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Part 9
NWALA ; THE BITTERSWEET STORY
Opeyemi Akintunde
Service was fireful as always, but I was on fire in anxiety. I kept looking towards where Daniel sat. I feared him doing anything strange.
Reuben’s duty post was very close to where Daniel sat and I could see how Reuben kept casting glances at him…
I almost died when I suddenly saw Daniel raising up his right hand in church as Bishop was rounding up his message. Daniel had sat at a strategic place, so he could not be ignored as he rose up his hand.
An usher ran up to him, trying to speak in a low tone to him…
“What does he want?” Bishop asked from the pulpit…
“I don’t want anything, I just wanted to ask if I can become born again here. I notice there is always what is called an altar call after the pastor’s message, but you haven’t done that” Daniel said …
I died over and over…
“You want to surrender your life to christ?” Bishop asked
“Yes…”
“Glory! Halleluyah! That is good news…” Everyone in the church started clapping…
“Brother, please come forward, I believe this is your first time in our church, right?” Bishop Asked
“Yes sir…”
“Glory! How did you find out about us? Was it online?” Bishop asked
“No, My girlfriend Nwala encouraged me to come here” Daniel said as a matter of Fact.
The silence that followed was deafening.
There was only one person whose name was Nwala in our church and that one person was me…
“Wow… Sister Nwala winning souls for the Lord, Did you hear that single ladies and brothers? You having a lot of boys as your friend is not for ungodly acts, but to lead them to God… Where is she?”
My legs were glued to the ground, tears dropping from my eyes, tears of shame and embarrassment.
Someone tapped me…
“Bishop is calling you”
I still didn’t move; I felt a hand pulling me to the front. I looked sideways and it was Amara…
“Amara, Leave me” I managed to say
“Behave like everything is normal, Bishop is not taking the term boyfriend seriously, Don’t make it look serious” Amara said smiling
People were applauding me because Bishop had started applauding me…
“Daughter, God bless you, what can you say about this?”
“Say what? Say What?” My mouth had gone on vacation. I shook my head in the negative while tears flowed down on its own…
“That’s the joy of soul winning! God bless you daughter… You can return to your seat” Bishop said
I became blind in that minute, not seeing anyone as I walked away from the altar … I started hearing faintly Bishop leading him through the sinner’s prayer.
I ran to the restroom, I could tell Amara was following me…
“Breathe! Just Breathe…’ Amara said
“I can’t…”
“You can… You are Nwala… You are fierce, you are strong, you are a man in a woman’s body”
I nodded in agreement, and wiped my tears. I returned to my duty post and I heard Bishop Acme say before he left the altar…
“So I want all the singles to follow Nwala’s example, and drag boys and girls that are your friends to church…”
It was obvious Bishop was trying to underplay Daniel’s use of the word “Girlfriend”…
I stood like a smiling statue for the rest of the service and the moment, the Grace was shared, I got into my car and drove off…
I didn’t know where I was driving to, but I needed to be anywhere other than around Daniel, church or my family…
If you were in my shoes, what would you have done?
Part 10
NWALA ; THE BITTERSWEET STORY
Opeyemi Akintunde
My phone was on fire, I could tell Daniel was calling, but I cared less.
I picked up my phone ready to turn it off, but I saw a different caller ID “Reuben Acme”
“Why is he calling me? If not for him, all these troubles won’t have started. If he had not spoken to Mum about me, mum would have been okay with Daniel,,,”
I angrily tapped on the side of my phone to turn it off and that almost cost me my life because as I took my eyes off the road, I hit a young boy who was street hawking satchet water…
Time paused in that instant…
I sat in shock as I didn’t know what to do. My phone started ringing again. Apparently, I didn’t do a good job at turning it off. I hoped it was Daniel or my mother but ni it was Reuben still calling
“Hello Reuben, can you let me be, Because of your stupid call I just hit someone now and I think he is dead” I screamed
“What? I am sorry! Where?”
“I don’t know!” I replied in a scream
“Give me a landmark, what do you see?”
By this time, hoodlums had started hitting my side glass… Fear gripped my heart.
“Tammy’s Pizza”
“Ok! At Agedo junction?”
“Yes…”
“Open the door madam, you don kill pesin child” ( You have Killed someone’s child)…A hoodlum screamed…
I unlocked my car and stepped out in fear…
I got a slap at the back of my head…
“No slap am , she be woman” Another hoodlum said
“Madam, wetin happen, you no see am?”
I walked to where the child laid…
“Oh my!” The boy laid in a pool of blood…
“Please can we take him to the hospital” I said visibly shaking…
“There is a hospital there” A woman said pointing ahead…
“Please help me…” I said
The hoodlums put the boy in the car and got in.
I couldn’t trust myself to drive…
“Please can someone please help me to drive’ I said shaking”
“Oya bring the key”
“It doesn’t use a key, you will just press the button” I replied
“Ha! I don’t know how to drive that kind of car, I don’t want to enter debt… Madam gather yourself and drive. If this boy die, we go kill you here, before police reach here”
I rushed to the driver seat and drove…
*******
Amara told me the scene had been out of the world. She said she saw Reuben rushing out of the church towards his car and furiously looking at his phone. She said…
” Call it instincts or better still the Holy Spirit told me it had something to do with your sudden disappearance from the church. I ran towards him” Amara had said to me
“Does this look on your face have something to do with my cousin Nwala?”
She said at the mention of my name, he paused…
“Is she in trouble? If she is, I am her voice of reasoning, she listens to me. I was the one who brought her to the front earlier”
“Ok sis, get into the car”
Amara said she had jumped into the car and the Reuben that drove didn’t drive like the calm and collected gentleman she perceived him to be in church.
“What’s the situation?” Amara has asked
“She said she hit a boy”
“Oh my God! My God!”
Amara said she just kept shouting “Oh my God” while Reuben’s mouth was moving like someone speaking in tongues silently.
They got to Tammy’s Pizza and there was no accident in sight. Amara suggested they asked one of the hoodlums, Reuben walked up to him and without saying much, he pointed them in the direction of the hospital…
XXXXXXX
I sat at the reception shaking. A million thoughts on my mind. I knew if the boy died, I was going to prison…
Reuben and Amara breezed in . I wanted to run towards Reuben and hit him terribly, he was the source of all my recent problems, instead I turned to Amara for comfort…
“Amara, I am finished, if the boy dies, I am finished”
“He won’t die” Amara said
I saw Reuben speaking to the nurses at the reception, but they kept shaking their head in the negative. I didn’t know what he asked them…
“Is he dead?” I rushed at him
“No… I hear he is in the E.R”
“So why were they shaking their head?”
“I asked if I could get an update and they said not yet”
“Amara, please call mummy to tell her”
I said to Amara, I needed Mother Bear to help here.
“Why don’t you let us keep this among us for now… If you call mum, you know she is still in church, she will scream and half of the church will hear and Nwala, this is a sensitive situation. We don’t want all these soft sell magazines picking this up”
It felt like someone poured a soothing balm on me. Was he trying to protect me?
Hmmm…..
CLICK HERE TO READ “NWALA ; THE BITTERSWEET STORY” (PART 11&12) – OPEYEMI AKINTUNDE.
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