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Deaconess Beatrice paced round her one room apartment. She picked this, picked that, dropped them and placed her head against the wall. She has gone to the toilet five times in the space of twenty minutes. That was a sure sign of anxiety.
Deaconess turned what she would say to the pastor over and over in her mind. How would she face him?
How would she look at him directly in the eyes and give him the breaking news of the year?
Her’s was the first of its kind. Nothing like this has ever happened in Beulah. She wondered how the pastor would react to her disclosure. She knew for sure that He would be unimaginably shocked and might even be in denial for a while. Like Thomas in the bible, he might not believe until he sees the physical evidence of her pregnancy. He would need to see her life and direct.
What is going to flow out of her mouth the moment she take herself to him? She will drop on her knees at his feet and say.
“Daddy, I have sinned before God and man. I have broken the chastity of marriage and defiled myself. I have disappointed Christ and the church. In the long run, my sin had found me out. Like the prodigal son, I have found my way back home. I am not worthy to be pardoned for my transgressions, but for the love of Christ, I want to receive pardon. Let the church look upon me with mercy and accept me. I am ready to face the consequences of my action. All I want is forgiveness and acceptance.”
Deaconess sat back on the bed and moved a box towards herself. She opened it, stood up and began to pack her belongings. In the process of doing so, something crossed her mind. She picked her phone and took a good picture of herself. Then, with shaky hands and a palpating heart, she shared the picture to Reverend’s WhatsApp number and wrote a note under it.
I Κα΄α΄ α΄ κ±ΙͺΙ΄Ι΄α΄α΄ α΄Ι’α΄ΙͺΙ΄κ±α΄ Ι’α΄α΄ α΄Ι΄α΄ α΄α΄Ι΄. Ιͺ α΄α΄ α΄α΄α΄ΙͺΙ΄Ι’ Κα΄α΄α΄ α΄α΄ κ°α΄α΄α΄ α΄Κα΄ α΄α΄Ι΄κ±α΄Qα΄α΄Ι΄α΄α΄.
Afterwards, she switched off her phone and began to pack. Ten minutes into packing, a knock sounded at the door.
Jerry opened the door and entered.
“Ma’am, good afternoon” he greeted.
“Dr Jerry . How you dey?”
His eyes ran round the room.
“What is happening? Seems you are parking.”
“Yes. Something happened. I will gist you later. I’m going back to Kano.”
“Were you not going to tell me before?” He settled on the only chair in the room.
“I have the mind to tell you but I want to finish up here. I don’t want to change my mind again. ”
“What happens to the booked caserian section?”
“Ha.. I will cross that bridge when I get to it. But as it is now, I have been cowardly enough. I want to go back to my familiar world and face my fear. Wasting time might make me change my mind again.”
Jerry stood and faced Deaconess. He held her by the shoulder.
“Mama what is happening? Talk to me.”
Deaconess narrated what happened at the market. “Reverend Alhassan will be disappointed that I have been hiding myself. Is it not better that I right my wrong by going back home? What I’m doing is not unto man but unto God. I am going back home.”
“That means I will drive you down.”
” You’ve already done enough.”
“And I’m willing to do more. I just want to help you. I salute your courage madam, and I hope that everything will work out fine at the end. Let me put somethings together and we will be on our way.”
“God bless you.”
————-
Reverend Alhassan always spends Saturdays in his study, going over the activities of the week and planning for the following week. He would also work on his sermon for the next day and do other necessary things.
Saturday is supposed to be his day of rest, but does he really have the time to rest? Even when he forces himself to take a few hours off, there would always be a reason for him to break off his rest. A member that is sick. An elder that needs clarification on some issues. A husband that has come to report his wife. One program or the other. The list is unending.
Pastoral work is a round-the-clock work. He is always on duty; either praying, searching the Bible, visiting, counseling or doing several other things. It is only the novices that believe that pastoring is easy. A true pastor is a shepherd that carries the burden of his flock at all times, even when the members don’t care for him as much. He’s always at alert.
It is easy for people to castigate and point out the fault of pastors. Agreed that there are several wolves in sheep clothing; shepherds that are only concerned about their own belly. Even with that, there are good pastors around, a whole lot of them. Reverend Alhassan is a good pastor.
When Deaconess Beatrice sent the WhatsApp message to Reverend Alhassan, his phone was a little distance away from him. Fully engrossed in the study of the bible, he didn’t notice that his phone was ringing. He had placed it away from him to avoid distraction.
After he was through with the study, he stood up to stretch his back. Extending his hand to the side, he picked his phone and pressed a button by the side.
————
Mrs Nwachukwu had been calling Reverends number but he wasn’t picking.
“Oh no! not today” she cried. “You must hear this news from my mouth.”
She scrolled to his number and pressed the call button another time. Now he picked the call.
Mrs Nwachukwu was happy and grinned from ear-to-ear.
“God bless you sir.” She greeted.
” Ha mummy.” Reverend responded. “How are you doing? How is sister Anita, her husband and her baby?”
“They are doing wonderfully fine sir.”
“We thank God.”
“How is mummy?”
“Mummy is fine.”
“Daddy I’ve been calling since. You’ve not been picking my call.”
“I was studying the Bible. My phone was far from me.”
“It’s okay sir, it’s just that…”
Reverend knew Mrs Nwachukwu had a reason for calling. She wouldn’t call him if she has no tale to tell. She soon let the cat out of the bag.
” I saw Deaconess Beatrice in Kaduna,” she said.
” That’s good. She has been away for sometime.”
Hmmm…Mrs. Nwachukwu grunted. ” You never told us that she has remarried.”
” Remarried? To who? Why that conclusion?”
” Well, the Deaconess that i saw was heavily pregnant.”
“What!” Reverend screamed. ” That can’t be possible. Maybe you only saw someone that resembled her.”
” Mba Daddy. Does it mean that I won’t recognize Deaconess if I see her? I saw her. She spoke and I heard her voice. She met me in a shop where they sell baby wears. She dissapeared as soon as our eyes met. That alone is enough to show that she’s guilty and has been hiding away. It’s either she got married secretly, or she committed adultery and got herself pregnant. Either way…haaaa…I’m very very disappointed. These are the people that we look up to in the church.”
” I am suprised madam. Thanks for the information. I hope you’ve not told any other person. Please keep the information to yourself until we find out the truth. I will call her right away to begin my investigation. Even then, it is not a good news. We should not spread it.”
” Okay o, but I have already called my husband to tell him. I was so surprised that I couldn’t keep the discovery to myself.”
“Madam please, keep it at that. Let the church handle it.”
For where? Mrs. Nwachukwu said in her mind. After she had already made it a duty to inform everyone that mattered, especially the elders. It’s not every day that one gets a juicy news to carry, especially a news that is as big as this one. The pastor must not even think of covering it.
———
Reverend Alhassan couldn’t believe what he has just been told. How could deaconess be pregnant? For God sake, her husband is late. Has she been promiscuous? Has she been sleeping around. In as much as Reverend did not want to believe Mrs. Nwachukwu, he knew it could be true. He remembered that he had been having some sort of uneasiness about Deaconess Beatrice and had been praying for her.
Frantically, he searched for her number on the phone and dialled it. Her phone was switched off. He dropped the phone. Jesus! He whispered and placed his right palm across his forehead. ” If this turns out to be true, how will he handle it? It will surely shake the church to its foundation.
He picked his phone again and noticed that he had several unread messages on Whatsapp. Opening the app, his eyes went straight to a message from Deaconess Beatrice. An image of her pregnant self and a note under.
I Κα΄α΄ α΄ κ±ΙͺΙ΄Ι΄α΄α΄ α΄Ι’α΄ΙͺΙ΄κ±α΄ Ι’α΄α΄ α΄Ι΄α΄ α΄α΄Ι΄. Ιͺ α΄α΄ α΄α΄α΄ΙͺΙ΄Ι’ Κα΄α΄α΄ α΄α΄ κ°α΄α΄α΄ α΄Κα΄ α΄α΄Ι΄κ±α΄Qα΄α΄Ι΄α΄α΄.
It is true! It is true! Reverend repeatedly said to himself. Sweat broke out on his body.
But why? He cried silently.
Why has the mighty fallen?
Why?
Why did she do it?
Who could be responsible for her pregnancy?
” I believe she will tell us everything when she comes around.” His wife said to him after a hot session of prayer in the midnight. The prayers were solely for Deaconess Beatrice.
” How will the church take it?” Reverend asked his wife.
” Badly of course,” she replied. “It’s definitely going to shake the church and shake deaconess the more. No matter what, she needs us to stand by her. Even if everyone forsakes her, we musn’t forsake her. I see her bouncing back if she gets enough support. But before then, there will be a fierce battle.”
” Hmm Deaconess. I’m still perplexed. Who could have impregnated her? Aiiiiii, this will not be easy.”
“I guess she will tell us when she comes around. For now, let’s remain calm and continue praying for direction on how to handle the matter. I suggest that we take advantage of the remaining hours of the night to get some sleep.”
” My heart is heavy. I can’t sleep. Something keeps telling me that the father of her baby is a married man in the church.”
“Haaaa.” The pastor’s wife opened her eyes wide.
“Though I don’t have a leading to anyone, but I have a feeling that he’s a member of the church and he’s married. If it turns out to be true, how will we handle his wife? I just pray a family will not break as a result of this.”
TO BE CONTINUED
Finally, Deaconess has summoned courage to tell the pastor about her pregnancy, though she did it in a funny way.
Do you think she will keep to the promise of not revealing the identity of the man that impregnated her?
Right now, I’m pitying Jumoke and wondering at how she will react if she gets to know about what Kola has been hiding from her.
