MOTHER IN LAW PART 6

What would make a mother want to give her son a second wife, I thought? I flipped through the pages of the book as we were driving home, and noticed it was all about prayers and silence. Being slow to anger and believing things could change through prayers. This won’t work with this woman I’m about to go spend time with.

The first couple of days were critical in both ways by our carefulness but from the third day, we started stepping on toes. E channel was an abomination in the house, and African magic was the main channel. It was a particular movie that was about to cause the next problem. We were both in the sitting room that afternoon when the movie started. A particular pregnant woman was walking home from the market, and a spirit entered her. She became possessed and the blessing of pregnancy became a curse. She started shaking her head as the movie preceded and afterwards told me if I knew all these things are possible. 

The woman really suffered though, but it was just a good act. All the native doctors couldn’t do anything to salvage her out of that situation. It was those white garment pastors that supported the situations. The pains were enormous for her. The real story was the spirit was looking for where to reside; thus it saw a woman that was prayer less and turned her womb to its residence. 

I thank God I pray so I wouldn’t need that.  We watched African magic from that day to learn the so called mama lesson. Expectation of witches and spirits to attack me grew in her mind, and suddenly she told me one particular evening we are visiting a place the next day. I didn’t understand what she meant until the next day. I had thought it was a friendly visit, until I discovered we were leaving the Abuja metropolis into a suburb. 

It was a local church built with woods and everyone wore white. I was told to pull my shoes the same way she did. I called mama aside and asked what we came here for. She blinked to me like I needed to respect where we were, thus I kept quiet. We were told to kneel down and they prayed for us. The prayer was the shortest I’ve ever seen. As the prayer was going someone inside the church compound started rumbling in a language that sounds distortive and another one started translating. I wanted to laugh at the comedic activity but with your mother in law in attendance silence was golden. The translator started with the fact that I was pregnant and that the baby would be a boy. Where is the scanner around I thought? He continued by saying the future of the child is very bright; that when he was trying to look at the future it was too bright for him to see.  Thus the child needs to be protected under the shadow of the almighty, through his apostles. 

I didn’t understand so well but I’ve made up my mind that whenever we leave this place I would go back to church for a proper cleansing. It looked fetish a little to me. Let we could have said we have finished they brought three different oils for me to rub on my body and put inside the water I would use to bath. I don’t know if I was supposed to pour it inside the shower but I collected everything because I knew I was going to throw it away. 

He brought plenty water also labelled holy and said I can do anything with the water. It seems he was a doctor but the last straw broke my camel’s back when I heard what they were discussing

The supposed man of God has called me into an inner room that has a small slab that looked like an altar. He had told me to pull my clothes and lie on the cloth provided on the altar-like slab. I asked him what he wanted to do, and he swiftly told me he wanted to use his sperm which is anointed, to protect my baby from the eyes of the enemies. He walked close to me and started rubbing his dirty hands on me. I gave him a dirty slap that called attention and walked out of his office and their shrine. I didn’t even go to the car I just kept walking. The man came out and told some boys in the church to pursue me and bring me back, telling grandma a spirit is controlling me already, that the spirit is the cause for my refusal.

 As they were approaching I saw a keke-napep carrying two passengers. I waved the keke driver and he stopped. I hopped in and told him to run. Immediately he moved I knew I have escaped but before we got to the next junction; a white handkerchief was placed on my nose. It had a choking smell and as I was struggling with them I lost my strength. It was the worst experience I ever had. What I ran away from on an altar-like slab I just gave to three dirty keke driver for three straight days…………