Spoilt at the church
EPISODE 3
The carnal mind is deceitful, wicked and has no capacity for the kind of love that God extended towards man by sending his son to die as propitiation for sin.
The religious humans without God’s kind of love do not have the mind of Christ and would do anything to pull others down. They cast stones. They rejoice at the downfall of others. They are extremely judgmental.
Leaving the Pastor’s office, the two Deaconesses made straight for the home of the Aboderins’, planning on how to throw dirt on the face of the bank- executive wife and the Professor husband. To them, they always behaved as if they were the only blessed people in the Church.
Mrs. Aboderin was not keen on letting them in, especially for what they did to her daughter. “Why have you both constituted yourselves as Sanballats in the Church?” she asked. She pointed at them and shook her head. “Why are you always poke nosing into the affairs of others? Always looking for faults and casting stones.”
“Mrs. Aboderin,” Mrs. Williams called gently. We don’t know what your daughter came home to tell you. We were only trying to be good Christians by correcting her.”
“By telling her she’s not well trained? Mrs. Aboderin asked. “Common! Remember the Church is for all of us.”
“Madam please we are sorry if what we did offended you,” Mrs. Johnson responded sharply while holding her hands up. “I beg you to sit and listen to what we came to tell you. We have a bigger problem in our hands.”
“What problem that we can’t discuss at Church tomorrow?”
“The Pastor sent us here.”
The word ‘Pastor’ was what calmed Mrs. Aboderin and made her allow them into the house. Leading them to a seat, she sank into another and demanded for the message.
Mrs. Johnson cleared her throat and shifted forward. She said. “This is a kind of message one will not be happy to relay. But how do I refuse the work of God?”
Mrs. Aboderin’s adrenaline shot up at the words of the Deaconess. She wondered what could have happened that would warrant the Pastor sending them to her. Her mind drifted to her husband on sabbatical in another state. If something had happened to him, definitely it wouldn’t be these holier than thou personalities that will be sent to her. And her children? All were safely at home except the one on campus.
“Has anything happened to my husband or my boy at the University? She asked fearfully.
“No madam, on the contrary we came concerning Martha.”
“Yes! What about Martha? Why can’t you leave her alone? Even the Reverend?”
“Please calm down ma,” Mrs. Williams pleaded. “It is a serious issue.”
“I’m all ears,” Martha’s Mum responded, adjusting on the seat.
The two women looked at each other to know who would bell the cat. They both turned to face Mrs. Aboderin and looked at her for so long that she got embarrassed and averted her face. Clearing her throat, Mrs. Johnson asked if Mrs. Aboderin had noticed any change in Martha.
“Change”
“Like weight gain, increased sleeping, tiredness, signs and symptoms of…”
“Symptoms of what?” she flared up. “What audacity? You are evil minded.”
“Who is evil minded?” Mrs. Johnson responded with equal heat. “Bring out your daughter. Let’s clear the air. Some people noticed strange things about her, and the Pastor instructed us to come and find out. Is there any harm in that?
“What happens if your insinuation is wrong?
“That will be between you and the Pastor. We are doing our job as sent.”
Mrs. Aboderin stood up to go in and call her daughter, but the women stopped her.
“There’s no need to go inside. Shout for her.”
She felt invaded and intimidated and wanted to send the two away. She knew she needed to maintain her cool. She would rather call Martha and shame them.
Martha was called. Oblivious to what had transpired, she thought the women were there to give a report on what happened at the Church.
“Madam! Look very well,” Mrs. Williams pointed. “Are there no visible changes in your daughter?”
“Oh! Now I understand,” Mrs. Aboderin responded. “If it is about her weight gain, it’s because she just finished WAEC. She has been staying home and resting a lot. What else do you want to know?’
“Please ask her of the last time she menstruated,” Mrs. Williams demanded.
Mrs. Aboderin had started feeling funny and uneasy. The kind of feeling you have when it looks as if your adversary has an information that could give him an edge over you. It was glaring that Martha had added much weight, with her feminine features looking ballooned. She had been complaining of nausea and loss of appetite for close to a month, and often looked tired and worn out after little work. “Oh! This is not happening,” Mrs. Aboderin whispered. Sweat broke out on her forehead as she held firmly to the arms of the chair. Fearfully she said, “Martha look at me, when was the last time you menstruated?”
“Menstruation?” Martha asked in an uncertain voice.
“Yes! Menstruation! Blood! Her mother screamed.
“Three months. I think three months,” she answered, raising three fingers.
“What? This girl has killed me,” her Mum screamed again.
“Mum, you know my period has never been regular,” Martha explained. “It comes every three month.”
“Thank God.” She clamped her palms together. “Can you people see? She said while stretching her hands towards the two Deaconesses. “I’m sure it will come very soon.”
“Indeed!” Mrs. Williams winced. “I still have a question to ask her.”
“What else do you want? She has given you an explanation for her missed period. What else do you want?”
“Madam. The changes in your daughter depicts nothing but pregnancy.”
“Martha,” Mrs. Johnson cut in, “I have another question. I want you to answer me truthfully.”
“Okay ma.”
“Look at me straight in the face.”
“Yes ma.”
“Have you been with a man?”
“Been with a man?”
“You know what I mean. Did you sleep with a man?”
Martha turned to her mother; who was eagerly waiting for a negative response and burst into tears saying, “Mummy! I was forced. I was r@ped.”
Mrs. Aboderin fainted.
It took lots of courage for Martha to present herself at the Church on the day the penalty for her derailment was announced. Not with the fact that she had become a pariah to everyone, including her parents and siblings. No one believed that the act that led to her pregnancy was a forced one as she claimed.
Immediately the Deaconesses left the Aboderins’ on the day of the confrontation, they moved back to the Pastorium, not minding that it was late into the night. Expressing their disappointment as they gave the Pastor the feedback, they advised that action should be taken swiftly before the pregnancy could be harmed.
Martha was tested and confirmed to be three months gone. Her parents were devastated and nearly died from shame and heartbreak. Her Dad had to be summoned back from his station to stand by his wife, who was almost having a mental breakdown.
Even before the Pastor made an official announcement, majority of the Church members were in the know. They warned their children to beware of the Aboderins because, the children were wayward. Before then, the Church council had invited Martha into their midst for further verification and counselling, preparatory to disciplinary action.
At the meeting with the council, Martha sat in between her parents; both of whom were bowed and shrunken from shame especially because of several accusatory eyes looking at them. Albeit, there were some kind and sympathetic faces among the council members, but such were few, very few.
Both parents tried as much as possible to sit far away from Martha. One was to the wall and the other to the end of the bench as if they were dissociating from her. She had not trusted them enough to mention the name of the person responsible for her predicament. She insisted she would only talk when she got to the council meeting. They sat facing the council members who were on chairs around a mahogany table, with the Pastor at the head.
Without mincing words, Revd. Bamiro confirmed what almost everyone had known; that Martha Aboderin was carrying a three months old pregnancy, as confirmed in the laboratory and through scanning. He condemned what had happened in its entirety and emphasized that stiff penalty would be taken against her and whosoever was responsible for the pregnancy, if he happened to be a member of the Church. Nevertheless, he admonished everyone to look at the happening from the perspective of love and have the mind to encourage and be kind to the Aboderins, at such a trying period. He said since Christ came for all and sundry including those that are presumed sinners, no one should be condemned but rather, Christians should carry one another’s burden in love. After that, the questioning began.
For how long has Martha been sexually active? She answered that she was a virgin, and the event that led to the pregnancy was her first sexual experience. Asked if she had ever noticed some characters to show that her daughter had been seeing men, Mrs. Aboderin took the boldness to stare directly at the council members, replying that nothing had ever been suggestive of such. Martha had always been a decent girl, and she was yet to come to term on what had befallen her.
She was further asked if Martha had mentioned the name of the person that put her in the family way. On hearing that, Mrs. Aboderin burst into tears. She said, “That is the problem. Despite the beating, the cajoling and everything, she refused to talk. She insisted that she will only mention the name at the Church council.”
“Ngbo Martha? The Pastor asked, “Who is responsible for your pregnancy?”
Martha looked up and said, “I waited to mention the name here because, if I do so before now, he might look for a way to extricate himself. He warned that on no account should I tell anyone about what happened. I threatened to tell my Mum the day I was r@ped, but he said no one will believe me. And really, I made a great mistake by honoring the invitation to his house, knowing he had been pestering me for s*x.”
“Story- story,” Mrs. Johnson whispered into Mrs. Williams’s ear.
“Wait Martha,” the Pastor cut her short. “You will have all the time to tell us about what happened. Who is the man that r@ped you?”
Martha looked at the Pastor, her parents, the council members, then pointed to the door saying, “He’s out there in the choir. He’s having choir practice with them and I can’t even join.”
“What? Who?” the Pastor asked gently.
“Looking towards the two Deaconesses at the back, Martha emphatically called the name- Jide.
“Jide,” the Pastor repeated.
“Yes! Jide Williams. The coordinator of the praise team.”
“It is not possible,” Mrs. Williams bellowed. She stood up and moved towards Martha as if she would pounce on her. “You can’t rope my son into your mess, just because I was the one that first discovered that you were pregnant, before you could abort it as usual. What a liar? What a useless girl?”
“I beg your pardon,” Mrs. Aboderin charged up. “My daughter is not useless.”
“Then she should stop trying to implicate innocent people. What will my son do with this thing? He’s a graduate awaiting youth service. A well brought up son.”
“It doesn’t count,” an elder spoke from behind. “You can’t just trust the children of this age.”
“The girl is not sure of what she’s saying,” another elder said.
The room became rowdy as the council members exchanged words. It took lots of effort before the Pastor could restore order. Facing Martha, he asked if she was sure of the accusation.
“I’m very sure sir,” she responded.
“He forced me and slept with me.”
“When?”
“A week after the revival service. Precisely on August 25.”
“Where?”
“In his parents’ sitting room.”
“This is a tricky knot that needs to be loosened carefully,” the Pastor said. “Our aim as a Church is to do justice to all and let no offender go scot free. Deaconess Williams,” he called. “Where were you on August 25?”
“I wasn’t in town,” Mrs. Williams responded. “I and Daddy were at a wedding in Kano. Pastor, this girl is lying. My son can never do such.”
“Don’t worry. We will get to the root of it,” the Pastor responded. He sent for Jide.
Jide expressed utmost surprise as he entered the room to behold the faces of the council members, consisting of Church elders and Deacons.
After responding to his greeting, the Pastor apologized for calling him out of the choir and threw the first question at him. “Son,” he said. “Look at the lady seated there.” He pointed to Martha. “Did you know her?”
“Yes sir,” Jide smiled. “She’s Martha Aboderin, one of our choristers.”
“What else did you know about her?”
“Nothing more than she’s a praise leader in the Church, and…”
“And what?”
“I don’t know if it is appropriate to say it here.”
“You are free to say anything,” the Pastor responded.
Jide was a smooth talker and an engager. He possessed a charm that kept both the young and old mesmerized whenever he spoke. Even before he was invited, a good number of the council members already had the notion that he couldn’t have r@ped Martha as she claimed; except if the whole world was going crazy. Jide had always portrayed himself as a true child of God, both in manner and speech. So, what would make him commit an abominable act of raping a choir member?
He had always claimed that he could have any girl in the Church. He had evidences of missives from several ladies who wanted him at all cost. His skillfulness on almost every musical instrument, his talent of singing in addition to his natural charm, personality and look, made everyone want to associate with him. Some would even claim that God showed him to them as their future partner. Jide would say that he’s patiently waiting for his bone of bone and flesh of flesh.
To what he felt reluctant in saying to the council members, he cleared his throat, looked around and maintained focus, as if he was canvassing for support. He said, “For some time now, Martha has been running after me, telling me she loves me. At first I thought it was teenage crush. But, I became alarmed when she begged me to sleep with her. She promised to give me utmost satisfaction because she’s experienced.”
“What? No! Prof Aboderin shouted. “This show of shame is too much. I can’t bear it. I’m out of here.”
“Prof. please don’t leave,” the Pastor pleaded.
“I shouldn’t leave?” Professor Aboderin asked. “With all I’ve heard? I can’t believe my daughter is the one he’s talking about. Young man, are you being truthful to us?”
“Of course,” Jide replied confidently. “I warned her off sternly with a threat to report to her mother, if she doesn’t desist from pestering me.” He produced a phone from his pocket and pointed it at the Prof. “I have evidences here,” he said. “I had been deleting several. I kept only two because of a day like this. I have always believed a day like this will come.”
Revd. Bamiro collected the phone quickly because, he wasn’t sure of the kind of evidence Jide would produce. He felt the Prof. could have a heart attack if he got another shocker. Jide moved near to him, scrolled to a media content and opened.
The pastor shouted ‘Jesus’ and averted his face.
“That is one of the nudes she sent to me, when I refused to accept her advances,” Jide claimed.
“No! No! No!” the Pastor said repeatedly, shaking his head.”
“Pass it round and let us see the image of shame,” Mrs. Johnson requested.
“No,” the Pastor said and restrained Jide. He faced Martha. “Young lady, what do you have to say?” he asked.
“Sir! That picture was sent with mutual consent,” she answered. “We were in a relationship for a year. He always request that I send my nudes to him.”
“That is not the only evidence that I have,” Jide interrupted. “There are also series of text messages, where she begged me to go down with her.”
“Hun?”
“Sir, look at this.” Jide passed the phone to the Pastor again. Revd. Bamiro collected the phone and read out a text.
I had a dream yesterday. You were all over me: kissing, smooching and giving me from the back. I can’t wait to have you.
“Jeeeeeeesuuuuuuu!” Mrs. Johnson shouted.”
“Eyi o dara. This is not good,” the Pastor lamented.
“He’s lying,” Martha cried. “We were dating.”
“You said you were a virgin before the rape. What about the n***d picture and the kissing text? Ha!”
“It was a mutual thing Sir.”
“Shut up!” Mrs. Johnson shouted. “You have guts. Let’s call a spade a spade. This is what you get when parents don’t give quality time to child training.” She intentionally eyed Mrs. Aboderin. “Today you are in Sokoto. Tomorrow you are in Kafanchan. Next tomorrow you are in Lagos, looking for money, fame and career progression. You don’t even know about the happenings in your child’s life. It is a big shame. This girl is not fit to be in the midst of well-trained children like ours.”
“And she’s looking for who to implicate,” Mrs. Williams chipped in.
“I’m not implicating anyone. Jide was my boyfriend,” Martha insisted.
“Okay. Did you have any of his messages on your phone? Like the one you sent to him.”
“No sir,” Martha replied. “He always insisted, that I delete his messages. He said I might be careless, and my parents would get to know about us.”
Martha cried like her heart would break. On the other hand, Jide had a confident look, knowing he had carried the day.
“He’s lying,” Martha insisted. “We dated for close to a year. I made a crucial decision at the last revival which warranted me quitting the relationship. I intimated him. He begged that I should meet him at home to have further discussions, since his parents were not around. I went to him, and he r@ped me. I was a virgin until he r@ped me.”
Martha’s deep sobbing touched the heart of few of the council members, who thought there must be some truths to her narration, but Jide insisted on his story.
Turning to Martha the Pastor said, “You said you were with him on…”
“August 25,” she insisted.
“Can you say the actual time you were together?”
“3pm sir.”
“Are you sure?” the Pastor asked.
Martha thought hard before replying, “I think 3pm.”
“Jide, where were you by 3pm on that day?” the Pastor inquired.
Jide smiled before replying. “Sir, I was with you at the Pastorium at that time on the said day. You can testify to it. After our meeting, I stayed back to practice on the keyboard. I never left the Church until the choir rehearsal began and ended. The sexton saw me when I was practicing, and I even sent him to get kosai and dankali.”
“Martha,” the Pastor called. “Jide was actually with me at the said time on the said day. Although, I can’t vouch for his movement beyond 3:30.”
“Maybe I missed the time. I’m somewhat confused,” Martha cried.
“Do you have a witness, someone that saw you going to him, or someone you told before going?”
The whole council held their breath. Martha hesitated. “I did not tell anyone,” she responded. “The relationship was a closely guided secret.”
“You mean no one saw you?”
“Yes, except…”
“Except who?” the Pastor asked wearily.
“As I tried opening the gate into his residence, it was pushed from within and Kike Johnson stepped out.”
“My daughter?” Mrs. Johnson exclaimed. “You can’t be serious. She was at a coaching center at the said day and time.”
“Deaconess please calm down and let her talk,” the Pastor pleaded.
“We were both surprised to see each other,” Martha continued. She claimed her mother sent her to drop a parcel for Deaconess Williams but met her absence. I in turn told her I wanted to collect the Sunday school manual from Jide. She said she was rushing to the coaching center for JAMB lesson.”
The Pastor sent for Kike, who denied vehemently that she was anywhere near the Williams’ residence on the said day. Facing Martha she said, “You want to drag me into your problem. Haven’t I warned you to stop sleeping around? Why did you want to implicate me?”
“Kike! We greeted on that day. You were in a blue gown with yellow patterns.”
“That you saw when we met at the Church. My Mum can testify that the driver dropped me at the coaching center and picked me to Church after lesson hours. I can call the driver as a witness. We had biology on the said day. I can call my mates to vouch that I was at the coaching center throughout. I never left for a single minute.”
“That’s okay Kike,” the Pastor said.
“There might be no need for further witnesses as we have seen where the matter is heading to. I want us to give time to pray and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. There are dark clouds around this issue. We are not too sure of what to hold as the truth.”
Majority of the council members objected to the Pastor’s suggestion, emphasizing that the truth had been revealed. To them, Martha was trying to implicate the others, especially with the inconsistencies in her story. Furthermore, they threatened to boycott any other meeting if the right thing was not done because, it looked as if the Pastor was trying to cover and acquit Martha. They said the Holy Spirit had revealed all that needed to be revealed in the meeting, and nothing contrary coming from the Pastor would be accepted.
To be continued
