BEHIND THE FINE FACE
EPISODE 22
.
“Poor kid. Is this why women of your faith now cherish their supposed spiritual leaders more than their own husbands?” Uncle T asked, with a slim smile. ”Is this why, to avoid getting on their bad side, you stay in marriages, enduring the worst of the worst, simply because he preached against divorce? Was this the reason you hit your wife for the first time since marrying her?”
“Haba, Uncle. What does Prophet U.C. Kenneth have to do with the fact that I hit my wife?”
It was at this point that everything that had happened before I awoke to bright lights began to come back to me.
.
I stood still and thought about what I had done for a considerable amount of time. I couldn’t imagine ever being able to raise my hands on a lady, talk more about Grace, my beloved wife. We’ve been married for so long and have experienced greater, more intense disagreements in the past and I’d never considered raising my hand on that woman.
I instantly recalled my wife’s expression as I beat her ruthlessly: surprise, anguish, and disappointment. I recalled how she gripped my leg hard and begged me to stop, but I continued to kick her in the stomach.
“I couldn’t have done all that, na. Not in my right senses.” I mumbled.
“Tell that to Grace. But only if you have the opportunity.” Uncle T said.
“I’ll… hold on! Only if I have the opportunity?” I asked, rather bemused. “Why might I not get the opportunity, Uncle? Did my reckless behavior result in me losing my wife?” I questioned.
.
Uncle T was staring at me the entire time, as if he was waiting for something that seemed to be taking forever to register in my brain to register.
.
I paused to think, and after what may have been an epiphany, my heart practically leaped out of my chest in terror. “Wait! Am I dead, Uncle?” I asked, with my mouth refusing to return to its earlier state before they broke off for words.
Uncle T smiled and said, “You will without a doubt if you don’t wake up right now.”
.
It was at this precise moment that I opened my eyes to a scene that would almost certainly kill me. Cows; herds of cows were crossing the road just a couple of meters away from me.
.
I guess I must have fallen asleep or something. But it was highly improbable given that nothing about me on this drive up until I woke up to bright lights had indicated that I needed a nap.
I must have only closed my eyes for a few seconds, because there was no way my eyes could have been shut for longer and I’d still wake up on that expressway, driving at that speed, making all the right turns leading to that spot I’d woken up in.
.
I hardly had time to take everything in.
I hardly had time to consider how I had been with Uncle T for as long as I had, but it appears to have happened in a flash.
.
It was at this point that I applied those breaks instinctively at 240 km/h, and immediately after I did so, death seemed imminent.
.
I lost control of my car. The car flipped multiple times, shattering my windshield and side mirrors. My car would hover between flips for what seemed like an age before plummeting to the ground and getting ready for the following flip.
My head and limbs moved until a seatbelt opposing that force stopped my torso. Even though this meant that my head and limbs could have hit many things before that momentum ended, I miraculously came out of that accident unscathed.
.
My car miraculously overturned this herd of cows.
.
Nobody would ever think that a life inside my now severely damaged car could be saved, much less survive unharmed.
.
Only those herdsmen were around at that hour of the night to keep me company until dawn on that solitary trail.
.
My automobile was so badly damaged that I couldn’t even go in to get any personal items out of it.
Until a bystander assisted me in ordering an Uber, my phone was stuck inside my car; subsequently, I obtained a tow truck.
.
After hearing what had occurred to me when I arrived home, Grace completely forgot what had happened the night before and began to praise and thank God for what had been avoided.
.
Grace sobbed when she saw my automobile in pieces and couldn’t stop praising God for what she called a miracle. “What would I have done if I had lost you, baby?” Grace questioned while sobbing and squeezing me tightly.
.
I hadn’t felt guiltier in such a long time. I’d had the same thought as Grace. What if I’d died and the last memory of me was that of a violent man; a woman beater.
.
I gave Grace a tight hug while apologizing profusely to her for being a jerk of a husband. I expressed regret for my irrational outburst of rage. I expressed regret for my egregious behavior and vowed never to do it again. I sincerely apologized for not telling her about Bobby and Rachel as quickly as I should have and assured her that it wasn’t because I didn’t think she was important or deserving of knowing.
“I have no reasonable excuse for doing what I’ve done, baby, and I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
.
Grace held me up at this point, since I’d been on bended knees the whole time.
“I know, baby. I know that you couldn’t have known what you were doing. Spiritual warfare is the tactic Satan uses to distract, destroy, and cause us to stumble. If we are children of God, he knows he can’t have us. But he will do whatever he can to hinder what God wants to do in and through us because he hates both God and us. Not only does he hate Christians, baby, he especially hates the marriage between two believers. He’ll use every weapon he has to attack strong marriages and delight when they crumble. I have already forgiven you since I am certain that you would never act in such a way in your right mind.”
.
At this point, I had shed a tear and was about to say something when Grace interjected.
“Baby, God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have tried to help Bobby and Rachel, but you need to understand that helping these people at your own detriment is not wise…
To be continued…
.
Moshood Avidiime
