Pastor James opened his eyes after speaking in tongues for some minutes in tears and pain…He had tied a cloth around the gunshot on his shoulder.
“Jesus Christ!” he screamed at some point, he finally could see me, but he saw blood on me…There was power in Speaking in tongues!
I was happy Pastor James finally saw me and even though he was in pain, I saw a spark of light in his eyes… I forgot my pains as I moved closer to his side and placed my hand on the gunshot wound to try to stop the blood that was gushing out…
“Grace! You came back alive? Thank you Jesus!” I could see happiness in Pastor James’ eyes when he saw me, even though he had been badly shot…
“Yes…I am, but…we need to get you out of here… I ..am..sor..ry for causing you this, I also need to see the doctor, because I think something has gone wrong with the baby..” I said with urgency in my voice.
I believed at that point, if I shouted, people would hear me. The power of the Holy Ghost had overpowered the invisible charm, but Pastor James stopped me from calling from help…
“Grace! You need to give your life to Christ first, before I move out of here, I may not make it…” he said in pains while holding my hands so firmly “please…let my death be worth it, Don’t let the Lion in you die” Pastor James said locking his eyes with my eyes…
“Stop saying that, you can’t die and besides If you die, I will kill myself”.. I said sobbing so loud, how would Pastor James die too?
By this time Pastor James was sobbing…
“Grace…if I die now, I know where I am going, but if you die now, where will you go, I am not afraid of death, rather I am afraid of life after death…where will you go after death?”
I had no answer for Pastor James…
“God cannot forgive me again, I have gone too far, in just six months, over 5 people are dead because of me, even Ifakolade is dead, his body is out there”… I said as I had no motivation to rededicate my life at that time, I just wanted Pastor James to be treated and besides I felt I was not worthy…
“Apostle Paul was also a murderer, but he became a great…ves..sel for God…” he was struggling to talk…
“Grace… I love you…and If I don’t make it tonight, I want to die knowing I will see you in heaven…”
By this time, his voice was sounding like an echo to me, I was passing out, I had lost a lot of blood…I could hear pastor James saying…
“God has invested so much in you, don’t let his investment in your life be a waste”
I wanted to reply him, I wanted to tell him, all that investment was gone, I wanted to tell him that Larry had taken my 70,000 stars with him into the grave, but I couldn’t, my spirit was drifting away, it felt like I was losing my grip on his hands…
Finally, all I remember seeing was BLACK….
I remember waking up in an hospital with my immediate younger sister beside me, I tried to remember what happened, but I couldn’t, I remembered trying to save Pastor James, before blanking out…
Yes! Pastor James! Where was he? Did he survive?
“Morountodun…” I beckoned on my sis.
“Sis, finally, you are awake… thank God!” Morountodun said in excitement as she knelt to thank God…
“What of Pastor James?…” I asked searching her eyes for the right answers…
“He was taken to the city by his church…“ She said
“Alive or dead?” I asked
“I don’t know, it was his assistant pastor who came early in the morning that met you both on the floor bleeding…They immediately took him to city while they brought your body to us, so no one knows if he is still alive or not…but rumor has it that…that…” I noticed she was hiding the truth…
“That what? That what?”…..I asked
“That he died in the bus on their way to the city”
“Oh my God!” I shouted
“… Although I don’t believe it because it was Ajani the drunkard that said it” my Sister quickly added…
So Pastor James too was gone?…Gone to the Grave because of me?, No I wasn’t going to swallow this pill, he must be alive… “I don’t believe the rumor” I said to myself, I was going to look for him the moment I was discharged.
“What of Ifakolade?” I asked
“He has been buried, His body was found in front of Pastor James’s house too, but the village elders are waiting for you to get better, so you can give a full explanation of what happened.”
That means, the prayer of pastor James also worked for Ifakolade. His body also got out of the invisible state.
I knew Ifakolade death was going to bring more trouble…
“How long have I been here?” I asked her
“3 days”
“What?” as I shouted I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. I tried to look at where exactly the pain was coming from… Then I saw it, my stomach was relatively flat…
“The baby?” I asked my sister…
“You lost the baby so they had to do an emergency C.S for you..” she said
I was torn between tears, joy, sadness about losing a child, but I knew I was far from been free…
The last question I dreaded to ask popped out of my mouth…
“Have you heard anything about Larry’s death on the news” I asked
“Yes! But I wanted to ask you, were you the one who killed his wife, his brother and children too?, I thought it was only Larry you went for.”
I couldn’t say a word, Larry’s wife and the children died too…? Larry’s wife was not dead as at the time I left there, but I just assumed the pain of losing six children must have been too much for her, maybe she committed suicide or died out of shock…
Hmmm… what I needed now was mercy…
“Although, I don’t think they can trace it to you, because news has it that it was a case of armed robbery gone wrong” I heard my sister saying
At this point, I knew God would never want to hear my voice… I had wrecked an entire family, because of one night of adultery…but I was ready to come back to God… I was tired of trying to fix things myself, I was tired of trying to cover my tracks… It had made bad to become worse… Was God going to accept me, despite all these blood shed?
Follow me as you read the next few parts of how I found my way out of the mess I had put myself…but let me give a warning, I got out of the mess in the most unconventional way…
To be continued…
© Opeyemi Akintunde