Day of Revelations

Udochukwu’s awed eyes stared on, following the singer’s every move. Ngozi, a sister from evangelism stood by her side with both hands raised in worship, “his voice is angelic, right?” she said when the worship ceased, bringing Udo back to the real world. Udo sat back down without responding; she wasn’t sure what Ngozi meant.

Udochukwu was such a woman who had not much to regret in her short beautiful, yet experience

filled years on earth; yet, meeting such a man as Solomon and remembering a husband she had loved committedly until three weeks ago when she left home, she felt tiny drops of regrets form in her heart. The few days she had known Pastor Solomon were quickly becoming the best days of her life; he affected her in ways she could not describe. From the way he leads in worship and songs to the way he tenderly listens to her, “who said men weren’t good listeners.” She wanted always to be with him and listen to his soft whispers, she loves the way he likes to be adventurous with her. She even gets jealous of the piano; the way his hands rest on the keys, caressing them.

The twenty-one days camp programme for the church workers was due to end in three days, the moderator had announced this after the worship session. Udo could feel her heart turn against the innocent moderator for daring to remind her that the programme had an end and that she would have to return to her husband who she was quickly falling out of love with.

Reverend Chris mounted the pulpit with a lot more enthusiasm than usual. He was a tall man, his wiry frame made him appear even taller. There was something tough and strong about his frame but only a few women in the congregation knew for sure what this toughness was. He had an important sermon to deliver- The rewards of tithes and offering.

Reverend Christopher Kalu had been in the ministry for over twenty-five years. He decide to leave God’s Word Ministries, a church where he was ordained and where he had served as associate pastor for five years. After his first divorce he left to set up his own shop, the Corporate House of God. Reverend Chris’ church became popular for its flamboyance and the controversial life style of both the pastors and members, most of which have clandestine sources of income.

“Let us pray” he began “our heavenly father, being in your presence these few days, we have come to appreciate the awesomeness of your presence” he paused for effects and continued when calm had returned. “We feel the same way Peter felt in Luke chapter nine verse thirty three” he paused again for a second and turned to the choir where his eyes met the piercing eyes of sister Chidimma. He shut his eyes. “What those holy robes conceal” he whispered to himself.

“Help your children to understand what rewards lie in giving, especially giving to a servant of God.” He thought of his car “has nobody in this church noticed that the twenty-eighteen model is out, even the two brothers that import cars?” “Let this zeal remain in us” he continued his prayer “that we should not wait to be reminded to give for the propagation and advancement of the gospel and for the comfortability of the man of God in Jesus name” if nothing was done about his car after the sermon, he would give it to them straight next Sunday. Majority of the congregation echoed the cliché “Amen” as loud as they could and he began his sermon.

In the middle of the sermon a middle aged woman, Ndidi, who had been asleep the whole time rose and went out to use the rest room, the reverend’s eyes followed her swaying bum. She was a small black woman, her hair was cut low. One could tell, from her eyes which held a lot of secrets that she had once been a godly woman but her conditions had forced her, like the crayfish in the Nigerian saying, to bend.

Ndidi had four children, her two daughters were both under the good reverend’s full scholarship. In one of her confrontations with the older of her daughters, Ada, about her results, she almost revealed the unspeakable- “if you know what price I pay for your education and that of your sister you wouldn’t be lazying about (it sounded more suspicious in the Igbo language she spoke in). Had she revealed her price, it would have been matched; the price was being paid by more than one person. Perhaps she and her children were having it better since her vulcanizer husband disappeared; they no longer went hungry as they did when he was around, courtesy of the reverend.

After the exhausting sermon pastor Solomon headed for their usual spot behind the church evangelism bus where a big plastic water tank would hide them from sight. He didn’t want Udo to see that he was desperate for her body; he had only managed to feel her breasts and bum through her clothes, they were much softer than Ngozi’s. Ngozi was delightfully wild and had plenty of energy; the three times he had been with her she had shown him that she was a very experienced woman. He wondered if Udo would be as pleasing or even more.

Udo was patiently waiting at the spot, she had been there a few minutes. She was eager for his touch, she had to resist the urge to hug herself all through reverend Chris’ sermon. She wanted him.

“Ah! You’re like the woman in Songs of Solomon” he whispered in that worship leading voice as he crept up behind her.

She smiled shyly. “It’s a good thing you’re Solomon of songs.” They both giggled like teenagers.

Udo and James have been married five months, wedded in The Corporate House of God by Reverend Chris himself. Udo had insisted on it, it had to be in her church she was one of the “holy-robed” ones, the choir. James had met her under a most unusual circumstances; he had scratched her mother’s car in the heat of Enugu traffic. Mother and daughter gave him an earful when he tried to insist he wasn’t at fault. He eventually had to pay to get the car fixed.

He met her again the following week at his cousin’s traditional marriage; his cousin happened to be marrying her friend, Ugo. Ugo convinced her husband after the marriage, that hooking up his cousin and her friend wouldn’t be a bad idea, thus, they were introduced. After the awkwardness of their first meeting had gotten out of the way they seemed inseparable and in no time they were lovers. Their only notable point of disconnection is that she was passionate about church and he wasn’t. He didn’t even go to church. They dated nearly three years during which she travelled abroad for a master’s degree in international relations and he established an engineering consultancy firm that was still waiting and hoping for the big break.

The wedding was big and flamboyant, typical of The Corporate House of God. The couple was beautiful, they had a marriage as blissful as the wedding, until sixteen days ago. “Service to God is more important than honeymoon” she had told James when he thought they shouldn’t interrupt their six months honeymoon for her church programme.

Three days into the Church Workers Camp, reverend Chris invited a young pastor and song minister. Solomon, who he had mentored in ministry to handle the music department for the programme. Moments after his arrival, Solomon and Udo had a romantic moment; what Udo’s mother would call “the look of lust and sin” and that was where it started. Pastor Solomon quickly developed a particularly uncommon interest in Udo’s music prospects and offered to help her improve her singing and teach her to play the piano.

They began spending most of their spare times together doing music, the special attention made Udo feel special and envied by the rest of the music team. Soon they were crossing boundaries; each one setting precedent for another until there was no boundary left. It was downhill from there; all her marital obligations beclouded, no sensibilities left but for a savage want.

When the business of the night was concluded none of them moved for a while, they lay still on Pastor Solomon’s camp bed. It was Ngozi from evangelism who moved; she had watched the entire deed, enjoying the muffled erotic moans through the key hole. She backed away from the door stealthily and tiptoed back to the sisters’ wing of the camp. Udo lay still on Pastor Solomon’s chest listening to his heartbeat; she had always wanted to touch his chest after seeing a bare-chested picture of him eating with a girl he introduced to her as his sister. While leaving the room Udo stumbled on another lasciviousness.

On reverend Chris’ office window was an old evangelism sticker which read:

“But blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear for verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Matthew 13:16-17.”

As Udo’s eyes moved from the sticker they caught a small curtain opening on the window through which she saw the Vulcanizer’s small wife in a counselling session with the reverend. They were both nude and the good reverend was humping her from behind; he was giving such heavy thrusts that Udo could hear the slapping sound of flesh hitting flesh and the muffled cries that accompanied each thrust. Udo stood there for about thirty minutes and watched the session to conclusion.

The sermon for the next morning session was delivered by “the young and enchanting Pastor Solomon” as the moderator put it. After a most sensual rendition of songs, which drew to Udo’s mind the events of the previous night, he began his sermon. He was a natural; his words were as penetrating as he was confident.

His sermon was titled “Recovering the lost days.” His eyes met Udo’s as he announced the topic and she remembered how he would always tease her about not enjoying her youthful days, choosing to spend it studying “all that education is unnecessary for women” he’d playfully told her “you just have to learn a few skills.” Throughout the sermon Udo kept wondering how someone she met barely three weeks ago could have better intentions for her than a husband she has known for over three years. She concluded; “she wouldn’t let time fool her” she told herself.

The business of the night had left her a sweet aftertaste; perhaps the adventure was what she needed in her life and she never knew. Her husband was a cautious man, “way too cautious” she’d say “not spontaneous enough” unlike Solomon; she absently noted how the “pastor” affix and title had now faded. She thought of the good reverend and the small woman and wondered “for how long?”

After Pastor Solomon’s sermon, the Reverend came up to announce “the lord has revealed to me that tomorrow, the last day of this programme, shall be a day of mighty revelations.” The announcement was followed by the usual unnecessary razzmatazz that accompany most of the church’s announcements. The day’s session ended early; after the announcement, in anticipation for the day of revelations. Thus, the good Reverend and his pastors, including Solomon went to their different mountains to prepare.

The Reverend’s mountain was room 218 of Jubilee hotels where Ada, the tall ebony black beautiful daughter of Ndidi, was waiting. She was spotting his grey T-shirt and a bum short which exposed and further highlighted her long beautiful legs, she looked delicious. He had often compared between mother and daughter and has come to prefer the daughter; what she lacks for in experience she makes up for in flexibility and vigour. He liked the way she’s always ready for him, at nineteen she was just his type. Not three years ago did he get past her hymen; she was sixteen. He always remembered it whenever he looked at her; such great pleasure could not be forgotten easily. He somehow knew he had created a beast in her that can hardly be tamed; even by him.

Pastor Solomon in the same spirit had located his mountain in his friend, Paul’s room in New Heaven, about one kilometre from the church. It was at Paul’s place he confirmed that Udo was more energetic than Ngozi, he experienced what exploits she could do in the right environment. Paul was out of town for the weekend leaving enough space and privacy for his friend. The business of the night was conducted several times in the day leaving both of them thoroughly satisfied and exhausted before returning to camp.

Engineer James Ojukwu was calling his wife for the eleventh time, he had imagined she would like him to pick her up from church when the programme ends. The lucky James has always been grateful to God for his gift, a beautiful intelligent and godly wife. He would do anything to make her happy. He even quite smoking for her.

James had been hovering the city like a ghost; nowhere seemed to be comfortable for him. He had been avoiding the office; his secretary’s dress code was becoming more provocative by the day or maybe his urges were just messing with his mind. One of the days in the office he caught himself staring down at her ample bosom as she bent to hand him a project file, she seemed to have lingered over the desk or maybe he was imagining it. He left and didn’t return for the day in order to resist the temptation to bend her over his desk; he had needs, urges that needed tending and he didn’t want to be unfaithful so early in marriage. He needed his wife.

The much anticipated day of revelations finally came, members of the church workforce; choristers, prayer team, evangelism group and church elders who attended the programme were expectant of miraculous manifestations. Everyone had something they were believing God for, and were expectant that through the words of his servants their problems will be solved.

The choir was at its best, dressed in their beautiful ceremonial white robe. A beautiful rendition of Frank Edward’s “we wait on you” by Pastor Solomon preceded “touch your people once again” by the choir then it was time for the revelation sermon. “The songs are beautiful” said James to himself; it was a Sunday morning and since he had no other engagements and couldn’t think of anything else apart from his wife, he had decided to pass the time in a bar close to the church. It was better than the loneliness of his house and he would pick his wife from church when she’s done.

Following the moderator’s announcement of the “revelations sermon” James’s heart sank; this was the exact thing that repels him from church. He had associated the word revelations with eschatology and the apocalypse as written in the bible book of revelations. He had always thought John a sadist; how else could he have been able to come up with such depressing things.

As James finished his first  stick of cigarette in three years, he heard the charismatic voice of Reverend Chris reading aloud the first few verses of revelations chapter one. The gloom was already coming down on him, he decide he would leave and return later for his wife. He was about driving out when he heard what sounded like a struggle over the microphone right after the reverend said the last sentence of verse three which read: “the time is at hand.”

Inside the church, a strange woman had managed to wrest the microphone from the reverend. The church fell into deep silence while the woman standing with her daughter, who could not be more than nineteen, proceeded to tell her story in tears.

“My name is Ifechukwu” she began. The reverend bemused by the drama made no attempt to reclaim the microphone, he could not remember the woman. He was sure he’d never met her but the strange woman, from her testimony, seemed to know so much about him.

Ifechukwu was brought to the reverend’s house twenty years ago by his first wife two months before their hasty divorce. She ran away from the house after the divorce but not before the good reverend had sown his seed in her. After leaving the reverend’s house, she turned to the streets doing all manner of things to survive and cater for herself and her daughter when she arrived. When she was done describing in gory details all she had passed through in the last twenty years, she handed the microphone to her daughter who was contrite but less tearful.

Joy received the microphone from her mother without looking at her. She did not speak immediately; she sobbed silently for a while. Feeling her mother’s eyes on her she began “I never knew Reverend Chris was my father, I have been sleeping with him for over a year.” The church erupted. When calm returned, she proceeded to narrate how it started exactly as she had narrated to her mother the previous night; how the good reverend had offered her a ride home from school under the guise of being a man of God. How they finally ended up in room 218 where she lost her virginity. “I might never have known who my father was if I hadn’t gotten pregnant for him.”

The good reverend remained rooted in front of the pulpit stand, wishing for the ground to swallow him but the ground deftly refused. Events were unfolding much too fast for him to grasp. “This is definitely far from what I had in mind for the day of revelations” he reflected.

All the while, Udo kept thinking if she should also come forward to speak about the reverend and the Vulcanizer’s wife, “that would surely nail the coffin shut” she thought “is it even in my place to reveal it?” while she was still battling her conscience Ndidi stood up from the opposite end of the church and approached the pulpit.

Ndidi went on to tell her story, she started from one day when she came for marriage counselling, that was long before her husband disappeared. After the counselling, while the reverend was praying for her, she noticed that his hands were stroking her body in a suggestive manner; lingering on the sensitive parts. She went on to testify how the good reverend had come to her aid after her husband absconded, leaving her with four children to cater for. She also told the congregation how he had gone on to tell her that she had to give something in return for his generosity.

When Ndidi was done, her daughter, who by then knew that she wasn’t as special as the Reverend had told her she was, came running as though to console her mother but she went for the microphone instead. The Reverend’s heart sank further. Ada’s story was almost like that of Joy; he had told her that she had the power to make life better for her mother and siblings. He also stole her virginity behind Jubilee hotel’s the room 218 door.

Ngozi was next in line for her testimony. Udo was already beginning to think she might be the only church worker who hasn’t been sampled by the Reverend. But Ngozi wasn’t coming for the Reverend. “I tested positive to HIV two months ago” she began, “I came to this programme believing God to take away the virus.” She went on to narrate what transpired between her and the young charismatic song minister; how she started sleeping with him barely three days after he arrived camp.

Udo started doing the calculation in her head immediately. She and James has decided to wait a year before starting to have kids, and on that note, she had gotten a contraceptive implant just before the wedding. She had not cared for any other form of protection in all her romps with Pastor Solomon. Her thoughts were interrupted and her mind brought back from its tedious progression when she heard her name. She looked around only to discover that the uproar in the congregation was now directed at her. There were looks of pity, and angry and judging stares. “How could anyone have known” she thought.

“I saw them in Pastor Solomon’s room” continued Ngozi, answering Udo’s unspoken question, when noise reduced.

Outside the church, James was still trying to decipher the information he had just heard. “Did someone just say she saw my wife in bed with a pastor right in church?” he asked himself. He began going through the same calculation phase Udo had gone through; the calculation of whether or not his wife now had HIV. A screeching sound jolted him out of his thoughts, when he looked up, the screech ended in a crash. It was the Reverend’s Range Rover stuck under the rear of a parked heavy duty vehicle.

James ran to him from his car. “The car isn’t so damaged” he thought “the Reverend should come out unscathed.” But he was wrong, the Reverend was dead; the top end of his hug metal crucifix protruded from his chest and was pressing against the steer wheel. James moved him backward against the car seat and realised that the longer end of the crucifix was stuck deep in the Reverend’s chest.

The congregation had already gathered outside around the Reverend’s car. Udo wondered what her husband was doing there. “Did he hear what Ngozi said?” she thought, when he turned to look at her and she saw the look in his eyes she had no doubt that he had heard everything.

x