PRICELESS ONE
Priceless One - Episode 14
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“ Chima….. please open the door…..I just want us to talk.” Chima’s mom pleaded, while knocking softly on his door.
After about ten minutes elapsed, Chima opened the door for his mother.
She entered and sat beside him on his bed.
“ I know you probably see me as a weak woman who has decided her fate by staying in an abμs!ve marriage.” She said, placing her hand on his lap.
“... But you see Chima…..” She continued.
“...everything I have done…. Everything I have ever tolerated from your father, is because of you and your siblings.” She said and sighed.
Chima shook his head in denial.
“ mom please don’t tell me you are doing this for me and my siblings…… because your stay in these house is obviously causing more h@rm than good for us.”
She fell silent for a long while, as if meditating on something.
“ Chima……if I leave your father, where do I start from?..... First of all, your dad will want to take custody of you and your siblings…..and I have no means of fighting him back……. I have been a housewife for ten years now……your dad asked me to resign my job when I gave birth to your younger brother, so I can have time to take care of the house, and as at then, business was working fine for your dad and he was paying the bills….. so I gladly resigned my job, but that was one of the worst mistakes of my life….. because little did I know that your father had an agenda of making me solely dependent on him……” She said and wiped a tear drop.
“ ...Do you think I haven’t considered leaving your father many times……I already have evidences of recorded tapes of your father b£@ting me mercilessly,……but I need financial independence when I eventually leave, so I can be able to start a life for myself and my children…… because I’ll rather d!e, than to leave my children for that be@st!!” She broke down.
Chima drew his mother in an emotional embrace.
“mom…. Your life matters most to me than money…… you need to leave immediately and not remain because of financial constraints……we can even go to your elder brother’s house for now and stay till you get your footings.” Chima advised his mother.
She cleaned the tears in her eyes.
“ Chima…..I have my plans…..I just need to endure for a little while……I have some money saved up over the years but it isn’t enough……my brother wants to sell some of our family land in the village, and has promised to give me some money……. Everything will be finalized soon, and I will leave this house with you all “ she assured him.
“ Waiting for even a second is d@ng£rous mom….. what if he comes home and beats you up and you d!e in the process?…..I don’t want to loose you mummy.” Chima cried.
“ Sssshhhh.” She placed her hand on his lips and embraced him again, patting him tenderly on his back.
“ You will not loose me”
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“Thank you so much Daddy Nkem for coming through for my son….. you and your wife have been really wonderful and if not for your timely intervention, I probably would have been m0μrning my son by now…. But I thank the Almighty God for putting the dëvïl to shame in my family.” Pastor Bamidele; Shalewa’s father thanked his neighbor.
Seated in the parlour was Shalewa’s parents, mummy Nkem and her husband with Shalewa kneeling down at a corner not far from were they were seated. She was quietly serving her punishment as she awaited nervously, her judgement.
Folake was in the inner room sitting beside Toun who lay on the bed asleep.
“ You are welcome Pastor…… we are grateful that God took control and Toun is fine now….. the doctor only said he needed more rest.” Daddy Nkem replied calmly.
Pastor Bamidele and his wife nodded.
“ May God bless you and your family speedily and as you have come to my aid in my time of need, may the ministering angels of the most high God safe guard everything that is yours…. And every good thing that you lay your hands on shall prosper.” Pastor Bamidele continued blessing daddy Nkem and his wife.
“ Amen and Amen.” They chorused.
“ So how was your journey sir?” Mummy Nkem asked the pastor.
“ Our journey was fine to the glory of God.” He replied solemnly and fell silent for a while.
“...Shalewa’s mom and I were called up to minister in a revival program….. although we were not the ones initially chosen to minister, but something came up and the pastor couldn’t meet up, that’s why we were called in to replace the pastor in ministering for the program…. So it was an impromptu journey.” Pastor Bamidele explained.
And his wife nod her head in agreement to what he said.
“ Yes Pastor I understand….. it can happen like that sometimes in ministry.” Daddy Nkem said and paused.
“...But you did a wrong thing by not informing us that you were traveling so we could help you to monitor your children….. pastor, we might not be a member of your church, but i believe we are neighbours and we must be there for each other….” Daddy Nkem said and paused.
“...I know you must have assumed that Shalewa is matured enough to take care of the house, but children of these days are versatile….. that’s why you still need to put them in the care of a matured adult who will be checking up on them from time to time, to know if they are doing the right things.”
“ Thanks so much for the counsel sir…..my wife and I will take it to heart and do better next time.”
The pastor gave his sincere thanks.
“ You are welcomed sir “
He turned to Shalewa’s direction.
“...Please don’t be too hard on her sir…..all she needs right now is counselling, because she’s at a sensitive stage of her life…. Please I plead with you on her behalf…..just draw her close and let her see her mistakes.” Daddy Nkem added, rising to his feet with his wife doing the same.
Pastor Bamidele forced a smile.
“ God bless you daddy and mummy Nkem.” He said and saw them off to the door.
The pastor had barely settled on his chair, when they heard a knock on the door.
“ I will get it.” Mrs Bamidele announced and walked towards to the door to open it. She was surprised to see elder Bankole walking in hurriedly, and shoving his son forward.
“ Elder! What a pleasant surprise.” Mrs Bamidele said but noticed the elders ruffled appearance.
“ Oh elder Bankole, good morning sir.” Pastor Bamidele greeted him.
“ Good morning pastor.” The elder said hurriedly and pushed his son to the center.
“... Stand here!!...” The elder instructed Tayo loudly before taking a seat.
Shalewa; on hearing the elders voice, almost urinated on her body out of fright.
Pastor Bamidele clasped his palm on his chin, bracing himself for the revelation that was about to unfold, because from the look of things, the elders visit to his house was not a friendly one.
Tayo, on the other hand, stood at the center with his gaze shamefully fixated on the ground. His face were red and swollen and had a cut on it. There were also marks evidently showing on his hands through the short sleeved shirt he wore, as an indicator that he had been thoroughly beaten.
Elder Bankole cleared his throat before speaking.
“ Pastor!..... I brought my son here this morning because he committed a grievous offense and when he was confessing, he mentioned that your daughter had a full involvement in this case…… so I will tell him to narrate everything he said to me before you and your family.” The elder said.
The pastor nodded.
“...Oya start talking!!!” the elder roared at his son who looked visibly shaken.
“ I….I was invited to a party last night by Shalewa. She said it was a birthday party of one of her friends in school. She said I should come along in one of my father’s big cars so that we can prove to her friends that we are also from a wealthy background.......So we both went to the party in my father’s Range Rover …..but after I had dropped her at home, on my way coming home, I clashed into a vehicle in front of me and had a minor accident that damaged the bumper of the car and broke the headlights…….” Tayo explained fearfully.
Pastor Bamidele clenched his hand into a fist while his wife tapped her feet on the floor restlessly.
“ Oh God….. Shalewa has finished me.” Mrs Bamidele exclaimed clasping her palm on her face.
“ Shalewa!!..... Get up from there and come here!!” her father instructed loudly.
Shalewa slowly got up from her kneeling position and stood beside Tayo with her gaze on the floor.
“ Is everything Tayo has said true?” He asked her in his baritone voice.
“ Yes sir.” She whispered in a low tone.
“ If you don’t speak louder, I will give you a dirty sl@p!!!” Her father threatened loudly.
“ Yes sir….. it is true.”
Pastor Bamidele looked at his daughter in bewilderment, wondering in his heart where he went wrong in raising his daughter.
“ So you left this house and went for a birthday party after lying to your sister that you were going for a vigil!!!” Her father shouted and charged towards her but was stopped by elder Bankole.
“ Pastor I think you should save your energy now so you won’t have to beat her twice….. Tayo has not finished his narrations.” Elder Bankole said.
Pastor Bamidele paused amidst his stride, trying so hard to control the urge of beating the daylight out of his daughter.
Elder Bankole turned to Tayo.
“ Oya continue….. tell them what happened at the party…… did you take alc0h0l or not at the party?” He asked further.
“ Yes I took alc0h0l sir.”
The elder nodded.
“ and what else happened at the party?” he questioned.
Tayo hesitated a little before he continued.
“ a fire broke out in the party….. we didn’t know how it started, but we alerted the security and they were able to put it out.”
The elder turned back to Pastor Bamidele.
“ These are the vices our children got involved in during the night Pastor.”
He glanced at his son once again.
“...This boy over here, is my last child….. and I have never caught him in the act of misbehaving like this…… and with due respect sir, I think Shalewa is a bad influence on my son….. you need to caution your daughter pastor….. so she can grow up and be chaste just like a Pastor’s child should be….. Shalewa is already a wild girl who is living a bad lifestyle, and she is already teaching my son to sneak out of the house with his father’s car…… pastor you know you are the pastor of our chapel and your daughter needs to lead by example and be a positive influence on our children, and not the opposite……I want you to caution your daughter seriously and I don’t want her anywhere near my son…… because….”
“ Thank you elder Bankole for your advise…… we have listened to all you have said and we will do the needful.” Pastor Bamidele cut short the elders speech.
The elder nodded his head.
“ Ok sir….. you know this children of nowadays, they can be adventurous and who knows, Shalewa might be possessed and needs to be delivered from the spirit of pr0miscuity…..” The elder spoke on.
Pastor Bamidele swallowed hard and nodded his head, taking in the iñsült from the elder.
The elder finally finished and eventually left with his son.
Mrs Bamidele was already in tears, while her husband tapped his foot continuously on the floor, with ånger written vividly on his expression.
“ Shalewa!!..... Can you see the iñsült and shame you have put me through?” He barked and paced around.
“...Please God!.... Where did I go wrong in training my daughter!!” he turned to Shalewa and advanced towards her, but Shalewa shivered and took steps backward. The look on her father’s face was one that told her that h£ll was about to let out it’s fury.
“ You are my first born and the most privileged among my children……we live on the welfare of the church and the church decided to fund your education to one of the best schools …… is that a cr!me?” He asked.
“...Answer me Shalewa!!!!..... Is it a cr!me for the church to sponsor you to one of the best schools.” He thundered.
Shalewa shook her head in fear, still stepping backwards.
Her mother wept bitterly, further increasing the tension in the air.
“Oh God!!..... Where have I gone wrong in raising my child?..... Shalewa why do you want to soil our reputation?.....” Her mother lamented.
“...Daddy Shalewa!!..... Please we have to take Shalewa out of that school with immediate effect….. that school is a bad influence on Shalewa... This is definitely not the first time Shalewa is sneaking out of these house to a party” Mrs Bamidele told her husband.
Pastor Bamidele nodded and faced his daughter squarely.
“ By the time I finish béåting you today….. your mom and I will go to your school tomorrow to report what you have done to the school authorities and ask the principal to bring you out on the assembly ground and punish you, to serve as a lesson for the others to learn.” He threatened her.
“..?Folake!!!..... get me my belt!!!”
Shalewa screamed.
“ Please dad ….. please I won’t do it again!!!”
Her pleas fell on deaf ears as the belt landed continuously on her, intensifying her screams.
(Do not take credit or Plagiarize AMAH'S HEART stories)
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