The choirmaster 4
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Folu was a beautiful young girl in her mid twenties. She was born and raised in Yoruba land. After her secondary school, she couldn’t get an admission into her school of Choice; Lagos State University. She tried securing an admission in the school for a few years without success. She then decided to try other schools. Eventually, she was offered an admission into a school in the middle-belts, faraway from her home. At first, she was reluctant taking up the admission but a few encouraging words from her parents gave her the push she needed. She took it up and went to stay with her aunt who resided in the town where the school was located.
Due to the relocation, she worshipped in the same church with her aunt’s family. At the church, she joined the choir. She had a very nice voice and it didn’t take long for her to start taking lead singing roles and special backup positions. Everything was going on well in the church until the handsome head of the choral group developed interest in her. At first, it was just words of praise and admiration from the choirmaster to Folu. He (the choirmaster) would compliment her on her physical beauty and the beauty of her voice. He had always referred to her as a perfect combination of two beauties. Folu would smile shyly and blush at these compliments anytime they were made. Somehow, she loved the fact that her choirmaster recognized the beauty of her voice. She looked forward to those compliments at choir practices and after church services.
Gradually, these harmless compliments graduated into a full advance. The choirmaster started singing songs of love to Folu. He started professing unending love to her and made many promises of what he would do if she accepted him for a relationship. Folu was skeptical. She was from a place where the house of God was held sacred. She didn’t want to engage in anything that would bring the wrath of God on her. She was afraid of having any amorous relationship with the choirmaster or anyone in the house of God. This resolve of hers, she communicated times without number to the choirmaster who would not let her rest. But it seemed that the more she dissuaded him from his ungodly demand, the more vehemently he came back.
Folu my love, I am sure you are convinced in your heart that I am the right one for you. I don’t know what is stopping you from accepting my love but babe, I’m not getting younger. I’m not asking you for a mere relationship rather I’m asking you to give us a chance to start building a future together. I need you by my side as my wife, not just a girlfriend. How much older would you let me get before you rescue me from this uninteresting bachelorhood, my love?”, he convincingly appealed to Folu. That instant, Folu became confused. The thought of settling down with the handsome choirmaster rushed through her mind. She started convincing herself that since the relationship would lead to marriage, it was no longer a taboo in the eyes of God. After many more convincing speeches from the choirmaster, she gave in and they started off a relationship.
Two months into the relationship, the story changed. All the love professed and the promises made vanished. The choirmaster who had by then had his way to Folu’s genitals a number of times became the opposite of what he portrayed himself to be. Folu was devastated by the emotional and physical trauma she went through in the hands of the man who promised to create a haven for her here on earth. She regretted every moment that led to her meeting with the choirmaster. She was heartbroken and eventually left the choir just in a bid to avoid seeing the man who had drained all the zeal she had to love. Each time she saw that devilish man on stage conducting the choir as if he was a saint, she wished she could open people’s eyes to see what a wolf in a sheep’s clothing he was. But she had no means of doing that. She nursed her broken heart and left vengeance for God. That was about eighteen months before the video was made.
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Folu and Edna schooled in the same school and attended the same church. With this coincidence, they became best of friends. They were always in each other’s company in school and always sat on the same row in church. All the shareable secrets each of them had was shared with each other. They discussed about boyfriends and wooers, parties and clubs, and every other thing good friends share. But the video was not shareable. Edna made sure the video was kept to herself alone. She knew how devastating it would be if the video came out. She never had plans of leaking it even if Abigail failed to pay. She was just putting up a though front to force Abigail to keep dropping her ‘salaries’. She kept the video for the purpose of m**********g when she needed to. Leaking the video was never part of her plans.
One day, Folu needed the internet to do her assignments but didn’t have Megabytes to surf the internet. She asked her bosom friend, Edna to lend her (Folu) her (Edna’s) phone and Edna did so wholeheartedly. In the course of doing the assignment, Folu got tired and decided to surf through Edna’s phone. As she surfed through Edna’s gallery, she saw the video of the choirmaster who wrecked her heart dancing an ungodly dance with the pastor’s wife. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She watched through the video to be sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her. When she was sure that the video was what she thought it was, she quickly sent a copy of it to her phone.
She felt so happy, the revenge she didn’t know how to go about had presented a way by itself. “God really works in mysterious ways”, she thought to herself as she excitedly guarded her weapon of life destruction, waiting for the right time to release it for effective damage. That Sunday, when Paschal, the man she wanted to revenge on was in the church waiting for his time to deceive the congregation again, Folu posted the video into the church’s whatsapp group using an anonymous number she had previously added to the group.
As the saying goes, hell has no fury like a woman scorned. She was too blinded by her quest for revenge that she failed to realize that Abigail would be hit the most.
What happened next?
Find out when this my neighbor lends me her pen again.
TOCHUKWU ANOZIE
Remember, we can be your writer.
