My husband is not a pàstór but a riitúàliist – Episode 20
“I arrived at the crúsàde, joined the ushers as usual, and made sure that neither my pàstór nor his wife saw me. Since I didn’t go with my siblings, I had to hide from them, so that even if I l!ed that I went with my siblings, they would believe me.”
“I saw Felicia at the front seats, wearing a very decent purple gown with silver shoes. But since I no longer had any ties with her, I pretended like I never saw her, did my thing, and kept wondering where the hérbàlííst had gone.”
“The second day of the crúsàde was even more explosive than the first. There were massive creative miracles: blind eyes received their sight, the deaf and dumb were completely healed, broken bones were fixed, and the lame lifted their crutches and sticks, leaping in joy.”
“A good number of teenagers, especially ladies, were delivered from the powers of the mar!ne kingdom. Many young boys surrendered their lives to Christ and tore their garments of õççūl+ïsm.”
“A vast majority of young couples were freed from the shackles and manacles of spïrït husbands and wives. Many barren wombs were opened, and broken marriages were stitched with the thread of the b|óód of Jësüs.”
“The power of God moved like a mighty, æñgry drāgon, spewing cascades of fire upon the congregations—burning sicknesses and diseases. It etched altars of fire in the hearts of younglings and the long-lived, molding and making spiritual revival avatars, resurgence figures and regeneration icons right there at the crúsàde ground.”
“The crúsàde hall was overwhelmed and overfilled with crowds. The overflow areas were filled and even had extensions where people stood in numbers to be a part of the great move of Gód.”
“Our pàstõr preached like never before, pulling the congregation out of the fire of sin and taught them to hate the garment spotted by the flesh. His message was anchored on the book of Matthew, chapter 11, verse 28: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.'”
“For the second time, I was almost persuaded to drop my grēēd and pick up the creed; to give up my plot and follow the lots who embraced the cross. But I had gone too far to turn back. I was consumed by the desire for fame and fortune, and like a drūñk driver, I overlooked the signs and drove deeper into the city of materialism.”
“I could already see that after the crúsàde, my chúrçh would increase drastically in numbers, and perhaps my pàstór and the chúrçh would become financially buoyant enough to better assist me and my siblings and help alleviate us from põvērty.”
“But I was never ready to cõnfess or allow my pàstór or the çhūrçh to know of my ev!l intentions. I couldn’t bear the shame like Felicia and would rather continue than cõnfess. In fact, at that point in my life, I was no longer interested in living an average life. I didn’t know how it happened or why, but in my pursuit of fortune, I suddenly developed a strange appetite and great hunger for massive wealth.”
“And I was certain that no matter how wealthy my pàstór and the chúrçh became, they could never satisfy this fresh húñgér unless I was made the pàstór of the chúrçh, which was never and seemingly impossible. That was how much húñgér I had for riches and wealth.”
“Also, I no longer needed just móñey, but I began to ēñvy famous people like Mr. Frank and wanted to become like him, but a better version of him – a famous and powerful revivalist who was also painstakingly rich and affluent.”
“Since it was the last day, the crúsàde persisted until 10 pm, and by the time I arrived home, it was almost 12 am. My siblings had all gone to bed, and I banged the door for 15 minutes until Jacob woke up and opened the door for me.”
“I couldn’t sleep that night and kept thinking where the hérbàlííst had gone the previous day and how I could trace him before Mr. Frank would come to prày for my siblings. The crúsàde was over, and my nightmare was closer than ever.”
“The following day was Saturday, and I kept thinking about how I could stop or delay Mr. Frank from coming to prày for my siblings that Friday. This way, by the time he came on Saturday, Peace would already be dēēād. Even if he succeeded in restoring the lost treasures of James and Mercy, that would in no way hinder my becoming wealthy because the r!tual would already be done and dusted.”
“I thought of so many cunn!ng ways to stop him: Should I visit him first, go along with a little portion of the póíísóñ the hérbàlííst had given me to use on Peace, try gaining access to his kitchen and pour the pòïïsòñ into either the drum of water he uses for cooking or his pot of food if he prepared any? But then, pòïïsòñ may not work on him due to how connected he was to the spïrit realm and how much power he wielded.”
“Should I visit Felicia and try convincing her to have a discussion with Mr. Frank that Friday, aimed at resolving their past, and perhaps keep Mr. Frank occupied with Felicia’s presence? Knowing he wouldn’t take it lightly, he might become too busy to come to my house.”
“Should I mix the whole bottle of pòïïsòn with a cup of water and give it to James, Mercy, and Peace to drink so that they could d!e instantly from an overdose of the póíísóñ? Then I could finish what I started and take the news of their dēēāths to my Pàstór before the arrival of Mr. Frank.”
“But what if I did that and by a remarkable turn of events, Mr. Frank managed to bring them back to life? Wouldn’t the aftermath of the revelation be more dïsas+rous and tarnïsh my image more than if I let him heal them at this point with the little ev!l I’ve done?”
“Or should I leave the town with the little móñey I had and relocate to Lagos with my siblings that very day, without informing anybody, including my Pàstór?”
“But I knew no one in Lagos, and I might end up homeless. I could endure that, but what about my siblings? Wouldn’t their lives be threa+ened?’ I thought, from 12 am to 6 am, as I sat on a wooden chair in the parlor, with rēd ēyēs like a cha!n sm0kēr.'”
“I told Ruth and Jacob to warm the remaining soup we made on Tuesday, make a starchy dough (cassava fufu) with the little garri we had, and eat. I left the house with a hungry stomach to check on the hérbàlííst for the second time, hoping I’d find him.”
“Immediately after I left the house and boarded a bus, my phone rang. Glancing through the screen, it was my pàstór. My hands began to quiver and tremble vehemently as I tried to pick up the call, hoping it wasn’t what I was thinking.”
To be continued ✍️