THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401 Part 1 – 8 by Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401 by Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

“I was at that point in my music career when my voice was the hit… I was a Gospel Musician but with a very unique voice and style of music…. Larry was my keyboardist, He was divinely anointed to play the Keyboard . He was married and I was too….

He just knew how to play the right tune…. He gave my music it’s style… Our families knew each other well, my husband never saw him as a threat, and neither did his wife have a problem with us travelling around for sold out shows…. He was the instrument, I was the voice… A match ordained by God to bless lives….

Emotions started getting into the way, I started seeing ways in which he was better than my husband. He started seeing how we fit each other perfectly…

We couldn’t help each other as sometimes we would shed tears of wishing we were married to each other… If we were married, we would be a couple doing great exploits for the LORD…

Sometimes I felt like hugging him so tight and it took strong will not to touch his soft lips… He sometimes would give me a big hug after our show, onlookers thought it was just a professional hug, but he would whisper ” I love you more than anything In this world, I wish you were mine”
It was genuine, I loved him and He loved me… But we were married to other people !

Before I go on in my tale, what do you think I should have done?… if you were in my shoes, What would you have done?
I need your genuine answers….

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Part 2
(THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401)
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

I wish all the spiritual folks who read my story knew what I was faced with, it was a situation of being caught between Pharaoh and the “red sea”…

I was in a marriage where circumstances beyond my control was the basis for the marriage. I married my husband at the age of 19 as a way out of poverty to take care of my Single Diabetic mother and my three younger sisters…

So to be honest, I had never being in Love in my life till I met Larry, my keyboardist… Even God knew this was the first time I had ever felt the thing called ” LOVE”….Point of correction, it wasn’t lust, I felt LOVE…the love that tore at my heart….Love that made me happy but yet couldn’t be expressed.

This made me lose weight. I tried to back off, look for another keyboardist

But….
Unfortunately for me, Larry was the kind of man I wanted, He was spiritual( He was full of the Word of God,we prayed for hours together), He was musically inclined,

He knew how to make me laugh till I had tears in my eyes, something my husband never achieved for years of being married. I faked my happiness, and the only thing that ever made me smile was my MUSIC…
And Larry was in my Music…

My in-laws did not make matters easy, as Daniel and I were not from the same tribe, my husband was Igbo, and the fact I was Yoruba was not acceptable…, I always felt misplaced, But Larry, my keyboardist was from my tribe, and this made us jell well..

Then, there is something I haven’t mentioned, My husband Daniel had been declared Medically infertile, he had what was called ” NO SPERM count”….but Larry, my keyboardist was so fertile he had 4 girls and 2 boys with his wife…

Now do you see why, I wept on nights when I wished I was married to Larry….

Before I go on in my tale, Was I wrong to have had this thoughts, and wish?….I need your sincere answers….

Part 3
(THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401)
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

Funny Enough… That day started as a normal day. I had been invited to minister in Kenya. Larry, my Keyboardist went with me as usual. The ministration was powerful.. I retired to my room, Room 401 to have my rest, when Larry called me ..

” Grace, I am bored… Can I come over”..Those were the words that landed my back on the bed…
Larry came and from emotional talks, we graduated to appreciating each other’s body…

“Grace, do you know you have the cutest lips ever, they are so small but beautiful no wonder , it produces sweet Melody… ”

That gave way to kisses… In thirty something minutes, the predicted had happened, Larry had done what he wanted to do and seriously speaking, it wasn’t exceptional.

In fact, my husband was better….
Right from that moment, regret set in, self condemnation set in.. Instantly, I had a feeling something left me… With tears in my eyes for disappointing God, I asked Larry to please excuse me….

Words failed me, as I couldn’t pray to ask God for forgiveness… The words were too heavy, all I did that night was shed tears. My husband kept calling like he suspected something…

” Honey, are you OK? I am having that feeling when something is wrong with you …You know that sharp pain in my heart… ” All I did was cry…

“My Grace”…He never called me Grace, but “My Grace”
” My Grace, was your ministration bad, You didn’t do well?… Answer me please”…I heard real love speaking to me, and for the first time, I felt LOVE for my husband, but I knew this love had been injured…

He promised he was coming to Kenya the next morning to give me moral support for the second day of the ministration…

I slept off in tears but woke up panting…. I had a Dream…

I saw myself with a heavy mass of hair on my head, my hair in the dream was so long, it drew attention to me … Suddenly, I saw Larry with a big gardener’s scissor. He chopped off my hair till I became bald..

I did not understand the meaning of this dream, but I kept it a secret….
Two months later, I discovered I was pregnant for Larry….

Did my dream have anything to do with this pregnancy?
Should I have been happy or sad about this pregnancy, since I had been barren for 12 years?

These were the questions that haunted me… Please can you answer them before I continue my tale…

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Part 4
(THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401)
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

My Husband grabbed his chest in surprise and shock, but with a smile, when the doctor told him I was two months gone… Obviously, He thought the baby was his, it could never have crossed his mind that I had sexual intercourse with Larry…

My husband was on cloud nine, praising God as he drove from the hospital. My conscience told me I was doing something wrong… Just at that moment, the last person I expected to hear from called my line…. I refused to pick up.

Daniel noticed, he picked it up instead and said in excitement…
” Hey, Brother Larry, my wife can not pick up right now, she is in shock ooo, me sef…., where are you, there is good news…” I gave Daniel a surprising look and I shook my head in the negative but Daniel kept ranting…

” We are coming over to the Church as well, for me personally to roll in front of the altar, we will see there… ” Daniel had tears of Joy rolling down his face as he kept saying ” Thank you Jesus, Thank you for producing a baby out of NO Sperm count…

Thank you Lord… Please make the baby a girl, I want her to be just like her mother… Just like Grace… a woman who loves God….”

” Do we have to tell Larry, let’s keep it between us” I said
” Not Larry, he has been a good friend to us, encouraging and praying for you… You know we also need to inform him so as to help me keep watch over you, when you go for your ministrations…. “Daniel kept ranting on..

I felt I was going to explode, my tears kept flowing and at the same time anxiety of seeing Larry was driving me crazy. I didn’t even realise we were in church, but Daniel jumped down from the vehicle and ran towards Larry. He gave him a big Embrace, and whispered something in his ears, I saw instant shock on Larry’s face as his body stiffened In Daniel’s embrace.

Larry gave a big smile to cover up, and congratulated Daniel, In fact he knelt on the floor praising God when he said

” Thank you for doing this for me, you know how much I have longed for this”…
He stood up and walked towards me, while Daniel kept rolling in front of the altar, Larry gave me a sisterly hug and whispered…

” I am thanking God for doing this for me, because you and I know This baby is mine.. I gave you the baby, you and your husband have been looking for… For me to keep quiet, you need to repay me…. I love you”

Daniel came to join the hug… If I didn’t know any better I would have said we looked like a happy bunch…

I couldn’t sleep as the thought of aborting the pregnancy was all I could think of.. When Daniel finally fell asleep, I literally crawled into the kitchen and I squeezed 5 Big lime and gulped it down….

I walked back into the room, waiting for the blood to flow out, but I found Daniel on the floor with his hand on his right chest and my phone on the floor beside him… He had tears flowing down his face…..

As I rushed to help him, I noticed my phone screen was bright… I checked to see why… Larry had sent a text

” On a second thought I want my baby, don’t you think it is high time, we killed your husband and make you mine…” I couldn’t read the text to the end…. As I summed it up…
Daniel because of his hypertensive nature must have read the text and went into shock….

Different thoughts flooded my heart…. First, I thought of leaving him to die, to cover my sin… I was crying so hard, I couldn’t breathe… If he died, I would just tell the lie he died in his sleep. I will abort the pregnancy and start my life all over….
Secondly, I thought of helping him, but if he survived, there would be an automatic divorce…

Please tell me, Dear readers , At this point, what do you think would have been my best option? Please tell me before I continue my tale…

Part 5
(THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401)
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

I sat in that position for over 7 mins analyzing what my best option was. With hands like Jelly, I picked up my phone and I found myself dialing Larry’s number. That was the only person I could think of calling. It rang just twice…

” So?” What is your conclusion…. ?”. He said with the most emotionless voice I have ever heard from his mouth…
” Daniel is dying” I summoned all the strength to say it…

” You did it?… what did you use? Rat poison?… I knew you could do it, I will be on my way right now, to help you finish it up… We will make His death clean without implicating you…. ” I couldn’t believe the words pouring out of his mouth and for the first time it seem like I saw who Larry was… He was the devil sent to finish me… The love I felt for him suddenly became hatred and fear…

Larry’s place was just 10 minutes drive from my place. It suddenly hit me, Larry was on his way to kill Daniel… Was that what I wanted?… I think I must have heard the Holy Spirit, because ever since that night in Room 401, the voice of the Holy Spirit was far…

I heard ” Get Daniel out of here fast”…How was I going to get my big sized husband out of this house… ? At this point… I was not sure I could drive…. My legs felt like Iron…
I decided to call our doctor to send the ambulance, which I did, but he told me it would take about 25 mins because of the distance…

As I rounded up the call with my doctor, I heard the banging of the gate… I froze… Larry was around already? … I curled up beside Daniel saying the only prayer that I could utter… ” God, please don’t let Daniel die…please send Larry away ”

My phone started ringing, I didn’t have to check the screen to know who it was… Suddenly, the banging stopped, I heaved a sigh of relief. Larry was gone….

Or so I thought until I heard a loud thud, Larry had jumped the fence into the compound… Oh my, there was no stopping him.. As a close family friend, he knew our emergency entrance into the house through the roof… Larry was going to kill Daniel…

I sat down defeated on the floor, as I heard his footsteps on the roof, …TheThe door… Yes!… The door to the room. I jumped up and locked the bedroom door. Larry got into the house and was calling my name in the most loving way I have ever heard…

” Grace… Bae….Where are you?…I know You are scared…We can handle this together… Sometimes bad things have to happen to others, for us to be happy”
By this time, he was at the door of the bedroom…

” Open Grace…Let’s do this before the day breaks..
You know I love you baby, this is for us, When we are done with this, I will divorce my wife, so we can be together… ”
I didn’t move an inch… I sat beside Daniel who was already in a coma, as I kept checking if he was breathing…

” Larry, please leave me, I don’t love you any more” I said with the little strength in me… My eyes were gushing out tears on its own accord…
” No you do, You love me and I love you… you are just stressed up”… He said trying to convince me…

” Larry you are destroying me, Is that what you came for?…I thought you came to help my music, but my music does not mean anything to me any more… , If you want to finish me, please do, not my husband, he is a Good man… ” I cried bitterly
” I love you, is that a crime, we are soul mates, if you had not married early, may we would be married

” Larry was saying using his sweet cajoling voice, but I noticed Larry was moving around as he spoke… I didn’t understand why until I saw the door knob moving… He was obviously trying to break in with a knife or something…
Larry was going to kill Daniel …. Just then a Miracle happened… We heard the siren of the ambulance…

” You called the police on me, Grace? ” Larry asked with disbelief
” NO…I mean it is… ” I tried explaining it was an ambulance, but them it hit me… This was the way out… Larry thought the ambulance was the police, this was the best opportunity … I didn’t utter any more word… Larry got furious…

” Grace you are going to pay for this, You called the police on me? ” He left the door, opened the Back door of the kitchen and jumped out through the fence…
With shaky hands and feet, I went out to open the gate for the ambulance. We got to the hospital in time… But it was too late…

Daniel was already a vegetable….Alive but no more active… My one night of adultery was giving way to more than I bargained for…
I had two problems now…

First, What do I tell my Igbo in-laws….? Secondly, I have to face Larry ‘s wrath…, Larry, the handsome devil I thought I knew before, at that moment I didn’t know what he was capable of doing next…

Before I continue my tale, which actually just started, do you have any comments for me?

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Part 6
(THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401)
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

” What exactly prompted this attack, could it have been the news of the pregnancy..Maybe the excitement was too much for his fragile heart? ” Doctor Jack asked me…
” Exactly.. He doesn’t want the pregnancy ” I summoned all confidence to say

” What?, You both have been looking for the fruit of the womb for 12 years, what do you mean your husband doesn’t want the pregnancy, is he not the father of the child?….You of all people can never sleep with another man… ” Doctor Jack said with so much trust in me…

I wouldn’t blame him, no one would have Imagined that the Anointed Singer Grace committed Adultery and has a child out of marriage…. I had to cook up something….

” Doctor Jack, it’s beyond the ordinary… This is a secret between my husband and I, I shouldn’t be telling you this but I believe you can be of help” I said convincingly
“Okay? How? “…He asked with a look of uncertainty

” My Mother In law is in a secret society, which she forced my husband into. The secret society gave my husband the wealth he has, but with a condition. He must never have children… It was said that the day I give birth, he will die. I have always thought it was just superstition ,but seeing the reality, I know it is not joke…

” What?. What are you saying? . Bro Daniel is in a secret cult? ”
I nodded, as I began to fear who I was turning into, a Big time liar but I had a plan…

“So doctor, we need to act fast, get rid of the pregnancy I am carrying so that my husband can live?
” Jesus! God forbid… I don’t believe you are the one saying this…You are a woman of God… and besides, my faith does not permit me to abort, I can’t… “Doctor Jack looked in disbelief
” But we need to save my husband’s life…

Get rid of this baby or else I will do it elsewhere… My husband is dying and you are talking about a child I don’t know will survive or not..”

I walked out of his office angrily, I never knew I could act my plan so well… My plan was going to work, the doctor was going to get rid of the pregnancy for me…

I entered Daniel’s room, and I saw a lifeless good man… I sat beside him and held his hands… Tears not bargained for dropped down my face on it’s will
” Daniel, You will be fine,

I promise, I am sorry for everything I did, I got carried away… I know it was the text you read from Larry that made you go into shock, because you found out that the baby is not yours…. Hmmm….

I am willing to kill this baby for you… Please stay alive… Stay alive… Stay alive for your good self, not for worthless ME…

And when you get better, if you never want to see me again… I will go far away from you… Just don’t add your death to the list of the wrong things I have done in such a short time.. I never knew I will ever mean this words, but I do… “.I love you Daniel and I hope you survive this… ”

” Where is she, where is the useless Yoruba girl”…That was the authoritative voice of my mother in law… I had sent her a text earlier, that Daniel was sick…

She burst into the room with eyes like fire, I was on my feet already…
” If my son dies you will know what it feels like to be a widow In Igbo land…I told Tochukwu( Daniel) not to marry you, but he refused…”
Doctor Jack walked in…

” Good Afternoon ma, we can’t accept this noise in here, and besides the woman you are shouting at is pregnant, she doesn’t need this stress ”

Doctor said
Oh My Goodness, why did Doctor Jack open his big mouth.., but what happened next was a good one because it corroborated my fake story about the secret society…

” Hey… I said it ooo, this Yoruba girl has an evil mission, she has gotten herself pregnant, so as to kill my son… God forbid… Grace Abi Disgrace…

If my son dies I will personally kill you and the baby..
You know Tochukwu is the only son I have…

Mama went to her son, wailing all over him, Doctor Jack looked at me and shook his head…
My plan was going to work,

I would have aborted the pregnancy before Daniel regains himself. Larry will have no say over me anymore …

because I have my own plans for him… I will call Maami ( My Mother) on his matter and if you knew who Maami was, You will be afraid for Larry…

Am I pushing this thing too far? Let me hear your views before I continue my tale…. .

Part 7
(THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401)
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

Mercy Killing? You want me to kill your husband, Sis Grace…? This is definitely not you Speaking.. Please, this is stress speaking… ” Doctor Jack looked ME perplexed

“And it’s absolutely normal because you have been through a lot in the past two months, you have been sitting by your husband for the past 2 months…,

Spending so much, and not to mention your in-laws attitude towards you… I quite understand, but what you need is a break especially for the sake of the baby” Doctor Jack said while looking at me with the most perplexed look I have ever seen in my life…

I barked out at him with tears flowing…
” That is not my point, all you have mentioned doesn’t bother me… I am thinking about Daniel… He has been lying on that bed for two months not responding one bit, Daniel is no longer in that body,

I can’t keep watching him lie there lifeless with his skin peeling… He has suddenly turned dark skinned… Let him die and go to rest… This is not about me… Have you checked his weight of late..?

I broke down in tears as I managed to convince Doctor Jack…
“He looks like a shadow of himself… So skinny…… He hasn’t moved an inch since we brought him here… And it doesn’t look like he will…,

Daniel lived his life in pains on medications. Why do this to him again? I am sure in his subconscious he wants to wake up but he can’t, so why this continuous torture…. .Doctor Jack please… ”

” Sis Grace where is your faith? ”

” Do you know how many prophets I have brought here… Doctor, My faith is dead and it looks like I will be dead soon, because the thought of seeing Daniel in this state is driving me nuts knowing I am the cause of …” I stopped talking before I said too much

There was silence like that of graveyard IN that office, which must have lasted 2 mins…
” I will do it… ” Doctor said after giving it a long thought…
” You will?” I asked

“Yes… but for a good reason which is to preserve your life and that of the baby… because I won’t want to lose the three of you… ”
” Thank you Doctor Jack, Thank you”

At this point, I felt I was running insane, I was literally at the hospital for two months on a daily basis with the hope that Daniel would wake up… and with the refusal of Doctor Jack to abort my pregnancy, the baby was growing daily…

Within those two months, I had tried different hospitals but I couldn’t do the abortion there because my popularity was an hindrance.

The moment I entered any hospital I would be received by the nurses with prayers and praises of how my music has helped them… So how was it possible to tell them I came for an abortion…?

On the side, I had been using home remedies for the abortion, but this baby was bent on coming to planet earth…

For those two months, I never heard from Larry, like he never existed before…

Doctor Tapped me and said ” I also need you to do me a favour, before I do the Mercy killing I need you to travel to somewhere nobody will find you, so that you will escape all the Igbo rituals for widows, so as not to jeopardize the life of the baby…. This baby means so much to me…”

Indeed, if only he knew the true identity of the father of the child… I thought…
” So when will you be doing it?” I asked eagerly

” Let’s give him a few more days to see if he wakes up, but if not.. I will do it on Sunday, that means you should take your trip between tomorrow or next… ”
” Thank you Doctor… ”

Where was I going to go was the next question on my mind as I walked towards the door.. Then he said his last words…
” Sis Grace, I have a feeling you are not telling me the whole story, but please when this whole episode is over, Go and seek the face of God”:…

Exactly… the prayer mountain I went when I was just 14 years old, where the Lord told me “I will use you as a light to many nations”…That was the best place to go, to see if God can repair me, thereafter live a life serving God. Possibly start a foundation in Daniel’s name…
No…

I have an unfinished business before going back to God…before my repentance…
Larry must pay for what he has done to me… and the only person who can help me is my mother… Mama Supepper of Igbonla village….

I am about to open another chapter of my life to you, a life I had left in my past, I never thought I would return there… I left that life when I was 13 years old, I am going back to the life before Christ…. It’s time for Larry to know where I come from…

I am going to Igbonla for revenge….or shouldn’t I?

Before I continue my story, what do you feel right now about me??? Hatred?,

.

Part 8
(THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401)
©️Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde

I Could hear the distant beating of the popular Bata drum “Iya ilu” ( Mother Drum) being beaten and the Shallow sound of the Omele Ako ( a smaller drum) as I drove my Jeep towards Igbonla… Igbonla was a village known for festivities….

There was always one party or the other….We had no worries, in fact there was a popular saying that ” Why don’t you have any worries like people from Igbonla”.

As I drew nearer, Something gripped my heart, what it was, I couldn’t tell… Was it Fear? Or Anxiety of not knowing what to expect, or was it the Holy Spirit telling me not to go back to Igbonla… I suddenly stepped on my brakes and my mind flashed back to hours earlier…

The day had been an eventful day for me, as Doctor Jack had called me very early to inform me he had done the Mercy Killing. He gave me instructions to get out of town immediately and switch off my phone for now as my angry mum in law was on her way to the house.

No wonder Doctor Jack had sent me home last night insisting I should go home and rest, while my mother in law stayed with Daniel. I suspected he was going to carry out our plan… So waking up to his phone call this morning with the news that my husband Daniel was dead didn’t come as a surprise.

I had my minutes of weeping as the realization that Daniel was gone hit me… I rose up quickly after few minutes when the thought of being whisked off to my husband’s hometown for the widow’s dehumanizing ritual hit me. I parked a few things, took my documents, Papers concerning properties I had secured myself.

To be fair to Daniel I left all his properties for his family. The only thing I took that wasn’t mine was the Jeep he got me for my last birthday.
I dropped a note for his mother…

“Mama, I am sorry for the loss, I know You never loved me from the start and staying behind will be an unwise thing to do, You will take me to your village for the widow’s ritual which will not be healthy for the baby.

I have gone into hiding in other to deliver the baby in peace…all your son’s documents for his properties are in the Locker beside the bed in the master bedroom. I am sorry for your loss… ” Your Daughter, Grace…

I dashed to the bank and withdrew 1 million Naira in cash in other to start a new life in Igbonla, but here I was few metres to Igbonla and I was having the strong feeling this was a strong move…
Tears,Tears,Tears. …. and I began to scream to heaven on the lonely road to Igbonla….

” God!, You told me you will keep watch over me lest I dash my foot against a stone… Larry was a big stone, why didn’t your angels send him away from me????, Why? Why?…

God why did you let me have feelings for him, Why! Why did I get married when it wasn’t the right time, I got married when I was just 19…Why was Maami diabetic?…

I had to rush into marriage to take care of her and my sisters, God you promised me a good Life with you when I was just 13, when I gave my life to you, but you have not been fair….

” Just always trying to Justify their bad deeds”…I turned around to see who spoke, It was “Saawawi”….The popular mad man of Igbonla, It was surprising to still see him mad after all these years… He kept ranting in my local dialect…

” You fell on the ground in shame, instead of getting to yours knees to try and rise again, You tried to use the mud to cover yourself in shame so no one will see you”…Saawawi said looking ME straight in the eye…

He asked me for money, which after I gave him, he said, ” You have no place here again”
But who was Saawawi( A person who speaks nonsense) to give me an advice, God had failed me, It was time I started taking care of my life…

This was the end to Grace the Gospel Musician, I am returning back to who I was before, Orishamuyiwa (the gods brought this one) … I removed my sim card from my phone and threw it into the bush….

My mother was going to help me Kill Larry and the traditional healers would give me Local herbs to flush out the baby….

There was no peace until I had accomplished these two important things first, before taking my own life….God had failed me, because I committed just one sin, he let all these disaster befall ME….

Before I continue my tale, please answer this, Is it right for God to punish me this much for just one night of adultery, or is it the devil?, or am I the one punishing myself…

THAT NIGHT IN ROOM 401
#OpraDre

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