Belina – batch 2

EPISODE 3

As I walked on our ever quiet street, my blood flow started
normalizing & the incident that I had been trying to keep at bay
started pushing itself back to my memory. The slap that dad gave
me seemed to also slap back that memory.
Throughout my secondary school, I succeeded in keeping
men at arm’s length & didn’t have a boyfriend throughout,despite my numerous admirers. I
finished with a remarkable grade & gained admission
immediately into UNILAG & also focused on my studies not
glancing twice at any guy but my charade was cut short in my
3rd year when I discovered that
there are some guys that ur eyes can’t finish assessing with one glance
I sat on d open field one
afternoon reading, when one of my annoying toasters came.
“Oh baby”, he drolled, “u too dey read sef”
I ignored him
“Abeli”, he called in his usual way but I ignored him again. He yanked d book out of my hands & my head jerked up as
my eyes drilled h0les into him
“Give me back my book”, I demanded.
“Why didn’t u answer me?
I stretched forth my hand,

“Hand it over now”
He smiled,
“A k-ss & I would give u”
I wanted to slap him hærd but . . .
“Give d lady her book”, a voice said. That voice chilled me to d bones & I could almost feel d
ground shake at d sound but surely, I was hallucinating
That was the voice that shook my world both positively &
negatively.
“Enough of all this rubbish”I thought. I need to solve this
problem. After thinking for some minutes, I fished out my phone
from my pocket & dialed d only person I could.
She picked on the 3rd ring.
“Sweetheart mi”, Prisca said over the receiver.
“Pric, I need ur help”

***
Tunji sat furiously at the owner’s side of the car on his way home.
He was busy clenching his fist like someone who was ready to
box d life out of Bashali.
“No woman has ever slapped me”he thought. He still couldn’t
believe that he had actually been slapped. And by a woman?
“No matter how beautiful she is, she won’t get away with this” he thought as he picked up his phone to dial a number
“Omo deputy governor mi, ur excellency sir”, a voice said
“Pls shut up Tolu, I need u to do something for me.
Someone had the nerve to raise her hands against me”. Tunji
said.
“Ehn… A she? She must be dealt with”
“Alright, here is what I want u to do …”

***
You know at times, u get to a T junction
where u know that either way u go is going to change your life one way or the other. I
thought about my discussion with Prisca & knew that going with that plan was d best thing I could do
I got back home & met d house empty. My phone started ringing immediately I sat down
& I discovered it was an
unknown number. I picked it & waited until I heard a baritone voice at d other end saying
“hello”
“Good morning, pls who is this?”
I answered.
“Is this Miss Belina Badmus?” the
speaker asked
“Yes pls”
“My name is John, calling from
Heaven’s gate Chapel. We just want to remind u of d musical concert which would be
holding tomorrow” he said.
I opened my mouth as I realized that I had actually forgotten
everything about that concert
Though I hadn’t produced any album, I was invited by some
churches to minister in songs.
“I would be there, thanks a lot”.
I dropped d phone some
seconds later & mentally began
to search for a nice song for d
programme.
***
Mr Badmus entered the large compound of his friend, chief Olowodolu, & looked round jealously. Every time he entered this place, he always remembers
his good old days.
He had nothing less than three buildings in island, & one
small building in the mainland, Ikeja to be precise. He had lived a
life of affluence but his business crumbled after 5years of
marriage. He sold off his properties in the island to pay debts & moved with his family
to Ikeja.
“I must be rich again”, he thought as he entered his
friend’s sitting room.
***
“Let us go now Richærd, I don’t want to be late o…” Tony & Richærd are inseparable friends
& have been for 5years.
Apart from them being medical doctors, they were also in d
music line. Being exceedingly handsome, they were d envy of
other guys & the desire of ladies. Tony took advantage of this & had so many girl friends
by flirting with them but Richærd was the quiet type, jovial at times which made him more desirable but he could turn the heart of
any girl perhaps unknowingly.
Tony seemed to have arrived at his bus-stop where women were
concerned & Richærd had
become indifferent towards them.
Tony attended a musical concert
in a church some weeks ago & hadn’t stopped talking about it,for some unexplainable reasons,
Richærd felt he needed to attend the next edition with Tony.
“For God’s sake Tony, u told me the concert would commence
5 o’clock, this is 4:20, what is the fuss about?” Richærd asked
looking exasperated.
“If we don’t get there in time, all the good seats would have been
taken & we would have to seat at d back”.
Richærd sighed;
“Alright then”, he said leaving the movie he was
watching for the bedroom.

EPISODE 4

I looked at myself in my bedroom mirror & smiled. I definitely look stage worthy, I thought to myself. I took out a styling comb
& combed my hair to
perfection. Thank God for long hair, it could make u look presentable even when u did not make ur hear.
I applied a little
powder & lip gloss & set out.
I alighted from a public bus & looked at the address again.
Wole, who had made sure I was one of d guest artists had
warned me that the church was a big church. I almost passed by
a very massive building when I looked at d sign-board & discovered that that was my
destination. I opened my mouth as my heart started racing.
“Hello miss”
My head jerked round & I discovered I was already at d
entrance.

“Uhh, hi”, I said.
“Are u one of our artists,ma’am”,d guy obviously an usher asked
“Ehm,Yes. I am Belina Badmus”.
The guy checked his file &smiles at me b4 calling a lady to take me in,side. As I stepped
in,side, my heart almost stopped.
I saw nothing less than 500people & still saw empty chairs which could easily seat close to 300people. The
highest number of people I had sang to was 200 & I was
totally afraid that day. I
considered turning back as I stood transfixed. The lady usher noticed my fright & gave me a
comforting smile. She looked at me from head to toe & back again & said,

“I am sure u
can handle it”

****
Mr. Badmus sat down in his living room, thinking about d best way to convince Belina. He
remembered d discussion he had with his friend d previous
day & hissed.
“Oh… it is nice seeing u my friend, Chief Popoola said,standing up to greet him. Mr.
Badmus smiled faintly.
“Since I need to get visa b4 I see u,what do u expect?”
“It is not like that” chief popoola responded.
Mr. Badmus sat down without waiting for d permission, d chief offered him drinks from his over-filled bar & within minutes, they were talking.
“See, this Belina of a girl would not kill me o, she sees a lifetime
opportunity & cannot jump into it”. Mr Badmus said after
some minutes of discussion.
“What do u mean?”
“Do u remember d birthday party of
senator Olowodolu that u invited me to some time ago which I forcefully dragged her
along?” getting a nod, he went ahead to explain everything up
to d latest development &
what did he get?
“Listen to me
my friend, I would advise u to leave her alone. Every child has d right to do things d way
they please, our own duty as parents is to advise them & if they insist, we ought to-“
“Shhh,pls spare me d lecture Mr.Lecturer, I don’t need it ok?” he
said & left immediately.
Mr. badmus hissed for d
umpteenth time. “That idiot does not want someone to be better
than him” he soliloquized. Belina
would have to do my wish whether she likes it or not. I would find a way.

****
The church was half way full when Richærd & Tony arrived.
Richærd noticed that d
auditorium could definitely occupy 1000 people & looked at d structure of d building
appreciatively.
Tony looked around desperately looking for a place where they
could get a good view & found a s₱0t that was just perfect. They
both sat down & Richærd had a feeling that he was in for a good time in God’s presence.

***
As d usher led me to my sit, my mind started rolling asking so
many questions; what if I fall down on d stage? What if my
voice cracks? What if …
I stood like d pillar of salt that the bible talks about as I stared
at d one person I wished I would never set my unclad eyes
on. Kelvin also stood there looking like someone who was
standing face to face with a ghost. I wondered if he thought i should be dead. He was about to say something but I guess my eyes sent a warning signal &
he swallowed his words. Wise choice, I thought as I joined the
usher who had been looking at us puzzled. As I followed her, I no
longer saw d crowd, I only saw a chance to prove to Kelvin that I
am not a piece of trash.

***
The sitting room was freezing cold because of d recently purchased split air conditioner,
the plasma Tv was on & was showing cool music videos but
Adewale could not relax. His friend had been in d hospital
for 2days now & was still in a coma. he had stayed there &was forced to come home today in order to freshen up.
Adewale stood up & went to d bar to pick up an alcoholic drink but hadn’t tasted it when
his mind started wandering. He
remembered his discussion with
Deji & how he persuaded him on phone to some over so that they could both attend a function
together d next day. he
downed a cup of wine at d thought & b4 he knew it,he had finished the bottle but still
could not wipe out the sense of guilt that was clouding his brain.
He remembered how close they were & could not hold back d tears that came to his eyes.
He looked at d wall & saw,’Jesus is Lord’ on a photo frame & walked to it. As he stared at
it, he knew he had only one thing to do.

EPISODE 5

I had to admit that d theme of the concert which was ‘Opening
Heaven’s Gate’ was not an exaggeration. The atmosphere seemed to be charged with d
power of God & d singers seemed to possess angelic voices
even though I hadn’t heard d voice of an angel b4. I was
lost in a world of my own when I suddenly heard, “We would now
like to welcome a young lady whom God really took time to design & package. After moulding her,he put in her throat an angelic voice which cannot be rivaled. Pls put ur hands together as we welcome
Miss Belina Badmus
My heart started running a 100m
race & I remained on seat for some seconds until I summoned
courage to stand up. I walked up to d programme coordinator
& smiled as I collected d mic.
I faced d congregation &instantly wished I could disappear but that did not happen, then I remembered
Kelvin was somewhere amongst them & everyone seemed to
vanish b4 my eyes.
I had previously arranged for a piano to be set on d altar.After taking in enough breath I introduced myself & introduced d song. I
planned on singing a personally written single since I had no
back-up so I sat down behind d piano & d show began.

***
Immediately d songs started coming, Richærd instantly knew that his attendance was not a
mistake but he felt that he was looking for something more. He
received a text message & his
attention was instantly diverted to his phone.
His head jerked up as he heard someone speaking but his
breath was instantly taken away as he stared at d slim figure on d altar. The sky blue filmy gown she wore perfectly brought her
curves to light. She was d perfect description of figure 8.
He left d gown & d next
thing that came to his eye was the hair; long, black,& oh-so-
beautiful . He has d urge to touch it in order to feel d texture. His eyes then moved fully
to d face & all d words that came to his mind could not do justice to that work of art.
Her eyes seemed to tell a story.
There was a moment of uncertainty in her eyes & a bold stare replaced it. He
desperately wanted to be close to her in order to find out d mysteries behind d eyes.
Of everything he saw, it was her song that totally blew his mind
away. He stared at her as her slim fingers pressed d piano. She
seemed to draw everyone into her song with so much ease that
within seconds, Richærd found himself listening to d lyrics of d song
Tony had earlier on stepped out to receive a phone call from
Prisca, d damsel that captured his heart,& was away throughout d ministration.
When the lady in blue finished her song, stood up & curtsied with a lovely smile on her face,
Richærd wished he was closer in order to capture her that way. An ear deafening applause followed & Richærd joined
Tony came in 5mins after Belina’s presentation & found
Richærd looking around like he was searching for something.
“Are u looking for me? Tony asked
Richærd stared at tony like he had suddenly grown horns
“this ridiculously long talks u have with prisca would soon put u in trouble. U have just missed d best performance this
evening”
Tony hissed, “when u allow urself to love again,u would find urself doing d same
thing. So, who sang?”
Richærd opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, that
was when he realized that he was d biggest idiot in West
Africa.

***
Prisca stood at d veranda of her dad’s house thinking about
d love of her life, Tony. She remembered d first time she set her eyes on him & dwelt on
it though it was not such a pleasant day.
She had been standing by d road looking dejected. She was
close to tears & she felt stupid.
She had gone to visit her boy friend at ikeja but she ran out when he almost raped her. She had been thought by her parents to remain chaste till marriage & that fool thought he had seen a mugu. She had been lucky that her bag was close to d door but after walking some
distance, her bag was snatched from her & all she was left with was her shirt, her trouser &
her flat shoe.
She stood by d road & no matter how much she hated it, she had to stop a private car. The
first car happened to be Tony’s car & immediately he
consented to carrying her, she entered & did not as much as glance at him throughout d
drive. Tony wanted to say something cos he was not used to being overlooked but when he
looked at her, he noticed that she
was secretly crying so he kept quiet. He dropped her at her
door step even after she insisted on coming down earlier. After he
left, Prisca had been sad that she didn’t really appreciate his help but after some days, she forgot
all about him.
He appeared on her doorstep 2weeks later & d rest is history.
Prisca left d veranda smiling as she went in,side & when she
saw d picture she had snapped with Belina, she decided that she
would involve another person in their escapade.
***
There is a saying that it is when there is trouble that u remember ur creator, but I would advise u to remember
ur creator always so that trouble would flee from you.

EPISODE 6

Adewale arrived at Living Faith Bible Church & met d place open. He hadn’t been to church
for more than 2months so he was surprised when he saw some changes in d church.
He headed towards the altar looking like a prodigal son &when he got there, he knelt
down & all he could do was stare blankly. He stared at d pulpit & remembered d times
d pastor had preached on Faith but it made no sense to him then.
He held onto d pulpit & tried to say something to God but nothing seemed to come out of
his mouth so he let his thoughts do d talking.
He laid on d altar some minutes later & felt peace from within.
All his thoughts & worries seemed to have flown away &
within minutes, he was asleep.

***
Tunji laid on his extra-large bed in similarly massive room
thinking about what he had planned to do for d night. His mind kept on telling him that it was not a good idea & that it was too risky but he ignored it.
He had seen Belina at his dad’s birthday party & had instantly fallen for her. He had bragged
& told everyone that she would
be his girl soon but he had tried
all his possible best and hadn’t
been able to get her to at least
smile in his direction for the past
one month.
His phone started ringing and he
when he noticed that it was
Belina’s father, he picked up
immediately. After talking for
some minutes, he hung up and
really had a reason to smile. He
dialed Tolu’s number and he
picked almost immediately.
“There is going to be a change of
plans, meet me here in thirty
minutes”, he said and hung up
immediately.
**********
**********
As Tony and Richærd made their
way home, Richærd was busy
thinking about the damsel in
blue gown and therefore was
very silent, Tony noticed this and
joked about it but Richærd said
he was just stressed up.
Richærd got home and made a
mental note to relax well in order
to banish the reoccurring
thought and immediately he
opened his wallet, a passport
slipped out of his wallet and as
he picked it up, his nightmares
returned. He stared at the
passport of Tonia which he took
her to snap about a year ago and
all he wanted to do was work
until dawn so that he would not
sleep and have nightmares.
**********
**********
Mr. Badmus dropped the phone
on the table and smiled. ‘Now
things are going as planned’, he
thought. If she would not accept
the easy way, she would accept
the hærd way.
**********
**********
I walked into my ever silent
street around 9pm in the night
after the concert. My ministration
had gone so well that I had been
thanking God all through. I
banished all thoughts of Kelvin as
I made my way home cos I
wouldn’t want him to spoil my
day.
After the service, I received so
many thanks from people around
and the coordinators gave me an
envelope which I hadn’t opened
yet including a bag which I guess
contains beverages and other
things. I had just stepped out of
the church when a girl of
eighteen walked up to me and
said, “Miss Belina?”
I turned around, “yes?”
“Pls ma, i love your voice, your
song and everything about you
and I would like you to be my
mentor, plsss?”
I laughed, “for starters, I am not
ma, you can call me Belina,&why not, I would definitely be
glad to be ur mentor”, I said.
She was so happy that she jumped on me & apologized later & I laughed. We later
exchanged numbers &she promised to call me.
I was about entering my compound when I made a mental note to jot down everything that happened today
in my diary, d day seemed to be a blessed day. I entered my house & I was instantly
grabbed from behind. The last thing that came to my mind
b4 I passed out was, “I don die”
***
“Brother Wale..”, pastor Adewuyi called.
Adewale opened his eyes slowly & the first thing that he saw
was a ceiling fan. I don’t have a ceiling fan in my house, he
thought.
“Brother Wale, are u ok?” d pastor asked looking worried.
Adewale turned to d speaker & noticed that it was Pastor
Adewuyi & became more confused. Am I here for deliverance? He wondered but when he sat up, he noticed that
he was on d altar
everything that happened including the reason why he was
there became clear to him. He looked at d pastor & said,
“Pastor, I am not ok, in fact, I am distressed”.
Pastor Adewuyi took Adewale to his office & Wale relayed d events of d past 2days to d pastor.
Pastor Adewuyi sighed & said to Wale, “u have to be strong for urself & for ur friend.
The devil puts fear in our hearts in order to make us doubt God.
You need to be close to God now more than ever cos surviving a coma can only happen with God”
Adewale sighed & nodded b4 he joined hands with d pastor & they prayed for more
than 20mins. Adewale
left that place feeling confident that God would definitely do
something spectacular.
***
Prisca dialed Belina’s number d 9th time that night & still heard” the number had been switched off. She hissed as she threw d phone on d bed.

Tbc

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