugging and shaking hands with Kolade and she wondered where they
knew each other from. She swallowed hard and walked up to them despite
the internal pressure telling her to wait till when Kola leaves.

"Brother Kehinde, good afternoon," she greeted excitedly and without

seeing the person, Kolade recognized her voice and his countenance
changed so much that Kehinde noticed his uneasiness as she greeted him.

"Kenny," Kola called his attention from Sade.

"I need to be on my way now," he said and they both exchanged a

goodbye handshake.

Sade tried to approach him, but he snubbed her in the presence of

Kehinde and walked away with his Bible in his armpit. Embarrassed, she
stood at a spot and watched him disappear from her sight and Kehinde
walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She tried hard to hold
back the tears that has clouded her eyes, but they found themselves
flowing down freely to her cheeks.

"Let me drop you," Kehinde said almost in a whisper and she

followed him to where he parked his car.

Kehinde drove Sade home in silence and turned several times to look
at her but she was too ashamed to look into his eyes, so she looked away
and got drown in her own thoughts. There were so many questions
troubling his heart which he needed to ask her concerning Kolade and what
happened few minutes ago,but in order to avoid making her more
emotional, he kept them to himself and hoped that his suspicions were not
true. Soon, they arrived her house and he looked at her again before
speaking up after the long silence.

21
 "My dear, I don't know exactly the problem between you and Kola but
I don't think a woman should be handled the way he did. It's damn wrong!"
He said and hit his hands on the steering of his car, then he continued.

"And you just have to stop crying, I don't feel right seeing your tears.
Wipe your tears,no one should determine your happiness." He said and
drew close to her with his white handkerchief and wiped the tears that
flowed down on her cheeks.

"You know what? I will come pick you up by 4pm so that you won't
have to stay alone and cry over what happened. Is that okay?" He asked
but she nodded in the negative.

`'I told you I will be going out with my fiancé. I don't think we would be
back by then," she explained quietly without looking at him.

"It's alright then, anything that will make you happy is okay by me.
Nevertheless, I will still call to know how you're doing," he said and opened
the door for her to go down. She thanked him and walked into the
compound. Her roommate was already back with a friend from her own
church and they were lost in their discussion so much that they didn't notice
when she entered the room.

"Ha! My boyfriend cannot do without sex o. And me I don't want to

lose him because men are scarce to get these days. I will give him
whatever he wants and keep trusting God that one day,he will propose to
me," she was so shocked to hear that statement coming from her
roommate whom she thought was born again.

"Well, Tope have been demanding sex from me but I can't do it. My
parents will kill me if they find out am no longer a virgin. My father is a
pastor and am the only daughter, so I don't want to bring him disgrace," the
visitor said laughing.

"Girl, shine your eyes o. If you lose Tope, to get another well to do
man will be difficult o. Do for him anything he wants o," Sade's roommate
advised her friend.

"See am still a virgin, though technically. The only thing I allow him to
do with me is smooching and romances. I never try?" The visitor asked
rhetorically and Sade who couldn't contain their dirty discussions cleared
22
her throat to announce her presence and they both turned to see her
standing behind them. Her roommate gave her a stink look then returned
back to their discussion.

"Well, romance is not bad, you guys can start from there gradually
and graduate into the real thing…" Her roommate said laughing.

"No ooo! I want to marry as a virgin.We are not graduating into

anything o," the visitor who was not comfortable with Sade's presence
protested,stood up,picked her small fancy bag then said,

"I wan go Jaree." she said and they both left the room.
Though Sade found their discussion irritating, there was something her
roommate's visitor said that got registered in her mind and she kept
meditating over it even as she changed into her house wears and ate her
food. As she ate her rice and stew, she picked up her phone and began to
dial Kolade's number to know the time they would go to the hospital to see
her sister but Kola was still not picking up. After the fifth attempt, the phone
was switched off and she became restless, and began to contemplate
going to his house but the thought of being embarrassed again kept her
from doing so. She broke down in tears and her roommate entered and
found her crying.

"Sade, you are crying? Did someone die?" She asked and Sade
nodded her head in the negative.

"Then why are you crying?" Confused, she asked expecting a

response.

"It's Kola" she cried and her phone began to ring. She rushed at it
thinking it was Kola, but it was Kehinde. She ignored the call, pushed the
phone aside and her roommate eyed the caller.

"What happened to Kola?" She asked

"He's not been picking my calls and he even embarrassed me in

church today when I wanted to talk to him..." Sade explained and her
roommate exploded in anger.

"Who do he even think he is sef? Every time Kola this, Kola that! Why
would you be crying for him every time?" She burned in anger and a

23
thought came into her mind. She paused for a while, stood up and walked
up to Sade's wardrobe then fetched out a beautiful blouse and a Jean
trouser for her.

"Get up and dress up. Call that guy that bought you phone to come
and take you out. That way,you will get to forget Kola and his troubles," she
said with a commanding voice but Sade refused.

"I'm not in the right frame of mind to go out with anyone now," she
explained but her roommate had a mission and would not take 'No' for an
answer.

"You know I won't allow you to just lie down here crying like someone
who is bereaved. Stand up..." She was saying when Sade's phone began
to ring again.

"It's brother Kehinde that is calling and I'm going to tell him to come
and take you out right away!" Her roommate said with finality and before
Sade could stop her,she slid the green symbol.

"Umm... Good afternoon sir," she greeted and twisted her voice, then
continued.

"Sade is here crying, I don't know what's wrong with her but I believe
if you can come and take her out,she will feel better..." She said and Sade
snatched the phone from her hand. Before she could counter what her
roommate said, Kehinde ended the call and picked up his car keys and
began to drive down to Sade's place. She arrived there in less than 40
minutes’ drive from where he was, knocked at their door and was ushered
in.

After about 20minutes’ persuasion from her roommate and Kehinde,

she dressed up and followed him. Kehinde took her out to a sightseeing
center and cracked many jokes to make her laugh, and she started
laughing coldly until she began to enjoy the sights and got relieved from her
moodiness.

By the time he was going to drop her at her house after their
sightseeing, Sade was laughing so hard, talking about some of the funny
things they saw and didn't wish they depart.

24
 Sade entered her room full of life and excitement and her roommate
took notice of it.

"Hmmm... I can see you are back to life now. You always feel happier
whenever you stay around or speak on phone with this Kehinde of a guy
compared with Kola. Don't you think destiny has brought him your way in
order to deliver you from a troublesome marriage with Kola?" Her
roommate asked, searching her eyes to know whether she is penetrating
but Sade kept quiet for a while before speaking up.

'It's true am happy when am with Kehinde but am engaged to Kola

already. Our families,the church and everyone knows we are engaged to
be married latest,January next year. I can't leave him, we have come a
long way. Besides, Kehinde is yet to make his intention known and I can't
go and start forcing myself on him." Sade explained coldly.

"Stop talking nonsense. A broken courtship is better than a broken

marriage. See, give this guy a try, I can see he loves you. You can still be
in relationship with him and continue your courtship with Kola and nobody
will know. That way, you can choose between them the person that loves
you more..." Her roommate suggested almost in a whisper.

"Ah! Ah! That's cheating. Don't say that again o." Sade interrupted
her sharply.

"Look, Kola was caring just like brother Kehinde when we started
newly but changed along the line when I started refusing certain things he
wanted me to be doing. This brother Kehinde is just trying to catch a prey
first, once he catches his prey,he will also change like Kola. That's men for
you. I would rather stick to the devil I know than give an angel I don't know
a try." She said dismissively then handed her a bag of ice cream.

"Kehinde bought this for you," she said and began to undress.

25
 CHAPTER FIVE

"Mid-term test is starting tomorrow, I can't wait for the mid-term break
so I can rest," Sade soliloquized.

She sat up on her reading table that night ruminating over her
previous discussion with her roommate and she began to compare and
contrast between Kola and Kehinde.

"I wish I met Kehinde before Kola." She said silently. "If Kola was half
as caring and understandable as Kehinde, I would have nothing to worry
about but he is so full of himself... But what will people say if I break up with
Kola? Ah! I don't want to be a topic on people's lips," she thought worriedly
within herself.

"But my roommate is right, should I give Kehinde a try too? Ah! God
help my heart, am not used to double lifestyle o," she prayed under her
breathe. The words of that pastor's daughter that visited her roommate in
the afternoon came flashing in her mind again and she began to give it a
thought. After some minutes, she came to a conclusion not to break up with
Kola and at the same time, maintain her friendship with Kehinde.

"After all, I already told him am engaged and he didn't seem to be

bothered about it," she concluded as she rested her head on the reading
table,and from there she slept off.

Kola didn't call nor responded to Sade's calls all that week and the
week after but Kehinde kept calling and checking on her to know how she
was doing, so the friendship between them began to grow into a more
intimate one because she enjoyed the spiritual contributions he made in
her life each time they were together. Apart from the financial and material
benefits she also enjoyed from him, he always talked her into going the
extra miles to actualize her dreams and it was one of those motivational
words that made her pick her Masters form to further her studies and also
began to put her songs together.

"Sister Sade, you are gifted and you are spiritual too. You have the
Holy Ghost on your inside and it's obvious whenever you stand to minister
in songs. Put the songs you have been receiving through inspiration
together and release an album. God did not give you the gift of singing so
that you will end up manifesting only in the church choir, the world needs to
26
hear your voice. I don't see any difference between your voice and that of
Sinach. Wake up and build yourself, the world is waiting for your albums to
bless them. Don't see yourself here.You are meant for the top. Don't think
about how to get the money, just start working on them first; God who gave
you those inspired songs will make provisions for the studio works and
everything needed to be done. You have wasted time and divine resources
enough, Sade it's time to rise and build..." Kehinde spoke passionately to
her and her bones caught fire so much that she went home that evening
and started assembling all the songs she received and began to sing them
one after the other, and began to work on them. She became very
occupied with her job, working on her songs, and with Kehinde as he
began to take her to the studio twice in a week so much that she forgot that
Kola ever existed.

On one of their normal hang outs, Kehinde summoned the courage

and asked Sade the relationship between her and Kola. She wasn't
expecting the question, so her heart skipped and began to beat fast. She
lowered her head sadly and after some minutes of silence, she gathered
the courage and said,

"He's my fiancé," she replied without looking up at him.

"What!" he shouted in surprised, then tried to cover up his

surprises.

"Uhm... Sorry for the way I shouted. I mean, how come he treated
you the way he did that day?" He queried but Sade was not ready to talk
about Kola and how he treated her, so silence permeated the place. When
he saw that she was not ready to talk about her relationship with Kola, he
sighed and said.

"Well, Kola and I attended the same University,same fellowship and

were in the same department on campus. He used to be very spiritual and
was our prayer coordinator back then. I was just surprised he could handle
someone that way, let alone the woman he claims to love," he explained.

"Sometimes, I wonder why people keep loving people who don't

care about their feelings and ignore those who love them genuinely," he
told himself silently and Sade stared at him,unable to ask the question in
her mind.
When her roommate saw that she had gotten very intimate with
27
Kehinde, she collected Kolade's number from her phone and called him to
inform him that Sade was seeing another man.

"You are cheating on me and you are denying it right before my eyes.
I never knew you were this cheap Sade. You are a cheap woman!" Kolade
fired at Sade in a heated argument the next day.

"I'm not cheating on you and there's nothing between me and

Kehinde. We are just friends," she defended herself.

"Then tell him to stay away from you. You can't be seen together
every now and then and still deny that you are not dating him. Tell him to
stop calling you or coming to see you because you are my wife," he
argued.

"No way! I can't tell Kehinde to stay away from me because he makes
more impact in my life than you do. You ignored me and never answered
my calls for close to a month only for you to show up today and accuse me
of something that does not exist. I won't tell him anything,you should go
ahead and tell him." she protested.

"Really? I see you have gone very far with him and it's obvious in the
way you are not ready to break up your relationship with him. Who knows
whether you have not even started sleeping with him?" He said and Sade
flared up in anger and began to cry.

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing? Do I look like a whore? I

won't have you talk to me that way,am not a prostitute," she cried.

"If you are not a prostitute, then end whatever you are doing with
Kenny. I can't share my woman with another man," he blurted out the more
as she cried.

Their quarrel was later resolved in their mummy in the lord's house
where they both expressed their grievances and Sade was asked to
apologise to Kola for walking him out of her house. The church mummy
also advised her to reduce her closeness with Kehinde in order for peace to
reign. Kola revealed all the shortcomings of Sade but Sade covered his so
the church mummy channeled all the faults and advice towards her.

28
 "Sister Sade, the best time to learn submission in marriage is now
that you are still single. Learn to do whatever your fiancé tells you to do and
through your submission, he will in turn love and care for you. So go back
to whom you used to be when you both started and do what he likes.
Spend those times you spend with the so called Kehinde with your fiancé
Sade..." The church mummy counseled her and she nodded her head
agreeably in everything she said.

"Did you hear me?" the church mummy asked. "Beni ma, yes ma,"
she answered and bent down as a sign of respect.

Kola and Sade got back together and she began to even visit him
regularly in order to make him happy and did everything he asked her to do
but she still maintain her friendship with Kehinde secretly but couldn't go
out with him the way they used to do before in order to avoid suspicions
and troubles.

"How far with you and Kehinde? It's been a while I saw him here. I
hope you two are still together?" Sade's roommate asked her one evening
while they were eating.

"Kola found out about my closeness with Kehinde and accused me of

cheating on him. We had a quarrel over it but our church mummy settled it
and asked me to reduce my closeness with Kehinde. So, we only talk on
phone once in a while." Sade explained innocently. Her roommate feigned
a frown before speaking up,

"Sometimes, I wonder what you even see in that Kolade of a guy.

He is so annoying and full of himself. He's just doing fine boy up and down
with no money in his pocket. If I were you, I will just ditch him and follow
Kehinde who is cuter, rich and caring," she said with contempt.

"My dear, it's already late now. Our wedding is just six months
away," Sade chipped in as she chewed the meat in her mouth.

"Six months is still very far na. People even call off wedding on the
very day of their wedding and you are here talking..." She argued the
more,trying to get words from her mouth.

"Shebi you love Kehinde abi?" She continued, "I can help you sort
out things so that you can continue with Kehinde," she said searching
29
Sade's eyes to know what her response and reaction will be but Sade
waved at her to forget about her relationship with Kehinde, picked up her
plate and entered the kitchen and herroommate bit her finger in
disappointment.

When Sade informed Kola of her plans to release an album, he

discouraged her and told her to wait till after their wedding because they
needed enough money for their wedding coming up in January.

"Hello brother kehinde, please I want to pay you a visit, there's

something I want to discuss with you," Sade said over the phone almost in
a whisper because her instincts have been telling her that her roommate
was the one who informed Kola about her closeness with Kehinde and she
have been trying everything possible to keep information that has to do with
Kehinde and herself a secret from her.

"Where? In my house?" Kehinde was heard at the other end.

"Yes sir," she replied, looking behind to make sure that her roommate
who was in the kitchen was not hearing her.

"Okay, let me come and pick you up..." He was replying but she
quickly interrupted him.

"No! No!" She objected then continued,"Just send me the address of

your house and I will take a cab. I want to come Nicodemusly and go back
Nicodemusly without being noticed. I don't want Kola's trouble," she said
and he agreed.

A prophecy broke out in a revival prayer meeting held in Sade's

parish, as a little girl who had never prophesied before was overpowered
by the spirit of God and began to prophesy to the surprise of the church
members.
"I am the Lord, I know you and your works. I see even the secret
things that are done behind closed doors and in the dark. I love
righteousness and hate iniquity but you have abandoned the righteous
ways, the ancient paths and have joined workers of iniquity to do wrong.
You have begun to defile yourself yet you say, ‘I'm still clean’”. The
prophecy continued.

30
 “When I speak to your conscience, you suppressed me and
continued with your uncleanness because you are more eager to please
men than you are to please me. Therefore, your disgrace will come from
those whom you are always eager to please unless you repent and return
back to me in total holiness and devotion. I am the Lord, I will hasten my
words and bring them to pass..."The little girl prophesied and some of the
church members broke down in tears and began to ask for mercy. Sade
shivered in fear as each words of prophecy came forth from that little girl's
mouth and her tears flowed down freely on her cheeks.

Two months after the prophecy, Sade and Kola had another heated
argument over something he wanted her to do which she refused. Coupled
with the accumulated anger he had bottled up in his heart over the weeks
for seeing her in Kehinde's car on two occasions, he burst out when she
refused to do what he wanted her to do while they were drafting out their
wedding programme in his house.

He raised his voice at her and accused her again of not being faithful
and Sade defended herself, stating that Kehinde was only going to
introduce her to a team of singers who would back her up at the studio, but
Kola would not hear of it. He threatened to confront Kehinde and warn him
to stay far away from his woman and Sade dared him never to try it. As
they were both in the heat of the argument, she felt a sharp piercing
headache, held her forehead as her eyes became blurry and clasped on
the floor.

Kola saw her falling like a pack of card,then rushed her before she
reached the floor and held her into his arms. She wasn't breathing so he
began to fan her with his shirt and when he saw that she was not getting
revived, he dashed out of the room in search of his next door neighbor who
owns a car and they rushed her to the nearest private hospital.

The nurses fixed a drip on her after they had revived her back to
consciousness and waited for the test results to come out before they can
commence treatment properly. Kola stayed with her at the hospital and
called the church mummy to inform her that Sade was hospitalized. Since
he was the one holding Sade's phone, he used that opportunity and went
through her inbox and WhatsApp chats with Kehinde and was boiling in
anger at some of their conversations.

31
 The church mummy and daddy whom Sade and Kola had taken as
mentors arrived the hospital just when the results of the tests came out
from the lab. They rushed over to the bed where she was lying on and
found her sleeping, but the noises in the ward woke her up.

"Mummy," she called and on seeing the daddy, she greeted trying to
sit up but a slight head headache nudged her and she rested back her
head on the pillow.

"Don't worry, just rest your head," the church mummy said, and
massaged her hands. A dark handsome young man suspected to be the
doctor entered the ward and walked towards Kola.

"Are you the one that brought in this patient?" He asked him with a
professional tone and Kola nodded his head in the affirmative as the church
mummy and daddy drew closer to them.

"Are you her husband or a relation?" He asked again but before Kola
could tell him that she's his fiancée, the Pastor interrupted.

"What exactly is wrong with her?" The church daddy asked,

supposing him to be the doctor.

"Uhm..Nothing really bad," the supposed doctor said, then continued.

"I guess you are her parents" he said facing them and they both
nodded in the affirmative looking intently at his lips to reveal what the
sickness is.

"The test results shows that she is medically okay, but we found out
that she is four weeks pregnant and must have gone through some
emotional stress. I will advice..." He was still talking when Kola gave a
shocking unbelieving scream at the same time with the church mummy and
daddy. Sade jumped up from the bed on hearing the doctor's report and
made to talk as the church mummy and daddy with Kola all turned to look
at her in disbelief but she couldn't find words....

32
33
 CHAPTER SIX

"I ... I think there's a mistake somewhere, I'm not pregnant," she said
with confusion written on her face, and pinched herself, hoping to wakeup
from the dream.

"I'm a virgin, I didn't sleep with any man," she burst into tears and the
church mummy and daddy who had always believed her to be a virgin
turned back to face the doctor with a questioning look. Kola's mind flashed
back to Kehinde because he had been suspecting that she was sleeping
with him all the while, so he didn't want to believe whatever Sade was
saying.

"Young lady, are you so sure of what you are saying? Because our
lab scientists here are very careful people and our test results here are
always accurate. We've never had issues with lab test results for over
18years in this hospital..." the doctor explained, searching her eyes to know
whether she has confidence in what she was saying.

"Yes am very sure sir," she replied with confidence. And the church
mummy and daddy felt a little relief in their mind,hoping that there was a
mistake in the test result.

"Alright then, we would carry out another test on you and supervise it
carefully. I just hope you are telling us the truth…" The doctor said and left
the ward. Few minutes later, a lab attendant entered and collected her
blood sample, then gave her a specimen bottle to collect her urine and
submit it. She was helped down from the bed and led into the toilet in the
hospital by the church mummy to collect her urine which was later
submitted at the laboratory.

Kola who was in shock about the doctor's report stayed faraway from
Sade and was sitting at the reception tapping his feet on the floor, waiting
for the results to come out as different thoughts ran through his mind. He
had already collected Kehinde's number from Sade's phone and was
waiting for the right time to call him and confront him for impregnating his
fiancée. The church daddy walked up to where he was seated and tapped
him at the back.

"Are you sure nothing happened between the both of you," the Pastor
asked quietly and sat down close to him.
34
 "Ah! Daddy, nothing o! I've never seen the color of Sade's pant since
we've been courting for almost 3years now. Daddy I just hope my
suspicions are not true," he said holding his head and lowered it in worries.

"Calm down my son," the Pastor said, placing his hands on his
shoulder,continued.
"We all know that Sade is not a wayward girl. I strongly believe that
the tests results are faulty," the Pastor said, trying to encourage him.

In the ward, Sade's heart was restless and the church mummy took
notice of it.

"You are restless Sade, is there anything you think I need to know?
Feel free to share with me," the church mummy said, holding her warm
hands.
"Mummy, I just remembered I missed my period. I thought it was a
kind of hormonal changes due to stress and now the test is saying that am
pregnant. Mummy I can swear with my life that I didn't sleep with any man,"
she said, tears dropping down her eyes uncontrollably.

"I just pray this is not true because I would never be able to explain
myself..." She said and covered her face with the palms of her hands. The
church mummy's heart jumped when she heard her confirmed that she
missed her period but she quickly covered up and began to calm her down.

"You can't be pregnant without having a sexual contact with a man

my darling. So, you are not pregnant. Stop crying..." She pet her.

At the hospital lab, the urinary test result was the first to come out
and showed red lines on the HGC pouch which means positive. But they
patiently waited for the blood test to show before any further actions. After
about an hour, the blood test result came out and it was also positive. Sade
was confirmed pregnant by the two tests.

"Mummy, I told you Sade was cheating on me with Kenny but she
kept denying it. Now, look at the result; the woman I'm supposed to wed in
three months’ time is pregnant for another man..." Kola burst out in anger
when the doctor came back and confirmed the same thing and it drew the
attention of everyone at the reception.

35
 The church mummy and daddy were shocked beyond words as they
both lowered their heads in shame.

"Yeee! Sade, what have you done?" The church mummy broke down
in tears as Sade sat on the bed looking into the space in shock herself.

"Please, this is a hospital. We don't allow noise here because it

increases the pains of our patients. Can you kindly move out of the ward?"
A nurse asked rhetorically and began to show Kola to the door. Kola
paused for a while as a thought dropped in his mind.

"That bastard!" He said with a mean face, brought out Sade's phone
from his pocket and walked out of the ward dialling Kehinde's number.

"Hello my dear," Kehinde was first heard at the other end as Kola
intentionally kept quiet knowing that he would suppose Sade to be the
caller.

"My dear, are you there...?" Kehinde asked when he didn't hear
Sade's voice.

"Hello... hellooo. Sister Sade are you there?" He continued and Kola
burned in anger on hearing him call her 'my dear'.

"Yes your dear is here in the hospital right now. Can you come over
to Ajimobi hospital right away? She really wants to see you," Kola said
sarcastically trying hard to control his temper. On hearing that Sade was in
the hospital, Kehinde picked up his car keys and left the work he was doing
in his office to the said Ajimobi private hospital. He drove into the hospital
not knowing the ward to find her, and he dialled her number thinking it's a
male nurse or the doctor that was with her phone.

"Please, which ward is she admitted? Am in the hospital right now,"

he asked and waited for an answer.

"Female ward 2," Kola replied,standing up to his feet and the Pastor
who didn't know who he was giving direction turned to look at him...

"Kola, who did you call? I hope you have not yet informed anyone
about this issue?" The Pastor asked, standing up to face him. Just then,
Kehinde walked up to the entrance door that leads to the female ward and

36
Kola approached him even before he could see him and landed him a
heavy blow.

"You son of a bastard!" He cursed him as the pastor who wasn't

expecting a fight held him back.

"After sleeping around with all the girls on campus, you have the guts
to sleep with my woman and even got her pregnant..." Kola fired at
Kehinde, trying to break loose from the pastor's grip to fight him. Kehinde
who was not just shocked at the unexpected blow, stood like a statue on
hearing that Sade was pregnant. The pains of the heavy blow disappeared
and his heart skipped.

By now, the pastor had come to know the Kehinde whom his wife and
kola have been suspecting. He saw the surprise and confusion on Kenny's
face,then signalled him to move out of sight and he obeyed him and moved
back a little distance from where Kola was raging.

When the Pastor was done calming Kola down, he excused himself
and walked up to Kehinde, who stood beside his car with a worry stricken
face.

"How are you?" The Pastor asked on reaching him.

"Fine daddy," he replied politely. "Good evening sir," he greeted and

the church pastor was impressed at his comportment.

"You are Kehinde right?" The Pastor asked and he nodded in the
affirmative.

"Are you born again?" The Pastor asked and he nodded in the
affirmative again before saying,

"Yes sir," he replied coldly.

"Very good," the Pastor said, then continued,

"I want to ask you few questions and as a child of God, I want you to
tell me the whole truth," the Pastor said looking into his eyes and he
nodded his head to indicate corporation.

37
 "What's the relationship between you and Sister Sade?" The Pastor
asked looking straight into his eyes.

"Sade is my friend, just a friend and nothing more. I hope she is

alright?" He replied and the Pastor nodded.

"You mean there was no love affair between you and her?" The
Pastor asked again trying to hide his surprise.

"Not at all. Though I wanted to build a love relationship with her when
I first met her, and hoped that the relationship would mature into marriage
but she told me she was already engaged to be married in January so I
decided to remain just a friend to her. I hope there's no problem?" He
asked calmly, though he already knew the reason for the many questions.

"Not really, am sorry to ask," the Pastor said and blinked his eyes
before saying what he wanted to say.

"Was there by any mistake of a sexual contact between you and

her?" The Pastor asked, looking intently at him. Kehinde burst into a laugh
and held his mouth before answering his question,

"How can I sleep with someone's wife to be for crying out loud?
Besides, Sade is not a loosed woman. She has been faithful in her
relationship with Kola so much that she won't even agree to have sex with
me if I had requested for it..." Kehinde explained.

"I'm a Christian sir, my past may not be perfect but presently,

premarital sex is the last thing on my mind. Am even shocked to hear that
Sade is pregnant, she told me she was a virgin and I was proud of her,"
Kehinde said then continued,

"I didn't sleep with her sir," he said almost in a swear and the Pastor
became confused. He held Kehinde's hand and was leading him to the
ward where Sade and the church mummy were when Kola came up again
and began to accuse him of being responsible for Sade's pregnancy.

"Watch your tongue Kola," Kehinde came face to face with Kola...

"If you were reasonable enough, your woman wouldn't have given
another man access into her life, even to the extent of getting her pregnant.

38
Grow up young man," Kehinde blurt out in anger and both the Pastor and
Kola were taken aback by his statement.

"Kola, at least you should respect my presence," the Pastor said in

order to calm Kola and carry out his observation. He wanted to take
Kehinde into the ward and watch how Sade and himself will react when
they see each other. Kola angrily walked out and went home, and began to
call everyone who knew Sade. He called his own parents who were very
fond of Sade and informed them that the wedding would no longer hold
because Sade was pregnant for another man and also called her own
parents to tell them what their daughter did. He also deleted her contacts
from his phone and tore all her pictures in his custody and removed
everything that reminds him of Sade.

When the pastor arrived the ward where Sade was, they found her
exhausted with cry. Her eyes were red from crying and she shaped down in
less than two hours.Kehinde's heart went out for her the moment he saw
her. He just stood at a spot looking at her, but she didn't look his way. After
a long while of thinking about the best way to approach her, he cleared his
throat and drew close to the bed to face her.

"Sade, is it true?" He managed to say but Sade did not respond as

her tongue got glued to her teeth in frustration.

"Are you going to open your mouth and answer me or you just want
to sit down there without saying anything and allow people suspect and
accuse me of what I don't know?" Kehinde burst out when he noticed the
suspicious looks of the pastor, his wife and everyone in the ward.
"Okay! Let's get this thing straight right here and now. Please
answer my questions in the presence of everyone here," he said trying to
control his temper as he remembered the way Kola embarrassed him
outside and accused him of being responsible for the pregnancy.

"Sade, have I ever asked you for sex either through my words or
actions? Did I sleep with you?" He asked expecting her to either nod her
head or speak up but Sade refused to answer as her tears flowed down
freely.
He felt disappointed to hear that she's pregnant and wasangrier with
her for lying to him that she's a virgin whereas she was not. But seeing her
cry before him, he didn't know what to feel; he felt like apologising for

39
making her cry more, but at the same time, he wished she could just open
her mouth and clear the air of the accusations against him. He shifted
backward and scratched his head in frustration.

The pastor who had been observing him and Sade walked up to him
and whispered something into his ears and he looked back at Sade before
walking out of the ward.

"Sade you have to open your mouth and tell us the truth so that we
can take actions where necessary. You can't be pregnant without knowing
a man," the pastor said, then continued.

"Were you raped?" The pastor asked placing his hands on her
shoulder in a caring manner.

"No!" She suddenly replied and they both felt relieved that she was
finally ready to speak.

"You didn't answer Kehinde's questions Sade, is he responsible for

the pregnancy? Don't be afraid of whoever the person is, we are solidly
behind you and will fight for you," they tried to motivate her to talk.

"Or did you mistakenly do it with Kola?" The church mummy chipped
in the question that have been troubling her mind.

"Kehinde has never made sexual advances towards me. Forget what
Kolade is saying, I don't even know where he lives,the day I called to
inform him that I wanted to visit his house and discuss something with him,
he called me back and told me not to come and asked that we discuss the
matter over the phone which we did. Kehinde has been more of a motivator
to me both spiritually and mentally..." she was still talking and the restless
church mummy interrupted her.

"What about Kola, did anything happen?" She queried in a haste.

"Nothing happened." She answered, then continued.

"Mummy, daddy" she called and they both chorused an answer.

"I didn't sleep with any man.In fact, I still don't believe am pregnant,"
she burst out in anger when she saw that they didn't believe her, climbed

40
down the bed, removed the drip lines on her hand and announced that she
was going home.

The pastor paid the hospital bill and they drove home together as the
church mummy insisted that she must stay with them at the parsonage to
prevent her from doing something stupid.

She was given a room at the pastor's house and her roommate was
sent for to bring some of the things she would be needing for the time
being. Left alone in a room, Sade sent an SMS to someone and in less
than two minutes, her phone began to ring.

"We need to talk privately" she said quietly and they agreed to meet
somewhere at a scheduled time,then she ended the call and covered her
face with the blanket, ignoring the food kept for her on the table.

41
 CHAPTER SEVEN

Kehinde perused over the text message Sade sent to him the
previous night and wondered what she wanted them to discuss in privacy
after she refused to answer his questions before her pastor and his wife.
He glanced through his wristwatch, got dressed and picked up his car keys
and began to drive down to the junction where he would pick Sade up to
the mountain where they agreed to stay for their private meeting.

Sade told the church mummy she was going to the school, and
insisted on going even when the church mummy asked her to call the
school and informed them that she's sick. She refused, went to the school
and obtained a permission before going to the junction where Kehinde
would pick her up. Before she arrived the junction, Kehinde was already
there waiting for her. She arrived there covering her face with a long veil to
hide her identity and entered the car immediately, greeted him and they
drove to the mountain in silence. Kehinde searched for a quiet place and
they both sat down while she avoided his eyes.

"You sent me a text that you want to discuss something with me. Can
we talk about it now?" He asked calmly while he observed her keenly.

"Yes," she said, "and thank you for honouring me even at this
dishonourable period of my life," she continued still looking away from him.
"Brother Kehinde, I know I have disappointed you and...and… I
don't even know what to say but am sorry. I didn't want to answer your
questions yesterday because everyone already believe you are responsible
for the pregnancy but you are not," she said and kept quiet.

"So you have been sleeping with Kola?" Kehinde asked with
displeasure in his eyes.

"No, I didn't sleep with hi..." She was trying to explain but he cut her
short.

"Then who is responsible?" He asked almost losing his temper.

"You told me you were a virgin, how come you are pregnant Sade?"
He continued.

42
 "I don't know how it happened, am still a virgin. I didn't have sex with
any man!" She burst into tears.

"You can't continue to lie Sade, nobody would believe you. Even
though I want to believe you but I can't. No I can't! There's something you
are not telling us!" Kehinde spoke out in anger ignoring her tears.

"The only virgin that got pregnant without knowing a man was virgin
Mary who was privileged to carry the Saviour of the world. Sister Sade, we
aren't expecting another Saviour. You are pregnant because you had
intercourse with a man. Who is the man?" He asked boiling inside.

"I don't know. Brother kehinde please believe me, you are the only
person that can help me right now. Please believe me, I'm not lying, am a
virgin." She knelt down before him crying and he paused.

"Help you to do what? I hope you are not trying to ask me to accept
responsibility for another man's child...? If that's what you are asking me to
do, then you are joking..." He said in annoyance, but she interrupted him.

"No! No!That's not what am saying," she cut in trying to explain.

"First, I need you to believe me that I didn't sleep with any man
because I didn't," she said and breathed down heavily, then continued.

"Second, I want you to stand in with me in prayers. I strongly believe

that God will reveal the mystery behind this pregnancy to us. Please help
me," she said helplessly and he burst out in a provocative laughter.

"Prayer? Where is that done?" He asked in disbelief.

"Just tell me you are looking for an opportunity to implicate me, but I
assure you that you won't succeed." He said and stood up to leave. But
Sade rushed to him and held unto his legs crying.

"Don't leave me please, my parents and everyone are already against

me for a pregnancy I can't explain how it came into being, Kola has
abandoned me. I feel suicidal, please don't leave me..." She begged, still
clinging to his legs as her tears wet his trouser. He was touched to the
bone marrows, but still he didn't know how to stay close to help or pray with
a woman he is being accused of impregnating.

43
 "Holy Spirit, please help me to help her if she is indeed saying the
truth," he whispered a short prayer, searched his mind for the next direction
before instructing her to take her seat and he helped her to stand from her
kneeling position.

"You have to stop crying because of your condition. I will try my best
to believe you but you have to also help me to believe you," he said calmly.

"Sade, I have tasted the other side of life very well before I repented.
I did so many unthinkable things which today am not proud to talk about. I
slept with countless women both Christian girls and none Christians and
had many of them aborted for me. I defiled many young virgins on campus
and lured many girls from good Christian homes into formication with
money and material things. Anything that has to do with man and woman I
did them all before God arrested me in my final year in the university. So
there's nothing I've not seen or heard in this life." He narrated looking at the
surprised Sade who opened her mouth staring at him.

"Sade, a thought came to my mind right now and I believe the Holy
Spirit is trying to give us a clue to the mystery behind this pregnancy," he
said, looking straight into her eyes and he saw life returning back to her as
she readjusted herself well on the seat and gave him her undivided
attention.

"I want you to answer the questions I want to ask you now without
any form of shyness or cover up. Don't hide anything, tell me exactly what
you know about it," he said and she nodded her head with readiness to do
as he said.

"Number one question," he said and looked intently into her eyes,

"Have you ever visited a man's house and you were alone with him in
his room?" He asked still looking into her eyes as she tried to recollect.

"No, I've never visited the opposite sex because my parents warned
us against the dangers of staying in a room alone with the opposite sex.
So, I adhered to their instructions from my teenage age till now." She
explained, then continued casually.

44
 "But when Kola and I started courting, I began to visit his house once
in a while because I trusted him. But, we didn't sleep with each other," she
said and Kehinde nodded his head with interest.

"Does he offer you soft drinks by himself whenever you visit him?" He
asked.

"Not really, except on few occasions. I served myself with whatever I

wanted," she explained trying hard to understand what he was driving at.

"Alright, tell me," Kehinde said remembering how he used to drug

naive church girls with sleeping pills before having sex with them.

"Was there any day you visited him and slept off after drinking or
eating anything? I mean, you just had a sip or two and suddenly started
feeling sleepy..." He asked, looking into her eyes as he demonstrated with
his hands. Sade tried to recall if such thing ever happened but couldn't
recall any of such incident.

"Uhm... No, I can't remember anything like that. Kola cannot even be
in the same room with me and leave me to sleep..." She explained and he
cut in immediately as her response triggered up another thought within him.

"Really?" He asked rhetorically then continued,

"So what do both you do whenever you go visiting him?" He asked

cunningly and waited for a response as he observed her uneasiness.

"What we do?" She asked searching her mind for an answer.

"We ...sat down to plan for our wedding..." She said without
confidence in herself.

"Sade tell me the truth," Kehinde cuts in noticing she was not saying
the whole thing.

"Was romance involved in what two of you do whenever you visited

him?" He asked and observed her fallen countenance, she suddenly
became ashamed and lowered her head.

45
 "Come'on... Speak up! There's nothing I've not seen or heard under
the sun. Remember we had an agreement that you have to tell me
everything without shyness or cover up. Are you ready to talk or I..." He
asked and she interrupted him.

"Yes" she replied, trying to act bold and continued.

"When we started courting, Kola and I agreed to keep chaste till our
wedding night and we abided by it, until about six months later that he
started asking me to kiss him in the mouth. I refused and he got angry,
stating that he was not asking me for sex but just a kiss to prove my love
for him. I disagreed with him and maintained my stand that kissing
someone you are not married to is also immorality, and Kola became
embittered against me. All through the remaining months of the first year of
our courtship, Kola was always acting cold towards me because I refused
to kiss him. I couldn't resist his constant demand for a kiss for long, so in
the second year, I decided to please him since it wasn't sex he was asking
for..." She narrated without looking at Kehinde, breathed down and
continued.

"I started allowing him to kiss me deeply even when my conscience

pricked me against it. Then, as if that was not enough, Kola started making
advances to my body, touching my breasts and other sensitive body parts. I
stopped him and even decided I wouldn't be visiting his house again, but
he got upset and began to see faults in everything I did.

"This thing you are doing is wrong, I don't want to lose my virginity," I
complained bitterly but he didn't hear me out.

"I'm not asking you for sex, I only want to feel my woman. Is that too
much to ask?" He barked at me one evening.

“Ewo Sade mi,(see my Sade)" he called me sweetly, held my hands

into his and said,

"You can be a technical virgin, it won't change anything" Kola said

persuasively.

"Technical virgin?" I asked and he nodded in the affirmative.

46
 "What's the difference?" I asked because that was my first time of
hearing it.

"Nothing," he said with seriousness, trying to convince me,then

continued.

"The only thing there is that, you and I will be deriving sexual pleasure from
each other through smooching, caressing of sensitive body parts and the
likes while waiting for our wedding night. You will still remain a virgin
because, there would be no penetration of the sex organ," Kola explained
but I found the idea irritating and refused.

"I can't do that," I objected," immorality is still immorality regardless of

the beautiful name you call it," I said and stood up and left his house.
From that day, he changed totally and became very aggressive towards me
and everything that has to do with me. Sometimes, I will tell him to come
with me to the mountain for prayers, he will insist we do the prayers in his
room. I was supposed to go to the mountain with him that day those rascals
nearly raped me, but he asked me to come to his house first and I knew
that there was no way I would go there and come out the same way, so I
refused. Do you know that because I refused to go to his house Kola did
not talk to me for weeks?" She asked rhetorically, then continued.

"One day, I came back from church and met my roommate and
her friend who was a pastor's daughter having a serious discussion about
their relationships. Then I heard the pastor's daughter saying that she was
a technical virgin and didn't want to lose her virginity, and that she only
allowed her man to touch and kiss her. I was surprised when I heard her
still referred to herself as a virgin even when she did those things. So I
came to a conclusion that Kola was right, and that I can still be a virgin
even when I allow Kola to touch my sensitive body parts." She said and
breathed down heavily.

"I started visiting his house again and allowed him do whatever he
wanted with my body, but we didn't have sex,’’ she explained with a guilt
stricken face. “I don't think the romances have anything to do with the
pregnancy,” she said not knowing what to expect as Kehinde watched her
quietly.
"When was the last time you two met in his room to do this?"

47
Kehinde asked and brought out a sheet of paper and a pen from his chest
pocket and began to write something about calculation.

"Last month...yes,we did it again last month," she answered, then

continued.

"I was no longer comfortable with the act after the prophecy that
came forth in one of monthly revival programs which I believed it was me
God was referring to. I went over to Kola's house and discussed it with him;
I told him I won't be continuing in the act anymore but he pleaded with me
to do it with him for the last time and he would not demand for it again.
After a long struggle with my conscience, I gave in to his demand in order
to make him happy, at least for the last time till our wedding night..." She
narrated as her heart beat increased.

"Did he ejaculate on your body?" He interviewed her further.

"What do you mean by 'ejaculate’?" She asked naively and

Kehinde managed to force out a silent laugh.

"I mean,in the process of smooching and touching of sensitive body

parts that day, did he release semen or some whitish gray liquids from his
genital on your body?" He asked looking into her confused eyes.

"Semen? I don't know of any semen or whitish gray thing o." She
said thoughtfully, then continued.

"But I used to be wet and his boxers too used to be wet with some
stretchy watery stuffs. I only noticed my clothes were always wet whenever
he climbed down from my body..." She explained and Kehinde cut her
short.

"That's exactly what am talking about!" He said with keen interest.

"Did the stretchy watery stuff come in contact with your frontal
organ?.. I mean your private part?" He asked trying to act mean when he
noticed she was becoming shy.

"I...I don't know brother Kehinde," she said.

48
 "But it got to a time in that last month's own, that Kola became
very aggressive in the act and began to pull off my gown and I was almost
naked on the bed with him. I struggled with him over my clothes and I
noticed... Yes... Yes... I can remember," Sade said almost in a ‘shout when
the picture of what happened that day came flashing in her mind.

"Kola released plenty of those stretchy semen on my pants. My

undies and clothes were gummy and wet when he got up from my body
that particular day..." She said looking at Kehinde for clarification.

Kehinde breathed down heavily with relief before throwing another question
at her.

"Can you remember the date?" He asked.

"I mean the date of the day this last one happened," he asked and
she began to search her mind to remember the date.

"Uhm...I remember we went to his house together from the

fellowship that day, which was on a Wednesday... I guess it was on the
22nd of last month, yes it was on 22nd!" She confirmed it searching her
phone calendar.

"Okay..." Kehinde said then wrote the date down on the sheet of
paper, then continued.

"When did you see your period last?" He asked without raising his
head knowing that she might feel shy.

"15th of last month," she answered quietly and he wrote it down

again.
"When are you supposed to expect your period for this month?"
He asked still looking away from her so that she can feel comfortable and
answer him accurately.

"On 11th or latest 12th, but it's past now. Today is already 21st,"
she explained and Kehinde smiled sadly. Silence permeated the place for
the next few minutes before Sade voiced out.

49
 CHAPTER EIGHT

"What's happening? You are not talking," she said worriedly but
Kehinde didn't respond as he was lost in his own thoughts and his face
showed he was deeply hurting on the inside. He sighed loudly, then looked
into Sade's eyes.

"Sister Sade, you claimed to be a virgin yet you went about

fornicating with Kolade...how were you finding it easy suppressing the
nudging and warnings of the Holy Spirit each time you experiment each
other's body behind closed doors?" He asked with red eyes.

“How can you call yourself a virgin and claim to maintain chastity
whereas you practiced practically everything married people practice? You
claimed to love and fear the Lord, yet behind closed doors, you dishonour
him with your body. Sade,You have failed God, me and every other young
person who's been looking up to you as a model of purity." He said finding
it hard to believe that the Sade he had always respected and rated so high
was living a secret dirty life.

Guilt stricken, Sade was soaked in tears as his words hit her hard
and she buried her face in her hands in regrets.

"Well, it's obvious Kola is responsible for the pregnancy," he

managed to say with a cracky voice and she jolted up to face Kehinde with
a bloodshot eyes.

"I regret my actions and really wish I can turn back the hands of time.
But we didn't actually have sex, so how possible is that?" She asked
naively and Kehinde looked up at her, trying hard to hide his feeling of
disappointment and anger.

"You had better stop saying that you two didn't have sex. It's not the
penetration of the male organ that impregnates a woman or fertilizes the
eggs. It's the sperm when it finds its way into the woman's reproductive
organ that swims into her body searching for a mature egg to fertilize.
Those stretchy semen Kola released on your pant and body contains
healthy sperm cells and they must had possibly penetrated through your
pant into your reproductive organ, especially if you were wearing a net
pant. Or he could had possibly transmitted a healthy sperm into you with

50
his hands while experimenting with your genitals unknowingly," he
explained looking into her eyes with frankness.

"You actually had sex my dear. Stop ranting that you are still a virgin.
Virgins don't practice what married people do," he said and stood up as she
stared at him in shock. He saved the voice record on his phone which had
been on recording, and put it back into his trouser pocket.

Before he left his house, he decided to put every discussion he would

have with her on recording so that he would have an evidence to prove
himself innocent, if she tried implicating him. Thankfully, he was happy it
wasn't what he suspected that happened, yet he saved the recording for
future purposes.

"Get up, I'm driving you straight to the parsonage and you will need to
repeat everything you told me here before the church mummy and daddy
because it's obvious they have no idea the kind of things you and Kola
have been doing behind closed doors," he declared without looking at her
and she burst out in a loud cry.

"Daddy and mummy will be so disappointed in me..." She cried but he

didn’t answer her. She covered her head with the veil carefully and followed
him to where his car was park and off he drove to the parsonage.

"Yeeey! Mogbe! Sade!" The church mummy screamed on hearing

Sade share her secret escapes with Kolade. She turned to look at the
church pastor whose head was already lowered in disappointment.

"Ah! Sade!" The church mummy screamed again.

"How could you do such a thing?" She asked, lacking words and
Sade wept bitterly.

"That day I collapsed in his house, we were actually arguing over it.
We were mapping out plans for our traditional marriage, and he started
making advances at me again.So I pushed him away and he got angry. But
I insisted I won't continue in the dirty act again. We were still arguing over it
when I fainted," Sade continued with her story.

"Mummy,daddy am sorry for disappointing you," she said and buried

her face in her hands crying while Kehinde sat quietly, watching them. The

51
Pastor brought out his phone and dialed a number, "Hello brother Kolade,"
he said and responded to Kola's greetings at the other end.

"I want to see you in the house right away, in the next 15 minutes
please," he said trying hard to maintain his comportment. He dropped his
phone and stole a look at Sade, tapping his feet on the floor before
speaking to Kehinde.

"So what has their romance story to do with the pregnancy?" He

asked Kehinde because the part of Kola releasing semen on Sade was yet
to be discussed.

"Well sir, I studied Gynaecology in the university and am presently

practicing my profession as a Gynaecologist." He said and looked at the
Pastor who was nodding his head with interest,then continued.

"From my discussion with sister Sade, she last saw her period on the
15th of last month and their last romance happened on the 23rd of that
same month," he started to explain and the Pastor looked intently at him
trying to understand what he was driving at.

"On that 23rd in which they had their last romance,Sade was
ovulating. And according to her, Kola was lying on her and struggling to pull
off her gown, and she noticed that her pants and clothes were wet with
Kolade's Semen." He continued with his explanation and watched the
Pastor frowned in confusion.

"Okay?" the Pastor said indicating that he should explain how that
can make Sade pregnant.

"Sir, a sperm cell can swim through any see through cloth or pant and
if it finds its way into the woman's reproductive organ, pregnancy can easily
be achieved if she is ovulating," he explained and the church mummy gave
another loud scream.

"Ah! Sade! Why did you go this far?" She asked rhetorically almost
crying.
"Sade, you didn't want to eat the meat, but you shared the meat with
your teeth and you ended up tasting the juice from the meat. Sade, you ate
the meat," the church mummy said as tears trickle down her cheeks.

52
 "The meat!" Sade shouted as she remembered her dream.

"Yes, I actually shared the meat with my teeth trying to settle the
misunderstanding and I was later accused of eating the meat. I was
disgraced..." She stood up staring into space and Kehinde rushed to her.

"I guess she is already stressed up and needs to rest." Kehinde

suggested looking at the Pastor and his wife, and the door opened to usher
in Kolade who was surprised to find Kehinde holding Sade in the presence
of the Pastor and his wife.

"Ek`ale daddy,mummy," he swallowed hard and greeted but they

didn't respond, rather the Pastor directed him to sit down.

"I actually tasted the meat in that dream, I swallowed the water that
dripped out of the meat, though I didn't chew the meat. I didn't know it was
going to bring me disgrace, I didn't know." She continued and they feared
she was going mad.

The church mummy took hold of her and sat her down as she kept
muttering words while the Pastor interrogated Kolade.

"When was the last time Sade visited your house apart from
yesterday?" The Pastor asked looking into his eyes with meanness and
Kola's heart began to beat fast.

"Uhm... That was… I think it was last month," he said and the Pastor
threw another question at him immediately.

"What's the date of that day?" He asked still looking at him and
observing his uneasiness as he looked around from Kehinde to the angry
looking church mummy who was holding Sade.

"It's either 22nd or 23rd thereabout," he said calculatingly. "Yeah, it's

on 23rd" he said.

"What happened in your room that fateful day?" The Pastor queried,
not giving him breathing space.

"Nothing sir," he answered quickly and stole a look at Sade who was
still looking into the space.

53
 "Are you saying that no kissing and romancing took place between
you and Sade?" The Pastor asked losing his temper and Kolade became
quiet and lowered his head.

"Mr. Man, answer me right now, I don't have a spare time to waste in
silence!" The Pastor blew hurt at him.

"Well, that was before, we've stopped the act a long time ago..."
Kolade murmured grudgingly in response and avoided the Pastor's eyes.

"Did you do it that day? I want a straight answer of either 'yes' or

'No'." the Pastor said looking meaner and silence permeated the parlor.
"If I lose my temper, you will sleep in the cell this night," the
Pastor threatened and fear gripped Kola's heart.

"Ye..ye...yes sir," Kola stammered in shame and the church mummy

gave another loud disappointing scream while the shocked Pastor looked
intently at Kola whose head was still lowered and didn't know whether to
pounce on Kolade and give him the beating if his life or order him out of his
house.

"Well, you got Sade pregnant with your stupid secret sin," the Pastor
said and Kola raised his head in shock.

"That's not possible, I didn't sleep with Sade." He objected and stood
up to face Kehinde.

"They both cooked up a story to dump the pregnancy on me and I

won't accept it!" He shouted at the top of his voice.

"When you are done barking, you will understand better" the Pastor
told Kolade.

"The relationship was difficult but I wanted it to work out by all means.
I went to the extent of giving him my body to make it work. I was supposed
to give up the difficult meat but I was too soft hearted trying to share my
body between him and the Holy Spirit. Now I understand better.

"Sade kept muttering and they couldn't understand what she was
saying.
"I will get a drip from the nearest pharmacy right away and inject her

54
to sleep, she is losing her mind" Kehinde said, picked up his car keys and
dashed out of the parlor. The Pastor instructed the church mummy to take
Sade to the guest room where the drip would be fixed on her.

Kolade insisted that he was not responsible for the pregnancy even
after Kehinde and the Pastor had explained to him the possibility.

"Well then," Kehinde said, then continued.

"We shall carry out a DNA and blood paternity test for confirmation,"
he said then Kolade shook in fear and the Pastor noticed it. He suddenly
became silent and looked at Kehinde with sore hatred,then made to walk
out.

"We would need to collect your blood sample for the tests before
you leave Kolade," the Pastor halted him and whispered something in
Kehinde's ear who nodded immediately to what he told him.

"I will need to think about it first, nobody is going to force me

against my wish. If after I've taken my time to think about the DNA test and
my spirit accepts it, I will comply when am ready" he said without looking
into the pastor's eyes and walked out arrogantly.

Kehinde and the Pastor had a brief strategic plan discussion, he

glanced through his wristwatch and found out it was already past
10pm,then jumped to his feet, took permission from the Pastor to check on
Sade who was fast asleep and greeted the family goodbye when he was
done checking on her.

He was so lost in thoughts as he drove home that night and felt

concerned for Sade, though he was disappointed and didn't expect that
things will turn out this way for her but at the same time, he didn't want to
be angry with her anymore and he prayed seriously within him that God
should show her mercy at this critical period of her life. He arrived home
very tired and famished but didn't have the appetite to taste any food, so he
freshened up, gulped down a bottle of lucozade energy boost and knelt
down close to his bed to pray for Sade.

It was Sunday morning and the news of Sade's pregnancy had

spread like wild fire among the church members. Some fervent members

55
who loved her cried their eyes out on hearing the news while some rejoiced
over her down fall.

Sade's roommate who was yet to understand the reason why Sade
was staying in the pastor's house heard the rumour on her way home from
church and didn't know whether she should start dancing or jumping for joy.
Immediately she arrived home, she broke out in laughter and began to
dance as she sang and gave herself a typical Yoruba drum beat with her
mouth.

"Sade the pretender!" She said and clapped her hands together,
then continued.

"So Sade have been fornicating yet she comes back here to claim
that she is a virgin?" She asked rhetorically and gave another scornful
laugh.

"Even Tolu the Pastor's daughter that have been claiming that she
is a technical virgin, her boyfriend too raped her while they were romancing
each other..." she said and laughed,

"She didn't want to have sex but she wanted to do the kissing and
romancing. May thunder from Ogun fire two of them." she said and began
to laugh.

56
 CHAPTER NINE

According to the information gathered, the pastor's daughter was

raped by her boyfriend Tope while they were in the heat of a hot romance.
The said boyfriend couldn't control his libido that day so he forced her down
and raped her.

"Well,what do you expect? Kisses and romances are meant to

prepare married people for sex, why should unmarried people engage in
such act and expect not to be raped?" Anybody that want to be a virgin
should be a correct and complete virgin and abstain from what married
people do. Oga Pastor, it's your daughter that put that young man for
temptation oo," A police man told Tolu's father when they were writing a
statement at the police station and the Pastor felt ashamed to hear that
statement coming from a common police man to him just because a
daughter he raised in the atmosphere of holiness and righteousness went
about misbehaving with a street boy.

Tope was arrested and charged for rape but the case was later
dissolved based on the fact that the duo were secret lovers and were both
indulging in sexual activities willingly.

Three month after Kolade's meeting with the Pastor and Kehinde,
Kola kept giving the Pastor excuses why he was not yet ready for the test
while he secretly made plans to relocate to another state in order to dodge
the paternity test and the shame. He was the Sunday school coordinator
and a well-respected brother in the church and in that town and can't bear
the shame if the result comes out and confirms him the father of the child.
When he was done with his plans of relocating to Onitsha, he boarded a
night bus and waved the city where he had always desired to live and raise
a family goodbye. The bus arrived Onitsha by 3am but before it could
convey the passengers to the park, a trailer collided with it in a terrible
accident and Kolade was found dead on the spot with his body scattered
on the high way beyond recognition while other passengers sustained
minor injuries and were rushed to the hospital for immediate treatment.

"Kolade come back! Kola! Kola!" The Pastor called after Kolade
who was heading towards a very deep and wide pit full of all forms of wild
animals and sharp objects but Kola refused to look back.

57
 "Kola, that path leads to destruction. Come back let's settle this
amicably. You are not the first to fall neither will you be the last. Come back
to me Kolade..." He pleaded.

"You can tell that to other young people who are willing to listen to
you, as for me, I have chosen this path and will face whatever comes out of
it. Why should I face the shame and disgrace? Let me be!" Kolade
responded in anger as he kept moving forward while the pastor kept
running after him and soon,he arrived at the edge of it. He looked back at
the Pastor with a determined face and said,

"Don't bother calling me back, my mind is already made up. Good

bye!" He said and jumped into the pit and in few seconds,the pastor who
was already on his knees crying and begging him heard his loud screams.
"Kola! Kola! Kola!!!!!!" The Pastor screamed out of his dream still
calling Kola's name and his wife who was sleeping close to him jumped up
from the bed.

"Daddy, daddy!" She called, and rushed to hold her husband who
was sweating profusely.

"What is the problem?" She asked fearfully as the Pastor held his
chest, breathing heavily and looked up at the wall clock and it was 3:10am.

"Kola is in trouble, I had a terrible dream about Kolade. Get me my

phone," he said panting hard and his wife rushed over to the study table
and handed him his phone. He searched through his phone for Kola's
number and dialed it but it didn't go through. He kept dialing it for the
umpteenth time but MTN kept repeating that the number was not
reachable. He dropped the phone and became restless as he related the
dream to his wife who also became afraid.

"Let us join our hands and faith together and pray for him," the
Pastor said and they went down on their knees, hand in hand and began to
pray fervently for Kola. The Pastor couldn't sleep again as he kept trying
the number over and over again with a troubled heart. He called his family
together for devotion earlier than usual and once it was 5:30, he dashed
out of his house to Kola's apartment but found it under lock and key. He
knocked on the next door neighbor's door and after a while, a young man
opened the door.

58
 "Good morning my dear, am sorry to disturb your sleep this early
morning," the Pastor said in a hurry and the man with sleepy eyes nodded
his head in response.

"Please, am looking for Kolade, the young man living here," the
Pastor said pointing towards Kola's door post.

"Oh Pastor Kola you mean?" The neighbor asked rhetorically robbing
his eyes roughly then continued.

"I don't think he slept at home yesterday o, I guess he went to one of

his usual church night programs..." He explained.

"But did you see him yesterday evening?" The Pastor queried,
convinced that Kola didn't go to any church program.

"I came back very late into the night yesterday, but I saw him in the
morning before leaving for work," he replied looking around.

"Oga, just wait for him, pastor Kola will soon come back. It's around
this time that he usually comes back from night programs," he said and
brought out a plastic chair for the Pastor.

"Oga, sit here and wait for him" he said while handing him the
chair.
"Thank you very much," the Pastor said as he collected the chair
and sat down. He sat there close to two hours as all the neighbours came
out of their rooms to do their morning chores one after the other. Kolade's
neighbour became very worried too when he finished dressing up for work
and still Kola was not back. He picked his phone and started calling Kola's
number repeatedly but it was switched off.

"Iya beji!" He called on a pregnant woman living opposite.

"Shebi you see Pastor Kola yesterday?" He asked his neighbor in

Pidgin English.

"Eeh! I see am carry big big bag enter taxi yesterday evening o. I
come dey ask am whether him dey pack comot? him come tell me say hin
dey come. Me dey suspect say Pastor don pack o, abi he tell you?" she
replied back in pidgin.

59
 "No na, pastor no fit pack comot and not tell me. Maybe he don do
small travel shaa" Kola's neighbor replied defensively, then turned to the
Pastor who was also listening to their conversation.

"Sir, from what this my neighbor is saying, I think Pastor Kola

traveled yesterday. Though, it's strange that he didn't tell me he was
travelling since we usually inform each other whenever we want to travel."
He said in finality and the Pastor thanked him for his efforts, stood up and
left still wondering where Kola must had traveled to.

He arrived his house and demanded for Kola's parents’ number

from Sade and she provided it. He called them and introduced himself
Kola's pastor to his parents, then slyly asked them if Kola arrived home
safely yesterday but the mother stated that they didn't see Kola. The
pastor's call in turn raised tension in Kola's family as they began to call his
number which was switched off.

Kolade actually changed his number which everyone had and

bought a new sim card then disposed the old one before he embarked on
his trip. The only person he called with his new number was his friend living
in Onitsha whose place he planned to stay for a while before getting his
own accommodation.

The Pastor and Kola's family members kept calling his number all
through that day but couldn't reach him until later that afternoon when the
pastor received a call from Kehinde.

"Hello daddy!" Kehinde said at the other end immediately the Pastor
picked his call.

"Hello brother Kenny," the Pastor replied and on noticing how fast he
was breathing, he asked

"Is everything alright? You are not sounding fine" he asked Kehinde
over the phone.

"Daddy, where are you, something terrible has happened. Are you
at home?" Kehinde said in a hurry.

"Yes...am home. Can you..." The Pastor was still trying to talk when
Kehinde interrupted him.

60
 "Alright, I'm coming to the house right away!" He said and ended
the call.

In less than 45minutes, he arrived the parsonage and met the

Pastor and his wife already waiting for him. He entered the parlor in tears
and suddenly, words failed him to convey the message he came with to
them.

"Daddy... Kola, Kolade!" He bursted into a loud cry as the confused

Pastor and his wife watched him perplexedly.

"What about Kolade? Is he okay?" The Pastor queried,stood up and

walked towards him. Unable to talk as he cried, he handed his phone to the
Pastor to see the picture sent to him on WhatsApp. It was the picture of the
accident scene and the sight of it was so disgusting, so the Pastor on
recognizing the very clothes and body stature of Kola gave a heartbreaking
scream and fell back to the cushion closest to him. As his wife was going
over to him to see what was in the phone, Sade came out from the quest
room having heard the Pastor scream so loud.

On entering the parlor, she saw Kehinde in tears and the Pastor
holding his chest due to shock, then she observed the pastor's wife looking
into the phone in her husband's hand who later joined in the cry. She had
the urge to go over to the Pastor and have a glance at the sight in the
phone that was making everyone cry but she had been taught by her
parents as a child never to peep into elders affairs,so she decided to stand
back and give the Pastor his due respect.

"Daddy,mummy," she said after some minutes of standing at a spot

without a clue of what was happening.

"What's happening?" She asked focusing her attention on

Kehinde but no one answered her. The Pastor glanced through the
WhatsApp messages and pictures again and found out that the accident
scenes were actually posted to the WhatsApp group of the past University
of Ibadan students Set 2010/2011 in which both Kolade, Kehinde and the
young man Kola was going to meet in Onitsha were members.

"Breaking News!’’

61
 “We lost one of our own in a ghastly motto accident early this
morning in Onitsha. Kolade Ayorinde was actually relocating to Onitsha
from the western part of the country but couldn't make it to his destination
as a trailer collided with the bus conveying him and other passengers. I
personally mourn his death with a heavy heart.Please, if you know any
member of his family,please contact them to come and claim his body
which have been deposited in the mortuary. Call this number for more
enquiry... 080*********." Ayo, the young man whom Kola was going to meet
in Onitsha wrote in the group chat beneath the pictures...

"Ah!!! Brother Kola! He impacted my life so much on campus. God

why?" A girl named Queen in the group commented

................................................................................
"This is unbelievable! It can't be bro Kola.I called him last week on
phone and invited him to minister in a 1day youth program in my church
and he agreed to honour my invitation. Ah! Don't tell me that brother Kola is
dead o!" Someone commented in the group chat.
..............................................................................
"This is really a painful death, I can't hold my tears...But my joy is
that brother Kola died in the Lord. Brother Kola, rest in peace till we meet in
heaven to part no more," a lady commented and posted a crying image.

................…...........................................................
"RIP!" Someone whose name was Jazzy commented,then posted
an internet business advert immediately.

..............................................................................
"Guy, you are wicked, so you have the heart to post your useless
business scam advert here when we are mourning the death of a young
person. You dey mad for brain o" someone attacked Jazzy.

..............................................................................
"See me see wahala o! Person wey don die don die o. We wey still
dey alive need to make money o. With just 1k, you go get 5k in less than
20minutes o. Hurry now as e dey hot!" Jazzy replied his attacker.

............................................................................
"Crying.... Brother Kola was the one that led me to Christ on
campus. God why? Why? Rest in peace sir." Another member commented.

62
..............................................................................
"Guys, we need to attend this guy burial o! Please update us here
when the date of the burial is fixed" a guy named Balogun commented.

..............................................................................
"Yoruba people and party! You wan go chop owambe rice abi
...lol.." Another guy whose name was abbreviated as CJ commented,
referring to Balogun.

..............................................................................
"Jesu!!!! Well, I know bother Kola is with the Lord. It's not about the
number of years lived, but the level of impact made. Brother Kola made
great impact while he lived, so rest on!" A girl named Abike commented.

..............................................................................
"Not about the number of years lived abi? Oya make you go die at
the age of 27 na. See ya mouth!" A young man named Bobby attacked
Abike.

"RIP bro" Some other persons commented and the Pastor dropped
the phone and looked up at Sade. "Sit down Sister Sade," the Pastor said
and watched her in her protruding stomach with pity.

63
 CHAPTER TEN

The Pastor carefully broke the news of Kola's death to Sade but they
were all surprised that she didn't cry nor showed any form of shock. When
she noticed their surprise looks, she smiled dryly and said,

"Are you all surprised I didn't throw myself on the floor and cry my
eyes out?" She asked looking from the Pastor, his wife and Kehinde.

"I've been mourning Kola for over three months now, and I've gotten
over him already. Kolade ruined my life and deserted me to suffer alone.
He ruined my life daddy!" She began to cry as she remembered how Kola
had not called on phone nor visited her ever since the pregnancy saga
started. It pained her more because Kola kept telling people that he was
not responsible for the pregnancy.

"I will never forgive Kola. God must judge hi..." She kept crying and
the pastor's wife ran over to her and held her mouth.

"Don't say that Sade, it hasn't gotten to that extent. Kola is still the
father of your unborn child no matter what and you shouldn't say such
things about him," the church mummy hushed her and she broke loose
from her hands in anger and ran into her room crying then the church
mummy followed her immediately,and the Pastor began to lament bitterly
before Kehinde.

"I did everything possible to draw Kola closer to us like Sister Sade to
avoid further misdemeanor but Kola's heart was too hardened that he
rejected the help of God. He chose destruction over repentance and life..."
He lamented, then continued.

"Imagine Kola relocating to Onitsha without anyone's knowledge,

not even me who have mentored him for over 16years. Kola really
surprised me," the Pastor said shaking his head in disappointment.

"I'm really short of words sir. I didn't see this coming" Kehinde
said, looking up at the Pastor.

"It's well, I will call a church council meeting to begin plans on how
to go and claim his body from the said mortuary and then meet with his
family to break the news to them and possibly make arrangements for his

64
burial....Ah! I don't even know which one to cry for, is it to cry that Kola who
had a bright future was cut short in the afternoon of his life or that he died
in rebellion and could possibly be going to spend eternity in hell after many
years of serving the Lord...?" The Pastor lamented again and excused
himself to enter his room. Kehinde couldn't still believe everything that was
happening as he sat down on the cushion for about 30minutes before
leaving the parsonage.

Two weeks later, Kola's body was laid to rest in his home town
and many church members and his old school friends were in attendance.
Though the Pastor tried to keep the story behind Kola's death a secret, the
members of the church council spread the story and everyone got to know
that Kola was the one responsible for Sade's pregnancy.

"Shebi they were in courtship? Highest thing the church for give
them back seat and after serving their suspension, pastor for do marriage
blessing for them. Why was he trying to run away?" An average woman
told her gossip partner as they walked out of Kola's family compound.

"But, why should acclaimed church people be committing

formication in the name of courtship? That's why I don't trust all these
people carrying Bible up and down in the name of born again..." Her
partner in gossip replied and began to walk fast.

"I beg let's walk fast so we can find a bus o," she said and they
doubled their steps while continuing in their discussion.

Sade who refused to go with the Pastor and his wife for the burial
stayed back at home in deep thoughts. She thought about the beautiful
future she had which was fast becoming a nightmare, her music album and
her Masters Degree program which were part of her two years short term
vision had also become a history as she wouldn't be able to achieve any of
them anymore.

At a point, a suicide came into her mind strongly and she felt like
ending it all but the fear of spending eternity in hell stopped her from
attempting it. She felt like praying but couldn't find the right words as it
seemed she had forgotten how to pray.

"Lord please, let me have a miscarriage. This child would remind

me of my errors all the days of my life and I can't cope with the guilt. Please
65
Lord,don't let this child live..." She knelt down and began to mumble
prayers.

Sade kept praying to have miscarriage as she wouldn't want to use

her own hands to terminate the child in her womb but the child kept
growing inside her and her protruding stomach became bigger and bigger
each day while Kehinde and the church mummy made sure that she went
for antenatal monthly and also take every medications she was given.

On one of the few Sundays Sade agreed to go to church, she

decided to sit at the back seat and avoided the gossiping looks of some of
the church members as she maintained a straight face, focusing only on
the happenings at the altar.

During the praise and worship, she couldn't stand to her feet but
right there on her seat, all she could do was cry as she watched the same
altar upon which she had stood severally to minister and brought down the
presence of God through worship and the microphone she had handled so
skillfully being handled by another person who didn't even seem to be
serious with the songs she was singing.

"Lord, if only you will give me a second chance, I will worship you
in spirit and in truth with my life and will never again let either secret or
open sins come between my relationship with you..." She was praying
silently when someone tapped her shoulder. She turned to see who it was
and standing there before her was Mr. Afolabi, the vice principal of the
school she was teaching before.

"How far?" He asked her rhetorically and burst into a provocative

laugh even while the praise and worship was ongoing.

"How far with your born againism? I heard you are pregnant, so
tell me, is it Jesus that impregnated you? Because the last time I checked,
you are not yet married." He mocked her still laughing.

"Oh! No wonder you are no longer coming to work. But you see,
you can't hide bad news for long,everyone in the school have heard about
the mysterious pregnancy of Miss Sade the holy Mary... I've been coming
to this your church ever since I got the information in order to confirm it with
my two eyes but haven't been seeing you and finally here you are, heavily
pregnant.” Mr. Afolabi continued.
66
 Now tell me, who is finally the sinner between you and I?" He
continued mocking and laughing at her and she couldn't bear it anymore,
so she pushed him aside and ran out of the church back into her room in
the parsonage crying.

The church mummy noticed what was happening from where she
was sitting and stood up to meet the strange man, but before she could
reach there,Mr. Afolabi had hastened his steps out of the church seeing
that he had created a scene in the church. The ushers rushed at him but he
was smart enough to have gone faraway from the church premises, so they
returned to their posts while the church mummy rushed into the house to
meet Sade. She met her on the bed crying and after so much questionings
and trying to calm her down, Sade told her who Mr. Afolabi was and how
he mocked her because of her condition. The church mummy spoke to her
until she stopped crying but she refused to follow her back to the church
service.

"Mummy, I've become a topic of discussion among the church

members and unbelievers. I think I need to change location. I need to travel
faraway from this area to a place where nobody knows anything about my
past," she said as the church mummy was about going out and she turned
back and sat down on the bed again.

"Sister Sade, you can't run away from your shadow. Even if you
will change location, it shouldn't be now because you need to stay close to
where your spiritual life can be revived back to life. Daddy and I have
agreed that once you put to birth, we would release you to go home to your
parents in the village to nurture the child and also cool off your head and
then plan your life afresh. Sister Sade, life is not over because you got
pregnant out of wedlock, God's plans for your life is still intact. Don't give up
just ye,t" the church mummy encouraged her more and then excused
herself when she saw that Sade was a bit relieved.

Kehinde kept visiting the parsonage once in a while and took

Sade out for walking exercises and also made her laugh in order to make
delivery easy for her until nine months were completed. Sade gave birth to
a baby girl and stayed in the pastor's house for an additional one month
before the Pastor and his wife drove her in the company of Kehinde to her
village in Ondo where she would have to live with her aged parents to raise
her baby and possibly start a new life.

67
 After about three hours' drive from the city, they arrived Sade's
family house which was built with mud and in no time, little children and
elderly women gathered around at a distance looking at the car and those
coming out of it. On hearing the car honk in front of their house, Sade's
parents ran out of the room to see for themselves what was happening. Her
father was the first to come out, but couldn't move any further on seeing
Sade in the midst of strange faces with a woman carrying a new born baby
which he believed was Sade's child. He managed to force out a smile at
the Pastor as they approached him and not knowing what else to do,he
pocketed his hands in his old native clothes as his wife came from behind
and shouted Sade's name in surprise.

The Pastor sat Sade's parents down and explained to them all that
happened and admonished them not to lay blames on Sade for getting
pregnant out of wedlock but that they should accommodate her in love and
accept the newly born child as theirs.

"We are all humans and are prone to temptations of life. Sade is
going through her own tempting time and we all should join hands to
strengthen her in love." the Pastor told them and they agreed.

When they were about going back to the city, Sade began to cry
and clung her hands around the church mummy who cried along with her.

"Don't worry, we will keep checking on you from time to time. And
don't hesitate to call us if you need anything" the church mummy consoled
her as she wiped off the tears on her face while Kehinde and the Pastor
walked up to the car and waited for the church mummy to join them in the
car. Sade and her parents waved at them as the Pastor drove out of the
compound and finally out of sight.

68
 CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kehinde entered his room struggling over the thought that has long
been disturbing his heart. He knew he truly loved Sade and had wished he
was the lucky one when Sade told him she was engaged. He did hoped
that things work out for her and Kolade before the tragedy that struck the
two of them. He had planned remaining Sade's friend even after marriage,
little did he know that Kola and Sade would end up the way they did.

The thoughts that have been troubling his mind was the possibility
of still marrying Sade as a single mother, though he still loved her and
wouldn't mind marrying her regardless of her condition, he was afraid his
royal parents won't support him to marry a woman who already has a child.
He was confused and didn't know whether he should keep Sade's condition
of being a single mother a secret from them or let them know about it. But
his heart didn't accept keeping secrets from his parents, so the matter
began to give him sleepless nights from that day.

Sade quickly adjusted to the village way of life, as she joined her
parents in going to farm, fetching of water and doing other strenuous house
chores along with taking care of her daughter Toyin. Kehinde took it upon
himself to visit her and her daughter once every month and he usually
bought baby wears and food items with other things along with himself for
Sade and her baby. Before leaving them, he would give her money and
also urge her to call him if she needs anything. The Pastor and his wife
also kept to their promise and gave Sade a surprise visit on Toyin's one
year birthday and she couldn't contain her joy.

In less than three years, Sade had exhausted her life savings due
to the fact that she supported her parents financially and also fend for
herself and the baby. As if Olori Ade, a village titled man knew that Sade
was in need of money and friendship, he began to make advances at her
and as he wooed her with money and gifts, Sade's parents who held the
Olori in high esteem began to pressurize her to accept his proposal.

"I can't befriend a married man. That man already has three wives,"
Sade objected in a heated argument with her parents.

"But you couldn't keep yourself to marry aright. Listen, you are already in
the same class with Olori Ade because you are a single mother without a
husband. Befriending him which will later turn into marriage is even to your
69
own advantage, because you can never find a young man to marry you,"
her mother lashed at her to her consternation.

"Mammi!" She called her mother in dismay.

"Yes, your mother is right. Olori Ade is rich and capable of taking
care of you and your child. Can't you see that all his wives are living
comfortably? You will even be treated more special because you are
educated and younger than his old wives. Give him a chance Sade" her
father supported his wife.

The pressure from her parents and Olori continued for months
until she began to give it a thought when things began to get so tough with
her and her aged parents. Her father was down with sickness and only the
little she and her mother were able to gather was what was sustaining
them.

Finally she accepted Olori's friendship proposal and he began to

spoil her silly with money and gifts which her parents also enjoyed the gifts
with her. He released a huge amount of money to Sade for the treatment of
her father on the condition that once her father gets well, Sade will in turn
give him a kind treatment in bed and she agreed.

During one of Kehinde's monthly visit ,he observed a great change

in Sade's physical look and approach which he knew were not part of her
life before. As he was trying to get her to talk about her challenges and
other things, Olori Ade showed up in Sade's house and tickled Sade on her
waist playfully from behind which got her embarrassed before Kehinde.

"Olori, please stop!" She shouted standing up to her feet.

"Arrh! Oremi kilode?( My friend what is it?)" The surprised Olori

queried because he had done the same thing to her several times, and she
never reacted that way.

"Please Olori, I have a visitor now. Can you come back later?" Sade
said feeling uncomfortable.

"Sade mi,so because of your visitor you have forgotten our

appointment today?" The surprised Olori queried looking suspiciously from

70
Sade to Kehinde who was looking at him, then turned around and left in
anger. When he left, silence followed.

"Is he your uncle?" Kehinde broke the silence. He knew Olori was
not her uncle but he wanted his suspicions to be confirmed by her.

"Uhm... Not really... He… he is my frie..nd" she stammered in

response.

"So this is what you are doing in the village Sade? Flirting around
with an old man?" Kehinde flared up in anger.

"Brother Kehinde what do you expect me to do? I have to survive, he

has been the one helping my family... Besides, I need a man in my life."
Sade blurted out before realizing that she had said too much.

"Yeah, that's it! You need a man in your life that's why you are flirting
with an old man, not really because of money," Kehinde spoke up and
stood up to leave.

"Brother Kehinde, I'm a single mother already and no responsible

young man is going to marry me. Are you expecting me to remain like this
for..." She was talking but he shut her up.

"Sade you lie. Being a single mother cannot stop God from bringing
you a godly young man. Sade how come you suddenly forgot you are a
child of God? How could you stoop so low to the extent of flirting with an
old man?" Kehinde fired at her and she broke down in tears. He left her in
anger and drove back to the city ignoring her pleas to hear her out.

..............................................................................

Kehinde who had become so dedicated to his profession as a

Gynaecologist met so many women, both married and unmarried and
attended to their health issues so humanely that women became so fond of
him and were always looking out for opportunities to build a more intimate
relationship with him. It was during one of such times that he met Toyosi, a
beautiful young girl who just graduated from law school. She had visited the
hospital to see the doctor as regards her menstrual disorder and Kehinde
was the doctor who attended to her. From the way he attended to her,
coupled with the fact that he was handsome and seemingly generous, she

71
developed instant attraction for him and began to build constant
communication with him through calls and chats. Kehinde on his own part
liked visionary women and he saw one in Toyosi and as a result, he made
himself accessible for her anytime she needed to see or speak with him
and from there they both became inseparable as they even go for jogging
exercises together weekly .

"I like your spirit" he will always tell her whenever they were
together on phone or in person discussing career matters.

"I've found the woman to marry" Kehinde told his parents in an

unannounced visit and his mother jumped up in excitement and began to
dance different dancing styles....

When the woman was done dancing, she sat down all smiles and
the Oba (king) who was so impressed by his son's readiness to settle down
after years of begging him to get married and give them grandchildren
spoke up.

"My son," the oba called Kehinde smiling, then continued.

"I'm very happy that at last, you have finally found the woman after
your heart who will also build the empire with you" he said and his wife
shouted,
"Yes ooo. Oluwa ese oo" she exclaimed excitedly and her husband smiled
before turning towards Kehinde again.

"Oma Oba," the Oba called Kehinde who answered him

warmly,holding his palms together as if he was struggling over something.

"You know you are my only son and also the heir apparent to the
throne and you can't afford to marry a woman who will bring problems and
reproaches into your life and the kingdom at large," the oba said and
breathed down, then continued.

"Who is this lady that has won my son's heart? I mean, where is
she from and what information have you been able to gather about her
lineage?" He asked looking very serious as he observed his son looking
down and fidgeting. Kehinde that he knew was a fearless and a stubborn
son except for the intervention of God who arrested him and he became
cool headed. He suddenly began to suspect that something was wrong as
72
he and his wife exchanged glances. Kehinde suddenly looked up at them
with a determined face and said,

"Ba mi, maami," he called his parents in his Yoruba tongue, looked
down and then felt obliged to make his parents proud. He made up his
mind to mention Toyosi's name to them, though he knew he was not yet
intimate with her relationship wise but he was very sure that she was
crushing on him and would accept his marriage proposal without a second
thought. His parents would be proud to hear that he was marrying a
barrister from a well to do family and would also love her when they meet
her because she was a beauty to behold.

Though he liked her for her smartness and visionary spirit, he didn't
have much attraction for her like he does for Sade. Secondly, he knew
everything about Sade more than Toyosi who have been doing everything
possible to please him. Though Toyosi told him she was not in any
relationship, he had his doubts about her still and couldn't go beyond
normal friendship even when she was trying everything possible to initiate a
romantic relationship between them.

"Her name is Sade..." He opened his mouth and mentioned Sade's name
before realizing that it wasn't her name he wanted to mention. His heart
began to beat faster signaling trouble but deep within his heart, he had
peace beyond description.

"She is from a small village called Igomu (not real name), in Ondo"
he said and breathed down heavily as he watched his parent's eyes fixed
at him.

"She is not really from a wealthy family but her lineage has a good
record" He explained and watched his father nodded his head in response.
He gathered boldness from within and released the very words that have
been troubling his mind.

"But, She... She's a single mother," he said and fixed his eyes on
them to face whatever their reaction would be.

"Sorry?" The Oba said trying to understand what their son was
talking about and his mother gave a disapproving scream.

73
 "I mean she already has a child but it was a..." He was trying to
explain but they both hushed him.

"Stop!" They both shouted in unison as if they planned it.

"Ah! Is this how you want to pay us back? By bringing a leftover

food into this honourable home? Kehinde do you even realize you are a
royal seed?" His mother began to quarrel, raising her voice then turned to
face her husband who was not talking.

"Are you not going to say anything? Will you keep quiet and watch
Kehinde bring in a loosed woman who will bring this family and the entire
kingdom shame? She asked the Oba in anger but he was lost in thoughts
and couldn't answer her a word.

"Mammi, she wasn't a loosed woman and she is not..." Kehinde

spoke up in defence but his mother won't allow him to speak further.

"Short your dirty mouth! Foolish boy!" His mother fired at him to his
surprise because his mother has never spoken so harshly to him, not even
when he was living a rough life.

"Listen, I will never be a part of that union. If you can't find a virtuous
woman to marry, tell me and I will find one for you from this kingdom. But if
you insist on marrying that Sade of a woman, count me and your father
out!" She said in finality and walked out leaving the surprised Kehinde and
his silent father.

"Baba mi, please try and understand me. This is the only woman
after my heart, besides, she wasn't a loosed woman that jumped from bed
to bed, it was..." Kehinde drew closer to his father thinking he could get
through with him but he didn't want to hear him out.

"I'm so disappointed at you. This discussion is over, when you are

ready to marry someone reasonable, come back. You may leave my
presence." His father said in dismissal and looked away.

Kehinde drove back to the city with sadness of heart and kept
rejecting Toyosi's calls all through that day. Toyosi became restless and
thought that he probably was in danger but didn't know how else to reach
him because Kehinde refused to disclose his house address to her. She

74
called few people whom she felt could know his place, but they couldn't
help her with the house address.

Kehinde did not want to make his intention openly known to Sade
until he settles with his parents and get their approval before proposing
marriage to her. His heart was troubled over his parent's reaction, though
he expected them to react,but not to the extent that his father who always
long for his presence would ask him to leave his presence. He needed to
speak with someone in order to relieve himself and possibly forget what
happened between him and his parents and Sade came to mind. He dialled
Sade's number and expected it to be switched off because the last time he
visited her, she complained that her phone had gone bad and he promised
to get her a new phone in his next visit. His heart skipped as the thought of
Olori Ade buying Sade a new phone came to his mind and he prayed under
his breath that she should pick her calls so he could confirm it.

"Hello brother Kehinde" Sade was heard at the other end.

"Hello sister Sade, how are you?" He said calmly and suddenly
found himself smiling at the sound of her voice.

"Am fine sir, how are you doing?" She asked, and her little
daughter Toyin came running from behind, shouting,

"Bother Kehinde! Bother Kehinde!" Toyin kept calling as she ran

towards her mother to speak with him. Kehinde burst into laughter on
hearing Toyin shouting his name and asked Sade to give her the phone,
but before she could do that, Toyin had grabbed the phone from her mother
and had started talking ceaselessly to him without minding whether he was
listening or not.

75
 CHAPTER TWELVE

Kehinde kept laughing as little Toyin kept giving him account of things
he didn't ask her.

"Olori bought new phone for iya mi o" Toyin informed Kehinde
excitedly and Sade grabbed the phone from her and gave her a hard knock
on the head. She fearfully placed the phone close to her left ear but
Kehinde was silent.

"Hel..lo ,hello" she stammered over the phone but Kehinde refused to
respond.

Kehinde dropped the phone and held his forehead which had started
aching.

"What exactly is wrong with her? Why is Sade finding it so difficult to

rise up after falling? Lord please speak to her heart, revive her love and
fear for you. Open her eyes to see and know that you've got better plans
for her life and that her mess can be turned into a message that will mend
and mould other broken young people. Don't let her fall the second time
again Lord.Let your mighty strength and grace be made manifest in her
weakness for it's obvious her own strength can no longer carry her. Please
Lord, I can't bear it if Sade sleep with that old man..." Kehinde prayed and
suddenly became too emotional as he couldn't bear the thought of Olori
Ade sleeping with Sade.

Tears dropped down his eyes immediately and he quickly wiped it off
as a feeling of jealousy and anger sprang up in his heart when he
remembered how bad he used to be before God arrested him. His phone
rang and he thought that Sade was the one calling back to explain things to
him or better still tell him that Toyin was wrong, he picked up his phone with
high expectations and was about sliding the green button aside when he
found out that Toyosi was the one calling, he looked up at the wall clock
and saw it was already past eleven pm and he became more angry.
"What exactly is wrong with Toyo, why is she calling me by this
time of the night? Please I don't need any disturbance." He soliloquized
and switched off his phone, entered the bathroom and poured water on his
head to calm down before going to bed. He rolled from one side of the bed
to the other unable to sleep as his mind kept wandering around from one
thing to another and it continued till some minutes past one, midnight. He
76
decided to pray since sleep had deserted him also, climbed down from his
bed and knelt down close his bed and began to commit his parents’ hearts
into God's hands, but he didn't pray about that for long as he switched over
and began to pray for Sade.

..............................................................................
The race started and the athletes who were about six girls took off,
among them was Sade who was already taking the lead as she ran skillfully
ahead of the other athletes and spectators were cheering her up to keep up
the pace,so she ran with her head high but suddenly became distracted
and missed her footings then fell headlong on the ground. The
commentator cheered at her to rise and finish the race while the spectators
expected her to rise and win the race because they so much believed she
can still win regardless of her fall, but Sade remained on the ground crying
and complaining.

"I can't run to finish, I've missed the track and can't find my footings
anymore. Besides, I have disappointed everyone so there's no point rising
to make a fool of myself." She gave reasons while the other athletes kept
running, and they were only but two of them who had ran past her while
others were still running towards the spot where she had fallen.

"Rise up! You are not off the track yet, you can still win the race!" A
man urged her from the crowd but she broke down in tears and shouted
back at the man

"I can't rise, can't you see am already exhausted?" She cried still
sitting on the floor so the disappointed spectators became angry and began
to jeer at her as she cried. She cried the more as they taunted her with
words then she woke up and found out that it was a dream. She looked
around and saw her daughter sleeping peacefully beside her,then
murmured some words in her Yoruba dialect and slept back.

..............................................................................

"Sade! Sister Sade! Wake up I want to discuss something with

you," the church mummy tapped Sade who was who was still feeling
sleepy.

Open your eyes Sade and wake up from your slumber. You can't
keep sleeping like this, your lantern will soon go off if you don't wake up. I
77
want to tell you a story about my life that is very familiar with yours ..." The
church mummy was still talking to her when Sade's mother tapped her.
"Sade wake up! Wake up and get ready for today's farm work. It's
getting late already," Sade's mother woke her and in the process
interrupted her dream.

"Oooooh! Maami you just interrupted my dream now." Sade

shouted in annoyance and her aged mother looked back at her with a
mean face.

"Will you get up from that bed? Do you think that you are in the city
where you live your life lazy, sleep and wake up anytime you want and then
go about misbehaving with young men? Since you couldn't keep yourself in
the city after all that your father and I did to train you through school, you
better buckle up because you must sweat it out in the village. Even if Olori
ends up marrying you, you must still join his wives to farm in his various
large farm lands. Get up Jaree!" Her mother jeered at her as if they were
quarrelling and Sade felt humiliated again.

Since she joined her parents in the village,her mother suddenly

changed and became very used to taunting her with negative remarks each
time she didn't do what she likes. She swallowed hard and climbed down
from the bed, checked the time on her phone and it was ten minutes to
5am. She wiped off the tears dropping from her eyes with the back of her
hands, picked up her tooth brush and paste to brush as her mother
continued nagging at her.

Kehinde woke up by few minutes past five in the morning to find

out that he was sleeping on the floor in his room and not on the bed,then
he remembered that he was actually praying on his knees but when his
knees began to ache, he lay down on his tummy and continued his prayers
then probably dozed off from there. He rubbed his eyes and felt a sharp
piercing headache indicating that he didn't sleep very well in the night, but
he managed and got up to his study table for his devotion.

All through the work on the farm, Sade kept ruminating over the
two dreams she had in the night but couldn't make any meaning out of
them. She wished her mother didn't wake her up, so that she could at least
hear the story the church mummy wanted to tell her. She sighed sadly as
she felt exhausted but couldn't stop the work in order to avoid another

78
round of insult from her mother's venomous tongue. She thought about her
appointment with Olori Ade later in the day, and smiled to herself.

She promised to sleep with him for the first time that very day and
Olori had made arrangement for their meeting in a local village Inn where
the act would take place in the evening. She had a brief reflection over
whom she used to be before Kolade came into her life, a firebrand for God
who loved and reverenced God with her body.

"All that are in the past now. I just have to survive anyway,
anyhow," she said silently and waved the thought aside as she waited
anxiously for the evening with Olori to taste what real sex feels like.

A thought dropped in Kehinde's mind when he was less busy at the

office and he was meditating over it when Toyosi knocked and walked into
his office. He wasn't surprised that the health assistants allowed her in
because he was the one who gave them the instruction to allow her in
whenever she wanted to see him. She observed his face as she entered
and suspected that he was probably going through some emotional stress.

"Welcome Toyo," he managed to say as he tried to force out a

smile, though he wasn't happy that she came in when an important matter
that demanded urgent attention was rising in his mind.

"Kenny, I've been calling you, all through yesterday I was worried
sick because I thought you were in trouble. Why didn't you pick your call or
even return my calls?" She asked pointing at his phone which was on the
table. He scratched his head roughly and searched for the right words with
which to calm her. He wasn't in the mood to talk to her, but it wasn't in his
nature to hurt people who care about him, and women are the last set of
people he would want to hurt.

"By all means, treat women with love and care. They need it more
than any other creature God created." He always tell himself when dealing
with both married and unmarried women.

"Toyo please sit down first," he said still scratching his head. She
swallowed hard and sat down trying hard to hide her anger.
"Maybe I should just let her know I have no feelings for her. No, that
would be too harsh." He thought within him, then looked up at her.

79
 "Toyo dear, am so sorry I didn't pick nor returned your calls
yesterday. My relationship is going through some troubles and I’ve not
really been in the right frame of mind to talk to anyone. I just needed some
solitude to think right and sought things out with my woman" He began to
express himself as if he was already in a relationship in order to discourage
her from pushing further on whatever she might be thinking in terms of
building a relationship with him but stopped when he saw her cheeks fall
like a park of cards.

"Toyo please I need your prayers, I love my woman so much I don't

want anything to happen to my relationship," he said cunningly and placed
his head on his office desk as if he was crying and it got Toyosi more
jealous.
"Do you need my help in any way?" She said with a soft tone, trying
to feign concern.

"I just need your prayers, pray for my relationship," he said, rubbing
his palms as he lifted his head and avoided her eyes because he wouldn't
want to see her hurt.

"You can now bring me the folders." he made a fake call in order to
dismiss her.

"Toyo, let me quickly attend to some patients' folders. I will call you
later in the evening, I promise," he said and she understood that he wanted
her to leave. She stood up in anger and walked out of his office without a
word and he breathed down a heavy sigh of relief,picked up his phone and
began to dial a number.

"Good afternoon Mummy, are you at home?" He asked Sade's

church mummy over the phone.

"Yes my brother. How are you?" She replied at the other end.

"Am fine mummy but not too fine. Can I come over to the house and
have a word or two with you?" He asked carefully.

"Ah! Oya start coming now. Am at home," she said in a hurry as if

Kehinde was already in a serious trouble.

80
 "Alright mummy, I will be in the house in a jiffy," he said, picked up
his car keys and hurried out of the office.

Kehinde became very close to the Pastor and his wife ever since
the Kolade-Sade incident so much that the Pastor wanted him to join his
own parish but he politely refused, stating that he was very committed in
his own parish. The Pastor once introduced him to a group of his pastor
friends thus,

"Meet my spiritual son, Dr Kenny. He is a son God used to console

me after the death of Kolade." He introduced Kehinde to them during one
of his visits to the pastor's house, so Kehinde became very relaxed with the
Pastor and his wife and took their home as his second home.

Kehinde arrived the parsonage and shared his struggles with the
church mummy, starting from his desire to marry Sade to his parents
refusal and finally to Sade's relationship with an old man in the village.

"Yeeey!" The church mummy screamed on hearing that Sade was

in a relationship.

"Sade in a relationship with an old man in the village? No Wonder I

have been having the burden to speak with her, but all these church
programs kept making me to forget." She began to lament.

"But why didn't you tell me since that this is what she is doing in that
village?" The pastor's wife had said and started looking around, trying to
locate her phone.

"Mummy, I thought I would be able to speak sense into her but she
continued with him still..." He explained and watched her pick her phone up
from the single cushion close to her and began to dial Sade’s number.

Sade and the Olori were drinking and eating roasted chicken in the
village local Inn and getting ready for the act when her phone rang. She
loosened herself a bit from Olori's arms to see who the caller was and her
heart skipped on seeing the caller's I'd.

"Sade mi, kilode?" Olori queried on seeing her reaction, drew closer
to her and pulled her closer to himself.

81
 "Who is calling my baby?" He asked rhetorically as he caressed
her hair. She quickly put the phone on silent when the first round of call
finished ringing and pushed it aside to concentrate on Olori who was
already hard and was all over her. Her heart began to beat faster as Olori
brought his mouth closer to hers for a kiss, she felt a cramp on her lower
abdomen down to her pelvic parts in the process and.

"Brother Kenny, She is not picking her calls..." The church mummy
said worriedly searching Kehinde's eyes for the next action.
"I feel restless in my spirit mummy, I can't really place my finger on
what it is but my spirit tells me that Sade is with that man and I won't..."
Kehinde was still talking when she cut in and stopped him from completing
his statement.

"Ah! Brother Kehinde don't think in that direction yet. You men can
be jealous over nothing, maybe she's not with her phone or probably she
might be busy; you know village life is not easy." She defended Sade and
Kehinde smiled sadly,

"I know my instincts don't lie to me mummy. I know that things

always go wrong when I feel this way. Well, maybe we should just say a
word of prayer for Sade..." He said suggestively and she agreed
immediately.
"Yes! Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to say," the church mummy
said and straight away, she began to lead in the prayer.

82
 CHAPTER THIRTEEN

As Olori brought his mouth close to hers again after the first
attempt was stopped by Sade because of the cramp she felt in her
abdomen, she pushed him back gently and carefully told him that she was
not feeling alright but he wasn't ready to hear stories, he wanted them to go
down to action so he became a little violent with her and tried to pull off her
clothes forcefully.

"Ah! Wait! Let me check something in the bathroom," she said and
stood up to run into the bathroom but she was taken unaware by Olori's
next action. He pulled her to the bed from behind and she fell on her back
to the bed, then he turned around and climbed over her body and began to
pull down her clothes and pants.

"I've been begging you for this thing since but you keep pla…y…
playing me around, saying today, tomorrow. Let's do this thing Sade mi,
you will enjoy it o, hehehe..." He said and laughed ridiculously when he
saw that Sade was no longer struggling with him over her body.

"I promise you will enjoy it, am a strong man o..." He was still talking
when he saw a thick blood stain on Sade's pant which he had succeeded in
pulling down.

"Yeeey! He screamed and moved back in a haste. Sade saw the

shock on his face and sat up properly on the bed to see what was scaring
him away then saw her white pant heavily stained with blood.

"Sade do you want to kill me before my time? You know you are
seeing your woman something and you tricked me here to come into you
and incur the wrath of the gods of our land. Arrh! Sade! Is this how you
want to pay me back for everything I've been doing for you?" Olori queried,
feeling very upset and disappointed as the man in him which had risen got
shrunk instantly.

"Olori, it's not what you are thinking please. I have already seen my
period for this month and am not even expecting to see it again this month.
I'm surprised seeing this too, Olori mi don't be annoyed please. See, I was
ready to do it o, didn't you see I was not struggling with you?" Sade
explained carefully, trying to appease the angry Olori who was not ready to
look at her nor the blood stained pant the second time.
83
 "Ermm... See I have to leave this place immediately, you know the
tradition of our land forbids a man seeing or having bodily contact with a
woman in her sacred period. We can keep your explanations for now, let
me go and wash my eyes off the sight of a woman's sacred blood which I
have seen." He said wearing his clothes and hurried out of the lnn leaving
Sade behind.

Sade stood up and entered the bathroom to check herself very well
maybe she would find a wound somewhere but couldn't find any cut on her
body. She was very sure she saw her period about two weeks back and
had never experienced it twice all her life. She hurriedly pulled down her
cloths and wrapped up the stained pant in her bag and rushed back home
to avoid being messed up. She arrived home and washed her body, fixed in
a sanitary pad and waited for the outcome of the sudden menstrual flow but
no blood came out again till night fall. She brought out the pad in the night
when she wanted to take her night bath and was shocked to the bone to
find out that even a line of blood did not drop on the pad.

Sade stood in their local bathroom made with palm fronds lost in
thoughts as she couldn't understand the strange flow of blood from her
body just when she and Olori were about having a fling…

"Iya mi! Iya mi!" Toyin called from outside,

"Your phone is ringing o!" She informed her mother with the phone in
her hand. On hearing that her phone was ringing, Sade remembered that
she had missed the church mummy's calls and was yet to return the calls.

"Toyin, if you pick that call I will kill you this night. Keep it on the bed,
am coming." She threatened her daughter. She had warned Toyin never to
touch her phone or answer her calls again ever since the last time she
informed Kehinde that Olori bought her a new phone. She hurried her bath
and rushed back into the room to answer her calls. It was Kehinde that was
calling, so she hissed and dropped the phone.

"This brother should stop disturbing me, let him leave me to live my
life. After all, am matured enough to enter into a relationship with whoever I
want and do whatever I like with the person. Kehinde should go and marry
and leave me to live my own life the way I want o" she murmured angrily as
she creamed her body. She planned calling the church mummy back after
wearing her clothes but later forgot and called Olori instead.
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 "It's alright I have forgiven you. Maybe we can arrange for another
meeting in few days’ time. But for now, let's wait and see if the blood will
come out again. I don't want to die yet o, I want to live longer to enjoy you
oo." Olori replied jokingly after Sade had explained and apologized over the
incident at the Inn. Both of them laughed at the last words of Olori and
Sade felt that someone was eavesdropping on their conversation, she
turned around and saw Toyin sitting behind her listening to everything she
and Olori were discussing. Her heart jumped into her mouth immediately
and she forgot she was speaking with someone on the phone.

"Toyin!!!" Sade screamed...

"What are you doing there looking at me that way?" Sade asked,
ended the call and walked up to her.

"Nothing," Toyin replied fearfully.

"Nothing? So what and what did you hear when I was talking on
phone," Sade interrogated her to be sure she didn't hear everything that he
discussed with Olori. She knew that Toyin was very fond of Kehinde and
she wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut from giving him account of
everything that goes on in the house and in the village.

"No..thing," she stammered in response and held the helm of her

clothes in fear.

"But you know who I was talking with abi?" Sade asked again looking
into her eyes.

"Yes..no no!" Toyin replied in denial bending her head sideways.

"Liar! Tell me the person before I sound your face," Sade threatened
her but Toyin maintained that she didn't know the person.

"Oya go and sleep!" Sade ordered and pushed her towards the bed.

Sade's phone began to ring very early the next morning and she
woke her up from her sleep, swiped the green button aside without looking
at the caller's identity.

"Sister Sade," the caller spoke up and she quickly recognized the
church mummy's voice.

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 "Mummy good morning ma," she greeted and searched her mind
for a possible excuse to give for not picking nor returning her calls
yesterday.
"How are you Sade? I called you five times yesterday and you didn't
pick nor bothered to call back. What happened?" The church mummy
queried.
"Mummy, I'm sorry I went to the farm and left my phone at home. When I
came back, I quickly entered the kitchen to prepare food and didn't check
my phone till later in the night when I finished my work. I planned calling
you today ma. Am sorry mummy." Sade lied.

"I thought as much," the church mummy said then continued.

"Sade, Temi will be celebrating his 20th birthday tomorrow and I
want you to come around and help me out in the kitchen." She said and
Sade shouted in excitement.

"Ah! Temi is now a big boy o. Mummy don't worry I will come in the
morning tomorrow so we can have enough time to see and talk. I even saw
you in my dream two days ago trying to tell me a story..." Sade was talking
casually when the church mummy cut in laughing.

"Are you serious? In fact do come in the morning and share the
dream with me. Everybody in the house will be waiting for you. Please o,
come along with my smart daughter Toyin." She said and they both
laughed before bidding each other good bye.

She ended the call and held her chest,relieved that the church
mummy believed her lies. She remembered the blood stain incident of
yesterday and checked herself to see if she was stained but found nothing
then she hissed at the thought of her body playing pranks on her.

Kehinde's phone buzzed and he picked it up and saw that he had a

new SMS. On opening it,he saw Toyosi’s name and began to read the text
thus.

"Good morning Kenny." The text read then continued.

"I believe you are fine. Well am not fine here.What am about to say
may actually sound crazy but I can't help it anymore. I'm willing to let go of
my pride to let you know how I feel about you, and my insuppressible
desire to be the woman in your life. I'm yet to recover from the shock of
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hearing that you're in a relationship already because I had started building
my world around you hoping that things will work out between us. Kenny
I've never felt the way am feeling for any man all my life.

I'm sick for you Kenny, and am not ashamed to let you know that I
love you like life itself. I'm not lacking suitors Kenny, can't even believe am
writing these with my hands. I have countless number of suitors in and out
of the country but it's you I need. From that first day I met you in your office,
I've not been able to get my mind off you. Please, give me a space in your
heart Kenny, I promise I won't hurt you."The text read on and Kehinde got
tired of reading, then dropped the phone and rubbed his eyes and head
roughly trying to clear off the confusion in his head.

Sade has not been picking his calls and he wasn't finding it funny.
His phone buzzed and he picked it up on seeing the church mummy’s
name and number. She informed him that Sade was coming to the city with
Toyin tomorrow for Temi's birthday and that he should also be around to
see her and possibly speak with her. He smiled at the information and
thanked her for her efforts then bade her goodbye and was about dropping
the phone when Toyosi's call came in. He meditatively picked the call and
hurriedly said,

"Toyo I will call you back later please. Let me attend to something."
He said and ended the call without waiting to hear what she had to say.

Sade arrived the church mummy's house with Toyin at exactly

10am and everyone in the house was overjoyed to see her. She knelt down
before the Pastor in greeting and hugged the church mummy passionately.
"Temi oko mi" she hailed the church mummy's first son who was
celebrating his 20th birthday.

"Happy birthday Oko Sade," she jokingly teased him and everyone
in the parlor burst into laughter as the young boy became ashamed on
hearing Sade call him her husband. She started calling Temi "oko mi' right
from when he was about ten years old because Temi used to say that he
will marry aunty Sade when he grows up.

"Hello brother Kehinde, guess what?" the church mummy sneaked

into her room to call him.

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 "Sade just arrived not quite long." She said laughing without waiting
for him to guess.

When the church mummy finished speaking with Kehinde on the

phone, she told him the best time he should come over to the house then
dropped the phone and sent someone to bring Sade into her bedroom so
that they could talk privately.

"Sade, talk to me. How have you been coping with life, especially in
the village?" The church mummy began to interrogate her carefully in the
bedroom.

"Mummy I won't lie to you, it has not been easy o. My life has taken
a downward shape but God have been faithful all the same..." She was still
talking when her phone started ringing. She quickly ended the call on
seeing Olori's number and was about switching the phone off when the
church mummy spoke.

"Arrh! No, Sister Sade, answer your call." She told her when she
observed her uneasiness. Sade wanted to insist on switching off the phone
when Olori's call entered again and she stole a look at the church mummy
who looked at her suspiciously and spoke up immediately.

"Pick that call Sade, after that you can then put off the phone," she
said with a mean face looking intently into Sade's eyes. She swallowed
hard then swiped the green button to the right and placed the phone on her
left ear but unfortunately for her, the phone setting was on loud speaker
and the first words Olori spoke over the phone embarrassed her before the
church mummy.

"Sade mi, sweetheart mi till eternity, the only woman that makes the man in
me rise ..." Olori kept eulogizing Sade over the phone without giving her the
chance to even say hello.

"Ermm... ejo Olori, let's talk later please. I'm in a meeting." she said
hurriedly with a shaking voice and hand then ended the call and switched
off the phone without looking at the church mummy and silent permeated
the room as the woman looked at Sade painfully as if she was trying to
remember something.

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 "Sister Sade," the church mummy broke the silence and she
answered her without looking up.

"I want to tell you a story about my life that is very familiar with yours
which many people do not know." She continued.

“I also had a child outside wedlock as a young girl before getting

married. Temi whose birthday we are celebrating today is not daddy's
biological son," the church mummy began to reveal and Sade looked
up at her in surprise with her mouth opened agape.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Yes," the woman said smiling as she saw the surprise in her eyes.
"Sade, my case was worse than your case but I rose up from my fall. God
reached forth his hands to me at the desperate period of my life and I held
unto him and rose up from my mess." She said then continued.
"I was privileged to be born and brought up in a good Christian
home but my parents were busy people. My father was a full time local
church pastor who was struggling in ministry due to lack of funds, so my
supportive mother got engaged in her business and also tried her hands on
other menial jobs in order to support my father in the ministry and to put
food on the table and also provide our daily needs.

My mother left home very early every morning and joined us in

the church from work,while my father stayed in the church praying and
studying the bible and at the end of the month, he brought home a little
stipend from what the church paid him.

I was the first born child and so the responsibility of looking after
my siblings fell on me. We would come back from school in the afternoon
and met our parents absent,so my job was to warm the food and serve my
siblings and myself after which I would guide them to do their home works.

But my own homework sometimes used to be very difficult for me,

so I begged different church members in my father's church to help me out
in solving the mathematical aspects of the homework. That was when I
begged one Uncle Paul who was my father's church member to help me
solve a mathematics assignment and he did became a regular visitor to our
house in the name of helping me to do my home works. My parents trusted
him with us so much that whenever they want travel out of town, they would
89
call him to come and stay with us and he would sleep in our house for days
till my parents came back from their journey.

One night, after my parents had traveled to the church

headquarters for a conference, he delayed helping me to do my homework
till late in the night when my siblings had gone to bed, then he called me to
the parlor for the homework. I was feeling sleepy but because I knew the
punishment that awaited me the next day if I didn't do my assignments, I
tried as much as possible to stay awake. But midway into the night, I dozed
off still with my writing materials in my hands.

His mouth in my mouth woke me from my sleep, and I tried to push

him away but he said I should calm down that he was only trying to drive
sleep away from my eyes, so I believed him and relaxed. He asked me to
reciprocate by kissing him back in order to drive the sleep away fast, and I
started meandering my tongue in his mouth and in no time I started finding
it funny as he started tickling my waist and breasts.

He continued with the kissing stuff with me every night so deeply so

much that I started seeing it as a fun play so I began to request it from him.
He later told me he has another fun play he would teach me, and I gladly
agreed with him that I would not tell anybody when he gave me the
condition for teaching me the fun play.

He removed his trousers and went stripped naked before me then

asked me to do the same, but I refused as fear gripped my heart at the
sight of his nakedness. He told me he will not be my friend again nor teach
me mathematics again as he feigned annoyance and threatened me until I
agreed to remove my clothes before him. I covered my little breasts which
were just sprouting out with my hands and he asked me to come and hug
him.”

“‘That's my baby girl!’ Uncle Paul hailed me and beckoned on me to

come and hug him as he opened his arms wide to receive me.
Uncle Paul began to teach me the said fun play by asking me to lay over
him on the sofa and I did as instructed.

That night uncle Paul defiled me and I was just eleven years old,but
that one sexual encounter with uncle Paul opened me up to a continuous
immoral life as it got to a point that I graduated from sleeping with only
uncle Paul to sleeping with our neighbours who will in turn give me money.
90
 My friends in school didn't help matters too, so we got deeper and
deeper into formication. My menstruation was delayed and I didn't see it
until I clocked fifteen. When I started seeing it, I told my friends who taught
me how to package myself and what to do to avoid getting pregnant. I did
everything they asked me to do and thankfully I didn't get pregnant until at
the age of nineteen when I finished my secondary school and started
sleeping with more matured men who insisted they won't use condom.

At this stage I had outgrown my parents and didn't have regards for
my father, especially for the fact that he was not living up to expectations
financially and materially as the head of the family. I despised both him and
his God and lived my life the way I wanted.

I slept with a man who gave me huge amount of money and promised to
sponsor me in higher institution but I got pregnant in the process.

When I found out that I was pregnant, I resolved to abort the child since I
didn't know exactly who was responsible among the numerous men I was
sleeping with. I needed enough money to carry out the abortion in a
specialist's center suggested by a friend of mine,so I told the rich man that
promised to sponsor me in the higher institution that I was pregnant for him,
because according to my calculation, he was the only man I slept with the
previous month without protection. The man became very angry with me
and ordered me to go and abort the child in my womb even before I could
tell him my plans.”

“‘Do you want to destroy my marriage? I'm married with three

beautiful kids for crying out loud. I'm giving you the sum of twenty thousand
naira right now and you are to go and remove that thing in your womb first
thing tomorrow morning.’ He said searching himself immediately, brought
out a huge amount of money and counted the sum of twenty thousand
naira out to me. Twenty thousand naira was a huge amount of money then
and that day was my first day of handling such amount of money.

The money was more than enough to carry out the abortion, pay a
one year rent for me and also buy me anything I needed for that period, but
when I saw how desperate he wanted me to abort the child, I asked him to
top the money for me with an extra ten thousand naira and he did
immediately without saying a word. So, I became a big girl at the age of

91
nineteen, but I wasn't still contented as I saw the pregnancy as a means of
making more money.

I started telling other men I had slept with that they were
responsible for my pregnancy and that I needed money to go for an
abortion, many of them responded by giving me the amount of money I
requested for and in less than two months, I had over a hundred thousand
naira without my parent's knowledge.

I went to the specialist center in the company of my friend for the

abortion and it was done but little did I know that the abortion was not
successfully done. I had a set of twins in my tommy but only one got
aborted, Temi went and hid himself at a hinder place so the abortion knives
didn't touch him nor did the pills affected him. More surprising was the fact
that I didn't know I was pregnant until about seven months later, I was busy
sleeping around with men not knowing I was carrying a child in my womb,
yet I was seeing my period monthly and my tommy didn't protrude in
anyway. So there was nothing to give me a clue that I was pregnant until
the day my health broke down, that I started taking malaria drugs but there
was no improvement, so I decided to go for test since I had enough money.
When the test result came out, I was told the unimaginable and I burst out
in a long laugh.

That's not possible. I argued when I was told that I was seven months
pregnant.

I saw my period last month and for the past few months, I have been
seeing my period. Look here at my stomach, how possible is it that seven
months pregnancy has not changed my outward looks, and my stomach is
still as flat as it used to be. I continued until the doctor halted me.”
“‘Young lady, from the scan carried out on you because of your
complaints of constant stomach cramps, it's discovered that your case is
that of an ectopic pregnancy and in most ectopic pregnancy cases, there
are usually no physical traces of pregnancy like a heavily protruding
stomach on the women. So, your case is not in any way different from the
normal ectopic pregnancy cases.’ The doctor explained making me more
confused with his medical jargons.

Ectopic pregnancy? Can you explain to me what that mean please? I asked
with a worried countenance.

92
 “‘Calm down young girl, you don't have to be worried for the sake of
your condition and that of your precious child,’the doctor began when he
saw how worried I was.

“‘You see, ectopic pregnancy is a complication of pregnancy in

which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Signs and symptoms usually
include abdominal pain or cramps and vaginal bleeding.’ The doctor was
explaining professionally and the more he explained, the more confused I
became.

Doctor, can you please explain it to me in a layman English? I asked

almost losing my patience.

“‘There's nothing more to explain, what I've been saying is that the
child in your womb is located outside the womb which is not the perfect
place a child should be formed. And for your information, you are to get
ready to birth the child through surgical operation, or else, we may lose
both you and the child.’

The doctor said in finality and fear gripped my heart. I went

straight to my friend's house and told her everything the doctor said but she
didn't accept the doctor's report as true. She suggested I go for another
pregnancy test and if found positive, I should go back to the abortion
specialist to wash my stomach. It was the abortion appointment I was
preparing to go for the next day after the second test confirmed me
pregnant, that I had a terrible dream where I went for the abortion and died
on the abortion table.

I became afraid and told my friends that I won't be able to do the

abortion stuff anymore.They urged me to go for it but I insisted I was not
going because I was very much afraid of death. I didn't know how my
religious parents will take the news of my pregnancy, and I was afraid my
poor mother will die from the shock.So with the money I had gathered, I ran
away from home and traveled far away from home to Benin City where I
paid for an apartment which would last for four months then got myself
registered in a hospital for the surgical operation.

It was my plan that after the operation and the child survives, I
would dump it in a gutter or at any motherless baby home environment or
better still find a buyer and then go back home and continue my life as if
nothing happened. So I waited for the appointment day given to me by the
93
doctor for the delivery and hired a Benin woman as my mother since the
hospital insisted a relation must come with me to the hospital for the
surgical operation.

The doctor injected me an anesthesia and in no time, I slept off,

then the operation began on my tommy. The operation was still on going
when I passed out and died. I knew I died because I saw myself standing
beside my body on the hospital bed and watched how the doctors were
battling to resuscitate me back to life when they found out I was no longer
breathing. I stood there watching them helplessly when suddenly, a man
clothed in black appeared in the theatre and beckoned on me to come
forward; like someone under a remote control I began to follow the dark
creature and we kept walking to an unknown destination through a very
fearful road. I became afraid when I couldn't see anybody passed through
the same road, except for the strange fearful noises I heard coming from
the two sides of the wide but dreadful road.”

"Where are you taking me to?" I summoned the courage and asked
the dark being and he turned and stared into my eyes with a red blood
eyes.

"To the place where you will live forever!" He shouted in response.

"No! Please take me back, am tired!" I shouted back at him trying to

halt my movement but a strange wind kept pushing me forward as the
strange man moved.

"Shut up your mouth! You have no choice here anymore. When you
were on the other side of the world, you had the choice to live your life
aright and chose the best place where only the saints go, but you chose
this path instead. Therefore, you are to spend your life in darkness and
pain under the torment of the great dragon in the place I am taking you. Do
not say a word anymore because we are getting very close to the holy
gate, where the RIGHTEOUS ONE will judge your case and officially hand
you over to us as food for consumption." The black being warned me and I
lifted up my eyes and saw a beautiful gate ahead of us.

94
95
 CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The beauty of the gate is better not described with words because
it was beyond description for me, then I remembered how my father used
to describe the gate of heaven to us in the church when I was still growing
up as a child. But looking at the gate ahead of us, I realized that his
descriptions were nothing close to the glory I saw before me.

I suddenly began to remember everything that my father used to

teach us during our morning devotion that when we get to heaven, there
would be no darkness because the glory of God shall be the light that will
tabernacle the whole place and that there shall be no pain nor sorrow.

"If this is true, then this black being is about to take me to a different
place and not heaven because he just told me a while ago that I will live in
darkness and pain..." I was still thinking in my mind when we arrived the
beautiful gate.

"Yes, the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for
God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its
light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. On no day
will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory of the
nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it,nor will
anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose
names are written in the Lamb's book of life." A man clothed in white
standing at the beautiful gate quoted from the book Revelation 21:23-27 in
response to the thought of my heart which I saw boldly written on a
glittering screen liked gadget for all to see.

A large book which a single person alone cannot carry was opened
but my name was not found in the first book and another book was opened;
therein was my name and immediately the screen began to reveal
everything I had ever done in life. I saw the innocence in most of my
actions from my childhood stage and was proud of many of my actions until
the age of eleven when everything turned sour.

I saw before my very eyes all my secret escapades with uncle Paul
being played out on the screen, I felt ashamed at the sight of the little me in
the very act with Uncle Paul as even the men clothed in white which I
believed were angels turned their faces away from seeing our detestable
acts. But the greater shame came when the rest of my deeper dirty acts
96
were played out, I couldn't even look at my own acts so I closed my eyes
tightly, guilty stricken and fell on knees.

I wanted to open my mouth and ask for a second chance to right all
my wrongs and live a righteous life but each time I opened my mouth to
speak, air filled my mouth and the words I wanted to say fizzled out like a
vapour, but was surprised to look up and behold all the thoughts of my
heart were boldly seen written on the screen and on the right hand side, I
saw the angels assigned over my life to minister to me on earth were all
standing at a distance, looking and at the left hand side, I saw my assigned
demons who were always there with me when I was alive to instigate my
actions against God and anything godly or good. They were the spirits that
used to speak into my heart and urge me to do the wrong things instead of
the right things. They looked as if they were ready to make war over my
life, because they strongly believed that I was already their captive and
should be handed over to them immediately.

I already knew from the scripture the first angel I saw quoted and
from all indication that my final destination was the darkest place in hell but
still had an inner conviction that if I asked for a second chance, God will
show me mercy. But the puzzle I couldn't unravel was the fact that I
couldn't even see God or Jesus to ask for a second chance.

"I don't want to give any excuse for living a wayward life on earth but
I wish I could see Jesus to ask for a second chance which I know I don't
even deserve. If only he will give me a second chance to go back to the
world, I will live the rest of my life for him and bring back young girls who
have gone astray back to the loving arms of God..." I was still thinking in my
heart when a loud voice thundered.

"I'm a God of second chance! I will show mercy on whom I choose to

and compassion on whom I will show compassion." The voice spoke with
audacity, then continued, "Bisola, I created you for my praise and glory and
my purpose shall stand. Go! Go back and mend the broken and the
unbroken in my name. I, even I am the Lord and my purpose stands. My
grace is upon you." The voice said and observed the fearful dark creatures
howl in anguish as a whirlwind from nowhere blew across me so strongly
and swept me off the spot where I was kneeling..." The church mummy
continued with her as Sade got soaked in her own tears sitting on the floor
in the room.

97
 Kehinde drove into the parsonage, packed his car at a lot and was
walking into the pastor's house when he heard a feminine voice from
behind.
"Kehinde Adeoye, Oma Oba," the familiar voice called his full name
and he turned around and saw Jumoke his ex-girlfriend, the last lady he
dated before receiving Christ. He ended the relationship because he felt it
won't be healthy for his new found faith and Jumoke wept bitterly although
that week,calling and begging him but his mind was made up.

"Jumo, is that you?" He asked in surprise seeing the same beautiful

Jumoke he used to love and even wanted to marry back then in the
university. He remembered being the person that broke her virginity and in
a flash everything he shared with her in the past came flashing through his
mind as he stood back looking at her.

"Yeah! It's the Jumoke you ditched and didn't even bother to look out
for..." She replied, smiling as she approached him.

"Oh! please Jumo, don't remind me of how wicked I treated you..."

He was still talking and like a magnetic force, they both got clutched in a
long passionate hug.

The hug between Kehinde and Jumoke lasted for some minutes as
she clung tightly to him with her eyes closed, but Kehinde quickly came
back to his consciousness and loosened the grip. Just when he had
loosened himself from the hug, Toyin and another little girl who were doing
chase game came running from the room and collided with Jumoke, Toyin
almost fell but Jumoke was fast enough and caught her before she could
reach the ground.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" Jumoke asked still holding Toyin and
caressing her hair gently, and she nodded her head in the positive, then
turned around and saw Kehinde standing behind Jumoke with smiles on his
lips. Kehinde who had not seen the face of the little girl Jumoke was
holding was busy admiring Jumoke's kind nature. He was amazed that she
had not changed one bit from the same kindhearted, easy going and
respectful Jumoke he dated back then and those were the attributes that
endeared her to him those days.

"Bother Kehinde!" Toyin's voice bolted him back from his thoughts.

98
 "Toyin baby!" Kehinde said excitedly as Tonyin wriggled out of
Jumoke's hands and ran into his wide spread arms for a hug. Jumoke
stood back smiling and watching the both of them as Kehinde lifted Toyin
up and held her tightly to himself. She quickly ran her eyes through his
fingers to see if he has a wedding ring on but found no ring on him, so she
breathed down a sigh of relief and continued with her smiles.

"Bother Kehinde I came with Iya mi o!" Toyin spoke up and he

dropped her to hear her speak.

"Really? Where is she?" He asked almost forgetting that Jumoke

was standing there.

"She is in church mummy's room, I peeped through the door and

saw her crying in big mummy's room..." Toyin began to narrate but Kehinde
quickly interrupted her from speaking further in the presence of Jumoke
when he sensed that the church mummy was probably having a serious
talk with Sade, especially as regards her relationship with the old man in
the village.

"It's okay Toyin. Go and wait for me inside, am coming so you can
gist me more about that, you hear?" He said and bent down,looking into
her eyes and saw that the little girl has more gist for him as he saw her
eagerness to talk. She nodded her head and began to walk back into the
house.

"Don't go anywhere o, sit down on a chair and wait for me, you
hear?" Kehinde spoke up from a distance and the little girl nodded her
head again before she finally entered the house.

"So sorry Jumo, I was carried away by the presence of my little

princess, I didn't even know she was the one you were holding until she
called me." Kehinde was explaining when he finally turned to face her. He
felt happy knowing that the church mummy was having a serious talk with
Sade, which could even make her cry. The last time he visited, Sade had
no tears anymore in her eyes as he noticed her heart had become very
hardened and made up to continue with Olori.

"She’s such a smart girl. Your niece?" Jumoke asked.

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"Nope...a friend's daughter," he replied, beaming with smiles. His heart
suddenly got flooded with a kind of joy he couldn't explain from the moment
he saw Toyin and heard her say that Sade was crying.

"That's okay." Jumoke replied with a calm voice.

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked her.

"I should be asking you that Kenny. Mummy Bisola is my God mother, she
was the one that led me to Christ few months after you broke my heart and
am here for her son's birthday celebration," She replied laughing hard
then twisted her head to a side in a funny way before spitting out her
thoughts.

"Kenny, so you are not yet married. What have you been waiting
for?" She spoke up with the softest tone...

"The Benin woman I hired as my mother disappeared into thin air

immediately she was told that I died in the theatre." The church mummy
continued with her life story as Sade cried her eyes out.

"The nurses and health assistants searched for her to make

arrangements to deposit my body into the mortuary or possibly clear off the
remaining hospital bill, carry my new born child and take my corpse away
but couldn't find her. After about four hours of waiting for the woman in
vain, a doctor suggested that my body should be deposited in the mortuary
while they wait for my relations to come and claim my body. It was when
they were wheeling my body to the ambulance which would convey me to
the morgue that my spirit came back into my body and I sneezed and cried
out from the land of the dead.

The health assistants fled for their lives when I removed the clothes
covering my face and sat up on the wheel bed.

The doctors and nurses soon came out and found me sitting on the wheel
bed staring at nothing, with tears dropping from my weak eyes. The main
doctor handling my case, rushed to my side, held my hands and gave me a
punch to know if I can feel any sensation and I gave a painful scream, so
they rushed me back to the ward and fixed a drip on me, after checking my
heart beat, blood pressure and temperature.

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 "Where is my baby?" Was the first words that came out of my
mouth and a nurse was asked to go and fetch him from the office of a chief
nurse who also run a motherless baby home. I confessed to the doctors
and nurses that the woman I presented to them was not my real mother
and then told them my story and death experience and how God graciously
showed me mercy and gave me a second chance. The silence that fell
upon the ward as I told my story was so deep that if the tiniest pin dropped
on the floor, one would hear the sound of it; without beating anybody, I saw
men and women crying.

"After the horrible situations my family suffered in time past, I

stopped believing that God exists and accepted the philosophies of atheists
which pointed to the fact that there's no God. I stopped going to church and
praying long time ago and even dared God to prove himself if truly he
exists, but hearing you share your death experience here before me, I am
fully convinced that there's surly another life after this life and that there's a
God who rules over the affairs of men and controls the entire universe."
The doctor in charge of my case confessed in tears, then continued.
"Can you please pray for me that God should forgive and accept me
back?" The doctor cried and then from the back, I heard people murmuring,

"Me too, me too..."

I wanted to tell them that I was not in the right position to pray for
them since I too was a sinner who just received mercy,but I heard a voice
say in my ears.

"Whoever the son of man shall set free, he is free indeed. Old things
are passed away, behold all things are new. Bisola, you are a new creature
because your sins are forgiven. Now that you have been restored,
strengthen your brethren..." The voice urged me and without thinking of
what to pray or say, a song broke out of my mouth and I heard my voice
ringing high as the hospital ward turned into a mini revival gathering.

"Pray for me, pray for me!" a woman nurse cried out in tears.
"I don't want to go to hell, I'm a wicked person. I have exchanged not less
than fifty babies in favour of the rich people who gave birth in this hospital.
When they needed a male child, or lose their own children, I swapped their
dead or female babies with the male and living children of the poor women
who had no one looking after them closely. Sometimes, when a male child

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is born, I sent the junior nurses away on errands and excused myself with
the baby in the name of going to bath or dress the baby..." She confessed
and broke down in tears as everyone shouted in response.

"I'm sorry!" She said with her head bowed in shame. I can't tell the
number of people who gave their lives to Christ that day, but I would say
that there was a mass harvest of souls that day in the hospital as I led
those who wanted to repent to say the salvation prayer.

I later returned to my parents and asked for their forgiveness, they

did forgave me but my father developed a heart attack. His ministry which
he valued so much was at stake because of me as members started
reducing and while others mocked him..."

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 CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Kehinde smiled gently,revealing his cute dimples as he saw in her

eyes the motive behind her question. He quickly searched for the right
available word to put her off whatever she was trying to make up.

"Uhm! Yes, am not yet married. But, am also not searching

anymore. I've got someone already. You know what? Jumo, let's go inside
and talk," he said quickly in order to divert their conversation and started
walking into the house immediately. She followed him and they entered the
parlor which was filled with lots of people.

"Kenny,why don't we stay outside, this place is very stuffy." Jumoke

suggested but he wasn't interested as he searched for Toyin in the parlor
with his eyes. He brought out his phone and quickly sent the church
mummy a text message, informing her that he was around in the house.

"Bother Kehinde, I'm here o," Toyin shouted from the passage that
leads to the bookshelf and he rushed over to her and sat close to her.

"I forgot to buy your ice cream, but don't worry, I will get it for you
before you leave,you hear?" Kehinde told her and she nodded her head.

"Oya o, gist me..." Kehinde was trying to get Toyin to talk when he
noticed that she was looking at someone else. He lifted up his head and
followed the direction of her eyes only to see Jumoke standing right before
them.

"Kenny, I don't know why you like hurting me, I was talking to you
and you ignored me and as if that was not enough, you walked out on me."
Jumoke complained bitterly, standing before Kehinde and Toyin with a sad
face.
"Jumo, I'm deeply sorry. I was thinking about something very serious
and forgot that you were still with me. It wasn't intentional. Please do
forgive me." He apologized, standing to his feet. He asked her to sit down
on his seat and she swallowed hard before sitting down and when she
observed that there was no other seat available for Kehinde to sit on, she
asked Toyin to sit on her laps.

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 "Toyin darling, come and sit on my legs so that uncle can sit down
on that seat." She told her sweetly and she joyfully obeyed and climbed
over her legs leaving the seat for him to sit.

Jumoke still loved Kehinde and just wanted to stay close to him but
Kehinde's heart was faraway, longing to see just one person. She initiated
a discussion in order to break the silence, then Kehinde's phone began to
ring. He quickly glanced at the caller, thinking it was the church mummy,
but got disappointed when he saw Toyosi's name on the screen.

"I had come to love my father more after my death experience, and
couldn't bear the pain of losing him because of my sins, so I began to pray
that God should heal him and restore his ministry.

"Lord, you didn't bring me back to life to tear your church and your
servant, my father apart. My coming back to life shouldn't be like that of
Ichabod. Heal my father and use me to revive your church in Jesus name."
I prayed, crying as I was breastfeeding my son Temi.

I derived strength from the scriptures and from my mother who stood
by me all through that season, so when Temi became six months, I
gathered courage and started going out for evangelism and God granted
me open doors as those I invited to my father's church after telling them my
story began to troop into the church but the challenge was that my father
was not strong enough to handle the service every Sunday and the weekly
activities. My father's assistant pastor had left the church to open his own
church, so it was a difficult time both for my father and the church and it
became a burden to me because, the new members needed to be well fed
in order to remain.

One Sunday morning, we went to church as usual and my mother

led in the opening prayers while I took up the praise and worship. When it
was time to preach, my father who had prepared his sermon couldn't stand
to his feet, so I collected his sermon note and mounted the pulpit to preach.
I didn't know what I was preaching but I saw people standing up from their
seats praying without me giving them any prayer points.

When I made an altar call, almost everyone in the church came out
for the altar call and were baptized in the Holy Ghost to my surprise. My
father's struggling church began to come back to life as the fresh breath of
God's spirit swept across her under my ministrations and amazingly, my
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father began to recover rapidly in his health too. In less than one year, my
father's church increased numerically ten times better than it has ever had
since the inception of the church.

My father who was initially disappointed in me, became very proud

of me and termed everything that happened to me in my past as the act of
God to bring back the lost glory of his church and our family. Even when he
fully recovered and was fit for the ministry, he refused to preach and left me
to do almost all the ministrations.

Some of his church members who left the church started coming
back one after another and when they saw the grace of God upon my life,
they all forgot the errors of my past and began to bring their wayward
daughters to me for counseling. My life became a source of
encouragement to many other young girls who had missed it in the past
and they began to find meaning from their past mistakes.

Before Temi's two years birthday, I already had numerous suitors

and admirers that shocked me. I thought that being a single mother will
hinder responsible young men from coming my way but I had them in their
numbers, and most of them were good Christian brothers who had never
married before. But I kept turning them down until Temi's six years birthday
when I met this my husband who was just a young man in ministry.

God had told me to wrap up whatever I was doing in my father's

church in preparation for a greater work, and I put in my best effort, then
from the proceeds and donations from the church members we erected for
the church a thousand-seaters’ capacity cathedral which was the largest in
my community in those days.

During the dedication of the cathedral, a handsome young man

walked up to me and introduced himself as pastor Ademola and without
giving me a breathing space because he saw how busy I was, he told me
right there that I was his wife. I laughed at him and saw him as an
opportunist who had come to reap from where he did not sow, but later that
night, God confirmed what he told me.

I told him that I already have a child outside wedlock during one of
our discussion and he laughed and told me that it doesn't matter to him and
that he is not even interested in knowing anything about my past mistakes.
When we eventually got married, I was shocked to find out during our
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honeymoon that he had never slept with a woman all his life. I was a
broken, used and messed up life from my past life styles, but God brought
a brand new man,who wasn't just handsome but a lover of God into my life
for a husband.

I cried throughout that night in regrets and he consoled me, then

promised to take and treat Temi my son as his first son and that on no
occasion should I tell anyone that Temi was born out of wedlock." The
church mummy continued,

"Sade, your case is nothing compared to mine. I don't see why you
should settle down with one old man in the village. You are a gifted young
lady with a great future ahead of you. Giving birth outside wedlock does not
end the purpose of God for your life. You can still become all that God
purposed you to be and God can still give you a responsible, Godfearing
man as a husband..." The church mummy began to speak to Sade as she
held her head crying remorsefully. The church mummy, glanced through
her wristwatch and found out that she needed to go out to meet her guests,
picked up her phone and on opening it, she saw Kehinde's message and
smiled.

"Sade, do you have anything to tell me?" The church mummy

asked, drew closer to where Sade was sitting on the floor and drew Sade
into her arms. The tears and nose mucus which flowed down from her
rubbed and soaked the church mummy's fine clothes but she didn't mind as
she tried to get her to speak.

"Mummy, I'm short of words," Sade began, still struggling to

control her tears.

"I didn't know that anything good can still come out of my life again
after the birth of Toyin. My spiritual life is gone. I lost passion and sense of
belonging. My self-esteem was tampered with, I thought no one would
listen to me anymore, that no reasonable man would like to marry me." She
continued.

"Mummy, I lied to you few days ago when you called me. I lied that I
went to farm and wasn't with my phone when you called. I was actually in a
hotel room with Olori that day you were calling but I put the phone on silent.
Mummy I had already given him permission to sleep with me, we were
already in the very act when I heard him scream on seeing blood stain on
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my pant. I was ready to start sleeping with him any day, anytime he wanted
and possibly become his third wife.

Mummy, I don't know where the blood came from, I was not on my
menstruation. From your life story, I sense God is also giving me a second
chance, please pray for me... Am finding it hard to rise up from my fall, I
can't even pray anymore and my willpower is gone..." Sade said, then knelt
down and held the church mummy's legs tightly not willing to let go.

The church mummy had goose bumps on her body in awe of God's
mercy and grace as she remembered how Kehinde and she had prayed for
Sade on that said day and time that God should intercept her from every
wrong step and intervene in her life and destiny. She knew it was God's
early intervention that masterminded the blood stain incident. She burst into
tongues and continued that way for another twenty minutes while Sade
clung to her legs still crying. She switched into the spirit after about twenty
minutes speaking in tongues and began to operate under the spirit of
prophecy still standing at one spot.

"This is what the sovereign Lord says, 'A bruised reed shall he not
break,and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth
judgment unto truth. Though you offered a strange fire before me and
brought tears to my eyes through the smokiness of your secret life, I the
Lord, in my mercy has chosen not to quench your light. Behold, the former
things are come to pass,and new things do I declare: before they spring
forth I tell you of them.

Arise! Sing unto the Lord new songs, and his praise from the end of
the earth... Let the wilderness and the cities therefore lift up their voice, the
villages... Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the
islands.I am the Lord, the Potter who breaks into pieces the worthless
vessels and I make for myself vessels of honour out of worthlessness...’"
The church mummy continued with the prophesies and Sade's hands
began to shake so that she couldn't hold the church mummy anymore, she
began to scream at the top of her voice, crying and rolling on the floor of
the room and in the process scattering the properties in the room.

Soon, the people in the parlor heard loud screams coming from the
bedroom, and they suspected that church mummy was probably praying for
someone,so they continued with what they were doing. Toyin jumped down

107
from Jumoke's laps and exchanged a worried glance with Kehinde as they
both heard the repeated screams of Sade coming from the bedroom.

"That's Iya mi crying. I don't know what big mummy is doing to her,"
she said,looking at him almost crying and was about running towards the
room when Kehinde caught her while Jumoke watched them in confusion.
He lifted Toyin up to himself and excused himself from Jumoke to calm
Toyin down outside so she wouldn't go and interrupt whatever God was
doing in Sade's life.

Sade became too violent for only the church mummy to handle, and
just as she was wishing to see her personal assistant, the young lady came
running from the backyard on hearing the screams coming out of the
church mummy's room. She already knew that it was her job to stand
around and hold people from falling badly or getting injured whenever the
woman of God prays for people and she knew when Sade entered the
room, but she didn't expect that what the church mummy was calling Sade
into her room for would include such a violent prayer that would demand
her presence.

She entered the room just when the church mummy was getting
tired of holding Sade and was dazed at the sight of the room she arranged
early that morning. She quickly rushed over to the rolling Sade and
grabbed her legs with all her strength, so she wouldn't push the church
mummy down with her legs which she kept throwing around violently. The
church mummy's heart leaped for joy on seeing the lady,then she drew
back and began to speak in tongues again. The more she spoke in diverse
tongues, the hotter the fire Sade felt on her knees and bone marrows and
the louder her screams.

"Fire!!! Arrh! Fire!!!" She screamed at the top of her voice as the
church mummy increased the intensity of the tongues.

"Lift her up!" The church mummy ordered her personal assistant, and
the huge lady jacked Sade up with her two hand. She couldn't stand on her
two legs, so the lady used her body to support her to stand up a bit. The
church mummy blew a sudden heavy air from her mouth on Sade and both
the lady and Sade fell back to the ground under the power of God.

"Get up! Get her up for me," the church mummy said in a hurry and
the lady struggled to stand up to her feet before lifting Sade who had
108
become very weak from crying and screaming loud. The church mummy
drew her into her arms in a tight hug, then started another round of
tongues...

"If there be any grace of God on my life, I make a deposit of it into

this life right now. If there be any power to overcome sin and temptations of
life, I release a double portion of it upon this life right now! If there's any
passion for purpose fulfilment at work in me, let a greater portion come
upon her now! If there be any dead gifts in this life, come back to life now in
the name of Jesus! Let there be revival! Restoration of prayer life,
restoration of that first love you used to have for God, let there be
restoration of every lost virtue."

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 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The church mummy continued in tongues still holding Sade in a tight

hug, and like a spark, Sade exploded and began to speak in new
tongues.The atmosphere in the room changed so much that the church
mummy's personal assistant couldn't help but got carried away on her
knees praying in tongues...

"Kenny, is she alright?" Jumoke asked on sighting him squatting

down and talking toToyin. He turned and saw her standing behind with a
worried look.

"Yeah. Maybe you can join us, I want to drive her to the Sheraton
down town to get her ice cream and..." Kehinde was still talking when she
leaped in excitement and said.

"Alright!" She said, "Let me go get my hand bag right away." She turned
immediately and ran back into the house to get her hand bag and he shook
his head and smiled at how excited she was because he asked her to join
them. "God please, deliver me from her hand." He prayed under his breath
as he massaged Toyin's hands.

Soon, she came out from the house with her handbag, walking
majestically to join them and they walked down to the place he parked his
car. Toyin entered the back seat while Jumoke sat at the front seat with
Kehinde at the driver's seat and he drove down town in silence.

"Kenny, hope you have been communicating with Oba and your
mother the queen?" Jumoke broke the silence and his heart skipped on
hearing the question. His parents haven't been happy with him since the
last time he visited and told them about his intention to marry Sade.

He's been trying to convince them that marrying a single mother

will not bring him nor the kingdom any harm but they insisted that he must
marry a woman who has never given birth, if possible a young virgin. He
decided to stop calling them in order to give them time and space to think
over his decision and accept his choice of whom to marry but for over six
months, his parents have not called him, and though he had missed them a
lot and desperately longed to see and speak with them, he hardened his
heart and refused to call or visit them.

110
 Jumoke was from the same village with him and had visited him
several times when they were dating, so she knew his parents and they
also knew her. His heart beat increased because the last time he spoke
with his mother, the queen mentioned Jumoke's name saying, "What
happened to Jumoke, that beautiful and respectful girl you were friending?
Why not go ahead and marry her? Or is she married? She will make a
good wife and she already knows our traditions since she is a daughter of
the land, not one used and dumped girl from nowhere," his mother
suggested while he was trying to make her see reasons he should be
allowed to marry the woman after his heart.

"Did anything happen between Jumoke and my parents? I hope my

mother did not go looking for Jumoke's parents in order to initiate any
relationship. Did my parents tell her that I have not been calling them
because of their refusal to approve the woman I want to marry?" Several
thoughts ran through Kehinde's mind in less than thirty seconds.

"Uhm. Jumo they are fine." He said hurriedly, then continued

almost immediately. "Why did you ask?" He asked in order to get her to
talk. He knew Jumoke as one person who was very open minded and
doesn't hide anything from him.

"Nothing." She, then continued. "The last time I traveled home, I

visited them in the palace..." She was still talking when Toyin shouted from
behind.

"Bother Kehinde! Bother Kehinde! I like that thing." Toyin shouted,

pointing at the spiderman toys in the hand of a young man who was selling
across the road.

"You want spiderman?" He asked as his eyes followed the direction

she was pointing at and he slowed down the car.

"Toyin baby, You are a girl, you should be looking out for spider
woman not spiderman." He teased her and Jumoke started laughing hard.

The traffic light showed red,and he marched the brakes, then called
the guy selling the toys and like a competition, another guy selling the
same toys started running towards his car overtaking the young man
Kehinde called.

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 "Spiderman na seven hundred naira, but I go give it to you for five
hundred naira." The guy said breathing very fast and looking behind at the
same time.

"Oga na me you call o" the other young man said on arrival.

"You no come in time na. See traffic don dey move." Kehinde said
and collected a pink coloured spiderman toy for Toyin, flipped out a five
hundred naira note to the guy selling it then marched the accelerator and
drove off.

"Bother Kehinde, ese gan!" Toyin thanked him excitedly and

hugged the spiderman toy tightly.

The church mummy left the room, leaving Sade to pray for as long
as she wanted and met a great number of visitors in the parlor.

"Arrh! You people should forgive my manners o. Ministry sometimes

makes us forget even ourselves." She apologized and to the women while
her eyes searched around for Kehinde.

"Temi, is daddy back from the meeting?" She asked his son
thinking that he might probably be with her husband in the office.

"No mum," Temi replied removing his ear piece, then continued.
"Mum, aunty Jumoke came around o." he informed his mother.

"Wow! Jumoke my daughter. Where's she?" She said excitedly,

looking around to see her. "I don't know o, it seems she went somewhere
with brother Kehinde and Toyin." Temi replied casually and the mummy
looked at him in confusion.

"Jumoke went somewhere with brother Kehinde and Toyin? Do they

know each other?" She asked but Temi didn't respond as he put the ear
piece back to his ears.

The church mummy rolled her eyes in disapproval and said under
her breathe. "Where on earth did Kehinde go with Jumoke? Me I'm not
calling anybody o." She said and called Brother Ayo to start the opening
prayers for the birthday celebration.

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 They soon arrived at the Sheraton, walked into it and while he was
making order for Toyin's ice cream and snacks, he turned to Jumoke and
asked her to order for whatever she likes but she politely refused.

"Thank you oma oba. Today is Toyin's outing day, maybe you
should make out time and take me out one of these days also, and then I
will say my orders." She said teasingly,looking into his eyes to know what
his reaction would be.

Their eyes got lucked up in each other and Kehinde felt a slight
sensation through his spines seeing the beauty in Jumoke's eyes. Crazy
thoughts swept across his mind as the scenes of his old acts with her came
playing afresh. The Waiter packaged what was ordered for and brought it
over to the counter but Kehinde and Jumoke didn't hear nor noticed his
presence as they stood there at the counter, lost in their gazes.

On seeing the chemical reactions between them,the waiter cleared

his throats in a loud and naughty way that booted them back
embarrassingly.

"Uhm.. Sorry, how much?" Kehinde asked, avoiding the waiter's

eyes as he rubbed his eyes with his fingers and scratched his head which
was not itching him.

"Toyin, come over here!" Jumoke ran after Toyin who had started
exploring the place by running around. Kehinde quickly paid the waiter,
collected the stuffs and walked up to meet Jumoke and Toyin at the exit
door. He avoided her eyes not understanding what he was feeling within
him, gave little Toyin the Sheraton bag in his hand as they entered the car
before driving out of the mall.

Sade remained in the room for over three hours praying in tongues
while the birthday celebration continued in the parlor. Kehinde, Jumoke and
Toyin arrived just when Temi was about cutting the birthday cake. They
joined in singing the birthday song for the celebrant with others while Toyin
ran over to meet her mother in the church mummy’s room.

"Iya mi!" she called and ran into her mother not minding her mood.

"Bother Kehinde bought for me ice cream and plenty things..." She
said,showing her mother the Sheraton bag in her hand.
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 "Okay! Go ahead and enjoy yourself." Sade said in order to dismiss
her from disturbing her quiet time but Toyin would hear none of it.

"Come let's go to the parlor o,bother Temi is cutting big cake." Toyin
informed her,holding her hand.

"Don't worry, I'm coming out soon." She said but Toyin refused to
leave the room then sat down instead and started digesting the ice cream.
When Sade saw that she would not be able to concentrate having Toyin in
the room with her,she stood up, entered the bathroom and washed her face
and powdered it before leaving with Toyin to the parlor.

"Where did you go brother Kehinde?" The church mummy

questioned him after the cutting of cake and Jumoke came from behind and
knelt down before the church mummy.

"Good evening mummy." She greeted on her knees then Kehinde

looked away as the church mummy hugged her excitedly.

"Look who I have here, my beautiful daughter Jumoke!" The church

mummy said in excitement and drew her into a tight embrace.
"So you arrived here and instead of coming to register your presence
with me, you followed Kehinde out abi?" She said jokingly and Jumoke
apologized.

"Am sorry mummy,when I arrived here, you were having a very hot
prayer with someone in the room, so I followed Kenny out to buy ice cream
for little Toyin," she explained respectfully and the church mummy kept
smiling at how soft her voice sounds.

"It's okay my dear. Good to know that my daughter knows my son

Kehinde." The church mummy was still talking when Sade and Toyin
walked quietly into the parlor. She and Kehinde who was trying to put
himself in order exchanged glances and she smiled.

"Jumoke, do make yourself comfortable. I will be right back." She said

and told Kehinde to follow her.

"What's your plan? Hope you are aware Sade would be going back to
the village in few minutes from now?" She asked him immediately they
reached the balcony.

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 "Really? I thought she would sleep over." He replied feeling bad.

"That was why I asked you to be here by 2pm. You shouldn't have
gone out brother Kehinde. She needs to go back home because of
tomorrow's farm work..." She explained and he swallowed hard,then quickly
cut in.

"Can I drive them to the village?" He asked,looking pleadingly into

the church mummy's eyes as if his life depended on it.

"This is past five Kehinde. Before you reach her village, it would be
dark and it's not advisable driving back from that village in the night." She
explained but he wasn't satisfied with her points.

"Mummy, I understand your points but ..." He said.

"It's alright brother Kehinde, I see your mind is already made up. Let
me call her to get ready so you can take them home immediately." She said
and left him at the balcony to call her. She sent someone to call Sade while
she packaged noodles, clothes and food items for them to go home with.
"Kehinde would go and drop you and Toyin in the village." She
announced when Sade entered the room.

"Call Toyin and get her ready. It's already getting late and you are to
go with these things here."She said, then squeezed some naira notes into
her hands.

"Thank you so much mummy. I can't thank you enough ma." She
said kneeling down.

"We thank God. Sister Sade get up and get going." She said hastily,
then remembered something.

"That reminds me, Sade! Kehinde complained you have not been
picking his calls. Look, I don't know what he did wrong but believe me,
brother Kehinde is one person in the whole world you shouldn't be angry
with for any reason. He stood by you and believed you even when many of
us didn't believe you. Overlook whatever he did to you and pick his calls..."
The church mummy continued.

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 "Mummy, he didn't do anything to me. Just that I felt he was
disturbing me with his constant sermons during those periods I was not
thinking right. I will apologize to him ma." Sade explained calmly and the
church mummy nodded in satisfaction.

"Please watch out against that scavenger of a man called Olori.

Don't give him any chance again and don't collect anything from him again.
Because the money and gifts you collect from him weakens your ability to
say no to him." She advised her and she nodded her head agreeably
before walking out of the room.

When they were about leaving, Jumoke walked up to Kehinde and

requested for his number, because they actually lost contacts and the
church mummy observed his uneasiness and reluctance in releasing the
number to Jumoke. She suspected something fishy between the two of
them and quickly came up with an idea of sending Jumoke on errand in
order to relieve him but she succeeded in collecting the phone number
before the church mummy could send her on an errand.

Toyin jumped into the back seat while Sade and Kehinde sat at the
owner’s and driver's seat respectively and he gave the church mummy an
exciting wink before driving off.

Halfway into the journey,darkness began to set in and Toyin slept off
at the back seat then Sade broke the long silence that had permeated the
atmosphere in the car.

"Brother Kehinde," she called almost in a whisper having lost her

voice as a result of the long screams and cries. He turned and looked into
her eyes in response, then turned around to concentrate on the steering.

"I'm sorry I've not been picking your calls. I didn't just know what
came over me. Am deeply sorry, do forgive me." She said looking down at
nothing.
"It's alright Sister Sade, I thought maybe I did something wrong to
you," he said looking straight at the dark road ahead.

"No, you did nothing wrong and thanks for your prayers too." She
said and silence followed. After another one hour drive, they arrived at
Sade's family house at exactly 8:45pm but Sade insisted that it wasn't safe
for Kehinde to drive back that night. Her parents joined and pleaded with
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him to sleep over then leave first thing in the morning, so Kehinde agreed
but whispered something into Sade's ears.

"I will sleep in my car please." Kehinde whispered into Sade's ear
and her parents decided to give them space.

"Why? Brother Kehinde, we have a spare room where you can

sleep comfortably" she said pleadingly.

"Sister Sade, I'm sorry I didn't plan to sleep over. I only agreed to sleep
over because you insisted I do. Don't worry, I will be fine in the car, I've
slept in the car several times..." He was trying to make her agree with him
but she cut him short.

"My parents won't be happy to see you sleep inside the car when we
have a vacant room." She said with displeasure in her eyes.

"See, they won't know I slept in the car, unless if you decide to inform
them." He said and continued immediately with another topic in order to
divert her attention.

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 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"I really wanted to discuss something serious with you but it didn't
work out as planned because the meeting you had with mummy took the
whole time. All the same, I was very happy to see you experience God
afresh in that indoor meeting with her. So, will it be possible for us to talk
outside here this night?" He asked smiling in a way that reminded Sade of
the way their friendship used to be, how he smiled when cracking jokes and
just as expected, she forgot the previous matter.

"Alright then, come inside and eat before the discussion." She said
and started walking into the house hoping that he would follow her behind.
"Uhm. Wait a minute," he said thoughtfully, then smiled in a funny
way before saying what he wanted to say.

"Why don't we eat together outside here, I like the fresh air here." He
said trying to hide his lack of interest in eating the food. He already knew
that she would get angry if he refuses to eat the food, and his plans will be
ruined.
"Okay o, I will bring the food out here for you but I won't eat with you.
You will eat alone." She said with a tone of finality and walked out fast
before he could protest.

"Rara o." He shouted in low tone and relaxed his back on the wooden
chair he was sitting on. Soon, she came out from the kitchen with a plate of
jollof rice which the church mummy packaged for them.

"This rice smell nice." He said looking at her.

"I know you may not like to eat the amala and ewedu soup my mother
prepared, so I decided to fetch Temi's birthday rice which mummy
packaged for us for you," she explained.

"Hope you didn't tell your mother that I don't like her food,because I
didn't say so o..." He said and collected the spoon,then frowned in a funny
way.
"Where is your own spoon?" He asked and she started laughing.
"Brother Kehinde,don't feel like eating anything tonight. I feel this
inner panting and hunger for God, I don't know how to go about it yet but I
feel a very strong yearning in my heart for more of God." She explained
with all seriousness in her eyes.

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 "That's part of what I wanted to discuss with you Sade. Though, you
haven't discussed your encounter with God in mummy's room with me, but
I strongly believe that God is giving you another chance to make a
difference." He said and dropped the spoon in his hand. Then continued,

"You see,your backsliding took place gradually and almost became

worst when you finally forsook the spiritual exercises you used to do
before; things such as personal fasting and prayers, your quiet time,
fellowshipping with brethren and even singing. Sade, you stopped doing all
these things when you conceived Toyin because you felt there's no point
doing them anymore. You felt, that after all God's mad at you and won't
hear you anymore, but that's not true." He said with frankness, adjusted
himself on the seat then continued.

"Look, the yearning you are feeling inside is God calling you to come
up higher from where you are right now. He wants you to go back to those
personal spiritual exercises you used to do before. He wants to see you
spend more time with Him in prayers, studying of His word and worship.
Sade, you are empty, he wants to fill you afresh and the only place he can
fill you is when you draw closer to Him in these areas I have mentioned. I
don't know what the sermons in your church here looks like, but you also
need to hear quality,soul lifting messages. The Bible says, 'Faith comes by
hearing the word of God'. I can as well send some video and audio
messages into your phone to listen to..." Kehinde kept on and on, switching
from preaching to advising and Sade responded with open heart so much
that they didn't know when it was midnight.

"You can start by deciding to go on a fast tomorrow, even if it's 6am-

12pm. You may encounter difficulties owing to the fact that it's been a long
time you fasted,but just try. I will also join you, then by 12pm,I will call you
so we can pray together and then you can eat. Is that okay by you?" He
asked searching her eyes and she nodded positively with excitement in her
eyes.

"Also, we can do online bible study together on WhatsApp, and then

pray over the phone." He said suggestively and she squeezed her face in
confusion.

"Which one is online bible study again?" She asked, smiling halfway.
"This is how we would do it. We would choose a passage in the Bible

119
and study it, then when we come online, you will share your own revelation
and I will share mine then take up an action plan from the study." Kehinde
explained and she found it interesting as she nodded her head with
interest.

"I like that brother Kehinde, that way I will be able to also learn how
to sit down and study to get revelation from the scriptures again. Hmmm.
Thank you so much my friend," she said excitedly.

"One more thing,Sade, what's your plan concerning your songs’ album
and Masters?" He asked looking intently into her eyes and watched as she
lowered her head in defeat.

"Brother Kehinde, I don't know. I just want to rise up from my fall first,
though I still have this fear that people will criticise me if I go into singing
a..." She was lamenting and he hushed her.

"Leave people out of this Sade, when you rise and begin to perform
excellently, people will forget your past and would even make you their role
model." He said and she looked up at him in a striking manner.

"Yes!" He said when he saw the surprise in her eyes,then continued.

"Sade, the world is waiting for your rising. Don't let the past keep your
back on the ground..." He wanted to speak further but she cut in.

"Brother Kehinde, it's not easy here in the village. No studio, no

Nothing." She complained.

"Okay! Do you want to come back to the city now?" He queried and
watched her as she struggled with whatever she wanted to say.

"I… I want to but it's not possible right now. I've exhausted all my
savings and I don't want to inconvenience mummy with my burdens and
that of Toyin." She explained painfully and looked away from him.

"How much are we talking about here? I mean how much do you
need to get your own apartment and everything you and Toyin would need
in the house?" He asked casually.

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 "Ah! Brother Kehinde, don't worry o. You have already done more
than enough for me and Toyin and I don't want to bother you more..." She
said in dismissal and he started laughing.

"Sister Sade,I didn't say I would give you the money. I just wanted to
know how much you need so we can start praying and trusting God for it.
Or don't you believe that God can provide it?" He asked cunningly and she
dismissed her thoughts and nodded her head agreeably.

"Take your time and estimate the amount you need and when you
want to leave this village,then let me know tomorrow so that we can start
praying about it." He said and yawned as he glanced through his
wristwatch.
"Jesu! It's already late sister Sade.Let me release you." He said and
she opened her mouth on hearing the time.

"Brother Kehinde, do you know what? The word of God is sweet, see
how we became oblivious of the time and were lost discussing spiritual
matters..." She said excitedly and he nodded his head thoughtfully.

"Sade, you are going to lead us to worship God,then pray briefly

before going to bed." He said and her heart skipped.

"I can't lead in prayers yet brother Kehinde, I'm still..." She wanted to
give excuses.

"No excuses please, just start with worship songs first." He said and
maintained a straight face, so she started searching her head and mind for
songs and finally came up with a song.

She continued the song with a shaky voice for about ten minutes
and it was quite obvious that she had no confidence in herself, so Kehinde
decided to switch into tongues in order to intercede for her. She went off
key as she picked up another song and struggled over it for few minutes
then decided to join Kehinde to pray. He increased the intensity of his
tongues so his voice was heard all over the compound.

Sade's mother woke up and peeped through the window to see who
it was that was praying in her house at that ungodly time of the night. She
saw Kehinde and Sade praying, then rubbed her eyes and went outside to

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ease herself. When she was done, she decided to sit down on the mud
pavement closed to the entrance door to pray along with them.

The prayer continued as Kehinde prayed louder in tongues, trying to

stir up Sade's spirit then thankfully, like a bolt of tornado she picked up and
started blasting in tongues. "Gbim!" Kehinde heard something fell to the
ground and opened his eyes which had been tightly shut.

He found Sade on the ground,clung to the wooden kitchen seat

praying in tongues violently. He remembered the words of his pastor those
days, when he was still very young in faith.

"Brothers, do not pray with a sister alone in a secluded place, and

even if you are praying in an open place alone, summarise the prayers if
she falls under the anointing. You may not be able to handle what follows
alone..." The Pastor usually warned them during their Young Men's Time
Out meetings.

He suddenly began to reduce the velocity of his voice in order to

summarise the prayers, though he felt the presence of God strongly in the
atmosphere. Just when he was making up his mind to end the prayers,
Sade's mother walked up from the pavement where she was sitting and
began to do the work of an usher as she tried to hold Sade from injuring
herself. He decided to end the prayers with a worship song in appreciation
to God.

After about forty minutes of trying to hold her at a place, Sade's

mother got tired of holding her as she struggled and continued in tongues
rolling on the sandy soil. Kehinde observed the frustration of the woman
and walked up to them, placed his hand on Sade's forehead,
"PEACE!" He prayed, and she became calm but continued speaking in
tongues slowly and crying at the same time.

The night started brightening up gradually into day and on checking

his time, it had clocked 5:15. He requested for water to wash his face and
when Sade's mother made to leave, Sade stood up and ran into Kehinde's
arms crying.

"I had an angelic visitation…" she cried, holding him in a tight

embrace and her mother stood aside watching them as Kehinde also held
her.
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 "Tell me about it." He said calmly and gently loosened himself from
the tight embrace and held her hand to seat down on the wooden chair,
then her mother entered inside the house and came out with a bowl of
water for him.

"ese ma." He said, stood up and collected the bowl of water from
her.

"I saw them, the angels." She began, "They were massive in stature,
beautiful and glorious in appearance. Brother Kehinde, the sight of them
going to and fro in holiness is even more beautiful I can't explain it.
I saw them, they came forth from a high and mighty throne with sealed
packages and handed them to me.

"Grace! Grace!" they said to me as they gave me the packages. My

heart was overflowing with joy unspeakable and a new song dropped on
my heart which I started singing with an angelic voice. Brother Kehinde you
need to hear my voice, I sang so differently and had angelic backups.

I can still remember the wordings and rhythm of the song.Let me

sing it for you brother Kehinde." She said and straight away, she closed her
eyes and began to sing the new song she received so melodiously that
Kehinde didn't know when tears began to drop from his eyes as he
watched her sing perfectly in tune with her eyes closed.

More amazing to him was the sight of Sade singing in tongues in

between the wordings of the new song. His hands became cold instantly as
goose bumps covered his hairy body.

"Brother Kehinde, you are crying?" Sade said and stopped singing
when she opened her eyes and saw him in tears.

"Huh? No." He said and quickly wiped off the tears in his eyes that
had flowed down his cheeks.

"Sade, you have no idea how happy I am seeing you sing again.
Seeing you sing before me this morning reminds me of the first time I saw
you minister in songs at your parish, I felt the presence of God and so did
everyone else." He said with all seriousness, then continued.

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 "The packages you saw them giving you and the 'Grace! Grace!'
shows that God has restored back to you everything that was lost and have
also given you greater grace. Can't you see you sing even better than
before?" He asked and she nodded in the affirmative.

"My dear, get a new book and write down the song; more songs are
coming,just be sensitive and give attention to them once they drop in your
heart or in your dreams. You can record them with your phone while trying
to sing them." He kept talking and stopped when he saw that the day has
broken very well and she might need to do some chores.

"Sister Sade, we shall talk better on phone. Let me get going now."
He said and jumped to his feet. As he was about opening the door of his
car, he remembered that the church mummy had mentioned that Sade was
meant to go to farm with her mother, and he knew that they won't be able
to go anymore because of his prayer and discussion which ended very late.

He dipped his hand into his trouser pocket and counted out some
thousand naira notes, walked up to Sade's mother and squeezed them into
her hands.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your farm work today. Please manage this
for me." He said as he gave the woman the money and she leaped for joy
on seeing the mints.

"Arrh! ese o brother Kehinde omo mi." She thanked him laughing
and advertising her green teeth as she danced. He laughed in satisfaction,
knowing that he has averted a possible quarrel between mother and
daughter with just a token,then drove out of the compound.

"You didn't even tell me that brother Kehinde is a Pastor. He is so

anointed..." Sade's mother said laughing as she tied the money at one
edge of her wrapper.

"Maami, brother Kehinde is not a Pastor. He is just a brother in one

of our branch churches in the city." Sade replied, dusting her body.

"Arrh! He should go and become a Pastor o. His anointing has outgrown

that of just a brother." The woman said entering the kitchen while Sade
laughed over what her mother said.

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 CHAPTER NINETEEN

On his way back to the city, a particular strange number kept calling
him which he suspected could be Jumoke's. He ignored it and later set the
phone on silent then continued with his journey.

He arrived home very tired and famished, but had to first call Sade to
inform her that he arrived home safely. He quickly rushed into the
bathroom, had a quick bath and made for himself a cup of tea before
resting his back for a nap.

"You must marry me, Kenny you must marry me. You can't use me
and dump me for another woman..." Jumoke fired at Kehinde in the dream
and he snapped out from his sleep to see his phone buzzing close to him.
He quickly picked it up on seeing Sade as the caller forgetting his dream.

"Brother Kehinde, there's trouble o." She said fearfully immediately

he picked up.

"Trouble? What happened?" He asked and sat up properly on the

bed.
"It's Olori o, he came around to look for me in our house and I told
him I can't continue with the relationship again and he got angry and
started threatening me. He said that I can't back out of the relationship after
all that he had spent on me and my family and that he must marry me..."
Sade was crying over the phone.

"He is not serious and he can't do anything to you." Angry Kehinde

blurted out.

"Brother Kehinde, he is serious o, that man is diabolical and can go

to any length to achieve his selfish interest..." She explained.

Sister Sade, I said he can't do anything to you. Tell him to calculate

all the money he spent on you and your family and we would pay him
back." He said angrily.

"No, he said he is not collecting money. That I must marry him." Still
crying,Sade explained.

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 "I don't know how I got myself into this mess..." She began to lament
over the phone.

"Stop that Sade." He said then continued, "Look, I think it's high time
you left that village. Stop crying, let me speak with mummy first. I will get
back to you shortly." He said and ended the call, then searched for the
church mummy's phone number.

"Arrh! arrh! The Olori of a man want to die abi? He should not near
my daughter o." The church mummy shouted over the phone looking at her
husband who was also listening to their conversation because the phone
was on loud speaker when Kehinde called to inform her of the latest
development.

"I think Sade needs to leave that village. I don't see any reasonable
thing she is doing there and she has her degree..." The Pastor told his wife
with a lowered voice, looking concerned and she gave him a supportive
look before speaking further with Kehinde.

"But brother Kehinde, what's your opinion, I mean what do you

suggest we do now?" She asked in order to know his own plans.

"Mummy, I don't really know... But I don't think that village is still a
safe place for Sister Sade, she needs to come out and find something
reasonable to do with her life..." He said, counting his words carefully to
avoid being misunderstood.

"But, is there any arrangements for where she would stay?" The
church mummy cunningly asked smiling silently as her husband looked up
at her with a 'what are you saying?' expression on his face, because there
were empty,unoccupied rooms in the personage and Sade can comfortably
stay in one of them with her daughter. She waved at her husband to calm
down,
"Daddy, I want to know whether he has other plans." She whispered
into her husband's ear,removing the phone faraway from her mouth and
the Pastor smiled at her criminal sense of reasoning.

"No arrangements yet. I just said I should inform you about the latest
development, and know what next to be done in order to enhance Sade's
safety..." He said calmly sensing that the woman was trying to get words
out of his mouth.
126
 "Okay, let me discuss with daddy first and I will get back to you."
She said and dropped the call.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" Laughing,she asked her

husband.

"I wonder why you are not an inspector in the police force. What
were you trying to hear from my son's mouth?" He said jokingly.

"Arrh! Anything o. I don't want to take chances again o. Do I know

whether he wants to accommodate her in his house?" She said maintaining
a serious face then started laughing again.

"No, no, that Kehinde you see is a disciplined young man. He won't
even think it." The Pastor defended him and his wife eyed him in a funny
way.
"Arrh! I don't understand how you suddenly became very fond of
brother Kehinde o, that young man just won your heart without any
struggles..." She teased her husband.

"Yes o! I love disciplined young men and I have studied him carefully
and found him worthy of my trust. That's by the way, can you now go
ahead and call Sade let's hear from her?" He asked rhetorically, then
continued.
"And please stop looking at me that way. You haven't been doing
your bed ministry lately, I won't interrupt you from saving Sade's soul o, but
when you are through with her, come over to the bed and save mine too..."
The Pastor said, lying back on the bed and looking into his wife's eyes in a
funny way.

"Pas...tor!!!" His wife called him and at the same time laughing hard.

"Yes, woman of God!" He replied, then continued. "Pastor needs to

be ministered to, hot ministration o." He said smiling in a naughty way.

"Ah! Man of God,stop being carnal." She teased him,still laughing.

"Carnal? How can I be carnal when I married a spiritual woman that

has the power both to minister to my spirit, soul and body? It's a spiritual
thing my dear! I have been given the license under the constitution of
heaven and you are the only woman of God that can minister to me with

127
holy hands. Do and come over here my dear…" He said laughing and the
church mummy fell off the bed laughing hard.

"Hello, sister Sade. How are you?" Kehinde spoke with Sade over
the phone after finalizing with the church mummy.

"I'm fine brother Kehinde." She replied with a calm voice. "Good
afternoon sir."She greeted almost immediately.

"Yeah, did mummy call you?" He asked almost immediately.

"Yes, she called me in the morning few minutes after I finished

speaking with you. He said I should get my things and that of Toyin ready
that you are coming to pick us first thing tomorrow morning." Sade
reported.

"Yes, that's it. I will drive down there very early so I can come back in
time and attend to some office calls." He said and she cut in.

"Brother Kehinde, thank you very much for speaking to mummy on

my behalf. What could I have done without you?" She said and he quickly
interrupted her.

"Ah! No o!Sister Sade. I didn't speak with mummy on your behalf,

God granted your desire of coming back to the city. Isn't God faithful?" He
asked rhetorically laughing.

"Yes, He is. But I still want to thank you..." She said and he quickly cut
her short.

"Sister Sade, leave me jor!" he said and she joined him laughing.

Kehinde drove down to Sade's village very early the next morning
and arrived before 6:30am when Sade was bathing Toyin. He asked to be
shown their luggage which he began to park into the car immediately while
Sade and Toyin got themselves prepared for the journey.

"Sade!" Olori's voice was heard from the backyard when they were
about entering the car to leave for the city.

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 "You can't run away from your shadow, can you?" He said with a
threatening look and everyone turned and found him standing akimbo.

"Yes, even a man's shadow do leave him." Kehinde answered on

seeing him.

"Stay away from this matter young man, I have no business with
you." Olori fired at him angrily. "Sade you are my wife and you cannot run
away from me to anywhere. You belong to me!" He said and her parents,
lowered their head in shame.

"I'm not your wife neither do I belong to you." Sade blew hot at him.

"Every dime I spent on you and your family espoused you to me." He
said domineeringly.

"You lie!" Kehinde fired at him, then turned to face Sade,

"Sade enter this car let's get out of here." He said, trying hard to control his
temper.

"It's either I marry Sade, or no man will have her." Olori threatened
and Kehinde gave a scornful laugh.

"Sister Sade, I said get into the car." He urged her and entered the
driver's seat and waited for the crying Sade to join him in the car while
Toyin was already at the back seat watching the drama.

Sade's parents sat at a place unable to talk, their heads still lowered
down to the earth as Olori kept releasing threats.
"You all will all pay for this..." He threatened, pointing from Kehinde to
Sade's parents as she entered the car and Kehinde zoomed off
immediately.

Sade cried in fear all through the journey and Kehinde allowed her
to have a good cry. They arrived the parsonage few minutes past nine, and
he offloaded the luggage and rushed to the office as his attention was
already needed at the hospital.
Sade and Toyin were shown their room which had been neatly swept and
given a clean touch under the church mummy's instruction and they settled
down after arranging some of their things.

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 She sent Kehinde an SMS to apologise for the embarrassment he got
from Olori and also pleaded with him not to give up on her. He called her
immediately and assured her of his unwavering support, then promised to
speak with her later in the evening because he was busy with so much
work on his desk.

On dropping the call, a nurse ushered in a patient for medical

consultation and on lifting his head, Jumoke was standing before his desk.

"Jumo!" He said in shock, and quickly put himself together.

"I wasn't expecting you here." He said, trying to act serious.

"Why? Are there patients you expect and those you are not
expecting?" She said smiling but he looked away maintaining a straight
face.
"Can I at least sit down? Kenny I paid for the consultation." She said,
searching for his face.
"But Jumo, you and I know very well that you are not here for any
consultation. Please, this is an office, can we discuss whatever it is you
want outside official duties?" He said with a mean face.

"Are you asking me out of your office?" Jumoke asked and broke
down in tears. The Kenny she knew even when he was an unbeliever
cannot bear to see a woman cry, so she felt that crying was the only tactic
powerful enough to get him to give her attention.

"Hey! Jumo stop that. You know I hate to see you cry." He said sitting
up uneasily on his seat.

"You know what? Let's hang out by 4pm today so we can talk
properly. I'm not comfortable discussing..." He was trying to talk but she cut
him short.
"No! Kenny no, you just want to dispose me…" She cried the more
and he became more embarrassed when a female nurse entered the office
and found Jumoke crying profusely.

"Please, leave!" He ordered the nurse out without looking at her or

bothering to know what she had to say and she ran out immediately.
"You see what I'm saying? You just embarrassed me and yourself
before this student nurse now. We can't talk here Jumo." He explained but
she would have none of it.
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 "Alright, what is it you want us to talk about? Go ahead and talk
about it." He said and relaxed back on his chair.
"Kenny, you ditched me with the excuse that you were born again and
needed to build your new found faith. You told me that we can't continue for
the time being and I understood with you and gave you time to build. But
you abandoned me totally, you left after graduation without leaving a trace
and took a part of me along with you. Kenny you shattered my world,if not
that I met Mummy who spoke to me in a counseling and led me to Christ, I
don't know what would have become of me.

Ever since you left my life, I've been unable to love any other man let
alone start a relationship. I kept having this feeling within me that I would
still find you, I traveled home several times and visited Oba and your
mother, and they welcomed me with open heart thinking we were still
together and it further convinced me that God had been keeping you for
me.

But hearing you the other day telling me that you already have a
woman in your life you are considering to marry, is even a heavier blow.
Kenny, I gave you my virginity to prove my love for you! You are the only
man I've ever known and loved since I was born. Please, don't leave me..."
She broke down in tears and went down on her knees begging him.

"Jumo, stop this. You are embarrassing me, get up to your feet!" He
said and rushed over to help her get up to her feet.

"Just get up first, let me talk to you. I said get up first Jumo…" He
said, trying hard to lift her and get her to sit down on the seat; but instead,
she stood up and faced him with a pitiful expression on her face, looking
intently and pleadingly into his eyes, bringing her mouth closer to his and in
a twinkle of an eye, they were both locked up in a kiss...

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 CHAPTER TWENTY

The kissing continued for about two minutes as his hand

meandered through her soft human hair weavon down to her breast region,
and she quickly unbuttoned her blouse to grant him easy access to her raw
breast but as if something struck Kehinde, he suddenly quivered and
moved back in fear.
"Shit!" He blurted out and moved away from her, adjusting his belt
and covering his face with his palms, his heart beating fast.
"Jumoke leave my office." He said calmly trying hard to bring himself
under control.
"Kenny, I'm sorry." She said softly as she drew closer to him.
"I've heard you, please you can now leave." He said, turning his back
on her. She came close to him and placed her hand on his shoulder from
behind.
"Ke…nny... It's in your eyes, you still love me as much as I do..." She
was still talking when he turned in a rage and shouted.
"Leave!!!!" His voice was heard all over the place and fear gripped her.
"I said leave my office!!!" He shouted repeatedly and in a minute, both the
security personnel and nurses barged into his office and ordered Jumoke
out forcefully.

"Doc, hope you are alright?" A fair complexioned female nurse who
had been crushing on him stayed behind and asked. He waved at her to
leave the office without looking at her and she lazily dragged herself out
feeling bad. He dropped into his chair, bent his head and tears began to
pour out of his eyes.
"Arrh! God! What did I just do?" He asked nobody but himself amidst
tears.

Jumoke arrived home sad and dejected to meet her niece crying at
the reading table and she rushed over to her.
"Bisi, what's the problem? Why are you crying?" She asked Bisola who
wasn't expecting to see her by that time of the day.
"Nothing." She replied and quickly wiped off her tears.
"You can't tell me nothing whereas you are crying."
"Aunty J, it's my boyfriend." Bisola said.
"What about your boyfriend?" She queried,a bit relieved.
``He's threatening to leave me if I don't have sex with him..." She
broke down again crying and leaving Jumoke more confused.

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 "So?" She asked the crying Bisola.
"Aunty, I don't want to lose Frank!" She buried her teary face in her
palms,then continued.
"And at the same time, I don't want to lose my virginity," she cried
louder and Jumoke held her closely to herself, on opening her mouth to
talk, tears began to stream down her cheeks as she remembered that
fateful Valentine evening, at Kehinde's lodge off campus when he asked
her to prove her love for him with so many promises to build a future with
her.

She remembered how she was bathed in her own blood right on
Kehinde's bed as he climbed down from over her body after defiling her
and how she did not stop satisfying him with her body until that very day he
called to tell her that he would no longer continue with the relationship.

More hurting for her was the fact that she was now the one begging
Kehinde not to leave her for another woman, even trying to go against her
faith to get him back to herself.

The incident at Kehinde's office came afresh before her as she

remembered how she was humiliated by the nurses and security men, how
a particular female nurse called her a prostitute that has come to seduce
their handsome doctor.
She hugged Bisola very tightly and cried with her eyes closed.
"Bisi, even though I failed in the past, I won't want you to repeat the
same mistake with me." She said, loosening from the tight hug and wiping
her tears.
"Some nine years back, I was just like you. Innocent, a virgin and I
held my head high with great confidence until I fell in love with Kenny. The
relationship was a healthy one until he began to request that I prove my
love for him, I refused but gave in due to his incessant request. I gave him
my virginity, but less than two years,he came up and announced that he
had become born again and wouldn't continue with the relationship
anymore.

Bisi, he kept avoiding me till we graduated and he vanished into thin

air leaving no trace of his whereabouts. I couldn't love any other man
because it seemed he left with a part of me, only for me to meet him few
days ago and guess what he told me,
"I already have someone I am considering for marriage’’. This

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afternoon, he disgraced me in his office and ordered me out because
we...we...I didn't know how it happened that we both couldn't control
ourselves and ended up kissing each other..." She said, breathed down
and continued.
"Even after kissing me, he still ordered me out. I know it was wrong
as Christians that we kissed but I didn't plan it. I'm not a wayward girl just
that I couldn't resist him standing very close to me." She confessed.

"He doesn't want me anymore Bisi,not even sex would make him
want to settle down with me. I gave my virginity to prove my love for him in
vain. And that's also applicable to you, giving him your body now would not
stop him from leaving you tomorrow. If you do,you might end up being the
one chasing after him later, trying to keep him while he diverts his attention
to another woman.

Sex has never been a proof of love, if it is, prostitutes would be the
best lovers in the world. Let Frank go if your body is the proof of love he
needs, in fact, break up with him first before he breaks up with you and you
won't feel hurt much. Don't let any man tamper with your pride as a woman
if you must walk around with your head high. Your body is your pride, guide
it jealously my dear..." She spoke at length with Bisola, then stood up.
"I regret that day, that very minute I spread my legs for Kenny to
have his way. I curse that day, the day which I agreed to satisfy a man I
love at the expense of my self-value as a woman." She muttered loudly
looking into the space as Bisola stared at her speechlessly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Seven nights later, Olori came out in the middle of the night and walked
down to the river with his black spiritual messenger Igomudu, (the spirit of
madness),stretched it forth into the air and began to make incantations
"Sade!! Sade!! Sade!!!" He shouted after making his incantations.
"Go!!!" He shouted wickedly and finally the black messenger flew out
of his hand and disappeared into thin air.

"Sister Sade, are you still sleeping? Wake up! Wake up! It's time for
our midnight chain prayer." Kehinde said over the phone when Sade picked
his call but she was sleep talking over the phone.

He had suggested they do a one week midnight chain prayer as

one of their online Bible study action plan and that night was the seventh
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night.
"Humm...brother Kehinde can we shift it to 2am? Am feeling very
sleepy." She said with sleepy eyes.
"No! No! Sister Sade. I had a terrible dream..." He said in a haste
and the sleep in her eyes immediately gave way as she quickly sat up on
the bed and held the phone closely to her ears.
"What's the dream all about?" She queried anxiously.
"I can't explain it right now, when we see,I will share it with you.
There's something strange in the air,I can't explain it but we need to start
our prayers now." He said and she nodded her head with willingness.
"Okay, but you didn't send me our prayer points for tonight" she
replied and climbed down from the bed.
"We are following the leading of the Holy Spirit, I couldn't get any
prayer points for tonight. We shall start with worship songs and then pray in
the Holy Ghost for as long as He gives us grace. Also, we would be praying
over the phone this night, I want to hear your voice praying to be sure that
you are not praying and sleeping at the same time." He said sounding
serious.
"Ah! Brother Kehinde, it will cost you much o." she shouted over
the phone.
"I've already counted the cost and also recharged my phone. So,
Sinach, can you please lead us with worship songs?" He said smiling and
she burst into a loud laugh that almost woke Toyin up. She started up a
worship song, one of Sinach's songs which she knew was Kehinde's
favorite song and from there, they sang other songs before they finally
entered into intensive three hours marathon tongue speaking that they
didn't know when the call ended.

The aggression with which she prayed finally woke Toyin up and
she climbed down the bed and knelt close to her mother muttering only
what God knows as prayer.
The black messenger hovered over the air around the parsonage
but the atmosphere became too hot for it to penetrate, first because the
prayer watch arm of the church were having their 'power must change
hands' night prayer and mainly because the prime target was having an
edge of fire surrounding her and her daughter.

After wandering around fruitlessly, it diverted and visited Olori's

first daughter living in Lagos who was always sending money home for her
father then stung her in the head.

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 She woke up scratching her head and began to act strange and
finally ran mad at the early hours of the morning.
The black messenger returned back to Olori with blood in its mouth
indicating that it sucked an assigned victim and Olori laughed wickedly,then
made more incantations to seal the madness.
At few minutes past 4am, Sade became very tired of praying then
lay down and slept off very close to Toyin who had slept off after an hour of
muttering her own prayers while Kehinde continued till 5am before
concluding the prayer.

One of the desires in his heart that made him pray longer was his
parents, he wanted God to touch their hearts to call him and approve his
choice of whom to marry. After his prayers, he picked up his bible to study
and midway into the study, he slept off with his head on the open bible
which eventually got squeezed up.
Olori's son in-law called him to inform him of what was happening to
his daughter and his heart dropped, he gave a loud scream and his wives
ran into his room to know what was happening to him.

They found him holding his chest painfully and had fallen to the
floor in pain screaming his daughter's name. He was pained because her
first daughter was married to a very wealthy man and she was the secret
behind all the money he threw around in the village as Olori.

It was more hurting to him because he knew that any one stung by
the black messenger can never be cured of the madness incurred.
"What happened to her?" His wives asked in unison as he kept
repeating his daughter's name over and over again. But he refused to
answer them and after a long while, he instructed them to call his personal
native doctor.

The native doctor came and after observing his condition, suggested
he be taken to the English doctors. He was rushed out to the village
medical center where they referred them to another hospital in Akure
because they couldn't handle his case.
Olori's daughter was as well taken to the psychiatric hospital but her
condition got worse and some days later, she ran away without anyone's
notice and strayed faraway from the reach of her husband and relations in
rags and dirty clothes.
Olori suffered a heart attack and his blood pressure rose higher than

136
normal resulting in partial stroke and he was confined to the hospital bed
for months without any positive improvement.

When he saw that all his money had been spent on hospital bill
and drugs, and his daughter who used to send him money was nowhere to
be found,he took his own life by drinking a local rat poison.

Sade and Kehinde became very close so much that she confided
in him before taking any decision regarding herself and Toyin her daughter.

The church mummy used her position as the head pastor's wife to
get Sade a teaching job in the church's primary school, but she couldn't
accept the offer until she got Kehinde's approval.
"Hope you know you have become my mentor?" She told Kehinde
over the phone without waiting to hear what he had to say.
"I don't want to hide anything from you o. Mummy got me a teaching
job in our church's primary school. So, I want to inform you first before
accepting it. Do you think I should pick it up?" She asked him.
"Wow! That's good. I was just thinking of a possible job you can do!"
Kehinde replied excitedly at the other end,then continued.
"Well, I know the pay would be small but just take it up first while we
trust God for a better job." He said smiling, then continued.
"At least, you will start going out in the morning like others and not
stay indoors alone." He said teasingly and she laughed.

"Hey! Did I hear you say am your mentor?" He asked still laughing.
"Yes, brother Kehinde am serious o. I have learnt a lot from you and
I make less mistakes whenever I confide in you before taking decisions..."
She was still talking and he cut in.
"My dear, we are friends and a friend ought to watch his friend's
back. That's what am doing, watching our upcoming Sinach's back.
Mummy is already mentoring you..."he teased her.
"Stop joking, am serious brother Kehinde. Mummy is trying but she
so busy, and I hardly have her around to give me attention...” She was
trying to explain when the hungry Toyin called her attention to the food on
fire which was burning and she excused herself then ended the call.

One day,during their monthly mountain joint prayer and one on one
study, Kehinde was sharing his revelations from the scriptures sitting a little
distant directly opposite Sade but while he was enjoying the insights from

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the scriptures and was sharing them with her, she was lost in thoughts
admiring him and so couldn't pick a word from everything he said.

"Brother Kehinde is very handsome and kind too. Look at his pink
lips and dimples. Gosh! I love him... But he won't love me because am no
longer attractive." She was lost in thoughts and at a point, Kehinde noticed
that she wasn't concentrating so he paused but she did not know that he
had stopped talking.
"Sister Sade!" Kehinde called her and she jolted back.
"What were you thinking about?" He asked with concern but she
nodded her head in the negative.
"Nothing." She said and looked away from him praying in her heart
that he should ask no further.
"Come ‘on,talk to me. You weren't here all the while I was talking.
You were lost in some thoughts. What's it?" He said and dropped the bible
in his hand on a large stone nearby.
"Brother Kehinde, I said nothing." She maintained.
"Okay, if you say you were not thinking about anything, what was the
last thing I said from the scriptures I was sharing with you?" He asked with
displeasure in his eyes.
"I can't remember." She said and maintained a bold face.
"You promised not to hide anything from me. Now, something is
bothering you but you don't want to talk about it..." He said feeling
disturbed.
"Okay, maybe we should start going..." He said then picked up his
bible and jotter.
"No! No, brother Kehinde. Please don't ask me what I was thinking
about, I'm ashamed of saying it before you and not necessarily that am
hiding something from you. Am alright, I don't have any physical
challenge." She explained and he understood with her from her facial
expression.
"Since you are now ashamed of me, and cannot share your thoughts
with me, start sharing your own revelations now because am done with
mine." He said and relaxed back, looking intently at her as she flipped
through the bible to find the places she studied over the week.

She lifted up her head and was about calling out the bible passages
and her eyes came in contact with his fixed on her. She quickly blinked her
eyes looked down feeling shy and began to call the bible passages
carefully without looking up at him.

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 Because she was feeling shy, she stammered several times and
repeated some words many times so much that Kehinde had to interrupt
her.
"Sister Sade, this is not you. Your bible expositions the previous
months were far better than this. Even if you can't tell me what is bothering
you with your mouth, maybe I should excuse you so you send it to me
through a text message." He said feeling very bad but she still insisted that
she can't say it.

He swallowed hard, took up that particular scripture she was

muddling and began to expound it more to her.
"Yes! Brother Kehinde, that was exactly what I wrote down in my
quiet time note while studying, I don't know why I diverted from them today
.Look at where I wrote them down here." She shouted excitedly as she
went over to show him her quiet time notes.
"Maybe my presence suddenly started intimidating you, but no
problems. I don't want to get angry today, but if this absent mindedness
repeats itself again during any of our spiritual outings, I would definitely not
be happy with you..." He said, sounding very mean.

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 CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

They prayed and then sat down to talk about other things.

"I will be taking you to the studio tomorrow, but I won't be able to stay there
with you till you finish, but I will come and pick you up when you are
through..." He informed her and she became sad.

"Brother Kehinde, you didn't stay with me at the studio last week and
that guy at the studio was busy misbehaving because you were not around.
You promised to stay this week." She murmured childishly and he started
laughing.

"And who are you doing that face for?" He teased her but she
refused to laugh.

"See, something came up that would demand my attention at the

hospital tomorrow and you know health is involved here..." He was trying to
explain when suddenly he noticed tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Really? Sister Sade, it hasn't gotten to that please. Okay, you know
what would happen?" He asked rhetorically then continued.

"We would go by 9am and I would stay there with you to supervise
everything till 11am before leaving. Is that okay by you?" He asked
searching her eyes for an answer as he fought the urge to go wipe off the
tears on her cheeks.

"Come ‘on, stop crying; we are in a public place and passersby will
see you crying and start thinking am a wicked person." He said forcing out
a smile to suppress the hurt he was feeling inside.

"You need to see how that young man was frustrating me at the
studio that day. He would just be telling me to twist my voice in a way that
the songs will choke me and he was telling me that it's superb. Brother
Kehinde, these are songs I received under the inspirations of the Holy Spirit
while studying the bible, during prayers and from dreams and I don't want
anybody to add any artificiality to them. I want to sing them in the spirit not
the way he wants and if you are around, you would not allow him to order
me to do it his own way..." She explained bitterly.

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 "Really? And you didn't bother to tell me all these things since last
week only to come here today and be crying like one small baby." He said
teasingly, calculating in his mind how to combine the two things tomorrow.

"I love my job but I also need to stand by and encourage her now
than ever…" He thought briefly then came up with an idea.

"I didn't know Jasper was frustrating you, but you ought to have told
me this before now. You see, you are now beginning to hide things from
me." He said feigning annoyance.

"Ah! No oo brother Kehinde, there's nothing there to hide; just that I

decided to keep quiet since you promised be around this week..." She
explained laughing.

"Alright. In that case, we would go to the studio by 2pm instead of the

usual 9am. And you know what that means, our coming back may be
around 6-7pm. So, you will have to bring Toyin along." He said and she
smiled in a way that gladdened his heart.

"I was thinking you should also get Toyin a home lesson teacher. She
is a smart girl but her performance last term wasn't a good one. You know
the standard of education in the village where she first started school can't
be compared with the ones here in the city. Besides, many of her
classmates have home teachers..." He said and she kept quiet.

"I guess you have traveled out in your mind again. Only God knows
what you are thinking about." He said getting worked up.

"It's not true, I was just thinking about what you were saying and
nothing else. Maybe I should take up the home lessons for her, because
my pay is not even enough for me let alone getting a lesson teacher that
will come and charge me ten thousand naira. How much is my salary?" She
said and started laughing as he gazed at her in a funny way.

"Get one first. You won't have all of that time to teach and guide her
to do her assignments because you are starting up your Masters program
next year." He said and she frowned at him.

"Where is the money for all these things you are bringing up?" She
blurted out before thinking.

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 "Well, Toyin is my friend and my gossip partner.So,am taking up all
her expenses. But for yours? We shall be trusting God to make provisions
for you because, after your Masters Degree, you will pick up your PhD form
immediately..." He said with finality and began to park up his Bibles.

"I think we need to go now. I have clothes waiting at home for me to

wash." He said and she immediately spoke up.

"Brother Kehinde, thank you very much. I appreciate your love and
care for me and Toyin…" She said feeling overwhelmed with emotions.

"Can we pray please?" He said in order to dispel her mood and he

prayed briefly,then they shared in His grace and began to walk down.

"Brother Kehinde, can I come along and help in washing those dirty
clothes?" She queried as they walked down side by side in the way.

"You never told me you also got a job in a drycleaning hub." He

teased her.

"Stop joking, I'm serious." She said, sounding serious.

"Sisters don't wash my clothes my dear. Besides, I don't welcome

female visitors in my house anymore and you are already aware of that."
He said looking away from her.

"Brother Kehinde, am I still a stranger to you? I thought..." She was

trying to talk but he interrupted her with another topic which made her
forgot what she wanted to say.

On their way home, he switched on his phone and many voice SMS
entered, followed by Toyosi's call. He ended the call and concentrated on
the steering but she kept calling while Sade told him about a man in her
branch church who lost his wife five years ago that was making advances
at her.

"Brother Kehinde, pick your calls." She urged him when she saw how
he repeatedly ended the calls.

"You advise me to answer calls while driving?" He said cunningly.

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 "But you used to answer my calls while driving." She argued jokingly.

"That's because it's you. You are not every other person." He said,
then continued.

"Please, continue with your story. So tell me, do you want to requite
the affections?" He asked feeling a little bit jealous.

"I'm just telling you about it, I didn't say I would requite anything yet."
She said feeling shy.

"But let’s assume the man proposes to marry you, will you accept to
marry him?" He asked trying to know her mind but she kept quiet.

"That man is in his sixties brother Kehinde, though it's my desire to

get married, I don't want to have anything to do with old men after my past
ordeal with Olori." She said feeling sad.
"I've been praying seriously and trusting God for a life partner, at
least a man who loves God and can also love me and Toyin
unconditionally." She added calmly without looking at him.
"It is well my dear, God will bring a man after his own heart for you.
Just keep praying and trusting Him to perfect all that concerns you." He
replied then breathed down heavily and concentrated on the high way
followed by a long silence.

Within him, he was happy that at least she had begun to gain back
her self-esteem but at the same time, he felt bad that he's not been able to
make his intention openly known to her because of his parents’ refusal to
accept her. He began to regret telling them that Sade was a single mother
in the first place. Sade on her own part was feeling bad about the turn of
things in her life.

"If only I had kept my body chaste, I wouldn't be single by now, let
alone being a single mother," she thought in regrets.

"I hope you are not worried?" He broke the long silence as they were
approaching the church bus stop where he would drop her off before going
back to his own house.

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 "I'm worried brother Kehinde, I will be clocking 30 next month but
there's still no serious man taking interest in me for marriage." She
lamented in a way that broke him down internally.

"Sister Sade, I thought you said you have been praying and trusting
God? If you are, then calm down and wait on him to answer your prayers.
You don't pray and worry at the same time!" He said loudly getting angry
with himself for everything.

"Alright. Ese gan," she thanked him and wiped off the tears that
dropped down her cheeks before climbing down from the car.

That night, he couldn't sleep and couldn't pray at the same time, as
he picked up his phone several times to call his father but will end up
dropping it in defeat. As he was busy thinking of what next to do, his phone
buzzed and a text message entered his phone.

"Brother Kehinde, I'm sorry to disturb you by this time of the night, but
I don't want to keep it to myself. I'm having a strong urge to have sex.
Please pray for me, I don't want to do anything stupid again. From Sade."
The text read and he began to dial her number immediately but she refused
to pick up her calls, not knowing how he was feeling inside as his heart
beat raced faster and faster.

It seemed his room became too small for him and he stood up pacing
up and down from the bed room to the sitting room still dialing her number.

"Sade,please pick up your calls. Please pick your calls!" He said

pleadingly as if she can hear him. He dialed her number for the umpteenth
time then started bombarding her phone with text messages.

Sade kept sobbing as she saw his calls but couldn't receive them for
fear and shame of being seen as a sexually loose person and she began to
regret ever sending him the text in the first place.

"Brother Kehinde would start seeing me as a loosed woman now, I

should have kept it to myself." She was weeping but quickly wiped off the
tears in her eyes when his text messages started pouring in.

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 In his first text, he pleaded with her not to do anything stupid, then
explained to her that having sexual urge is a natural thing that happens to
normal people whether born again or not.

He also explained that she is not a loosed woman because of the

urges rather,it shows that she is a healthy woman because she can
respond to stimulus. He explained further using his experience over the
years with women as a gynaecologist to educate her more about the
woman body then encouraged her by saying,

"I know you are a strong lady with a high level of self-control and you
can control the urges. You have been keeping your body all these years
and you can't afford to break that standard of chastity which is the reason I
still relate with you.

Sade I want you to know that I love you, do not regret ever telling me
how you felt because it doesn't change how I see you.
With love and concern from your best friend Kenny..." The last text read
and it sank deeply into her heart like a drop of cold water on a dry and
thirsty land.

A smile crossed her lips at the same time with tears of joy and by
then, the urge had fizzled out without her notice.
"Thank you very much brother Kehinde. I'm sorry for not picking your
calls, I feel better now. Once again, thank you." She quickly replied and
then switched off her phone and lay down on the bed very close to Toyin
on her tummy.
Kehinde scratched his head thoughtfully as he read her text
message over and over again then arrived at a decision to propose
marriage to Sade and win her first to himself then wait for when his parents
are ready to accept his choice of whom to marry.

Very early the next morning, he put a call across to the church
mummy who was out of the state for a program and informed her of his
plan to make his intention openly known to Sade and the woman started
teasing him.

"Oh! Mr secret lover boy, so you finally want to come out openly from
your hiding abi?" She said laughing hard over the phone.

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 "Mummy, please leave me o. I want to win her to myself as fast as
possible before all these sharp sharp brothers in your church will snatch
her away from me,’’ he said and joined her laughing.

"That's a good step my brother. Sade is a nice girl, it's just that she fell
victim of one of those temptations that are common to young people. Well,
why am I even telling you these as if you were not there all along?" She
said in a hurry, then asked immediately.

"What about your parents, have they finally approved your intended
marriage to her?" She asked with a concern in her voice.

"Mummy, they haven't o. But first thing first, let me even get Sade to
accept me first. Am so certain that one day, they will have no option than to
dance to my own tune." He said and forced out a dry smile.

"It's well brother Kehinde, we shall join you in prayers." She replied
coldly and they bade each other good bye.

He entered the bathtub and had a good bath allowing the showers to
gush out water continuously over his head as he sat down on the inside.

His phone rang and he stretched out his hand and collected it to
know the caller, it was an international number so he quickly cleaned his
head and on pressing the receive button,he heard his elder sister's voice.

"Hello Kenny, bawoni?" She said in a hurry at the other end.

" Arrh! Sister mi, am fine o. You've forgotten your only brother na." He
said smiling.

"Kenny forget that thing first, I was told momma is very sick. What
are you doing about that?" She announced and he was taken aback at the
information.

"Sick? Nobody informed me about that. Who gave you that

information?" He replied looking confused.

"You mean you are in Nigeria and I get information about what
happens to our parents more than you? When last did you visit home?"

146
She queried sounding offensive and he suddenly felt guilty for having not
visited nor called his parents for over six months.

"Sister mi, that's not necessary now. I will travel home first thing tomorrow
morning to attend to her."

"Tomorrow morning is too far, you have to get ready and go home
today." She said authoritatively and he started laughing.

"Soldier woman, you have not changed one bit. Stop commanding
me o, am now a full grown up man." He said still laughing.

"I'm not laughing with you yet,go and treat our mother first then call
me so we can discuss about that your Sade of a girl you were talking
about." She said smiling at the other end.

"So it's now you want to talk about her since over how many
months? Go jor, you are not a good big sister." He said and they both
started laughing.

"You should know I don't have problems with your choice of whom to
marry, I just want you to be careful. You already have my partial support till
when you finish treating my mother." She said jovially.

"Alright, let me see how it goes." He said and they joked over other
things then bade each other farewell.

Kehinde got to the office earlier than usual and attended to some
pregnant women who were around, then put a call across to Sade and
informed her about his mother's condition and his plan to travel home to
know the nature of the sickness and possibly start up a treatment on her if
it's within his ability.

"I will try and come back before 2pm so we can go to the studio." He
promised.

"No problems, just take your time. We can go to the studio next week," she
said with concern, then continued.

"Greet her for me." She said before ending the call.

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 Kehinde arrived home to meet his parents absence and was told that
his mother had been rushed to the hospital in the same city he was coming
back from.

"What's happening?" He asked nobody but himself. Whatever will

make the oba, his father to leave his throne must be a serious matter and
their refusal to call him means that they must be seriously angry with him.

He quickly dialed his father's number and he picked up immediately

and gave him the name of the hospital they were. He knew his father does
not have a strong heart and could easily be convinced but his mother had a
soldier's heart just like his elder sister who was based in the UK.
He drove on a high speed limit and arrived the general hospital where
his mother was admitted and luckily, he knew the doctor in charge of her
treatment.

He inquired and was told the nature of the sickness then he breathed
down, relieved that it wasn't really a serious issue. He drove the oba to his
house to freshen up and when he was thinking of what next to do and how
to combine Sade's studio show with his mother in the hospital and the oba
in his house, an idea dropped in his mind.
He smiled and called Sade to terminate their intended studio outing
for that day.
"My mother is admitted at the general hospital here in the city with no
one staying with her. Please can you come and stay with her this weekend
since there's no school tomorrow and next?" He said pleadingly over the
phone and she agreed immediately without thinking about it the second
time.

"I think we need to bring one of the maidens over to take care of your
mother at the hospital because you may not have all the time to stay with
her and duty demands that I return to my seat..." The oba explained
carefully.

"Arrh! There would be no need to bring any of them over, I have

nurses working under me and trusted female friends who can stay with her
till the time she would be discharged." He replied almost immediately.

"You know she is a queen of a kingdom and her life shouldn't be left
at the mercy of just anybody. We are in dangerous times and..." The oba
was still talking and he quickly cut in.
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 "Father, do not worry yourself about that. I know you don't want to
lose your sweetheart and I assure you that she would be left in safe
hands." He said convincingly and the oba believed him.

"Father," Kehinde called him calmly with a sad face.

"I'm sorry I haven't been calling nor visiting to know how you both are
doing. I'm deeply sorry..." He said remorsefully and was trying to prostate
on the Indian rug in his sitting room but the oba stopped him.

"Come ‘on my son, don't do that." He said in a hurry and asked him to
sit down.

"You see, I'm equally guilty and my heart have not been at peace
since the last time you left the palace in anger, and I have been longing to
see you." The oba began meekly and gently.

"I was studying my bible some months ago and the Lord confronted
me with a scripture, “why do you call what God has blessed unclean?". I
also heard it loud and clear so I looked around thinking someone was
reading it out for me but found no man.

While I was trying to understand what the Lord was talking about,
your thought came strongly to my heart and the last discussion we had in
which I angrily told you that the woman you have chosen to marry is no
longer sacred enough to be the next queen came flashing in my mind." The
oba continued.
"Who am I to call God's handmaid imperfect? I asked God for mercy
and have been willing to give you my blessings but when I related the
matter to your mother, she stubbornly insisted that her son would not marry
a second hand woman. You know how stubborn your mother can be most
times, she threatened to kill herself if I approve your marriage and it's a bad
omen to my throne as a King of a kingdom.

I have told the Lord who visited and confronted me to also visit her
and convince her heart concerning His will for you in marriage," the oba
explained and breathed down heavily.
"How is the young lady?" He asked to the surprise of Kehinde whose
mouth was already opened in amazement of all that his father had said.
"She is fine." He replied feeling elated.
"Don't worry my son, your God whom you serve will settle you soon.
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Don't be discouraged, am solidly behind you but let's give your mother time
to get convinced about the young lady." The oba dropped more surprising
words which got Kehinde so excited so much that he did not know when he
jumped up to his feet and hugged his father so passionately.

"I've always known you to be a good man with a large heart towards
humanity and apart from being my father, you are also a mentor to me. You
didn't give up on me those days when I suddenly became so stubborn and
lived waywardly but continued to pray for my salvation until the day God
arrested me. Since then, I have followed your steps, both in presenting
every matter to God in prayers and in patiently waiting for the ripeness of
time.

You have inspired me more than you know father. Thank you once
again for believing in me even on this matter..." Kehinde expressed himself
almost in tears and his father pat him on the shoulder.

"I will now leave you to observe some rest while I go back to the
hospital with someone who would stay with your queen." Kehinde said and
led the oba to his own bed room instead of the guest room.

Kehinde picked Sade up from the parsonage under the pastor's

permission and they both drove down to the hospital leaving Toyin at the
care of Bukola the Pastor's daughter.

Sade was still feeling shy and couldn't look into his eyes after the last
night text message and he laughed to himself as he held the steering.

"I can see that someone is still feeling shy." He said in order to break
the silence. Her heart skipped and she immediately threw her face aside,
looking out through the glass of the car at nothing in particular without
saying a word.
"But wait a minute, you don't used to be this shy in my presence,
how did this whole shyness of a thing even start?" He asked jovially but
she just sat down there beside him smiling from ear to ear without turning
her face.
"Am still waiting for an answer." He said even though he knew Sade
would not answer him.
"She can't even look into my eyes anymore." He teased her further
150
on driving into the hospital gate and then located a parking space very
close to the private ward where his mother was given a bed.
"Sister Sade," he called her calmly wanting to tell her what his
mother likes and how to handle her while staying with his mother.
"Sir." She answered still avoiding his eyes.
"Are you serious?" He said loudly with his eyes widely open.
"Has it gotten to that extent?" He asked when he saw how
uncomfortable she was feeling when he called her name.
"What?" She summoned the courage to ask without expecting an
answer because she already knew what he meant.
"Sister Sade, look at me." He said but she stole a fast look at his
broad chest and then looked away immediately. He burst into a provocative
laugh then called her again.
"I didn't say you should look at my chest, I said look into my eyes."
He said smiling.
"Brother Kehinde, leave me alone jor!" She burst out angrily,
opened the car door and climbed down leaving Kehinde who was laughing
so hard behind. She wondered why he was so happy even when his
mother was lying sick in the hospital.

"It's quite unusual. This is my first time of seeing him this happy for
no just cause." She thought within herself as they walked down side by
side into the private ward.
They met his mother sleeping peacefully on the sick bed and on
seeing her, Sade smiled.
"Brother Kehinde, your mother is so beautiful." She said almost in a
whisper in order to avoid waking her up.
"Really? Is she more beautiful than I am?" He said jokingly and she
started laughing.
"Stay with her let me check on the doctor." He said and walked out
of the ward.

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 TWENTY TWO

"No, I don't want her to be discharged yet. Keep her here for more
five days." Kehinde objected when his doctor friend said his mother would
be discharged the next day since her health condition can be managed
from home with drugs.

"Haba! Kenny what's the matter?" Dr Iyk asked in surprise.

"See, I need your help Iyk man. My woman is presently with my

mother in the ward right now. I need them both to stay together for a while
so that my mother can know more about her because she has some doubts
about whether she would make a good wife or not..." Kehinde explained,
keeping the main reason out of the discussion.

"But, is any of them aware of this your plans?" Dr Iyk queried with a
smile.
"Aware for where? Who wan tell them?" He said with a serious look
and the doctor started laughing.
"Guy, you still have this your criminal sense o, born again have not
changed that one." Dr Iyk said amidst laughter.
"My brother if you leave these mothers, they will just confuse your life
for you and work one girl into your life in the name of suggesting wife for
you. I beg, it's my wife we are talking about here o." He said laughing along
with him.
“That’s true my guy. You know me and Chioma are no longer
together now." Dr Iyk said casually.
"Which Chioma? You mean your wife?" The surprised Kehinde
asked.
"Yes my brother. That girl dealt with me o." Dr Iyk said sadly,then
continued.
"She lied to me that she was still a virgin and that we would not make
out together till our wedding night only for me to find out on the said
miserable wedding night that she was an express road through which many
motorists have traveled..." He was still explaining when Kehinde burst into
laughter.
"Guy, so you were actually looking for a virgin to marry even after all
the rough lives we were living back then?" Kehinde asked, laughing out
loud.
"Is there any reasonable man who would not want to marry virgin? I

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beg stop laughing let me tell you how this girl dealt with me and my family,"
he said trying to act serious, then continued
"That was how Chioma played the game player himself. She played
me big time and I fell for it, and even left all my girlfriends,including Buky;
that my girlfriend in medical school back then and faced only her. But, do
you know what finally separated us? After the traditional marriage, this
innocent looking church girl my mother pushed me to marry began to unveil
her true nature.

Her character changed and she became a torn on my parents flesh

and started hanging out with one Owerri man because then I was still trying
to find my footing financially. It was still my mother who insisted I must not
marry a Yoruba girl back then that came up and told me to divorce her or
else she would kill herself. Guy, with all pleasure, I pushed the idiot out of
my house..." Dr Iyk explained feeling hurt.

"I feel for you my brother. Though I would have suggested you give
her time to change if ..." Kehinde was talking and he quickly hushed him.

"Hey! Hey! Kenny forget that thing. She's history as far as me and
my family are concerned." He said in anger. When he saw how hurt Iyk
was, he scheduled another time with him to discuss better and they walked
up together to the private ward.

On seeing Sade,Dr Iyk and Kehinde exchanged glances with

smiles.
"She is beautiful and looks natural too." Doctor Iyk admired her.
"Guy, stop eyeing my woman." Kehinde whispered jovially then they
both started laughing and the queen woke up.

"My back!" The queen whined painfully on waking up and they all
rushed over to her bedside but Kehinde and the queen already knew that
the back pain was the occasional crisis she had been having for over eight
years.

Once the crisis starts,the queen would wail and cry due to the
unexplainable pains she feels on her shoulder down to her back and then
spread down to her knees and joints which usually last for days.
The crisis started eight years ago when the queen woke up with a
sharp pain on her shoulder and recounted how a masquerade pursued and
gave her whips on the back in the dream. Since then, the pains comes and
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go and the royal family have tried all they could but couldn't find a
permanent solution for her occasional crisis.

Kehinde himself had prayed tireless for her healing several times but
the healing never came.
"Sister Sade, please massage her body let's get some pain reliever
and inject her." Kehinde said hurriedly and held Iyk out of the ward.

"Guy, don't bother about the pains she's feeling. It's more of a
spiritual attack and medicine have not been able to solve it for years now.
Just help get some pain reliever and inject her for me..." Kehinde said with
sadness in his eyes and Iyk entered the nurses’ cubicle to get them. He
soon came out with a nurse following him and they all rushed into the ward
where Sade was massaging the queen.

"Don't inject me anymore, let me die. I'm tired of this life, I want to
die." The queen became aggressive as she whined in pain and refused to
allow doctor Iyk inject her.

The sight of seeing his mother going through pain to the extent of
desiring death shook him considerably and the fact that the crises was
happening before his friends hurt him more and he began to beg her to
calm down and take the pain reliever but she would hear none of it.

"No, no! I have taken enough pain reliever, I can't continue to leave
my life in pains, leave me let me die." The queen cried in protest. Sade
came close to her and made to continue with the massaging but she
scared her away in anger and she scampered back in fear. But the pain of
seeing Kehinde looking very disturbed kept her worried on her feet.

"Maybe we should call the health assistants to hold her so that we

can force the injection into her..." Doctor Iyk suggested to Kehinde but he
refused.
"Let's give her time, she is just upset and fed up with the frequent
occurrences." Kehinde replied then sat down on a stool and buried his
head in his hands in defeat.

The doctor went over to him and pat him on the back but Sade
stood still, leaned her back on the wall with her heart heavy with the urge to
cry. She didn't know how her hands moved to the queen's hair which had
been scattered due to the violent rolling on the bed, but she found herself
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stroking the hair gently and then a song dropped in her heart at the same
time with a drop of tears.

Then like a spark of fire with her eyes tightly closed, her voice went
high in the air singing the very songs she received right there and stroking
the hair at the same.
Kehinde and doctor Iyk raised their head simultaneously to find
Sade singing with tears flowing her cheeks and her eyes tightly closed.

Their eyes both went down to the queen who had stopped crying
and was lying weakly with her eyes closed too. Her hands moved further
from the head down to her shoulder as she sang the healing song under
the power of the Holy Ghost and the queen slipped into a trance where a
therapist massaged her body with anointing oil and she vomited a red
thread tightly tied together.

When she opened her eyes, she found Sade massaging the same
spot where the therapist massaged in the trance and she fixed her eyes
intently on the strange girl (Sade) who was massaging her.
Kehinde and doctor Iyk stood at a spot watching the drama between
Sade and the queen.

The queen who didn't notice their presence, tapped and held Sade's
hand, halting her from singing further.
"Who are you?" She asked calmly and Sade looked up at Kehinde for
the answer.
"My name is Sade, am brother Kehinde's..." She was trying to talk
further but the queen quickly drew her closer to herself
"Oh! Sade you are more righteous than I am.Please forgive me." She
said almost crying, then continued as Sade searched Kehinde’s eyes for
explanation.
"Your voice and hands are therapeutic, I'm healed! The Lord healed
me through your song. Please forgive my wrong judgment of you…" The
queen continued as she drew her into a tight hug and Kehinde signalled his
mother not to talk further but the queen continued to express herself as she
held Sade tightly to herself.
"Kehinde, my son, never told me you are this nice my daughter." She
continued and Kehinde begged her to stop but she ignored him and
continued.

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 "Guy, this woman wan expose me o" Kehinde whispered into Iyk's
ear and they laughed to themselves silently as the two women maintained
their tight hold.

Sade felt the warmth of the queen's hold, inhaled the scent of the
expensive perfume on her,then loosened herself a bit and kissed her on the
forehead.

"Your woman seems not to understand what's going on here. I saw

confusion in her eyes a while ago. Is there something..." Doctor Iyk was
saying in a whisper when Kehinde interrupted him.

"So you were actually looking into my woman's eyes,what were you
looking for in her eyes? You wanted to seduce her right?" The excited
Kehinde joked throwing both of them into an uncontrollable laughter that
caught the two women's attention and they loosened up and turned to look
at them standing at a distance whispering words into each other.

"…Kenny, come’ on, trust me for once. I'm already a changed

man,though not yet into the born again stuff like you. But I will join you
soon..." Iyk was talking and Kehinde quickly cut in.
"Stop this your 'I will join you soon' story. You have been saying it;
that was the same thing you told me the last time I preached to you before
we finally lost contacts. See, at this critical period of your life that you are
already confused and tired of the state of everything, only Jesus has the
power to put your life in order and bring it into a perfect shape. Look, you
won't regret giving your life to Christ Iyk..." Kehinde used the opportunity to
preach to him again.
" Kenny, I really desire to be like you seeing how blessed you are,
look at the kind of woman God gave you; she is not just beautiful, she's
godly, respectful, highly gifted and she loves your mother..." He continued
and Kehinde's head and shoulder grew higher as Iyk praised Sade before
him with high regard.
"My fear actually about the born again stuff is that am afraid it will be
too difficult for me. I mean, isn't the born again life difficult?" He asked
searching Kehinde's eyes worriedly.
"Difficult? Your strength is not needed Iyk; once you receive Jesus as
your Lord and saviour, you will receive instant grace and power to live a
victorious Christian life without struggles. Look at me now, was I not even
worse than you back then on campus? But God's grace have been

156
upholding me since that time I made up my mind to follow him. Just do your
own part which is receiving Christ into your life willingly first and leave the
other things for God to handle." Kehinde explained and Iyk nodded his
head with understanding.
"Kenny, I think you are right. So what are the requirements for
receiving Christ?" He asked with willingness.
"Nothing much, just your heart. A willing heart is all that is required..."
Kehinde was still talking but he didn't allow him to finish up what he wanted
to say.
"I'm willing Kenny, ready to receive Christ." He said and took a step
closer. Kehinde looked back and saw the two women discussing what only
they and God know, then he quickly turned to face Iyk.
"Let me lead you to receive Christ Iyk." He said with excitement in his
eyes, not knowing how to express himself seeing a quadruple miracle
happening for him in less than two hours.

First was the healing of his mother whose crisis occurrences had
defiled medical solution, the stress less acceptance of Sade by his mother
who had vowed that she would never accept Sade as daughter in-law, the
sight of seeing Sade minister a song under the power of God to effect
instant healing and now his friend Iyk whom he spoke into womanizing way
back in the university now ready to receive Christ as Lord and Saviour.

With tears of joy, he held Iyk's hands and led him to say the salvation
prayer after which he hugged him tightly and dished out prayers on him.
The two women turned with smiles on their lips to watch the sight of them
clung to each other in prayers.
"My son Kehinde, he so much love God." The queen said thoughtfully.
"I'm so proud of him." She continued and Sade kept smiling from ear
to ear as she looked from the thoughtful queen to the men who were
having nice time.
"Me too, he has affected my life positively in every area." She chipped
in calmly.

Kehinde finished praying for Iyk and wiped off the tears on his
eyelids, then they walked up together to meet the women.

"Mother, how do you feel now?" He asked his smiling mother.

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 "I'm healed my son. I'm healed! The Lord healed me through Sade's
song and hands." The queen said turning to look at Sade who stood up and
remained at a spot as all eyes turned to her.

She suddenly became embarrassed on seeing all of them looking at

her and she bent her head feeling shy.

Kehinde looked into his mother's eyes and saw satisfaction, he

swallowed his saliva feeling extra love for Sade then left his mother's
bedside and walked up to Sade who was still feeling shy. He stopped right
in front of her as doctor Iyk and the queen watched him to know what he
wanted to do.
"Sade." He called with a voice full of emotions and her heart began
to beat faster not knowing what to expect.
"I didn't prepare to do this here in the hospital; not even today or
tomorrow but I knew that this day would come. I've known you for at least
six years, and for every single second, minute, hour and day of the six
years, I have suppressed my love for you. But right now, I can't suppress it
anymore and I guess..." Kehinde was still talking and Sade lifted her head
in shock with her mouth widely open as tears began to pour out.

Her legs suddenly became frozen and too heavy for her as her eyes
came in contact with his emotion filled eyes.
"It's not true, it's not true!" She cried out and made to run out of the
ward but Kehinde held her back. But she kept struggling to break loose
from his hold as her head couldn't carry the unfolding of events.
"Please, hear me out first." Kehinde whispered into her ears as
doctor Iyk and the queen watched them engulfed with emotions.
"Ah! No brother Kehinde, you are not serious, you are pulling my
legs." Her tears gushed out.
"No, I'm serious. I love you Sade, I seriously do." He said
emotionally trying to look into her eyes but she quickly avoided his eyes
and closed her eyes tightly.
A hand tapped Kehinde from behind and he turned to see doctor Iyk.

"Maybe you guys should talk in my office, she seems very shy here."
Iyk said suggestively and he nodded his head then collected the keys from
him.
"Sade, please let's go somewhere quiet and talk..." Kehinde said still
holding her as Iyk walked back to engage the queen in a discussion.

158
 "I can't face you brother Kehinde, please let me go home." Sade
begged with her eyes still closed.
"Don't do this Sade, just give me the chance to talk to you. If actually
you respect me as you usually say, then show me that respect now before
my mother and my friend who are watching us. Please come with me." He
said almost in a whisper then pulled her forward for a walk and she
followed him without looking up.

"Sade, please lift up your head and look at me." Kehinde begged as
they took their seats opposite each other in Iyk's office.
"Brother Kehinde, please go ahead with what you want to say. I don't
think I can look into your eyes." She said.
"What's the problem, why can't you look into my eyes?" he asked
observing her reaction.
"Why didn't you tell me all these while, why?" She said in convulsive
grasps.
"Look Sade, there's no way on earth I could have expressed myself
to you then. First, I met you when you were already in courtship, then just
when I was expecting your wedding card, the unexpected happened and
from there you lost your spiritual life which was what made me take interest
in you in the first place." He breathed down, then continued
"Talking you into another relationship immediately, when you were
still struggling to get back to your feet spiritually would have been the most
wicked thing for me to do because there's no way a correct revival can take
place in the life of a person who is under emotions and besides, it could
have been difficult for me too. Secondly, I needed time to be sure of what I
was feeling for you, I didn't want to start up a relationship with you out of
pity or take advantage of what happened to you. But as each day passed
by, I find my love for you getting stronger." He explained, paused for a
while and silence permeated the office.

"Sade," he broke the silence and she answered still avoiding his
eyes.
"Look into my eyes and tell me you don't love me as much as I do."
He said and her heart flew into her mouth.
"Brother Kehinde, please take me home." She jumped to her feet
and made to walk out of the office but he outsmarted her and rushed to the
door then locked it up and pocketed the keys with a smile on his lips.
"Sade, I’m not a masquerade. Stop this thing you are doing, let's talk
as adults." He said laughing as she stole a look at him.

159
 "Allow me to go please, what do you want from me?" She asked
rhetorically and he found the question interesting.
"What I want from you?" He asked jokingly,then continued.
"Very simple, I want you to look into my eyes and tell me you don't
love me." He said and walked close to her.

The sound of the beating of her heart could be heard as he walked

closer to her and held her hands in the most loving way.
"Sade, please marry me." He said in the simplest way and her eyes
widened in a greater shock.

She looked down at herself to see if there's anything special in her

that was attracting him then fixed her eyes on his as words failed her.
"I'm not expecting an answer from you right away, you are free to
take as much time as you like to pray and think over it. But I want you to
know that I have spent six years of my life waiting for this day, please don't
keep me waiting for ever because you have so much become part of my
everyday life and I would definitely fall sick without you in my life..."
Kehinde was talking and Sade who couldn't imagine it stood stiff staring at
him.
"Could this be a dream?" She thought within herself as she tried to
hold back the tears in her eyes.
"Come let me go and drop you." He said and began to unlock the
office door.

Sade entered the parsonage in tears just when the church mummy
was returning from her journey.
"Sade, you have been crying," the church mummy said on seeing
her.
"What's the matter? Did someone die?" She asked looking from her
daughter Bukola who came to hug her to Sade who was in tears.
"Nobody died mummy.It's brother Kehinde." She said.
"Brother Kehinde, yes what happened to him?" She queried and
asked her daughter to excuse them.
"He...he proposed to me. Mummy, he asked me to marry him." She
said still finding it difficult to believe it.
"So,what's there that warrants crying?" The confused church
mummy asked.
"No mummy, no one would have ever told me that brother Kehinde
will leave every other young girl out there to come for me and I would

160
believe it. He was there all along seeing my errors. I didn't know anything
could have made him to love me." She explained tearfully and the church
mummy understood her point.
"I understand your point my dear, but you see; there's nothing
wrong with you. The man meant for you will still come for you regardless of
your mistakes if only you remain faithful to God with your body and that's
what you did. You are more special to him than every other girl out there
because you returned to God." The church mummy explained.
"Mummy, do you know that Kehinde is Oma oba(a Prince)?" Sade
asked and the church mummy's eyes widened in surprise.
"A Prince? A Prince of which Kingdom?" The church mummy asked
with special interest.
"His father is the Oba of Ile Odua kingdom and he is the only son..."
Sade was still talking when the church mummy cut in.
"You can't be serious, Ile Odua is my neighbouring kingdom. How
on earth did you know that?" She said in disbelief.
"His mother, the queen told me." She said, then continued.
"I was with her few hours ago at the hospital where she was hospitalized."
Sade explained, confusing the church mummy more.

"The Queen? Ha! Sade you are confusing me o," she said looking at
her like someone who was hallucinating,so Sade took her time and
narrated everything that happened at the hospital to her.
"The queen,that beautiful woman was at the hospital with you
today?" The church mummy asked with her mouth opened agape and
Sade nodded in the affirmative.
"Kehinde never carried himself like a Prince. I knew there was
something very unique about him but just couldn't place my finger on it."
The church mummy said thoughtfully then looked up at Sade.
"Sade, saying that you are lucky is an understatement. You are
blessed among women. Do you know that this oba we are talking about is
the first Christian oba of that kingdom? He came and abolished the worship
of fetish gods in that Kingdom and gave Christians free lands to build
churches. He has a large heart and very humble in nature. The oba's family
is a blessed family and every other clan envy his leadership style..." The
church mummy began to give Sade stories about the oba.
"Hope you have accepted the proposal?" The church mummy asked
looking serious.
"No mummy, I was too dumbfounded that I couldn't say anything..."
Sade was still talking and she rebuked her sharply.

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 "What are you waiting for? Do you still need a prophet to tell you that
Kehinde is the man?" She shouted at her in a funny way and both of them
started laughing.

Sade couldn't contain the joy in her heart as she paced around in
her room waiting for the night to come so she could send Kehinde an
acceptance text message. She began to construct her text message and at
exactly 8:30pm,she forwarded the text to him.
Kehinde read the text message and smiled to himself, then sent a
text message back to her thus;

"I didn't propose to you with a text message,

I was with you in person, looking into your
eyes; so if you want to accept my proposal,
don't accept it over the phone or through
text message, I want to see you look into my
eyes and say 'yes' to me just to be sure it's not a ghost that's saying
yes to me.
When you are ready to look into my eyes
and say, 'yes', let me know so we can
meet specially for that.
Once again, I want to let you know that
I love you beyond words.You are my world!" The text read and the
hairs on Sade's skin stood up with strong emotions as she read it.

She clung to her phone tightly smiling and read the text for the
umpteenth time feeling on top of the world.
"Who am I lord, that you are being mindful of me.
Who am I lord, that you are thinking about
me.
Thank you Lord, for being mindful of me,
Thank you Lord, for thinking about me..." Sade found herself singing
a new song and dancing alone in the room all smiles.

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 TWENTY THREE

"Kehinde, won't you bring Sade to the house to see us before we

leave?" The queen ask the next morning as she came out from the kitchen
to join Kehinde in the parlor.
"No mother," Kehinde replied without looking at his mother who had
formed a frown look.
"I will come with her and specially introduce her to you and my father
in my next visit." He continued then lifted up his head and found her
wearing a frown.
"Mother, what's the matter? You aren't happy." He asked and sat up
properly.
"I want to see her before I leave tomorrow, I don't know when your
next visit would be." The queen murmured angrily.
"Mother, Sade can't come to my house now. I will bring her home for
you when we are ready..." Kehinde was trying to explain but the queen
insisted that he bring her for her.
"Mother, I'm sorry I can't break my principle now. I don't bring women
to my house and I won't start now." Kehinde said and maintained a straight
face.
"Is Sade another person to you? I thought you said you want to
marry her?" The queen nagged in response. As they were still arguing,
Sade's call came in and he quickly picked it up not minding his mother's
nagging voice in the parlor.
"Brother Kehinde, good morning sir." She greeted with a calm voice.
"Good morning ma." Kehinde replied jokingly.
"I'm not 'ma'." She said with a shy tone,then continued.
"How is mummy feeling today?" She asked.

"She is stronger than me now. Can't you hear her voice?" He said
smiling and the queen suspected that he was speaking with Sade from the
way he was smiling from ear to ear over the phone.

"Is that not Sade you are talking with, smiling like someone who just
won a new contract? But am telling you to bring her here and you are
claiming what I don't know..." She continued with her nagging and began to
walk up to where Kehinde was sitting.

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 Sade could hear her voice at the other end and when she heard the
queen mentioned her name,her heart skipped and silent followed as she
kept quiet in order to hear what the queen was saying clearly.

When Kehinde noticed that she was silent and probably was
hearing what his mother was saying, he quickly stood up and ran outside
on barefoot leaving his nagging mother.
"Hello! Hello sister Sade!" He said and the call ended. He quickly
called her back but she refused to pick the call.

"Maybe he has told his mother about my past and she now hates
me." Her tears began to pour out immediately.
"My past has come to ruin my blessing. Lord, please have mercy,
mercy lord!" She broke down in tears and Toyin heard her cry from the
kitchen.
"Mummy! Mummy, you are crying." Toyin ran up to her and held her.
"Toyin, am fine." Sade said with her face buried in her hands and
her phone kept ringing.

After so much efforts to get her mother to stop crying, she stared at
the phone ringing and carefully with the help of her phonics knowledge and
Yoruba studies pronounced the first and second name of the caller.
"Bra..ther Ke..hin..de." she pronounced it silently then quietly
collected the phone when the last ring tone ended, sneaked out of the room
and answered the next call.
"Brother Kehinde," she slide the receive symbol and said quietly
trying to regulate her voice.
"Toyin, how are you?" Kehinde asked, his heart pounding.

"I'm fine but my mummy is crying. I don't know what happened to

her." She said and looked back to ensure that her mother was not coming.
"She is crying? What happened to her?" He asked as his heart beat
increased.
"I don't know, I was washing plates in the kitchen when suddenly I
heard her crying and asking for mercy..." Toyin explained lowering her
voice.
"Asking for mercy? Did she go anywhere?" His mind traveled far to
where only God knows and fear gripped his heart.
"No, she was speaking with someone on phone before." She replied.
"Is she in the house with you now?" He asked and rushed into the

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parlor to pick his car keys.
"Yes. Brother Kehinde, please don't tell my mummy I spoke with you
o. She warned me never to answer her calls." Toyin said pleadingly and
looked back again.
"Alright, I won't tell her Toyin." Kehinde said hurriedly and entered his
car without telling anyone he was going out.

He arrived the parsonage and went straight to the pastor's house to

look for the church mummy. He explained to her how he was speaking with
Sade over the phone and how the call ended only for him to call back to be
informed by Toyin that her mother was crying.
"Crying Ke?" The church mummy said casually as she took her time
to look at Kehinde over and over again.
" Let me go and check on her." She said and left the worried
Kehinde behind to check on Sade. She met her crying on the bed and
Toyin sitting beside her crying as well.
"Sade, why are you crying?" The church mummy queried and after a
short while, Sade expressed her fear to her after recounting how she heard
the queen mentioning her name with an angry voice.
"And who told you that the queen hates you. Come ‘on, stop acting
like a loser. You should have picked Kehinde's call and know why she was
mentioning your name. Come ‘on, put yourself together and come with me,
brother Kehinde is waiting for you in the sitting room." The church mummy
said with a commanding tone and Sade's heart skipped.
They soon arrived the sitting room and the church mummy left the
parlor for both of them to talk.

Immediately the church mummy left, Kehinde turned to face her and
she turned her face away moodily.
"What's the problem, did I do or say anything you didn't like?" He
asked, confused at her reaction and she kept quiet.
"Sade, you are hurting me with your silence." He said getting worked
up after a brief silence.
"Your mother hates me, she doesn't want me." She blurted out in
tears and he was taken aback by her statement.
"My mother? That's not true, where did you get that from?" He was
still talking and she cut in.
"But I heard her. I heard her calling out my name in anger when we
were talking on phone." she argued and Kehinde burst into a provocative
laugh which got her more irritated.

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 "Come'on Sade, yes she mentioned your name. But she was
actually quarreling me because she asked me to bring you to the house so
she could see you before leaving and I refused. So when you called and
she saw the excitement on my face, she started attacking me for denying
her your face. I'm sorry, you misunderstood it.” He explained and watched
her breathe down a heavy sigh of relief.
"Then, why did you refused to take me to her?" Sade said feigning
annoyance.
"Uhm... Maybe it's because you are yet to accept my proposal." He
replied, giggling at her.
"But, I told you yes already." She argued casually.
"I know you received my text too. As far as am concerned, that text did
not come from the beautiful lady I proposed to eye ball to eye ball."
Kehinde said teasingly.
"Okay, yes brother Kehinde." Sade blurted looking the other way and
laughing.
"Ah! That's not for me o. When you are ready, let me know so I can
come closer and look into your eyes." He said trying to feign seriousness.
"What's the difference, please don't start brother Kehinde." Sade said
feeling uncomfortable.
"Well, maybe I should be on my way. I just wanted to be sure you
are alright, that's why I came in the first place. Have a nice day!" He said
coldly and jumped to his feet to leave.
"Brother Kehinde, please don't go." She said pleadingly and stood up
to follow him and it gladdened his heart but he needed her to yield to his
offer.
"No, don't worry sister Sade," He said cunningly,then continued.
"I can wait till when you are ready, it's nothing at all." He said and
made to open the door even though there was no desire to leave within
him.
"Okay, alright!" Sade said from behind making up her mind to do what
he requested for.
"I'm ready." She said and took a long deep breathe.
"Hope I'm not forcing you to do it. See, I don't mind waiting till I start
growing white hair." He said trying to hype her as he turned around to face
her.
"I said, am ready." She said and blinked her eyes when their eyes
met.
"Okay! Just take your seat comfortably." He said and she sat down
watching him as he squat before her.
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 "What?" Sade blurted out in embarrassment.
"What is what?" Kehinde said trying hard to hold back the laugh
rousing inside him as he watched her face.
"Can you now go ahead and look into my eyes please?" He asked
rhetorically still feigning seriousness.
"My knees are hurting, can you make it fast?" He said in order to
discourage her from arguing further. She then adjusted herself and blinked
several times before finally fixing her eyes on his alluring eyes. She forgot
the `yes’ she wanted to say and sat there in her seat melting in emotions.
"I love you brother Kehinde." She ended up saying instead of the
expected, 'yes'.
"So? Will you marry me?" Kehinde, having seen what he wanted to
see in her eyes asked.
"Yes! Yes, I will." She said,followed by drop of tears. He held her two
hands into his and said,
"Thank you for accepting to marry me Sade. One thing I promise you
today is, you will never regret marrying me..." he was still talking when the
church mummy who had been standing at the door way watching them
cleared her throat just to draw their attention and they both turned to her
direction and found her beaming with smiles.
"Congratulations to the love birds." She teased them as they all
laughed.
"I'm proud of you two. Please, don't let affliction rise the second time
is the only counsel I have for you both as you both begin your courtship
today. Brother Kehinde, you are such a darling." She praised him, then
continued.
"Come'on, you both should come over here and give me a big big
hug." She said and opened her hands wide to receive them into a hug.
"You are always free to use this place whenever you want to discuss
anything privately." The church mummy said excitedly giving them access
to her house and they both appreciated her.
"I cut Kehinde's love vow short, let me go and get drinks for this
special day and leave him to complete his promises." The church mummy
teased him before leaving for the kitchen.
Kehinde smiled and turned to face Sade who was all smiles,held her hands
warmly and drew her into a hug.

Their courtship began properly as the two love birds were always on
phone communicating tirelessly making plans for their home, unborn
children (Toyin included), possible financial investments, spiritual lives and

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ministries.
During one of their spiritual outings on the mountain, they had quality
time in prayers, studied the scriptures adeptly,took their action plans and
sat down to evaluate their lives spiritually, career and relationship wise.

"Brother Kehinde, you don't want me to know where you are living
yet?" Sade asked as they sat down to talk.
"We can even pray and study together at the comfort of your house."
She said suggestively and he smiled.
"I really want to bring you to the house but you see, I'm just trying to
be careful because I don't trust myself with you and I alone in the house.
But, that shouldn't bother you, before our wedding, I will bring you to the
house with other of my friends." He replied looking into her squeezed up
face.
"What do you mean by you don't trust yourself?" She queried and he
smiled.
"I mean, I don't want to lose control and eat what am only meant to
eat after wedding." He said smiling in a naughty way and she got the
message.
"But, we have already made up our mind to abstain from sex till the
wedding night. We can both exercise self-control no matter what..." She
pushed further and he quickly cut in.
"Sister Sade, please don't go there. Though we already made up our
minds, the flesh did not. See, I'm a weak man when it comes to the flesh
and we may not be able to resist each other. So,let the sleeping dog be..."
He explained and she kept quiet and he observed her sudden moodiness.
"What's the problem?" He asked but she was too lost in her own
thoughts to hear him.
"Sade!" He called a bit louder and she jolted back.
"What were you thinking about? Is it about coming to the house?" He
queried searching her eyes.
"No,brother Kehinde. I was actually thinking about your reasons for
keeping your house off limits as a meeting place for us. I'm just realizing
that that was where Kola and I started getting it wrong, we had so much
confidence in ourselves that we would be able to resist each other because
we thought ourselves to be mature Christians who can exercise self-control
and visiting each other's rooms would do us no harm.

Well, it didn't do us any harm for the first six months until we started
hugging;hugging longer than expected and pecking on the forehead and

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then kissing mildly which gave birth to a deeper one and then the falling
upon each other." She said narratively then continued with a sad
expression.
"Kola was a very good Christian and so was I, but we were both
naive in our reasoning; we lacked the principle of keeping boundaries. Had
we applied this principle of not staying alone behind closed doors, we
couldn't had yielded to that temptation that landed us in trouble..." She
began to lament bitterly and he quickly cut her short.
"Uhm… Sade, please let the past be in the past. Thank God we have
learnt from the past mistakes,it's time to apply the principle of not staying
alone in secluded places to avoid soiling our testimonies." Kehinde said
and brought up another topic for evaluation.

Kehinde travelled home to see his parents and while they were
having nice time,talking and laughing as a family,his mother began to
disturb him about wedding Sade very fast.

"Kehinde, next year is too long, what are you waiting for? If it's
money, don't worry, your father and I are ready to sponsor the wedding,
marry Sade for me..." The queen quarreled Kehinde.
``Mother calm down, allow me to court my wife very well" Kehinde
jokingly replied.
"What are you courting? You think I didn't hear when you said you
have known her for six years?" The queen tackled him and he burst into
laughter.
"Mother, so you were actually eaves dropping while I was wooing my
woman?" He said, laughing and held her hands in a hearty laugh.
"Leave me jor..." The Queen pushed him away mildly, beaming with smiles.
"See mother, Sade is going to release her music album few months
from now and I don't want her to combine it with the stress of wedding
preparations. We can wed after the album release..." Kehinde was still
explaining but the queen would have none of it.
"Foolish son of a wise mother, don't you know it's better you wed her
before the album release? She would bear your name in her first album
which would add to your profile." The queen reasoned with pride.
"Okay mother, if that's what you want, I will discuss it with her and
get her own opinion."

"That's actually what I want, I want us to wed before the album

release." Sade told him when he discussed the idea with her and straight

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away, they both chose the month and dates respectively and began their
traditional and church wedding.

"Oma oba, tell your wife to send me her size, am getting her a
beautiful wedding gown from the UK." Kehinde's elder sister told him when
he sent the dates to her and Sade could not contain the joy in her heart.
"Is this me?" She kept asking herself silently seeing the kind of love
the royal family was dishing out on her.

Three months later, they had an elaborate traditional marriage with

both the high and low in attendance...

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 CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Kehinde felt disturbed and couldn't concentrate on the scriptures

as he sat on his study table with the bible opened before him as he
remembered his reaction towards Jumoke when the kiss incident happened
in his office.

He became guilt stricken as he felt he had wronged her deeply then

the thoughts of calling her or possibly meet with her to ask for her
forgiveness and as well invite her to his wedding clouded his mind but the
idea of meeting with her at that critical period he was preparing for his white
wedding with Sade didn't go down well with him.
He picked up his phone and began to dial her number which rang several
times but she didn't pick the calls.

Jumoke kept staring at her phone which rang repeatedly but she
couldn't bring herself to answer the calls as she didn't know exactly what
she felt for Kehinde, whether hatred or just a normal anger.
"Why is he calling me now, what else does he want from me? Did he
think am not aware that he has done his traditional marriage?" She asked
nobody in particular as she stared at the buzzing phone.
"I'm now the loser, I lost my virginity and also lost him. I'm the loser!"
She broke down in tears and pushed the phone far away from her.

Kehinde's peace of mind deserted him as he stood up from the

reading table and pace his room still calling her line, determined to continue
till she picks up her calls. As he was trying to redial her number again,
Sade's call entered and he answered it unknowingly.
"Hello, brother Kehinde." He heard Sade's voice slightly and his
heart skipped.
"Hello," he responded coldly,then composed himself.
"Sorry dear, I mistakenly dialled your number." He said
emotionlessly not really in the mood to speak with her.
"No, you didn't. I'm the one who called you" Sade replied smiling.
"Alright. What's happening?" He said casually then kept quiet and
she noticed his cold responses.
"Bro..ther Kehinde, are you alright?" She queried feeling disturbed at
his mood.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He said expressionlessly,then continued.
"I was actually busy with something when your call entered. Can we talk

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later please?" He said and there was silence at the other end.
"Hello, hello dear." He said and looked into his phone which was still
reading but Sade was not talking, then he ended the call and threw the
phone aside in frustration.

Sade looked into her phone and saw that he had ended the call and
she became angry.
"What was he doing by this time of the night that is more important
to him that he couldn't spare at least three minutes to talk to me?" She
murmured angrily to herself in the room. She expected him to call back and
apologise or even explain things to her but Kehinde didn't call back. She
kept checking her phone over and over again till midnight but didn't see any
call, missed calls or even a text. Her anger grew more and she made up
her mind that she would not call him either.

Kehinde kept calling Jumoke's line repeatedly but she still refused to
pick the calls. She quickly typed a text and sent to him then switched her
phone off and lay down on the bed wiping the tears on her cheeks with her
white handkerchief.

"Please, let me be. Leave me to nurse my wound. I'm good enough

to be ‘deflowered’ but not for marriage; Kenny you disgust me, I hate you
with passion. Please stay far away from me and stop calling my line. Go
ahead and enjoy your new wife." The text read and it broke his heart and
he quickly dialled her number again but it was switched off.

" Jumo, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. If you hate me, I quite
understand with you, I know am not worthy of your love and time anymore
but please just give me the chance to explain things to you. My heart is not
strong enough for this trauma, please pick my calls." Kehinde texted her
back and waited for some minutes before dialling her number again but it
was still switched off. He knelt down and tried to pray but couldn't focus on
anything, so he just went to bed and rolled from one side of the bed to the
other till the early hours of the morning before sleep decided to pay him a
friendly visit.

Sade woke up very early the next morning and rushed to her phone
to check whether Kehinde finally called back or sent a text but there was
nothing like that. Her heart began to burn within as she fought hard the
tears that was about falling from her eyes and she hardened her heart not

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to call him or even pick his calls if he eventually calls. She transferred her
aggression on Toyin who was still sleeping by shouting her out of her
peaceful sleep.
"Come'on, wake up for morning devotion!" She shouted then hit the
bed hard and the innocent little girl jumped up from the bed.
She sat down with a frown,trying to put herself together before
starting the devotion. After a short while, she raised a song and Toyin
quickly joined her to avoid further attack.

Because of the state of her heart, she couldn't sing nor pray for long,
so she paused and grudgingly picked up the devotional booklet and
opened to the place meant for that day's reading and the topic for that day
was;

Anger: A Weapon for Personal Destruction

Text:James 1:19-21.
Her heart beat increased as she read the bible passage and her
eyes kept going back to the topic over and over again as she read the
commentaries.
"Am I wrong being angry with brother Kehinde? Will my decision not
to call or receive his calls destroy my relationship and ruin things for me?”
She kept asking herself silently as she continued with the commentaries.
She finished reading the commentaries but couldn't explain them to
Toyin as she usually did because of the battles going on in her mind.

Kehinde was woken up by the buzzing of his phone and he stretched

himself sleepily before picking up the call.
"Doctor Kenny, good morning sir." The voice at the other end said
calmly and he quickly removed the phone from his left ear and glance into it
to confirm the caller but it was an international number.
"Hello." The female voice said when she did not get a response.
"Yeah...hello Toyo, how are you?" He said calculatingly.
"Really? So you still recognize my voice?" She asked with an angry
tone.
"Why not, I still do." He said then readjusted the pillow under his
head.
"Kenny, do you know you are wicked? You are very wicked,so you
were getting married and couldn't invite me. I never knew you hate me this
much..." She started ranting over the phone and he had to interrupt her.

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 "Come'on Toyo, it hasn't gotten to that yet. What we did was just the
traditional marriage which came too sudden than I planned, and besides, it
was done in the village which may not be very convenient for most of my
friends. My plan was to invite you and many other of my friends to the white
wedding which will take place here in the city... I'm so sorry Toyo." He
explained calmly and there was silence at the other end.
"Hello Toyo baby,are you there?" He said trying to make a joke out
of her seriousness.
"Kenny, leave me jor. You always have a way to calm my hot blood
with your sweet mouth. I already planned to finish you with my mouth this
morning." She said smiling.
"Oh! Thank God your blood is calm now. Toyo baby, I've really
missed your face o. You decided to abandon me abi?" He teased her
laughing.
"As if you really wanted to see me, finally the lucky girl have taken
you away from me..." She said trying to be emotional and he quickly cut in.
"Toyo, where are you presently? You have to sew asoebi for me o."
He teased her laughing.

"Kenny, I'm presently out of the country but will definitely come down
for your wedding. At least to show you that I still love you regardless of
everything..." She said still sounding emotional.
"Oh! That would be so kind of you. Toyo, I will remain eternally
grateful for that." He said feeling very grateful.
"Yeah, Kenny you deserve much more. You are such a nice man
and sometimes I wish I met you earlier than I did. But, that's not necessary
anymore, my Mr. handsome has been taken." She said and forced out a
smile showcasing her beautiful set of teeth which made her even more
beautiful.
"Ouch! I'm blushing." He said at the other end laughing and she
joined him to laugh.
"Funny you," she said while laughing then continued.
"Please Kenny, don't hesitate to let me know if you need my help in
any way and keep my own asoebi for me." She said with a low voice.
"Toyo baby, I will do just that because I truly appreciate this your call,"
he replied with excitement in his voice.
"Let your wife hear you calling me Toyo baby there, she will just break
your head for you." She said laughing as she has always enjoyed him
calling her that name.

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 Sade kept trying to reach Kehinde but MTN kept telling her that the
person she was calling was busy on another call and she became angry.
"I've been trying to reach him for the past fifteen minutes now but he
is busy speaking with another person." She murmured and then suddenly,
fear gripped her heart as she remembered the text message Kehinde
showed her from one of his ex-girlfriend on their traditional marriage day.

"I will never forgive you Kenny, my blood will continue to haunt you
every day of your life
and you will never know peace in your life." The text message read.

"Maybe he is speaking with her,yes that Jumoke of a girl, he is

speaking with her." Sade’s heart burned hot within her, followed by drops of
tears.
"No wonder he wasn't in the mood to talk to me yesterday. I knew it
from his reaction that he still loves her, Kehinde used to long for my calls
and voice, but since that yesterday he has changed considerably and don't
want to hear my voice anymore. He wants to go back to his vomit." She
thought within her as hot tears flowed down freely.

"Kenny, I've got to go. See you next week when I arrive Nigeria for
the big occasion." Toyo said after about twenty minutes call and they bade
each other good bye.
He dropped his phone with a dry smile and saw Sade's missed calls, and
quickly returned the call when he remembered that he didn't call her back
yesterday before sleeping off but Sade refused to answer the calls. He
called her two more times and when she didn't pick up, he concluded that
she was busy and probably not with her phone.

He climbed down the bed and walked into the kitchen to find
something to eat as he didn't remember eating anything before going to
bed last night.
As he sipped his cup of tea, he kept thinking of possible ways to get
Jumoke to forgive him and renounce her words in the text message she
sent to him, but couldn't find one in his mind.

He found himself dialling her number and this time, it was ringing
but she wasn't picking up.
"Mummy!" An idea dropped in his mind.
"Yes, I think I have to involve mummy now. That's the only person

175
Jumoke can listen to" He thought and quickly searched for the church
mummy's number.
"Brother Kehinde, I was just about calling you. How are you?" The
church mummy asked.
"I'm fine but not really fine o mummy." He replied coldly.
"What's wrong oma oba?" She said then continued.
"Sade just left here crying and telling me that... that that...in fact
come over to the house let's settle whatever the matter is." She said
conclusively.
"Crying? Why is she crying?" He asked in confusion.
"Oma oba, just come over to the house first." The church mummy
replied.
"Uhm... Mummy, please I will first check in at the office before
coming ma." He said pleadingly and she agreed to wait for him.

Immediately the church mummy ended the call, he dialled Sade's

number again and she picked it up in anger.
"Are you done flirting with your ex-girlfriend? You think I don't know
you have been talking with that Jumoke of a girl? Is she the first to lose her
virginity?" Sade blurted out angrily over the phone and it got him angry.
"Don't you dare refer to Jumoke that way again! Don't try it ever
again!" He fired back at her to her amazement.
"What did you tell the church mummy?" He queried trying to control
his temper but she angrily ended the call.

"Sade, don't push me into doing what we would both regret later." He
sent her a text then threw his phone on the bed and entered the bathroom
to have a cold water bath.

"What is this am hearing about you and Jumoke?" The church

mummy started when Kehinde arrived the parsonage at some minutes past
eleven in the morning.
"Mummy, I'm sorry, what exactly did you hear about us?" He asked
and relaxed back on the cushion.
"Brother Kehinde, is there anything I need me to know?" The church
mummy asked trying hard not intrude into his personal affairs.
"Mummy, I actually called you this morning because of Jumoke, but I
still need to hear from you..." Kehinde was still talking and she quickly cut in
order to discourage him from insisting.
"Ah! Oma oba, leave what I heard aside. Please go ahead and tell

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me what you planned telling me." She said smiling.
He didn't find it easy saying anything without first hearing what Sade
told the church mummy, but for courtesy sake, he swallowed hard before
speaking up.
"I actually need your help ma, Jumoke sent me this text last week
which I also showed Sade," he started and showed her the text.
"Yeey!!" The church mummy screamed as she read the text
message.
"The same Jumoke that I know?" She asked in surprise.
"Yes ma." Kehinde replied.
"Ah! I understand how she feels but it hasn't gotten to this extent. So,
what did you tell her?" She asked trying to get more information.
"Well, Sade and I agreed that I should ignore her and move on but
just yesterday night, while I was praying; I felt the nudging to call and
apologise to her because somehow, some time ago, she visited my office
under the guise that she needed medical attention and we ended up
kissing each other because her tears weakened me and I couldn't but yield
to make her happy..." Kehinde was still talking and the surprised church
mummy interrupted him.
'You both kissed each other? But did you tell Sade about it?" the
church mummy asked trying hard to hide her surprises.
"That was sometime last year, Sade and I were not in relationship
then. But, I told her everything she needed to know about my past and
present before our traditional marriage, so she is very much aware."
"Oh! It happened before you and Sade started?" She asked for
clarification and he nodded in the affirmative as he watched her breathe
down a sigh of relief.
"Okay! Go ahead, I was actually thinking it happened of recent." She
chipped in feeling a bit relieved and Kehinde went ahead and narrated what
happened next, especially how he walked her out disgracefully.
"I felt the need to apologise to her strongly in my spirit, though Sade
was against the idea, so I called her yesterday night but she refused to pick
my calls. After calling her line several times, she sent me this text." Kehinde
narrated sadly as he showed her the text message on his phone which got
the church mummy herself speechless.
"Mummy, that young girl have done so much for me in this life that I
shouldn't hurt her for any reason. Yes, I took her virginity and left her, but it
wasn't my plan to leave her that way. I loved her and of all the girls I dated
back then, she was the only one I planned settling down with in marriage."
He said painfully and breathed down heavily then continued.
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 "Even after I gave my life to Christ, I still had in mind to marry her but
God told me clearly to stay far away from her that she is not meant to be
my wife and I had to leave the campus after graduation without leaving a
trace of where I was going with her. I always wish I could right my wrongs
but I can't.If I could, I would have returned her virginity back to her.
Mummy, I need you to help me talk to her to forgive me." He said with
frustration in his eyes.
The church mummy kept quiet for a while before asking him one
question that had been bothering her.
"But brother Kehinde, do you still love Jumoke?" She asked looking
intently into his eyes and he gave a dry smile before answering her.
"Mummy, if I tell you that I have no love in my heart for Jumoke, then
am a big liar. I love her but not that kind of love anymore, I can't have any
intimate relationship with her anymore. I just have this feeling of
indebtedness for her and nothing more." He replied smiling.
"Come'on mummy, I love my wife. I love Sade beyond words and
can't trade her for anything. If I wanted Jumoke, I could have gone for her
all the while..." Kehinde said laughing.
"But Sade told me you shouted her down over the phone because of
Jumoke. Why choose your ex over your wife?" She queried and he was
surprised that Sade actually reported him to the church mummy. He kept
quiet for a while with his head lowered in displeasure.

"Oma oba, your wedding is few days from now and you shouldn't give
the devil chance to tear you both apart. Jumoke is my spiritual daughter, I
will talk to her to leave you people to enjoy your marriage. But please, don't
let any woman ever come between you and your wife." The church mummy
counseled him but he didn't say a word.
"Brother Kehinde," the church mummy called him and he lifted up his
head and she could see that he wasn't happy.
"I can see you are still not happy." The church mummy said.
"Mummy, maybe I should make this thing clear here. Sade can
actually talk about Kehinde today because Kehinde is still alive.She could
report me to you as her husband because Jumoke saved my life when cult
boys wanted to waste my life on campus.

I should be a dead and forgotten entity by now. She wouldn't have

even met me if Jumoke had not sacrifice her own life and happiness for
me. I was supposed to be at the initiation ground that bloody night, but
Jumoke showed up in my house.

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 I didn't know how she got to know that I was going for cult initiation
that night, but she rushed to my lodge and begged me not to go anywhere
that my life was in danger. I insisted on going except on one condition
which was that she spend the night with me in my room and she painfully
accepted.
That was the very night I took her virginity, she cried in pain, soaked
in the pool of her own blood and I couldn't but promised to marry her. I
woke up in the morning to the news that my two good friends with whom I
was to be initiated the previous night were both shut dead along other cult
members at the initiation ground.

Jumoke was a very principled girl,and she had refused me sex

several times but that night, she sacrificed her virginity for my life." Kehinde
narrated sadly and breathed down before saying the words that touched
the church mummy more.
"I'm sorry if I over reacted, but believe me; not even my mother
would speak ill of Jumoke in my presence as Sade did and I would not
shout her down. I owe Jumoke my every respect and love. I have
discussed all these things with Sade. Why is she finding it difficult to
believe me?’’He said then picked up his car keys, excused himself and
walked out leaving the overwhelmed church mummy speechless.

"You are fond of concluding matters too quick. And you must watch
it. Watch your anger Sade or else you will spoil things for you.
You told me that Kehinde had gone back to his ex, but you were wrong."
The church mummy called Sade and began to counsel her immediately
after he left.
"Even if he did, you can't get him back by fighting him. You should
have drawn closer to him and look for a wise way to get your man back. A
wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears down her home
with her hands, that's what the bible says," the church mummy continued.
"You see, be careful with Kehinde. He is every woman's dream man
but God has given him to you freely without struggle. He is not like Kolade
who can come out openly and argue with you when angry, if you push him
too hard, you may push him into another woman's arms because he
doesn't have a strong heart.

I don't know you to have a bad character, so don't even start building
one. If you want to enjoy him, act like his baby girl and not like a fellow
man. As for his case with Jumoke, don't ever speak evil of her before him

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rather join and encourage him to be nice to her and if possible,you should
also try to get close to her and build a relationship with her..." The church
mummy kept on and on as Sade lowered her head in guilt.
"Finally, Sade, find a way to apologize to Kehinde as fast as
possible. He is not happy at all." The church mummy said and she agreed
to do as instructed.

"Hello, Jumoke my baby, how are you?" The church mummy called
Jumoke on the phone later that night and booked an appointment with her
for the next day.

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 CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

On entering her room, Sade's phone began to ring in her hand but
she wasn't in the mood to answer any call until she calls and apologize to
Kehinde, so she ignored the call without finding out who the caller was.
"Oluwatoyin!"she called her daughter who ran out of the kitchen
immediately.
"Take this money and buy me a one thousand naira recharge card
from the deaconess downstairs." She said and the little girl took off
immediately to buy the recharge card.
"Oh! This person should leave me...' She was saying when the phone rang
the third time, she was about busying it when her eyes caught the caller's
ID. It was Kehinde that was calling and her heart began to pound as
different thoughts ran through her mind.
"Ah! He is going to shout at me, mummy said he is not happy. He is
angry with me." she said to no one but herself as she fearfully watched the
buzzing of the phone stopped and began to ring the fourth time.

"Sweetheart, please pick up your calls.

I'm sorry I hurt you. Please pick
your calls, am missing you so strongly
over here. Your love is deeply sorry..."

With an opened mouth and widened eyes, Sade read the text that
entered her phone after the fourth call ended.
"He called me sweetheart, and he is even apologizing to me. He is
missing me even after accusing him..." She was still talking to an empty
room and her phone began to ring again, but this time, it was one of the
girls in her bridals train who was calling and she immediately frown her face
in disappointment then grudgingly answered it.
"Tolani, please I will call you back later." She said in order to dismiss
the girl who had started telling a long story, trying to cut short the beautiful
moment she was already enjoying from the text message.
"OK ma" the Tolani replied then hanged up.

Kehinde's call entered immediately and she quickly picked it up

excitedly.
"My beautiful wife, the best among women, the proverb 31 woman,
my gorgeous queen, the only woman that has my heart in her palms and
the mother of my children..." Sade stood still, engulfed with a mixture of

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strong emotions and astonishment as Kehinde called her beautiful names.
"Lord, I know I didn't deserve this man but you gave him to me in
order to prove to me that you still love me. Please Lord God, give me the
wisdom to relate and handle him as I ought to..." She found herself praying
silently followed by the dropping of joyful tears.
"Hello, He...llo!" Kehinde said repeatedly when he didn't hear her say
a word.
"Hello" she responded and wiped off the tears on her cheeks.
"Are you crying? Oh my God!" Kehinde's disturbed voice was heard
at the other end.
"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to hurt you. I was emotionally stressed
up and..." He was still trying to explain when she spoke up.
"I'm sorry brother Kehinde." She said and not finding any other word
in her head to express herself, she kept quiet and silence ensued for the
next few seconds.
"You know what? Just take a cold bath, dress up beautifully and smell
nice for me, am coming to take you out right now." He said calmly and she
found herself smiling and crying at the same time.
"Alright," was the only word that came out of her mouth before the call
ended. She jumped up in excitement, rushed into the bathroom and was
already bathing when Toyin entered.
"Mom,here is the recharge card!" She shouted loud.
"Oluwatoyin, well done o. It took you a whole day to buy recharge
card abi?" She replied casually from the bathroom.
"No mummy, deaconess was not around and I had to stay there and
wait for her." Toyin explained childishly.
"Clap for yourself then, maybe she is the only person selling airtime
around here" Sade replied as she hurried out of the bathroom.
"But, you told me to buy it from her..." Toyin argued with a smile as
she watched her mother.
"Thank you, keep it on the table." Sade said absent mindedly as she
sort out the clothes to wear.
"Are you going somewhere?" The inquisitive Toyin queried seeing her
mother dressing up with one of her best outfits.
"Yes," Sade replied without looking at her.
"Is it with brother Kehinde?" She asked and quickly covered her
mouth with her palms when her mother turned to look at her.
"Yes! Miss interviewer, please don't ask me any question again. Just
take whatever you need and start going to big mummy's house now." Sade
told her and she immediately stood,picked up her school bag and left the
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room.
She looked at herself over and over before the mirror and was
practicing different types of smiles and facial expression when her phone
buzzed.
"I'm waiting outside." Kehinde informed her over the phone and her
heart leaped for joy. She quickly picked up her phone and the fancy
handbag Kehinde had gotten for her as a surprise before their traditional
marriage then kissed the room good bye.

"Am I not blessed to have such a beautiful woman as my wife?"

Kehinde asked rhetorically when she entered the car and she suddenly
became shy.
"I've been watching you from here, you are simply beautiful my love."
He adored her and she reddened in the face from shyness.
"Thank you." She managed to say.
"So, can we?" He asked, searching for her eyes and she nodded her
head in the positive looking away from him.
He drove into a boutique where both male and female wears were
being sold and she turned to look at him as he searched for a parking lot
then quickly looked away before he could notice her.
"Let's do a little shopping here before going to the #Chillings#Palace
where I can seat with my baby, look into her eyes and then have some
sweet talks with her." He said flirtatiously and she felt like the earth should
open its mouth and swallow her from his alluring eyes. She just found
herself nodding her head and masticating.
"Gosh! My wife is shy o." He said teasingly and gave her a mild
pinch on the cheek before opening the car door.
"#THE#DARLINGS" Sade read the boutique name out silently to
herself as she climbed down from the car, and adjusted her knee length
gown before they walked into the exotic interiors of the boutique.
"Welcome to THE DARLINGS. Making couples look gorgeous
together is our number one priority. Our wears here come with special
attractive and bonding packages which enhances couples’ conducive
atmosphere to bond better. Once again, you are welcome." One of the
sales representatives said ‘recitatively’ smiling from ear to ear at Kehinde.
"Thank you." Kehinde replied with a smile, then continued as he drew
Sade to himself.
"My wife and I need beautiful uniform wears..." He was still talking
when the sales representative's smile reduced on seeing how he held
Sade.

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 "Oh! This way please." She said on hearing the handsome young
man she had started crushing on at first glance say 'my wife', and straight
away she took the lead while they followed her behind.

"Hunters everywhere." Sade said under her breath looking at the girl
twisting her waist before them in the name of leading them to the uniform
wears section of the boutique.
Kehinde, halted on seeing a givenchy handbag and called Sade's
attention to it.
"Sweetheart, you will like that." He said pointing towards the beautiful
handbag and she looked from the bag and back at him.
"I already have enough handbags brother Kehinde, we bought three
different handbags during the traditional marriage plus other ones I have..."
Sade replied objectively.
"Yeah, you can have more. I like good handbags for women." He
said, pulled her by the hand and began to walk towards the stock.
"It's too expensive." The sales representative who had stopped when
she looked behind and found out that they were not following her heard
Sade's voice.
"This girl self, you are even lucky to have a man who is ready to buy
for you a givenchy handbag that's why you are shouting it's too expensive.
If I'm in your shoe,na sharp sharp I go pick am." She was murmuring to
herself a little distance from them.
Kehinde ended up convincing Sade for them to pick the handbag and
she kept on turning at intervals to look at him as if he was strange as they
were walking up to the uniform wears section.
"Are you alright?" Kehinde asked her when he noticed how she
looked at him.
"You are too good to be real," she found herself saying before
realizing that she didn't plan saying them out.
He smiled on seeing how embarrassed she felt for making that statement
but before he could reply her,they arrived at the uniform wears section.

"Here we are," the sales representative announced and he was

halted from replying her.
"Over here, we have Nigerian native wears for couples, beautiful
corporate wears, Italian wears for couples, Gucci..." She was talking and
pointing at different stocks as if she was singing when Kehinde interrupted
her.
"Uhm... It's alright. My wife knows what will be good on us, allow her

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sort out wears for us." he deliberately spoke up seeing that Sade was not
comfortable with the girl's presence.
"Alright sir." The girl replied politely and stepped back.
"Sweetheart, please choose wears for us." He turned and faced
Sade romantically and she blushed seeing how the sales girl stared at
them helplessly with her mouth opened agape.
"Alright." She replied without looking into his eyes then started
selecting distinctive outfits while he followed her side by side and the sales
girl collecting the stocks as she selected them.
"We've gotten enough." She told him but he wasn't satisfied with the
number of clothes and shoes she selected.
"Let's get more babe." He replied and placed his hands on her
shoulder.
"No! Let's go,their stocks are too expensive." Sade protested.
"Yes ma." He said and off they left for the pay point where he paid for
the stocks and they left for the Chilling Palace.

"Thanks for the wears." Sade said with a smile as they took their
seats in the first class private compartment of the eatery.
"I'm all yours." He replied looking into her eyes.
"This place is beautiful." She said and fed her eyes with the
beautiful interior décor.
"Yeah." He replied and touched her to stop looking at the flowers
and focus on him.
"Stop looking at the flowers, just be looking at me." He said
laughing and she gave him one of the smiling styles she had practiced in
her room before coming out to meet him.
"Wow!" He exclaimed and was about complimenting her smile when
a waiter walked in to take their orders and he collected the food menu,
placed it before her and asked her to thick what they would eat. She
withdrew back and told him to choose for them and he did then returned
the menu back to the waiter who left immediately to get the orders.
"Give me your hand," Kehinde said leaning over the table with his
right hand stretched out to receive hers and her body froze as powerful
emotions surged through her spines. Her head suddenly became too heavy
for her neck to carry and she lowered it then gradually placed her chilled
hand into his and he held her hands passionately for few seconds before
speaking up.
"I'm sorry for shouting at you." He said with a sincere show of
remorsefulness, then the waiter came up with the orders in a large tray pan

185
in his hand. Kehinde paused when he saw that her attention was drawn to
the waiter's presence, then signaled him to drop and leave and he got the
message.

He gently squeezed her hand which was still in his in order to call her
attention back to himself and she stole a look at him but before she could
look away, her eyes caught his eyes looking at her. Her eyes fell on his
pink lips and she found herself fantasizing on the pink lips in her heart and
couldn't look away from it as it moved sweetly.
"I want you to know that you have already won this heart of mine and
you can never share me with any other woman. Please, help my fragile
heart to love you more by trusting me as your husband. I don't have a
strong heart, so I try as much as possible to avoid troubles especially from
people I care about. I want us to enjoy this marriage together, please help
me to live longer to enjoy you and our children..." Kehinde continued
pleadingly with passion in his eyes and she nodded her head in positive
response.
The next day, Jumoke arrived the church mummy's house exactly
the time they scheduled to meet. The church mummy observed that she
had shaped down considerably and wasn't looking her usual self even
though she was trying hard to maintain a lively facial expression.

With the milk of motherly kindness, she did everything possible to

show her extra care and love and Jumoke couldn't understand the reason
for the unusual kindness.
After about two hours of entertaining her, she asked her to spend
the night over in her house but she politely refused using her work as an
excuse.
"I will be going to work tomorrow morning ma. Mummy don't worry,
maybe one of these weekends, I will come around and spend the night."
She replied.
"Alright my dear, just that I wanted us to discuss something very
important to me." The church mummy chipped in cunningly in order to
arouse her interest.
"Mummy, let's talk about it then, or will it take much time?" She
asked with concern in her eyes. And the church mummy suddenly switched
in a sad countenance.
"Jumoke, it's about you and Kehinde." She said with a worried voice
and Jumoke's heart flew into her mouth,then her head went down low in
shame.

186
 "He showed me the text messages you sent to him and have also
told me everything." The church mummy began and her heart beat
increased.
"Jumoke, that first text message was too harsh to come from a
Christian lady like you. You know you have a high prophetic grace and
whatever you say can easily come to pass..." The church mummy was still
talking when Jumoke broke down in tears,crying uncontrollably.
"Mummy, it's so painful!" She cried out with her head down.
"My baby, I understand how you feel. Kehinde is very sorry; he didn't
plan leaving you. God made it clear to him that you were not meant to be
his wife and his leaving you is to your own advantage. Who knows, maybe
the purpose of your life is greater than he can handle and God already has
a better person who is worthy and capable enough to carry you in life," the
church mummy said,breathed down and then continued.

"Jumoke, don't tell me you haven't been putting all my teachings to

practice. I've been preaching it in all the youth programs some of which you
were present that a single person should never force his/herself into a
man's life, even if the person is an ex, if that lover or ex is no longer
interested in the relationship; move on with your life. Don't try to make it
work out by all means, you will end up being the person who would suffer
hurt in that relationship because his/her heart is no longer with you..." The
church mummy continued as if she was preaching to her.

"Mummy, I'm finding it difficult to let Kenny go off my heart. I've tried
to do so but can't. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm angry with him yet I
still love him deeply in my heart." She explained in tears.

"I don't think you love him, because if you do, you wouldn't have
sent him that detrimental text. You almost destroyed his marriage Jumoke."
The church mummy said, sounding serious.

"I love him mummy, the text was sent out of anger." Jumoke
explained.
"If you love him, then forgive him and release him from your heart to
marry the will of God for his life and enjoy his marriage." The church
mummy said with a commanding tone, but later calmed her temper seeing
that the young girl was in pain. She placed her hand on Jumoke's shoulder
in a caring manner then continued with a soft tone.

187
 "You are finding it difficult because you have not yet made up your
mind and you can never find love outside there until you release Kehinde
from your heart. I told you sometimes ago under the spirit of prophecy that
God is bringing your rightful husband from afar.

Jumoke, you will miss your rightful man if you don't let go of Kenny.
The perfect will of God for your life may come around and you would not
give him the chance because your heart is still with Kehinde. You are
harming yourself Jumoke." The church mummy spoke up passionately and
the crying Jumoke ran into her arms, soaked in her own tears.

"Please, pray for me. I want to let him go..." She cried and the church
mummy hugged her tightly and pat her back gently then allowed her to
have a good cry of relief. After about twenty minutes, the church mummy
held hands with her and prayed fervently with her then told her to renounce
her words in the text she sent to Kehinde in her presence which she did
willingly from the depth of her heart.

"Thank you so much mummy, I feel so relieved in my heart." She

thanked the church mummy over and over again. Just when she was about
leaving, the Pastor came back with an ebony dark young man.

"Guess who we have here!" The Pastor announced on entering the

parlor and the church mummy gave an exciting scream on seeing the
young man.

"Mummy, don't even smile at me. I heard you were in Dallas three
weeks ago but you didn't check on me." The young man said feigning
annoyance.

"Ah! Mike, am sorry. It was daddy o." The church mummy said
laughing.
"I planned calling you, but he was busy rushing me to come back to
Nigeria, and I had to shorten the days I planned staying..." She explained
jokingly.

Jumoke stood back at a spot watching the handsome young man

and beaming with smiles helplessly. Mike turned from the church mummy
to look at the lady who was not talking and their eyes clicked and remained
that way for the next few minutes.

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 The church mummy and her husband exchanged glances when they
noticed the chemical reaction between the two, then the Pastor cleared his
throat in a very embarrassing manner which knocked them back to the
consciousness that they were with people.
"Jumoke, how are you?" The Pastor asked as Mike made to take a
seat.
"Good evening sir. I'm fine sir." She went on her knees in
greeting,then continued.
"I'm sorry daddy, you were talking when you entered and I thought it
wise to wait till you are done before greeting." She explained still kneeling
down and the young man kept looking at her with the corner of his eyes not
knowing that the church mummy was watching him.
"Ah! Come'on, stand to your feet. It's nothing." The Pastor said
hurriedly with his hand demonstrating a rising action.
"Ese daddy, thank you sir." She said then stood up to her feet and
continued.
"I want to be on my way now." She announced.
"That's alright. I hope mummy took good care of you?" The Pastor
asked jokingly and she smiled.
"Very well sir." She replied smiling beautifully in such a way that got
Mike smiling unknowingly right where he was sitting.
"My baby, do take care of yourself." The church mummy said cheerfully as
she opened the door to leave and she responded before leaving.

"Mike, why were you looking at her that way?" The church mummy
jokingly asked immediately the door closed behind her.
"Was I looking at her?" The embarrassed Mike asked and the Pastor
burst into a loud laugh.
"It was so glaring,you can't deny that." The church mummy pushed
further.
"This woman, leave my son alone jor.Is looking now a sin?" The
Pastor intervened seeing that Mike was feeling embarrassed.

"I didn't even realize I was looking at her, but to be sincere with you, I
felt my soul clung to hers in just a short while. I don't really understand, but
I think I..." He paused when he saw how the couple were looking at him.

"You think you are what? Finish your statement my friend." The
church mummy fired at him jokingly.

189
 "I don't like the way you two were looking at me. I mean, what's
wrong with loving a beautiful sister? Or is she married already?" Mike
spoke up with a deep American intonation, smiling and trying to act serious
at the same time.
"Nothing is wrong with loving a beautiful sister my son. And she is
not married either." The Pastor answered laughing.
"Waow!" He exclaimed in atypical American crazy life.
"I've found my wife then. You know what momma, I actually was
hoping to discuss marriage stuff with you once I arrive Nigeria, but look
how God has done it. So, tell me more about her. Who's she?" The excited
Mike said and they both watched him laughing.

"Forget about her let's talk about something else. How is the ministry
over there?" The church mummy who didn't want to take him serious said
casually, waving his words aside.
"I should forget about my marriage and talk about ministry? What do
you call ministry?" He asked with all seriousness.
"Mean!" He bewailed then continued.
"My marriage is part of my ministry, or would you prefer I bring home
a white lady?" He said and the couple exchanged glances again seeing
how serious he was.
"Not at all." The church mummy cut in and then continued.
"I thought you were not serious, because we have been begging you
all these years to get married but you refused. Remember how you used to
tell me particularly that you want to be like Apostle Paul who did not marry,
so that you can serve God without distraction." The church mummy
explained and Mike smiled.
"Well, that's in the past. God wants me to get married. He told me
that my wife would be instrumental to the growth of my ministry and that of
my life. He also told me you have a part to play in linking me to my wife. I
don't know how you intend doing that but I don't think what I felt for this lady
that just left here few minutes ago is ordinary..." Mike explained carefully to
the surprise of the church mummy and the Pastor.

"That's good to hear Mike." The Pastor cut in excitedly.

"I'm so happy to hear this coming from you. Ah! Pastor Mike talking
about marriage?" The church mummy stood up with her hands on her chest
staring at him.
"You two should stop looking at me that way please!" Mike covered

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his face in embarrassment and they went on talking about some other
things.

A text message entered Kehinde's phone late in the night and he

couldn't contain his joy when he saw it was from Jumoke.

"Good evening Oma oba. How are you

and the preparation for your wedding?
There's a point in life when one has
no choice than to let go of what he/she
cherishes so much in order to make way
for better things. I guess am at that very
point in my life right now.
Kenny, I don't know whether I should say,
'I forgive you' or 'I release you'. But from
the depth of my heart, I let go of all my
anger and grievances against you.
I'm sorry for the horrible text messages
I sent to you, I sent them out of anger but I have
renounced them already.
Please, I want you to be a brother that I
never had to me. Also, pray for me to find
love again.
From Jumoke Alade. "

The text message read and he couldn't help but dial her number
immediately.

"Jumo, thank you so much." He said over the phone immediately she
picked the call.
"I'm sorry for all the hurts I caused you. I've been praying for you and
I assure you under God that you will find better love than I could have ever
offered you in this life soon. Jumo, you are a nice girl, I know God will settle
you." Kehinde kept pouring out his heart and they both did not know when
tears began to drop from their eyes.

"Thank you." Were the only words she could reply him amidst tears.
"I will call you tomorrow." Kehinde said calmly when he noticed she
was also crying and the call ended abruptly.

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 He slumped on his bed, looked intently into the space for some
minutes as the events of the past years played itself before him and he
lifted up his two hands and said.
"Thank you my Ebeneezer, thus far you have brought me. So Lord,
help me live the remaining years of my life to your glory." He prayed in
tears and forwarded the text message to Sade.

A week later, Sade and Kehinde had a glamorous wedding which got
everyone talking both in the city and in the village as the oba and his queen
gifted Sade a brand new car for being instrumental to the healing of the
queen and as a way of showing her that she is very much welcome into the
royal family.
Receiving the car keys from Kehinde's elder sister who presented the
car gift on behalf of the royal family, Sade couldn't hold back the tears
gushing out of her eyes.
"I'm the first woman from my lineage to own a car." She said to
herself as she received the car keys and cried into Kehinde's arms while
the mammoth crowd seated present in the five thousand seaters’ capacity
reception hall watched in admiration as Kehinde patted her back gently and
smiling handsomely.
"Hmm… this God is somehow o. I remember how we gossiped this
Sade of a girl back then when she got pregnant outside wedlock, but look
how God has honoured her in the same city she was once disgraced
simply because she returned back to God in total repentance.

I'm beginning to give my life a second thought seriously, all these

secret immoral lives we are living are no longer making sense to me at all.
Her life is really worthy of emulation to me o..." A girl who was once in the
same choir department with Sade told her friend while the reception was
ongoing with them watching from the back where they were seated.

"That's exactly what I've been thinking too. Sometimes, I get tired of
life itself. See, after this her wedding; am going to get close to her and learn
from her. I even heard she would be releasing her music album next
month." Her friend replied and they both reached an agreement to get
close to her.
Sade's aged parents sat at the high table clothed in sewn quality
Yoruba native wear popularly known as Asoke and their joy could not be
quantified watching the glory surrounding the same daughter whom they
had once given up on.

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 Doctor Iyk was all over Jumoke throughout the wedding.
"Guy, you didn't tell me Jumoke has been in this town." Iyk couldn't
wait till after the wedding before whispering into Kehinde's ear.
"So?" Kehinde replied suspiciously.
"Not what you’r thinking guy.You know I used to like her back then
even before you guys started dating. Witnessing this your wedding today, I
don't even know how am feeling inside my heart. I desperately need a wife
too,after all am not getting younger..." Doctor Iyk explained and Kehinde
kept looking intently into his eyes.
"Guy, you are not talking." Iyk said with a surprise look and Kehinde
swallowed hard before replying him.

"So, are you already considering her for marriage?" Kehinde asked,
wearing a serious look.
"Yeah, you and I know Jumoke is a nice girl. Had I known you guys
would not end up together, I wouldn't have gotten into that..." He was still
talking and Kehinde cut in.
"It's alright, but you still need to pray about it. I don't want that girl to
experience any hurt in relationship again and at the same time, I don't want
you to make another mistake in marriage." Kehinde explained carefully and
Iyk nodded his head with understanding.
"Guy, I beg shift make I concentrate on my wife. It's my day!" Kehinde
said jokingly then gave him a mild push and they both burst into a silent
laugh then he went back straight to where Jumoke was seated in the
reception hall.
"Jumo dear, sorry I went out to attend to something." He said as he
sat down close to her and she nodded her head quietly.
"Chai! It's really been a long time o. I remember those days on
campus that you will see me coming to you and you will start running," he
said jokingly and they both started laughing.
"But come to think about it, why were you so much afraid of me
then?" Iyk asked smiling.
"Nothing, I heard you were a cultist and secondly, I always see you
with different bad girls." Jumoke explained calmly.
"Well, I was into women then but definitely not a cultist." Iyk said
regrettably then continued.
"Thank God for His saving grace, am now born again." He said with
a dry smile and she turned to look at him properly.
"Congratulations Iyk. I'm also born again and sincerely speaking, it's
been awesome knowing God." She said and from there they went on

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sharing salvation experiences and other things,and he didn't make the
mistake of forgetting to collect her number before they parted.

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 CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

The wedding reception came to an end at some minutes past

5pm.People who were in attendance left with different kinds of wedding
gifts and Iyk drove the latest couple to the hotel booked for their
honeymoon. When they checked into the hotel, Iyk gave Kehinde a thumb
up and he got the message as they both started laughing but Sade didn't
understand why the two friends were laughing.
"Spoilt Igbo boy, come and start going let me enjoy my wife." Kehinde
said and they exchanged handshakes before he finally left smiling naughty.

"And, can I get a full romantic hug from my bride?" Kehinde said
sweetly when he returned from locking up the door. He was pulling off his
suit jacket and walking up to Sade who suddenly started arranging things
that were not in any way scattered.
"Sweetheart, leave those things first. There's nothing there to
arrange." He said and tingled her waist from the back and she jumped up in
response to the titillating sensation wearing a feigned frown on her face.
"Brother Kehinde, stop please." She said smiling and frowning at the
same time.
"Stop what? I want the first romantic hug from my bride please."
Kehinde said teasingly with his arms opened wide to receive her but she
turned around again,bent down and began to search for what was not
missing.
"What are you looking for? Let me help you." The disappointed but
never relenting Kehinde said squatting down close to her.
"Nothing, I want to take my bath." She said and gently released her
hand from his,and trying as much as possible to avoid his emotion filled
eyes.
"That's better, we would bath together." He said and began to pull off
everything on him. She stole a look at him as he made to pull his boxer
then looked away quickly.
"We are not bathing together please. I want to bath alone." She said
then he paused and stared at her in surprise.

"You want to bath alone?" He asked,trying to understand her reasons

but she just said
“Yes" and kept quiet without looking at him.
"Alright, go ahead and bath alone if that's what you want." He said
and climbed over the bed.

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 "No, you go and bath first while get myself ready." She replied and he
smiled dryly then climbed down from the bed and entered the bathroom.

"Please, help get my towel and soap." He shouted from the bathroom
and switched the showers on.
"You know you would need them but entered the bathroom without
collecting them." She shouted back to him.
"Yes, I want my wife to bring them to the bathroom for me." He said
laughing, then continued.
"Please hurry up, I'm waiting for the soap." He said and she
grudgingly collected the towel and soap,walked gently close to the
bathroom door and stretched her hand out for him to collect them.
"Here they are." She said from outside the door.
"Come inside please, am in the bathtub and I can't climb down now."
He replied laughing inside his heart as his plan was to pour water on her
then pull her into the bathtub to bath with him.
"Brother Kehinde, you have to climb down o, because am not entering
that bathroom either." She said, pretending to be angry.
"Sweetheart, there's no snake inside here. Bring the soap for me to
bath before cold enters my body. I'm freezing here o." He said,faking
seriousness.
"Oh...! Brother Kehinde, you are looking for trouble o. Why didn't you
carry this things along with you in the first place?" She angrily entered the
bathroom, looking away from him and just as she was about handling the
soap over to him, he grabbed her hands instead and stirred the water
violently wetting her body in the process.
"Haba! Brother Kehinde look at what you have done now." Not
expecting that he would pour water on her she flared up,then continued.
"Please, leave my hand." She struggled to break loose from his hold.
"Sorry my love,since you are already wet,just join me let's bath
together." He said trying to pull her into the tub.
"Leave me, brother Kehinde leave me alone." She struggled and he
had to release her seeing that she was determined not to bath with him and
she hastened out of the bathroom.
Few minutes later, he came out from the bathroom smiling but she
wore a frown.
"I'm sorry sweet, was just trying play with you. You can now go and
have your bath." he said trying to touch her but she stood up and started
walking into the bathroom with everything she needed. He turned around
and looked at her again as she entered the bathroom,finding it difficult to

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understand why she was acting strange.
He swallowed hard then continued to clean his body, applied his
favorite roll-on and perfume then climbed over to the bed. He lay on the
bed, pressing his phone and waiting for her to come but it took like eternity
for Sade to come out of the bathroom.
"Sweetheart, are you still there?" He asked teasingly with a raised
voice.
"Yes." She replied in brief.
"Do you need my help?" He asked, laughing to himself.
"No!!!" She replied almost immediately and he burst into a loud laugh.
It was getting to almost an hour that Sade entered the bathroom and
he was beginning to feel sleepy,and he kept struggling to stay awake but
his tired body couldn't struggle much longer as he surrendered to the
power of nature and slept off...

Jumoke's phone rang at some minutes past 9pm and she picked it up
with a smile.
"Hello, good evening pastor Mike." She said calmly. Mike had
collected her number from the church mummy and since then, they had
been talking over the phone morning, afternoon and night.

Though she was yet to know his intention,she always felt happy
hearing his voice and always longed for his calls.

"Good evening sister Jumoke, how you?" He asked at the other end.
"I'm fine sir." She replied.
"So, how did your brother's wedding go? So sorry, I planned driving
down to meet you there at the reception venue but the power of God came
down mightily in the program during my ministration and we ended up
staying longer than expected. Thank you for praying for me." He said with a
smile and she blushed.
"Glory to God for that." She said then continued.
"The wedding was a huge success. I actually met an old school mate
who kept me company all through and I enjoyed every bit of my stay with
him." She replied smiling.

"Oh! A him?" Mike asked feeling a little bit jealous.

"Yeah. Doctor Iyk by name. We were together back then in the
university and..." She was talking but Mike, whose heart was racing faster
didn't hear one bit of everything she was saying.

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 "He's married too?" He deliberately asked trying to get more
information about the old school mate who had kept the woman after his
heart company.
"Married? Not at all, he's still a vibrant young bachelor. Why did you
ask?" She queried noticing his tone.
"Nothing," He said,breathed down then continued.
"Jumoke, I've been thinking of asking you this question, I hope you
don't mind?" He said, determined to start up something with her before
going back.
"What's that?" She asked inquisitively.
"I don't really know how to put it, but are you in any serious
relationship?" He asked, rubbing his forehead with the other hand and
silence followed...

Kehinde woke up at some minutes past 12am to find Sade

sleeping a little distance away from him on the large bed.

He frowned at the sight of the clothes she was putting on, she wore
a skirt and blouse to bed and he couldn't understand where she got that
choice of night wear from on their wedding night.
He drew closer to where she was lying and touched her cheek,then
her waist and she woke up and pushed him back from her.
"Sweetheart,it's our honeymoon. Let's add spices to it." He said but
she replied.
"I'm tired.
"Okay, I understand you stressed a lot yesterday. Let me massage
your body. It will help your body bounce back easily,"he said but she didn't
respond so he took her silence for an approval then took a kneeling
position on the bed and made to pull off her blouse, and she quickly
pushed his hands away.
"Brother Kehinde!" She shouted and jumped down from the bed.
"What's the problem?" The confused Kehinde asked but she
wouldn't say a word.
"It's alright my dear. Sorry for disturbing you." He said after some
minutes of silence,climbed back to the bed,covered his body with the
duvets and slept off.
She entered the bathroom and wash her teary face, then joined him
in bed avoiding bodily contact with him.
Kehinde woke up as early as 4am for his quiet time and made to
touch her again but stopped in order to avoid her tantrums. He climbed

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down the bed entirely,went and sat on the single cushion in the hotel room
and started praying.

She was woken by the sound of his heartfelt prayers and couldn't
sleep anymore so she sat up on the bed watching him.
"What's wrong with me?" She asked herself silently. "God!" She
bewailed with her eyes tightly closed.

He continued in prayers and sang diverse spirit filled worship songs

along with the prayer. At exactly 5am, he summarized his prayers and on
standing up to go wake her for morning devotion, he saw her sitting on the
bed with her eyes tightly closed and tears pouring down to her cheeks.

"Sweetheart, what's happening? Did I do something you don't like?"

He asked and held her hands as he knelt down beside her.
She opened her eyes and quickly wiped off the tears in her eyes and
shook her head negatively.
"Please talk to me. What's bothering you?" He pleaded but she was
not ready to talk.
"I'll be fine." She said in brief and hardened her face.
"Can we do family devotion together?" He asked, trying hard to avoid
anything that will make her angry and she nodded her head in the positive.

"Give me your hands." He requested as he climbed over to the bed

and she did.

Angry in his spirit, he closed his eyes tightly and started praying with
much ardor and fire in his belly, rebuking whatever spirit behind Sade's
sudden strange attitude and she sat there crying her eyes out.

"Amen!" were the only words coming out of her mouth with
whimpers and he continued the prayers so intensely for close to an hour
that he was sweating profusely under the air condition in the room.

After the prayer, he wiped off his sweat with a face towel,then picked
up his bible and began to teach the word of God from the scriptures. She
felt relieved after the bible study and told him that she wanted them to
check out of the hotel and he agreed, though he wanted them to stay in the
hotel for at least one week.
They arrived Kehinde's three bedroom flat in the evening of that day
and he showed her around the house.
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 "This is your house, whatever you want me to do, eat, say it here and
that is what I'll do ma." He said teasingly and she smiled.
"So,what's my wife cooking for us to eat?Your baby is very hungry."
He said and rubbed his tommy funnily in a way that made her laugh.
"What do you want to eat?" She asked laughing.
"Jollof rice with moderate pepper." He replied, then continued.
"And, I'm going to stay with you in the kitchen to learn how to cook."
He said laughing.
"Since we are back to the house, we have to go and bring Toyin to
the house. I'm missing her already." He said and walked out of the kitchen
to get his phone which was ringing and she stood in awe watching him as
he was walking out.
"Though, I've not been treating him fine, he still acting nice." She told
herself thoughtfully as she could hear him talking and laughing over the
phone with the caller.

Kehinde made up his mind not to make any sexual advances

towards her again until she is ready for that, so he cracked jokes to make
her laugh and showed her more care without touching her for the whole of
that night and the next day.

He deliberately wore shorts with no shirt or singlet on in the house all

through, revealing his fair hairy chest and legs even during the bible studies
and prayers until the third night, when he was fast asleep that a hand
touched him.
"Are you alright?" He asked when he opened his eyes and saw Sade
sitting up.
"Yes...No." She replied trying to pull herself together.
"Yes,no. Which should I take?" He teased her,looking into her eyes.
"Brother Kehinde, I'm sorry about my recent attitude. Just that I feel
very insecure about my body." She said bending her head and he was
taken aback and looked at her again.
"Your body? What happened to your body?" He asked her sitting up
properly.
"Uhm... I feel that my body would not be attractive to you since I have
breastfed a baby before. I'm no longer..." She began to complain bitterly
and he had to cut her short.
"Hey, hey! Stop Sweetheart." He hushed her, then continued.
"I didn't marry your body. It's you, your soul am married to not your
body. Look, even if you had never breastfed a baby before, you will still

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breastfeed me and my kids,and there's no way your body can remain the
same.

If I don't find your body attractive because you breastfed only Toyin,
it means that I would not find you attractive after breastfeeding my own kids
also. Even if I had married another girl who had never breastfed a baby,
her breast would still fall." He began frankly, drew closer to her then
continued.
"No woman remains the same after her first child. But a man who loves
God will love his wife faultlessly just as Jesus loved his bride,the church,
which was full of spots and wrinkles; he loved her still and gave his life for
her.

Listen to me, When old age comes and you start having wrinkles, it
won't be your body that would make me to keep loving you, it's your soul
and that's what attracts me in you from the first time I met you. I love you
the way you are my wife..." He said smiling and she became shy but he
was determined not to touch her first until he is sure she needs him.
"Thank you brother Kehinde." She said smiling from ear to ear.
"Please, stop calling me that name 'brother Kehinde." he said feigning
annoyance then continued.
"There's nothing romantic in that name." He said then lay down and
turned his face away from her.
"It's her turn to make the move towards me, I would just lie down
here and wait for her." He said laughing in his heart seeing the desire in her
eyes.
She sat down looking at him and praying her heart that he makes the
usual advances but he didn't, and the next thing she heard was the sound
of his snoring.

Kehinde deliberately began to snore with his eyes tightly closed as if

he was truly sleeping in order to zero her mind from expecting him to come
for her. She lifted her hand to touch him several times but quickly dropped
it and he kept laughing in his heart waiting for a touch which finally came
after few minutes of her struggling. He opened his eyes and turned his face
to look at his shy wife and the rest became history.

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 CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Two weeks after their honeymoon, Kehinde was praying and writing
down things about a very pressing burden which woke him up as early as
2am while his wife was still fast asleep.
"Lord, how do you want me to go about it? Where do you want me to
start and what's the message?" He was asking God earnestly in prayer
when suddenly Sade woke up and sat down on the bed thoughtfully.
Though his eyes were tightly closed in prayers, he felt it that his wife
had woken up, so he looked towards their bedside and found her in
thoughts.
"Darling, are you alright?" He asked then stood up from where he
was sitting at the study table to join her.
"I had a dream." She replied.
"Tell me about it." He said and sat down very close to her.

"In that dream, I had covered along thorny distance then found myself on a
new path. On this new path, the journey was easy and seemed more
meaningful as I saw myself joyfully picking up broken pitchers along the
road with me on that journey.
"What do you intend doing with those broken vessels?" A grey
headed old man in white asked me.
"I don't really know sir. I just felt like carrying them along with me,
perhaps they may be useful to me someday." I replied the old man.
"No, their usefulness is not only for you but basically for God's glory.
You are only meant to mend the broken pitchers along with your husband
through the wisdom of God, your gifts, your lifestyles and resources." The
man told me.
"How on earth can these be mended? There are broken beyond repair
sir." I said in disbelief and he smiled.
"There's no broken vessel that's beyond the repairing grace and
power of God. These broken pitchers you see represent the thousands of
young people you will meet in this new phase of your life; they are
wounded, broken, confused and tired of the kind of life they have been
living and are waiting for a saving touch.

Remember, you were once a broken vessel but God used Kehinde
to mend and beautify you; so now that you have been strengthened, you
must join him in the ministry of mending broken people and strengthen
them. All that's expected of you is to make yourself and marriage available

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as an instrument for their mending." The man told me.
"But how do we go about it?" I asked in confusion.
"Start from your house." The man replied almost immediately, then
continued.
"First, let your lives and marriage showcase Christ to the world
around you. You are to reach out to young people, bring them closer and
feed them. They are famished but not for physical food, you have the water
and your husband the solid food and you both are to feed them with
balance diet. Go ahead and pick more." The old man urged me then turned
back and left.
"Oh! Thank you Jesus for confirming your words to me and answering
the questions I've been asking." Kehinde said excitedly and she looked at
him wondering what he was talking about

. "Darling, you know I've lived a rough life in the past and sometimes I
wish I can restore the wasted years. I have been having this desire to reach
out to young people for a long time but I didn't know how to go about, so
this morning the burden became too much that I couldn't sleep anymore
and I was just praying and asking for direction when I noticed that you are
awake." He explained, feeling elated.
"You see why you are my rightful wife? You are my purpose partner
and helper." He said and hugged her tightly, kissed her forehead
repeatedly then ran back to get his hardcover journal where he had written
so many things about the burden and she just sat down there smiling at
him.
"Look here, I've been writing about this vision since 2010 till date. But
God has just used you to give me a clear picture of what and how he wants
us to do it. My beautiful wife, thank you once again for marrying me." He
said beaming with smiles.
"Darling, you know what? Sometimes when you appreciate me like
this, I begin to wonder why? I should be the one thanking you, first for not
giving up on me when everyone gave up on me, for allowing God use you
to restore me back, for taking away my shame and honouring me among
women…" She started, breathed down then continued.
"When I call you my crown, I mean it from the depth of my heart
because you brought me victory and honor. Whatever is expected of me to
do to see that your purpose which has also become my purpose is
achieved, I will join you to do it. Baby,I renew my vow again to love you,
stand by you, fight for you and run this race with you now and always till the
end of our sojourn here on earth. Thank you for marrying me, you are the

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best husband in the world." She said and drew closer into his arms in a hug
and from there,they drifted into the world of marital pleasure.

Jumoke's call woke them up that morning as early as 6am.

"Oma oba, good morning sir." Her voice was heard over the phone as he
received the call with the left hand while Sade's head rested on his right
arm.
"Good morning Jumo, how are you?" He replied.
"Am fine, how is Sister Sade?" She inquired.
"She is fine. Are you alright?" He asked almost immediately.
"Yeah, am fine." She replied then continued.
"But I need your help and guidance. I have two marriage proposals
before me right now but I don't know which to accept because I seem to
like the both of them within a short period of time." She revealed calmly and
he sat up properly helping Sade to rest her head on the pillow.
"Jumo, are they born again?" He asked for a start.
"Yes, one is a Pastor based in the US and the second person is
Doctor Iyk your friend." She replied shyly.
"Jumo, that's a good development. I will be the happiest person if Iyk
my friend happens to be the will of God for you in marriage. But you have
to put your emotions on hold for now because you must get it right
maritally. We have to pray first to hear what God has to say about both of
them before you release your heart to anyone or accept any marriage
proposal..." He counseled her carefully and she responded positively.
"Okay, how do we go about the prayers?" She queried.
"Uhm... Let me discuss with my wife and see how we can join hands
with you in prayers." He said then continued.
"But for now, just pray and ask the Lord to open your eyes to know
whom His will for you in marriage is. He will surely speak to you." He
concluded.
"Thank you oma Oba." She greeted him,then continued
"Is she awake let me greet her?" She asked and he handed her the
phone.
"Sister Jumo, we must drink your coke and fanta this year o." Sade
teased her over the phone.
"I pray so o, please you people should be praying for me o." Jumoke
replied laughing.
"Yes dear,we have been praying for you and soon God will perfect all
that concerns you." Sade assured her and they talked about other things
before ending the call.

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 Kehinde and Sade discussed and agreed to invite her over to their
house in order to pray with her and also strengthen their relationship with
her.Two days later,Jumoke visited them for the prayer and they held hands
together in prayers after they had had quality time of bible study.

Kehinde and Sade shared their vision with the church mummy and
her husband who prayed with them and assured them of their supports and
they mapped out their vision strategies on how to reach out to young
people then arrived at sending invitation to churches,starting from their
branch churches; one on one invitation,and through the social media
platforms.
The first meeting they held with young people in the home housed
about twenty youths who had strong yearning for see more of God in their
lives with doctor Iyk and Jumoke in attendance.

Sade led in a hot praise and worship, Jumoke in opening prayers

and doctor Iyk did the administrative work of showing them where to seat
as they came in while Kehinde preached the word in what looked like an
interactive sermon during which those young people were availed the
opportunity to express themselves, share their secret struggles,fears,
challenges and ask questions openly and the four friends were shocked to
their bone marrows as they listened to what many of those young people
were revealing about themselves. Yet, some of them who were more
matured in age kept to themselves and were not willing to open.

During the prayer, Kehinde raised so many matters of concern among

the youths and analyzed them so much that many of them who were guilty
broke down sobbing and he used that opportunity to make an altar call and
to his surprise, almost all the hands went up and he joyfully led them to
Christ.
Those present were encouraged to invite their friends while coming for
the next meeting as refreshments was passed round for them.

"This is a serious ministry," doctor Iyk told Kehinde with seriousness

in his eyes as the young folks left one after the other.
"I couldn't hold back my tears listening to their revelations. What can
we do to reach out to more young people?" He asked zealously and the
two women joined them as he shared with them the strategies they had
planned out
"We can as well organize Christian picnics and timeouts with printed

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handbills and post banners at strategic places. We can also reach out to
secondary schools and campuses with relationship and career seminars to
arouse more people's interest,” Jumoke suggested and they all found her
suggestions amazing.
They immediately began to draft out plans on how to penetrate the
schools and everyone contributed in the plan. When they were done,
Kehinde excused himself with Iyk for a private discussion leaving the
women in the parlor.

"How far with you and Jumo?" He asked him.

" Nothing much, she is yet to respond to my proposal but we've been
communicating on the normal," Iyk replied.
"Did you really seek the face of God before proposing to her?" He
asked feeling concerned.
"Well, I didn't really pray that much. I feel there's no need since we've
known each other for years and secondly, she is born again. Do I really
need to pray that much again?" He asked with a confused look.
"My brother, it's a wife we are talking about here not a girlfriend. You
don't choose your wife as a Christian the same way you chose girls when
you were in the world. I will advise you to go back and seek God's face and
confirm things first. You seem to be in haste, please calm down and get it
right this time around..." Kehinde paused, then continued:
"Jumoke is a nice girl but she might not be the right woman for you
and vice versa. Allow God to direct you in choosing a wife my brother..." He
advised him after which they entered back into the parlor to join them and
after few minutes, Iyk picked up his car keys and announced his departure.

"Jumo, how far with you. Has the Lord not said anything yet?" Kehinde
teased her immediately Iyk left and everyone started laughing.
"Uhm... Not really, I don't even understand." She replied shyly.
"What's it you don't understand?" He asked showing interest.
"I actually had a dream I don't understand but am still praying for more
clarification though." She said casually.
"Share the dream with us, perhaps we can trust God to reveal the
meaning to us." He urged her.
"In that dream, I followed Iyk on a journey to somewhere but along the
line, I became very tired and couldn't carry myself anymore. Iyk opted to
carry me but unfortunately, my weight was too much for him and he had to
drop me. He tried carrying me again but we both fell on our backs,then I
woke up." She narrated, laughing with Sade but Kehinde pondered on the

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dream with a serious face.
"Then, there's this other dream I had concerning Pastor Mike but I
can't remember it anymore. I've been trying to remember it but can't." She
chipped in sadly.
"Go back and pray, let the Holy Spirit rewind the dream for you again.
You can't forget vital dreams just like that." He instructed her and she
agreed.

Two weeks later, Sade launched her first music album which won the
heart of many people as public transporters also purchased and played
them in their buses; churches began to sing her songs during worship
sessions and her songs fast became household songs spanning through
states.
Churches began to invite her for ministrations in and outside the state
within the three months of the album release and it influenced their youth
ministry positively as she became a public figure whom everyone wants to
associate with.
Their living room became too small as more young people throng in
for the weekly meeting, many of them sat on the floor comfortably and
some stood on their feet.

Sade woke up one beautiful morning with a feeling of nausea then

sluggishly dragged herself out of their matrimonial room to join her husband
and Toyin in the parlor for morning devotion ten minutes after Kehinde had
called her to join them for devotion.

Mid way into the devotion, she suddenly had a strong urge to vomit
and she ran into the washroom to relieve herself throwing her husband and
daughter into confusion and he had to bring the devotion to an abrupt end.
"Darling, are you alright?" Kehinde asked, joining her in the
washroom.
"Yeah, just having this feeling of physical unwellness." She replied as
she washed her mouth and face,then suddenly began to throw up again
and he helped her to support her body on him.
"Maybe, somebody is pregnant." He said teasingly.
"I will get you a pregnancy test pouch." He said massaging her back
gently and she managed to force out a smile.
"I just can't wait to confirm it." She said breathing heavily, then
continued.
"Sweetheart, this is our fifth month together as husband and wife, I've been

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worried sick not getting pregnant. I will be the happiest person today if it
shows positive." She said leaning on him.
"Really? You never told me you were worried." Surprised at her
revelation.
"Do you know I don't even remember we need to start having babies? I
seem to be carried away by purpose pursuit and fulfilment these past
months. Having you and Toyin around me, I used to think that we are done
having children..." He was still talking and she cut in.
"How could you think such a thing? Toyin is not your biological child
and she can't take the place of your own children no matter how you love
her. Besides, I want to fill this house with children," she said laughing.
"You can't be serious, we agreed to have two more. I want my wife to
look younger for me," he said feigning seriousness.
"Please, can you get me the pouch before going to work? I can't wait
anymore," she said pinching him hard.
"Aarrh!!!" He shouted and Toyin who was standing at the door
unknown to them spoke up.
"Sorry Dad," She said smiling from ear to ear knowing that they were
not expecting to see her in the washroom.
"Thank you my baby. Sorry I left you in the parlor." He said on seeing
her.
"Monitoring spirit Toyin. I knew you have been eaves dropping to
hear what you and your daddy will gossip with." Sade said laughing.
"You can now go and do your morning chores and prepare yourself for
school because I don't have any single strength left in me to prepare you
today." She said looking at her humorously.
"I wasn't monitoring you o, I just wanted to know if you are alright," little
Toyin said in the defensive.
"Yeah, we weren't monitoring you oo," Kehinde chipped in and they all
burst into laughter.

The homemade test was later confirmed positive and Sade's joy
knew no bound as she sang different praise songs, danced to it alone in
the room and in the kitchen, knelt down at every given time to thank God
for the gift of fruitfulness. She kept calling her husband on the phone over
and over again to come back in time for the celebration as she had taken
her time to prepare his favorite food…

"I think you were right when you told me to go back in prayer
concerning that proposal stuff, am beginning to see so many signs that

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Jumoke is not meant for me.I made that proposal out of desperation," Iyk
opened up to his friend Kehinde after one of their programs with the young
people.
"Really?" Kehinde said as he turned to face him very well,then
continued.
"What makes you think so?" He asked.
"You know am still growing in the faith and sincerely speaking, Kenny
am enjoying my relationship with God very well now than ever. He's been
teaching me patience and other virtues. My brother, God is seriously
dealing with my life in such a way that I don't expect.

If I marry her without these dealings God is giving me, the marriage
will collapse. The Lord made it clear to me that I won't be able to carry the
weight of her purpose because my spiritual life is still at the baby realm and
I have no spiritual stamina.

Guy, marriage is the least of my problems now. I'm enjoying God so

much right now, I just want to know Him more," Iyk expressed himself
gleaming with excitement in his eyes.
"Wow!" Kehinde exclaimed and breathed down a heavy sigh of relief.
"I knew it from the onset that you two weren't meant for each other;
but you know, it's better the way you confirmed it yourself because there's
nothing I could have told you then that you would believe." Kehinde
explained and Iyk started laughing.
"Yeah, at a point I was beginning to think you don't want me to have
her because she is your ex but now I know better. Thanks man, you've
always been my man from day one." He said then continued almost
immediately.
"So,what do you suggest? Should I meet her and tell her not to bother
anymore?" He asked searching Kehinde's eyes for a saving response.
"Ah! No, don't do that. She also saw a similar thing about you in a
dream two months ago,though she doesn't seem to understand the
meaning yet. But I already planned telling her you are not the right man for
her. So,just leave that one for me to handle,and you can as well reduce the
way you call her often," Kehinde replied smiling.
"Nna, you don't need to tell me to reduce the way I call her. I've
already done that. Tomorrow will be one week I called her last. In fact, I
hardly remember anything safe my Bible, my job and how to move this
young people’s forum further..." He said clapping his two hands together in
finality and Kehinde couldn't help but laugh at him.

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 "Thank God for God!" Kehinde exclaimed in excitement.
"Yes, my brother!" Iyk responded.
"That reminds me,the information I got last night was that Chioma died
while giving birth two weeks ago." Iyk said sadly.
"Giving birth?" Kehinde asked. "Did she remarry?"
"I don't know, my mother called to inform me last night and I didn't
bother to ask all of that. I feel for her though." He said looking away and
Kehinde pat his back in consolation.
"It's well my brother. It's well!" He said feeling the pains in his eyes.

Kehinde spoilt Sade and Toyin silly with love and lots of goodies
everyday as his wife's baby bump began to grow noticeably. Many young
girls began to pray for a husband like him as well as the young men among
them who desired to love their wives like him when they eventually marry.

When the church mummy and her husband saw that Kehinde's house
was no longer containing the youths,they released their branch church
building for them to use for their weekly youth programs since it was not
held on the church weekly activities days. Their programs from thenceforth
became power packed as deliverances were being conducted on many of
the young people who were under demonic influences and so did their
numbers increase rapidly.

"Sister Jumo, what's happening? What's going on? Please talk to

me." Kehinde who was worried at her moody state all through one of their
programs asked her in a private discussion.
"Oma oba, I don't know. I don't understand what's happening to me."
She replied sadly.
"What exactly is happening?" He asked.
"Look at me, we were praying about the two marriage proposals but I
don't even understand what's happening anymore..." She said with a
depressed face.
"I still can't get the point Jumo." He pressed further.
"They have both stopped calling me. I even tried reaching Pastor Mike
several times since the last time he travelled back to his base but his
number hasn't been going through, except once that he called to inform me
that he arrived safely. Iyk himself doesn't seem to be interested in me
anymore. Oma Oba, am just tired of this life..." She lamented bitterly.

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 Kehinde kept quiet with his eyes closed and suddenly drifted into the
spirit as she went on and on lamenting about several ordeals in her life.
"Jumo, there's an embargo on your destiny and you are the one who
exposed yourself to it." Kehinde spoke up with his eyes looking into hers
intently as if looking for something and he saw the uneasiness in her
reaction.
"How?" She asked innocently.
"There's something about your life you are not telling me yet. I don't
know what it is but there's a secret habit you are holding unto so tightly that
has opened you up to a demonic embargo martially," Kehinde revealed and
her heartbeat began to race faster, but she put up a bold face trying to
cover up.
"I don't understand what you are talking about." She said avoiding his
eyes.
"Well, since you don't understand what am talking about, let's forget
about it." He replied in dismissal then made to leave.
"Oma oba..." She called him back.
"Can you give me some time to put myself together?" She asked
looking at him pleadingly.
"Put yourself together for what? This is your life and destiny we are
talking about here. Jumo, what's there you can't share with me?" He asked,
getting upset.
"I…I, it all started after you left me that I..." She began,then paused
and covered her eyes in shame.
"I started pleasuring myself whenever I had the urge to have sex."
She revealed, sweating profusely as her tears mingled with the sweat to
form a flowing water down to her mouth.
"You masturbate?" Kehinde asked with a low but a surprised tone.
"When you left, I refused to go into another relationship, hoping that
I will meet you again. But I started having strong sexual urges and because
I didn't want to get involved with men, I decided to satisfy myself with my
hands and it started like a normal or temporary act until it got to a time that
I found myself doing it frequently whether I had an urge or not.

I tried stopping it, but the more I tried to break loose from the habit,
the deeper I found myself in it. I began to have series of dreams where I
had intercourse with a particular man who looks like you when approaching
me but when once he is done having sex with me, his face will change into
an unknown huge and dark man.

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 Each time I woke up from having such dreams, the next thing that
follows is a strong urge to have sex and I had no choice than to help
myself." She paused, breathed down and continued:
"It was this habit that brought me closer to God as I sought for
solution on how to stop it. I had met Mummy for counseling and she led me
to Christ as I was yet to give my life to Christ, she also prayed for me then
counseled me on what to avoid and what to do whenever I felt like doing it
again.

It worked as I followed her instructions but occasionally in my dreams,

the man with your face still came around,trying to lure me into sex with him
and I would struggle and fight with him until he got tired and left. I didn't
masturbate again for a long time despite seeing the man in my dreams until
last year when I met you again." She bent her head in shame.
"I started lusting after you and desired to have you back to myself by
all means.So that man started coming to me seductively wearing your face
and I couldn't resist him as I was always deceived to think that it was you in
real life. I began to have sex with the man frequently in my dreams and that
was how I started masturbating again.

Kenny, I don't like the fact that am doing it but it's difficult for me to
stop now. I'm not even enjoying it but I can't do without it. I feel like am a
cursed fellow." She broke down sobbing and silence permeated the
atmosphere.
"You are not a cursed fellow my dear." The speechless Kehinde broke
the silence.
"And I want you to know that I can't come to you in the dream to
make out with you. Like you rightly said, my face was only used by a
demon to harass you sexually and it's because of the lust of your heart.
Lust when it becomes obsessive, when given a room can mature into many
unthinkable things that will damage the destiny of the inhabiters." He
continued:
"Jumo, you can be delivered by the power of God but you must guard
your heart, the thoughts that come in, and the things you watch and listen
to. When you have urges, it's normal and it cannot kill you;it will fizzle out
after some minutes if it is not pampered or fed with pleasure..." Kehinde
calmly spoke extensively to her and she felt a bit relieved that he was not
angry with her,nor condemned her.
"So, what do I do now?" With a worried stricken face she asked.
"Though I've not met him in person, I'm so convinced that pastor Mike

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is your husband. But because of your indulgence in masturbation, that
strong man has gained ground in your life spiritually and possibly could be
the one fighting your destiny with Mike. Can you now see why you always
forget all the dreams you have concerning Pastor Mike?" He asked with his
eyes widened and she opened her mouth in shock.
"Yes! Each time you have a reasonable dream, that strong man wipes
it off your memory and there's no way you can remember it except through
divine intervention." He explained further and observed her shaking in fear.
"Don't be afraid Jumo, you will be set free now and no demon can
stop your marriage with Pastor Mike." He assured her and suddenly a ray
of hope flashed through her mind and he could see the reflection on her
face.
"Thank you Oma oba." She said kneeling down as he began to dial a
number.
"Darling, please I need your attention here. Can you spare me few
minutes..." He was still talking and Sade cut in teasingly as she turned
towards their direction and saw Jumoke kneeling down before him.
"Alright pastor, I will be right there." She replied laughing as she
excused herself from the youths she was addressing and walked up with
her protruded tommy to meet them.
Without telling her the details of all that Jumoke shared with him, he
told her to stand in for them to pray for her. He deliberately called his wife's
attention just for security purpose.
He led Jumoke to rededicate her life afresh to Christ before the
prayer which lasted for just ten minutes and she was on the floor under the
power of God.
"You are free my dear, get ready for your wedding because Pastor
Mike would be calling you soon." Kehinde said breathing heavily as he
wiped off the sweat on his forehead.
"Amen!!!" She responded thankfully.

Two days later,Mike called Jumoke and was grateful that her number
was going through.
"Hello sister Jumoke, how are you?" He asked and couldn't wait for
her response before tendering his complaints.
"I've been trying to reach you for over three months but it's not been
connecting. What's happening, I hope you are alright...?" He asked many
questions at the same time and she was surprised because her phone has
been receiving other people's calls.
"Good day sir," she greeted then continued.

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 "Maybe, it's network sir. My phone has been receiving calls and I also
tried reaching you but couldn't reach you." She explained politely.
"Nope, I don't think it's network. What network interrupts a person's
call for four months? I was almost going crazy here..." He argued.
"I'm so sorry about that." She said with a soft voice and he stopped
talking.
"Not angry with you sweetheart, just that I've missed that sweet voice."
Mike said before realizing that the word 'sweetheart' had gone out of his
mouth and the surprised Jumoke covered her mouth with her palms when
she heard the name he called her.
"I believe that by now, you must have gotten all the confirmation you
needed concerning me and my proposal. So what's your response?" He
asked.
"Yes, is my response." She said smiling from ear to ear as she heard
him screaming in excitement.
"You're gonna start preparing your papers straight away because am
not gonna leave my wife behind for anybody in Nigeria. I'm coming back
with you same day with me." He said in excitement and they started their
wedding plans immediately.

Five months later, Mike traveled down to Nigeria for the traditional and
white wedding which took place the same day. Three weeks after their
wedding, her papers were ready and Pastor Mike traveled back to Dallas
with his beautiful wife for their honeymoon proper.

Sade gave birth to a set of twin boys and their marriage and ministry
blossomed from glory to glory. Their bond remains unbreakable till this day
as they both travel within and outside the country together for ministrations,
affecting lives and moulding destinies with the wisdom and power of God.

THE END.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sade, a beautiful young virgin, highly gifted in songs,and also a

committed church girl is confirmed pregnant without having sex. How
possible could that be?

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 Kolade,her fiancé is shocked at the news, stating that he had never
seen Sade’s undies nor nakedness in their three years courtship. All fingers
are therefore pointed at Kehinde, Sade’s male friend who equally denied
ever having any sexual contact with her.

The book ‘TECHNICAL VIRGIN’, revealed the mystery behind the virgin
girl’s pregnancy without sex in the proper use of word. Amidst this
mess,Sade, the pregnant virgin finds true love...

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Precious Obialor-Ukazim(Nee Abugu) is passionate about moulding the

broken and preserving the unbroken in her generation and one of the
means of satisfying that passion is through her Holy Spirit inspired writings.

She studied Eglish Language at Nnamdi Azikwe University Awka,

married to her heartthrob husband, Obialor Ukazim and are based in
Enugu city where they are happily fulfilling God’s purpose for their lives
together.

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 ABOUT THE BOOK.

Zion Omaojo grew up under the warmth of her mother who taught her the
ways of God and everything was moving on very beautifully for her,until
tragedy struck as her mother,the most important person in her life dies
before her very eyes.

Offended at both God and Baba Fire,the prophet who predicted her
mother’s death, she avoided everything that had to do with God and also
warned those around her never to mention anything about God to her.

Her path crossed with Arome,an intelligent young man in whom she
finally finds true love after the prayers of Baba fire restored her back to
God, realizing that her mother’s death was divinely orchestrated for her
own good…

217