The choirmaster 5 (the end)
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The tempo of the murmurs kept increasing until to a point the whole church became noisy. The head pastor who was preaching on the pulpit had to shout down on the people making the noise. “What is happening here? Have you people lost respect for God that you have turned His house into a market place? What is this whole noise about?”, he shouted over the public address system. The murmuring congregation lowered the tempo of their murmurs but they didn’t stop looking at Abigail and Paschal disgustingly. Those who hadn’t seen the video on their phones hurriedly brought out their phones and searched through it for the video. It was a subtle chaos and the head pastor’s became more confused.
Yet none of the church members had the stomach to tell the pastor what was going on. After a while of utter confusion, one of the ushers manned up and showed the pastor the sacrilegious video of his choirmaster and assistant pastor’s wife doing that which is forbidden. On seeing the video, the pastor screamed and looked away. He couldn’t believe what he’d seen. He couldn’t believe that sister Abigail whom he’d always held in high esteem and used as a role model to the other women and young girls in the church could avail herself to such evil. Most disappointingly, he couldn’t believe that his choirmaster who seemed to have the ability to call down angels using his voice could commit sexual immorality, let alone with a pastor’s wife. He was speechless.
As he (the head pastor) was still trying to wrap his head around what he saw, loud shouts were heard. Abigail had fainted. Her heart couldn’t carry the shock when she discovered that the video was the reason for the commotion in the church. That which she had feared, that which she had desperately tried to avoid, that which had tormented her life for a long time had come out in the open. The consequences of her sins had caught up with her. Her heart couldn’t carry the weight and she lost consciousness.
As people gathered and tried to resuscitate her, pastor Usman stood and watched. He was shocked to the bone marrow. He tried not to believe that his dear wife whom he’d thought righteous was the one committing such abominable act in the video. He just stood and watched as Abigail was hurriedly taken to the church’s sick bay. As he watched, his mind wandered. He thought of the possible reasons why his wife engaged in such act. He knew he’d provided for her as supposed, he’d prayed with her and shared the word of God with her. He’d had s*x with her. He was convinced he’d been doing all that was expected of a man to do for his wife. “She had no reason whatsoever to do that”, he convincingly concluded in his mind.
But he failed to realize that there is more to taking care of a woman than providing the material needs. He failed to understand that women are emotional beings who would choose care and attention over material provisions. He also didn’t know that it is not a sin for a woman to attain orgasm and that it is a man’s duty to make sure his woman reaches orgasm, at least once in a while. He didn’t know that pastors and their wives are also human with blood running through their veins and as such can fall to the temptations of the flesh if not properly taken care of. These he failed to understand and they’d caused an irreparable damage to his family.
While this commotion was going on, Paschal who was at the center of the whole charade tried to sneak out. But the head pastor saw his movement and ordered the church’s security to stop him. The head pastor also ordered the administrator of the church’s whatsapp group to delete the video from the group but that was rather too late. Most of the members had downloaded it (the video) into their phones and some had already posted it in other social media platforms. Within the hour, the video had become an internet sensation just like that of pastor Wilson and room 306. It was indeed, the most unpalatable way to become popular.
It took a while before Abigail was resuscitated. The moment she regained consciousness, the reality of the moment glared back at her. She wished the hand of time could be turned backwards so she’d make sure that ugly moment never happened in her life. She wished she could erase that indelible dent. But those were just wishes, the damage had been done and she had to live with it for the rest of her life. That had become her cross to bear forever. While she was still cry in the sick bay, her husband came in. He had a long face void of every emotion. He stood at a distance and asked her to tell him all she knew about the video. He stood at a distance because at that moment, she disgust him. He merely came to fulfill the “for better, for worse” vow he made on the altar.
Through tears of shame and regrets, Abigail told her husband about the video. She told him how she was caught pants down and videoed by Edna, the head pastor’s daughter. She told him how she’d been subjected to blackmail since then. She told him how she had constantly begged her to delete the video and she refused. She told him about Paschal’s position throughout the period of the blackmail. She equally told him of her resolve to confess her sins to him and was waiting for them to get back from church. “I am sorry for what I did my husband and I am willing to accept any consequences, both from you and the society. But please don’t let those who did this go free. I beg you in the name of God”, Abigail begged after narrating her self inflicted ordeal to her husband.
On hearing that Edna the pastor’s daughter was the one who made the video and had been using it to extort money from his wife, he was enraged. They (Abigail and Usman) were also convinced that it was Edna that leaked the video and he (Usman) was determined to bring her to book. All the efforts the senior pastor made to dissuade him from taking legal actions against Edna failed. Eventually, Edna was found guilty of blackmail and extortion and was sentenced to nine years imprisonment. After the verdict was given, Usman divorced Abigail on the grounds of infidelity.
Paschal was not held on any legal ground but what karma served him later in life was devastating to say the least. That would be a story for another day.
As for Folu, if you want to know what became of her, come to my house with a packet of pen.
Now, can we be your writer?โบ๏ธ
TOCHUKWU ANOZIE
Bring the details to book next time please