S.I.M.S Episode 24
(STEPPING INTO MAGGIE’S SHOE)
©️ Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde
For a week, I didn’t see any of the women and neither did he eat my food. I wasn’t bothered about the food, because at least I had achieved the part of the women not coming over. He kept malice with me for that week, whenever I greeted he gave me silence for an answer.
When I saw Mrs. Beecroft in church on Sunday, she didn’t pretend to be happy with me as she eyed me anytime our eyes made contact.
“Shameless Woman!” I thought to myself as simultaneously I saw Gabriel walking towards me on the Altar. I quickly moved away from the person I was speaking to and made way to my office. I could perceive he was following me. As I got to into my office with the hope of shutting the door behind me in a rush, he put his leg in the door way…
“What do you want?’ I asked
“You started this whole thing making me crazy about you, and suddenly you think you are just going to discard me like that!”
“I was trying to get back at your mother for sleeping with my husband!”
“Then let’s say, I am trying to get back at your husband for sleeping with my mother!”
“Stop It, Gabriel, this is not you, don’t try to play dirty like what I was trying to do, please don’t make the same mistake I made, other people’s shoe have always been attractive to me, and out of greed , I have found my leg in one that is way too big and uncomfortable for me…Don’t try to get me by all means, you might hurt yourself…Just accept things the way they are. See me as the woman you could never have, and I will see you as same. Move on and Let God find you a good girl who deserves your undiluted and drama free love…”
“I don’t want any other woman, it’s you I want…” he said
“And you can never have her, because she is my wife” Apostle said as the door to my office opened…
Gabriel jumped up from his seat and you could still sense some respect for the Apostle as he had his head bowed…
“Good Afternoon Sir!” Gabriel had said
“Good Afternoon Gabriel, Have a seat….” Apostle said to Gabriel who obediently sat…
“Gabriel, I know what it feels like , when it’s another man’s wife that interests you, so I don’t condemn you, but you are about to end your life, because my wife is off the rack, I can sleep with other women, but no other man can sleep with my wife, you know just like the kings of old, like King David..” Apostle said this and pulled me closer to himself, which was a way of silently telling Gabriel, I belonged to him…
“I strongly disagree sir, if you can commit adultery what stops your wife?”
“I can’t and won’t commit adultery not because of him, but because of Him who is God” I said as I got myself rid of Apostle’s hands…
“With all due respect, Apostle, I would love to be left alone” I said as I went to my table
“I know exactly how to get Happy out of your grip, I will have your story told on every newspaper” he said threatening Apostle
Apostle laughed out loud
“ Remember to include your mother’s name in the story, and watch how you will be labeled as the son of the woman sleeping with her pastor.” He said walking out laughing .
There was a brief moment of Silence as Apostle’s threat made sense to Gabriel and I. Exposing Apostle was like causing damage to Gabriel’s personality as well… I shook my head in pity at how cocky Apostle was sounding..
Gabriel stormed out of my office colliding with Mrs Jaiyesimi, one of my husband’s sleeping partner.
“ Good Afternoon Pastor Happy” She said not trying to maintain eye contact with me
“ Yes!, Mrs Jaiyesimi, how may I help you, are you here to insult me?”
“ No, I am here to apologize for what I have been doing with the Apostle. It was my husband who pushed me into this, his lack of care made me close to the Apostle. It started casually by way of me calling to report my husband to him. I started finding succor in him, till one thing led to the other. When Pastor Maggie was alive, she was very supportive as she would prepare food for me anytime I was at your place, I felt I wasn’t doing what was wrong since it was my husband that pushed me out, but looking at how you handle the situation calmly despite seeing me coming to your home every week to have intercourse with your husband, you are still sane and on fire for God…I really feel ashamed of myself and stupid for letting my husband’s lifestyle push me in to sin…, Please Forgive me , pray for me and I promise to stay away from him…”
“ Hmmm…, it’s ok ma… I am not the one who should forgive you, once you make your way right before God, You are free of guilt…”
“ Please keep this as a secret between us”
“ It is fine!”
I stood up and gave a sisterly hug, as I understood no one was a saint.
We drove home with the church driver, with no words said in the car. This gave me time to think about the statement, Mrs Jaiyesimi had made about Pastor Maggie supporting Apostle in having extra marital affairs under her roof…
“Was that Christian Like?” I asked
myself
“ Was That been a good wife?,”
I was ruminating on this in the car, so I didn’t know when we got home, until Apostle touched me…
“ Honey, we are home.”
The moment the church driver left, all hell was let loose…
“ So you have taken Mrs Jaiyesimi from me right?, you will regret this” he said angrily like someone having a fit
“ Me… take Mrs Jaiyesimi from you?, how?”
“ Yes!, she just sent me a text in the car, telling me she had spoken to you and it was over between us”
“ Ok?, so is that a bad thing?”
The next thing I felt on my face was a loud and painful slap….
Emotional pain was one thing, but I didn’t know Physical abuse was part of what Apostle had for me in this shoe called Marriage… Hmmm.. Maybe this was one of the reasons Pastor Maggie kept quiet, and maybe this was why Sapphira in the Bible Lied alongside her husband, Ananias…
Should the fear of my husband make me condole and support evil?
S.I.M.S Episode 25
(STEPPING INTO MAGGIE’S SHOE)
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde
Big Daddy had slapped Big Mummy in my presence, and all Big Mummy did was to walk away. She went into her room and locked herself up.
Big mummy was my mum’s elder sister, I had gone to spend the holiday at her house , when I was 8 years old. She didn’t have kids of her own at that time, so she always wanted me at her place during the holidays.
When Big Daddy slapped her, I expected her to return the slap or fight him, but Big mummy didn’t do either. I later asked her some questions…
“ Big mummy, why did Big Daddy slap you?”
“ We had a fight just like you have fights with your friends in school…”
“ Then why didn’t you slap him back?”
“ Well, fight in marriage is very different from every other kind of fight, fight in marriage has to do with a lot of emotions and when not managed it can be disastrous even to the point of death… If I had slapped Big daddy back, it would have fueled him more to keep fighting. So the best thing to do when one’s Husband or wife is ready to fight, is to leave their presence because at that point they are mad and can do anything”
The moment Apostle slapped me and I was about to reciprocate, the Lord brought back to my memory this scene from my early age, and just like Big Mummy did, I ran to my room and shut the door.
Big mummy was right, Apostle was stronger than I was, if I had slapped him, it would have infuriated him to slap and beat me further. A lot could have happened and somehow on the headlines it would be written that “Pastor Happy died of domestic violence”.
Even if Apostle would be prosecuted, my precious life would have ended. It was time to avoid the lion in Apostle, so I won’t be devoured. Whatever he wanted to do with his life was his business…Big Mummy had told me back then, that most men and women who were victims of domestic violence could have avoided such if they were not trying to get back or fight the person abusing them. She told me the best thing to do was to run away from the scene and avoid doing things that might aggravate the violence.
I avoided him like a plague for about two days, I set his food on the dining table and retired to my room before he came out of the room…
On the third day, around 6pm in the evening, I noticed some movement in the living room, I decided to peep. I saw Apostle lighting some scented candles on the dining table like someone setting up a romantic dinner.
My heart did swell up in gratitude … Finally, he was back to his senses and he wanted to make up for his error of physically abusing me…
I rushed into the toilet, I freshened up, applied little make up and wore a tight fitted short gown waiting to be called upon. I didn’t want to spoil his fun, so I stayed in my room waiting to hear a knock at my door…
I waited and waited, but suddenly I heard the sound of a car driving into our compound. I peeped through the window and to my utmost shock, it was Mrs Beecrofts’ car.
My heart dropped. So it was Mrs Beecroft my husband had planned this dinner for?
“God, Why is this happening to me?, why are you watching the wicked prosper?” I wept bitterly
I stayed in the room not knowing what to do, but very quietly, I started hearing the soft blues from the living room. I opened the door to the room very quietly and I saw My Husband and Mrs Beecroft dancing….
I walked down the stairs quietly…
“ Do you care that God sees you?” I said as tears flowed voluntarily down my face…
“ Leave us to God and let God be the judge” Mrs Beecroft answered
That got me mad… and then a scripture dropped in my heart…That was it… Even JESUS reacted once in a violent way…
I went into the store and brought out a very sharp cutlass…
“ What are you doing?” Apostle asked
“ Exactly what Jesus did, when people were buying and selling in his Father’s house… Since God has not been talking to you, I plan on standing in gap and speak some senses into your brain…Mrs Beecroft or whatever your name is, if you don’t get out of my house now, I promise you I will use this cutlass on you, and guess what, I will have nothing to lose, because you will be the one that will have injuries on your body…Number 2, you will have to explain to your husband and the society what you are doing at my place at this time, which of course will be a surprise to your Husband who doesn’t know that you are here, so make your choice!”
“ I told you not to marry her, I told you to look for a village girl, but you told me she looked calm, and since she is psychologically imbalanced, she won’t be a problem…..Can you see?” Mrs Beecroft said as she picked her purse.
As she was moving out of my house, I took a broom with my left hand and was sweeping her feet…
“ Lord, I sweep away the Spirit of buying and selling from this house in Jesus name…”
Apostle was enraged, he was coming close to me…
“ Apostle, Don’t even dare, you slapped me and I have not been able to reciprocate, Don’t force me to reciprocate with this matchete in self defense”
“ You are crazy!”
“That was exactly why you married me”
Instead of him coming towards me, he ran after Mrs Beecroft. She was not ready to listen to him as she insisted he opened the gate for her…
I knew what was best for me, I ran into my room and locked myself in. I didn’t want any physical abuse…
He came in shortly and started banging my door, but I refused to open up…
“ Apostle don’t waste your time, I am not opening this door”… I said
Then the unexpected happened….
Apostle started weeping Like a Baby….
I decided to be human and open the door….
On Opening the door, I met him sobbing…
“ Why? Happy, please I know what I am doing is wrong, but my not doing it drives me crazy. I know I am going to hell, but I pray daily for Mercy. I can grant you a divorce if you are not going to cooperate with me. My life is dependent on me having intercourse with other women…”
“ Why? Are you in a cult?”
“ No, God knows I am not diabolical, this feeling is a part of me I can not control. it is a spiritual force that is stronger than me”
“ No, if you surrender to God, He will help you overcome this force…”
“ Happy!, you can’t be preaching to me, I have read the complete Bible 12 times”
“ But the Spirit behind the words of the scripture is not existing in your life, the Bible without the HolySpirit is just a mere story book in your hands”…
Then he suddenly raised his voice like someone possessed by a demon…
“ I said, don’t preach to me” Out of Anger, he started pushing me out of the house. He pushed me out of the house and just like Big Mummy had taught me…
“ In marriage, you don’t struggle with an enraged man, at that time he is more deadly than a hungry lion”
I obediently let him push me out till he completely pushed me out of the gate…
“ Apostle, stop this, stop it” I said but the lion in him was not listening. He shut the gate as I stood outside my gate barefoot in a skimpy gown and a made up face looking like a cheap call girl…
I had no cash on me, no phone to call a taxi, nothing …
I decided it was time to go visiting my Mum, her place was about 2 hours trek from my home and since Walking was a hobby for me, I started walking…
To be continued
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Hmmmmmm…. Is well
happy I feel for u
Hmmmm…this is really serious!