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Chapter 12
THREE WEEKS’ LATER
The day was a Sunday, and as usual, the Choirs converged at the basement for their morning rehearsals and prayers. There was nothing unusual about the ritual except the presence of Sarah, a fugitive whom no one, except Blessing knows why she has been running from the Choir. Everyone was on her, but she was already armed with a perfect lie as a backup for her sudden disappearance.
At the gallery, since the service hasn’t started, during the morning rehearsals, most Choir members charges their phones there. But this faithful Sunday, something unusual happened, that was different from the presence of Sarah. After the morning rehearsal, Sister Sarah announced a missing phone.
“Maybe you didn’t bring it along. Have you tried calling your line? You may have forgotten it at home?” Rucks suggested.
“Sister Rucks,” Sarah called her, “I clearly said I was charging my phone at the gallery, and you’re talking about me ‘forgetting it at home’?”
“I’m sorry, but that was just a suggestion. By the way, I didn’t think anyone actually came up here after…”
“Well, since you seem to know this much, kindly explain how I got my phone missing. Look at the charger here,” she dangled it in her face and threw it at her feet. Rucks was taken aback by the sudden outburst.
“I didn’t say you didn’t bring your…”
“Well, you said that.” Bukky came in.
“And you said it right there,” she maintained and pointed to her previous position.
“Oho,” Sarah said, folding her arms.
There was silence, and the aura was tense. There were about six members of the Choir who had either come to the gallery to collect their phones or feed their ears. Eventually, they decided to go meet the Coordinator in his office.
“I don’t know what I can say to this,” he said, leaning back on his chair. “This is just embarrassing; I just hope this won’t get to the Pastor. And that is only if you guys behave as adults.”
“You mean to say if the thief returned the stolen phone?” Sarah asked with a scoff. The Coordinator nodded.
“You know that is not possible,” Sarah countered again. “Who do you think will return a stolen phone? Think about the embarrassment. She would rather not do that…”
“She?” The Coordinator interjected with a chuckle. “You can’t be sure the founder will be a she. We can’t say we are looking for a thief, we should rather say we misplaced it, and will appreciate whoever found and returned it.”
“I didn’t misplace my phone, and the thief is not a founder, a thief is a thief! Besides, the male members, just three of them anyway, went straight to the podium to arrange the musical instruments. None of them was upstairs. The thief is definitely a she!”
“So, who are you suspecting?”
“Sir, I am suspecting no one.”
“So, what are you suggesting then?”
“We search the bags.”
“Come on, that is embarrassing. We need to find another way…”
“There is no other way, Sir. And I got to do this before the Sunday school starts or else…”
“It is okay, it is okay, Sister Sarah.” The Coordinator said and checked his wristwatch. “It’s almost time for the Sunday School. You have just fifteen minutes to do that. I don’t want the Pastor to meet us in this mess.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Sarah said, and exited the Coordinator’s office. At the entrance, Bukky was waiting for her.
“So, what did he say?” She asked as they walked towards the Choirs’ area.
“He wanted me to check your bags,” She replied without stopping.
As they emerged inside the main auditorium, Bukky clapped her hands to gain the attention of the other members. Sister Bukky, a lousy dirty lady who was always left alone due to her incessant gossiping. She is fat, had no friends, not even Blessing was her friend. And she wasn’t alone because she was fat, but because she was always nosy, dirty, cheeky and lousy.
“We are here to catch the thief who stole…”
“Enough please,” Sarah stopped her.
“There is no ‘we’, okay?”
Bukky sighed and sullenly walked through the ambulatory to join the rest of the members standing in front of the altar. The members all converged afar and watched as Sarah went into the Choir stalls and started ransacking the bags- one after the other. The males watched in silence, each one whispering. The suspense was all upon them, and as each bag was picked, hairs were raised in anticipation, and as each one was dropped, people sighed.
“I told her she didn’t bring her phone to Church, I saw her when she came in. she didn’t even bring a bag,” Rucks said again.
“You can’t be sure of that,” Bukky countered again. “Are you scared?” She asked Rucks, half smiling.
“Scared of what? “For your information, my bag has been checked, I don’t think yours has.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, Sister Rucks, she just dropped my bag too.” Bukky said with a smirk.
“Enough of this nonsense,” Blessing came in. “This is a total embarrassment and a shame. There is nothing to be proud of here. A colleague just came back after a brief illness and all you welcomed her with was to steal her phone.”
“She said she travelled,” Michelle said, calmly with folded arms.
“What?” Blessing asked, puzzled.
“Sister Sarah said she travelled.” She repeated herself.
Everyone was silent. Blessing looked uneasy and hated Michelle for making her look stupid in front of the others. Michelle continued,
“You said she was sick, but when I asked her, she said she travelled. That was why she hasn’t been around the…”
“Why don’t you just shut your mouth and start living on facts?” Blessing snorted angrily, and the members gasped. “Did you visit her at all to know if she just told you she travelled just to keep you off her tail? I mean, everybody knows you are nosy….and proud!”
Bukky whistled and scratched her head. She looked at Michelle with a squint.
Michelle replied Bukky,“you know, that was why you had no friends!”
“I beg your pardon!” Bukky fought back. “Now, because you were able to get a job with a multinational company, courtesy of the tool between your legs, didn’t give you the permission to just talk to me that way. I wasn’t even the one who said you were nosy and cheeky. I was just a mere observer in all this matter.”
“The truth is, being my leader in this Choir, and being older than I am, coupled with the fact that I was also well brought up, I will not insult you,” Michelle said to Blessing who was expecting trouble.
Blessing hissed. She never liked Michelle for all the reasons she has refused to admit. She is beautiful, brilliant, has a good job, dresses nicely and she live large with a nice car. But she refused to admit that these have been the crux of her attitude towards Sister Michelle, instead, she simply maintained that Michelle was too proud.
“But you,” Michelle turned to Sister Bukky, “we all know you are a ‘nobody’ with a mental case.”
Rucks cleared her throat; she started fanning herself with her hand. “This is too hot.” She said with a smile.
“You are just a fool.” Bukky told Rucks who couldn’t control her laughter.
“Seriously?” Rucks said, “How did mine get into this matter. I was just observing.”
The whole member laughed aloud, but some, like Blessing refused to. Not that she cared what happened to Bukky, but she sure wasn’t comfortable with the easy getaway of Sister Michelle.
“Please, it is enough,” Blessing said.
“Like I said, we haven’t even…”
“This is serious!” Sarah said as she held a bag in her hand, smiling and shaking her head.
“What is it?” Blessing asked, with confusion clearly written on all faces.
Sarah walked between the ambulatory and started coming towards the members who were converged at the front of the altar. She held the black bag, wearing an unbelievable look of surprise.
“What is it, what did you see?” Sister Blessing and others asked.
“That…that is my bag!” A voice shrieked out, and all eyes were on Hannah whose horrific look on her face was priceless!
“You stole her phone?” Bukky asked.
“I didn’t even go upstairs. I was right here; I didn’t go to the gallery after the rehearsals. I was…”
“I couldn’t find my phone inside any bag,” Sarah finally relieved their suspense, but that even brought more suspense.
“But, I found this,” Sarah said, and displayed a pack of condom she took from the bag.
“That is not mine!” Hannah shouted in horror!
The whole members were astonished, more like disappointed.
“Oh, yeah?” Sarah said. “What about these, then?” She lifted up two used condoms tied at the base with semen still lying safely inside it.
“Jesus!” Some of the members shouted.
Blessing wore a look of abject disappointment; she looked at Hannah, shook her head and asked, “Why?”
“I swear Ma, I didn’t know anything about this, I swear to God!”
Hannah started to cry when she saw the look on Blessing’s face. She just accepted her as her Church-daughter and it would be disastrous to have blown it this quick. Blessing, on the other hand, was just disappointed.
“You put it in my bag!” She shouted and charged at Sarah.
She was prevented from getting to her by some of the members. She struggled and kept pointing at Sarah. Sarah stood at bay, looking at the aggressive Hannah who was crying and trying to break free.
“I didn’t put anything in your bag. God only wants us to see who you really are.” Sarah defended herself.
“Ha, Sister Sarah, may you die like…”
“Shut up!” Blessing stopped Hannah.
“This is a house of God, and I will not watch you place a curse on each other! This is embarrassing.”
“I swear to God,” Hannah sobbed hard, “I didn’t know anything about…”
“Then how did it get into your bag?” Sarah queried again.
“Hey guys,” Blessing called out, “we will get back to this later. It is almost time for Sunday school,” she clapped consecutively, “please fall into place.”
She turned at Sarah, “we will get to the root of this. I think someone planted it there.”
“What?” Sarah Shrieked loudly. “You can’t be saying I planted…”
“You did!” Hannah shouted at her amidst her tears.
“Shut up, please,” Blessing barked at Hannah. “You are relieved of every duty today. Sit with the congregation. This is not a punishment. Just try and get yourself together.”
“You found the phone?” The Coordinator asked from nowhere. “You stole the phone?” He immediately asked Hannah when he saw that she was the only one crying.
“We couldn’t find the phone. And no, Hannah didn’t steal the phone,” Blessing responded.
“So, why is she…?”
“She lost someone,” Blessing cut him short. “Please…Sir, if you don’t mind…”
“Sister Hannah, see me in my office after the service, okay?” The Coordinator ignored Blessing.
“No,” a deep voice replied him. It was the Pastor, with a dejected look on his face. Bukky was beside him, half smiling. “You, Brother Ade, Sister Sarah, Sister Blessing, and you,” he shook his head, “Sister Hannah, should all see me in my office after the service. Jesus! I can’t believe this!” He finished and disappeared back into the opening leading to the passage to the office.
Blessing moved to Bukky and whispered, unbelievably, “You told him?”
She tried not to smile, “What? Should I cover this up? I’m sorry. This is the house of God.”
There was a sound of something crashing on plastic chairs; it was Hannah- she fainted! The Coordinator turned to Rucks,
“Sister Rucks, is Hannah the one who stole Sister Sarah’s phone?”
No one replied him!
Chapter 13
The Pastor was on the phone, chatting distinctly like he doesn’t want anyone to hear him. He tapped the butt of his pen on the table as he did so. Any sane individual could see that he was unhappy. The room was dead silent except for his mumblings, the creaky sound of the ceiling fan which swung in slow-motion, and the audible gentle sobs of Hannah who sank on her heels in a half-kneeling position. Her eyes were swollen, red and she looked very ugly. Blessing would deliberately swipe a glance at her and shook her head; this made Hannah wailed more.
Sister Sarah stood behind Sister Blessing where she sat with leg crossed in front of the Pastor’s table, the Coordinator by her side, seated comfortable in the second and last chair available in the office. Sister Bukky, the one who just found the missing phone leaned on the wall, near to the door with arms crossed. Everyone was silent, everywhere was dead. After a while that seemed would not end, the Pastor dropped the receiver. Everyone was on their toes, hairs standing in anticipation.
“First of all,” the Pastor began as he dropped his call, “I don’t want to believe all these are happening. How can these be happening in this Church, under my watch? He shouted and slammed his palm on the table.
Everyone jerked. It was scary to always see the Pastor in such a mood.
“Sir…”
“Please, Mr Coordinator,” he interjected him as he wanted to speak, “this is a slap on your office. I hope you know that?”
“I’m sorry Sir.”
“Sorry?” He scoffed. “Sorry doesn’t even begin to describe how disappointed you must be. This lady here,” he pointed to Hannah who quickly knelt straight, “is part of your member. The same ones I expected you to screen properly before…”
“I did…”
“You did? You think you did? This was the same one you were vouching for to be an assistant to Sister Blessing, isn’t she?”
“Sir…”
“Please, enough!” He shouted him down.
Blessing lets out a scornful chuckle as Brother Ade opened and closed his mouth.
“What is funny here?” The Pastor turned to Blessing who was definitely taken by surprise. “Were you not the same one who came here just this week to tell me you have accepted Hannah as a Church-daughter to you, as our usual practice in this Church for a leader to groom a potential leader?”
“But…” she tried to speak but the Pastor cut in again.
“But you refused to pray and look thoroughly before you decided to accept …”
“But you didn’t believe me when I said she and him,” she turned angrily to the Coordinator, “were having sexual…”
“I beg your pardon!” The Coordinator sprung up from his seat.
Hannah also sprung up from her knees to protest, and Blessing started to laugh,
“You think I didn’t know?” she asked with a dead face.
“I swear to God Ma, that wasn’t true. I…we never did such…such a thing.” Hannah stammered on.
“And yet, used and unused condoms were found…”
“Sir, it wasn’t mine, I swear to God.” Hannah cried aloud again, cutting the Pastor short on his words. She wasn’t afraid of anything more that her parents hearing this.
“Sir, Sir, you really need to do something about this…this…this thing and her rumours. I can’t take this anymore!” The Coordinator was talking about Blessing.
“Of course, you will not take this anymore,” The Pastor replied him in anger. “You have obviously failed in your office and you are… you are just like a waste of space here, right here!” The Pastor shouted at him.
“But…”
“There is no ‘but’, Brother Ade.”
“But this is just a lie from…from this Jezebel!” He finished his statement.
“Watch your tongue, Brother Ade. Can you even hear yourself speak in such languages? Using these foul languages on her? And funny enough, she has proven to be wiser by keeping quiet and watching you dug your grave deeper.”
“I am sorry Sir.” He calmed down.
“Even the Bible says that a fool is thought wise if he could hold his tongue. You are…” he shook his head, “I don’t know…I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m sorry Sir,” the Coordinator maintained. He clamped his hands to his back like a good child.
“You,” he turned to Bukky, “where and how did you found the missing phone?”
“Sir…” she wanted to begin.
“Please, I have a meeting my four o clock, forget the pleasantries.”
“Okay. I went to wash my face at the bathroom when I saw…”
“And did you go to the bathroom?” He asked Sarah who nodded as a ‘yes’.
“So, you agree that you did forget it there, right?”
“Yes, Sir. I…”
“That’s all I need. Both of you should go. Thank you.” He clapped them away and watched them leave his office.
After a long silence, he turned to the Coordinator, “I will get to the bottom of this; be assured of that.”
“Sir…”
“You heard me,” he said firmly. “And you,” he turned to Hannah; you disgraced not only me but your parents and Christ in heaven!”
“Ha!” She shouted. “Sir, this is all…”
“Sir,” Blessing spoke after a long silence, “she…Sister Hannah said she is a virgin. So, this…”
“She…she said so, again?” The Pastor asked.
“Well, I …em….I don’t know if she already told you that…”
“She did,” the Pastor said. “Once when there was this trouble about the accusation….but,” he changed the subject, “I doubt that already.”
“Well, Last week, before I came to see you this week about accepting her as my Church-daughter, I talked to her about how it will be the best for her to shun all sexual sins if she has to take on the mantle of leadership and she said she was a virgin.” She shrugged and looked at Hannah who nodded in agreement.
“This is serious,” the Pastor stood akimbo, confused.
“If that was so, and you know this, why were you keen on tarnishing my image?” The Coordinator shouted at Blessing in anger.
“That was because ever since she has told me, she has always left your school late into the nights; something that wasn’t happening before.”
“Is that that true?” The Pastor asked.
“Sir…”
“I was talking to her, please.” The Pastor interjected the Coordinator.
“Yes, Sir.” Hannah replied in a low voice.
“Why?” The Pastor asked in a whisper.
“He…he only attends to me only when the other students have left.”
The Pastor buried his hands in his head. He gave a very loud sigh.
“Sir…Sir…” the Coordinator started.
“You got something to say to that, right?” The Pastor asked him.
“Yes, Sir. It was all because she was to be groomed separately and…”
“Brother Ade,” the Pastor called his name slowly.
“Yes, Sir.”
“You are suspended until all investigations are concluded.” He said calmly.
“What?” He said. “Sir, this is all a mistake.”
“Yes, you are right. It was a mistake because I thought a male Coordinator will fare better than the fallen females that their scandalous stories have refused to leave as a suffix to the name of this Church each time this parish is mentioned. And now…and now…”
“Sir, this is all a lie. I told you…”
“You are suspended. And that is pretty much all I have to tell you.” He repeated. “You, Hannah...”
“Yes, Sir.” She answered in tears and violent sobs.
“I don’t even know where to start with you.”
“Can I suggest something, Sir?” Blessing asked.
“Go ahead, please.”
“We could ask Doctor Abigail to conduct a virginity test on her so….”
“Yes, yes, I will do that. I will do that, Sir.” Hannah jumped at the suggestion.
It seemed her only way out. The Pastor was surprised and confused altogether.
“You will?” He asked with a frown.
“I will Sir, I will.” She repeated faster.
“Are you sure about this or we should just…”
“Sir, I am sure. I am a….”
“Hold that please” the Pastor halted her before she could say the word ‘virgin’ again. “You already made this claim before. We shall know that later,” the Pastor said. Brace yourself; Deacon Abigail is not going to be back until three weeks’ time. I am sure you all know that. She announced that herself last week. So, I guess we could all wait for her.”
“Thank you, Sir.” They all chorused. The Coordinator’s voice was louder that it caught the attention of the Pastor. Something the Coordinator wanted.
“You, Brother Ade, in your own case, even if you ever passed this sexual scandal test, your position will still be reviewed based on your gross incompetency .”
“Ha.” He said.
“Yes; and that means you may not return back as the Coordinator again if anything as a speckle is found on you.”
“What? Sir?”
“Yes, you heard me. In fact, since Sister Blessing has proven to see far ahead of you, I might have to reconsider the position of a Choir Mistress!”
“Yes!” Sister Mary clenched her fist. “We’re getting there!” She whispered to Blessing who was trying not to betray her emotion. She smiled back at her dead lover, “of course,” she said, inaudibly.
“But, Sir…” Brother Ade wanted to say, but he was stopped again by the Pastor who raised his arm.
“That is all. You can leave now.” He waved them out. “I have a meeting by four. Thank you all.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Blessing and Hannah said.
“Thank you Ma,” Hannah said to Blessing as they were about to leave.
“Don’t mention it,” she smiled back. “I believe you won’t disappoint me when Doctor…”
“I swear Ma, I’m a virgin. I will gladly subject myself to the test.”
“Good.” She replied her and they all exited.
The Pastor watched that little scenery between these two ladies and he was proud of Sister Blessing. As he watched them leave, he realized the Coordinator was still inside his office.
“What are you still waiting for?”
“Sir…”
“Please, leave my office. This meeting is over.” He didn’t even look up as he flipped through his big bible. He didn’t look up until he heard the door closed. He lowered his reading glasses to his nose with a frown,
“Pervert,” he said and hissed.
End of chapter 12 & 13
